Rating: Summary: Trial by Monster Review: A wonderful adventure set during the 3rd season. The author captures the wit and fun of the TV dialogue. I laughed out loud especially at the Scarlet O'Hara from Hell. Buffy is forced to face a trial by an ancient force. She is faced with dangers only a slayer could imagine. At stake is her mother's life and her own existence. The scooby gang is helpless. They can only watch. Angel's remorse at not being able to help the woman he loves is heartbreaking. A great read.
Rating: Summary: Jhaeman's Reviews Review: HERE BE MONSTERS
By Cameron Dokey (2000)
RATING: 2/5 Stakes
SETTING: Season Three
CAST APPEARANCES: Buffy, Xander, Willow, Angel, Giles, Cordelia, Oz, Joyce
MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Big Mama/Zahalia Walker (Civil War vampire); Webster & Percy (Big Mama's vampire sons); Heidi Lindstrom (victim); Suz Tompkins (victim's friend); Nemesis (other-dimensional entity of judgment)
BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: "Something icky is brewing, as usual, in Sunnydale. This time it's in the form of two clean-cut, prep school-type boys. Buffy's suspicious from the start--their fashion statement is so old it's dead, and it seems they have a slightly unnatural attachment to their mother. But then, almost everything about these boys is unnatural--they're vampires. Not ordinary vampires, either--they are descendants of a clan known for its ability to summon powerful occult forces. And when the Slayer dusts this dynamic duo, she learns what you get when you mess with a vamp family tree. Now it's up to Buffy to battle her personal demons--or risk endangering her own most cherished relation. Because mama vamp has something in mind for Joyce. . . ."
REVIEW
Here Be Monsters starts out strong, with a creepy, unique depiction of two vampires dragging a helpless victim home to their "Mama". Big Mama, wife of a Confederate civil war soldier, works hard to bring her two boys up "proper" as Southern gentlemen in a world of declining social values (a.k.a, present-day Sunnydale). Cameron Dokey does a good job with making Big Mama come alive (so to speak) as an insanely over-protective mother, and the crazed fury that results when Buffy and Angel stake her two boys makes the first half of the novel an enjoyable read.
Unfortunately, things rapidly go down hill from there. Big Mama rather predictably kidnaps Joyce, and then the story takes a real turn for the worse when a silly, wise-talking other-dimensional entity known only as Nemesis is invoked in order to test whether Buffy loves her mom more than Big Mama loved her kids. The Trial has Buffy go through the standard mindgames (fighting her younger selves, having visions of friends being murdered) before fighting a giant spider. A limp moral is the final touch on an altogether cheesy ending.
Dokey shows real potential in the early chapters of the book--the banter between Buffy and Angel is crisp and witty, the action is fast-paced and interesting, and there is a very strong interlude with Joyce putting pictures in a scrapbook while ruminating about her daughter's life. The verdict of the Trial is clear, however: Here Be Monsters is a Buffy book best avoided.
Jhaeman's Buffy Reviews: http://www.geocities.com/jhaeman
(c) 2004, Jeremy Patrick-Justice
Rating: Summary: Buffy Books once again Rock Review: Here Be Monsters is a really good Buffy book, once again the novels take place during season 3 of Buffy and this one is really good, it took me only 2 days to read, the ending is suprising and i really wasnt seeing the twist coming. If u want a good read i recommend this book one of the best in the series
Rating: Summary: Very Predictable, but okay Review: I didn't really enjoy this book because you knew what was going to happen. It was obvious that the vamps were killing the people, and Buffy would of course save the day. The twist with the demons was good, but I wouldn't recommend this book. Dokey is still a newer writer, so taking that into account the book was fair. Not number one on my book list, but an average read.
Rating: Summary: The worst Buffy book to date Review: I own ever Buffy the Vampire Slayer book published and most of the books are really good, but this one is really bad. The plot is sub-par at best, and the writting makes one not even want to finish the book, I an avid Buffy fan could't even sit through this one. If you have to give up a book give this one up, only buy to complete a collection like me.
Rating: Summary: The worst Buffy book to date Review: I own ever Buffy the Vampire Slayer book published and most of the books are really good, but this one is really bad. The plot is sub-par at best, and the writting makes one not even want to finish the book, I an avid Buffy fan could't even sit through this one. If you have to give up a book give this one up, only buy to complete a collection like me.
Rating: Summary: Not what I expected Review: I picked up the book at my library and thought from the back that it might be a bit hokey. I was right. I didn't really get into it, it was slow at parts, and I didn't enjoy myself like I do with other Buffy books. Definitely not one of the Buffy books that you HAVE to get.
Rating: Summary: Not what I expected Review: I picked up the book at my library and thought from the back that it might be a bit hokey. I was right. I didn't really get into it, it was slow at parts, and I didn't enjoy myself like I do with other Buffy books. Definitely not one of the Buffy books that you HAVE to get.
Rating: Summary: Expected Better Review: I really didn't enjoy anything about this book. The plot was suprisingly boring and the characters didn't stand out as they usually did in the other stories I have read. The only reason I finished the book was because I hoped it might pick back up somehow. It didn't.My opinion: Don't bother buying.
Rating: Summary: It was off the Hook!!! Review: I really enjoyed "Here be Monsters". I liked the way all the characters were developed some what in the the story line and no one was really left hanging when it came to dialogue. I think I love this book so much because I am such a btvs fan. But even if I wasn't I know I would have still enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. It was a stretch from the book "Immortal", but it was still good as Buffy novels go.
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