Rating: 
Summary: Thrilling Quartet for Hardcore 'Buffy' Fans
Review: "Prophecies" - 5 stars - Vampire-slayer Buffy Summers is having an extremely hard time of adjusting to her life as a non-high school student, and new Freshman at UC Sunnydale. For one thing, she's made a bad impression on her teachers, turning things in late, and missing classes; and her relationship with Willow and Giles is slowly going down the tube. However, when a group of organized vampires covered in bat tattoos show-up in Sunnydale, Buffy knows that it's up to her to try and destroy them before they take over the entire town. But when Giles and her begin investigating, and run into danger, causing Giles to be captured by them, and held hostage, Buffy finds herself fleeing, and calls upon the now-dead slayer, Lucy Hanover to help her out. Lucy informs Buffy that she must find a Prophet, to show her what will happen in the future, so she can avoid danger. But instead of helping, this action catapults the now 19-year-old Buffy into the future, to what she'll be when she's 24-years-old.
"Dark Times" - 5 stars - Sunnydale has always been a marking-ground for vampires, and other creatures of the underworld. At nightfall, they prey upon the innocents that walk upon the Hellmouth, at daybreak they sleep, content with the blood consumed the night before. However, when Buffy Summers - the chosen one - awakens in the future, now a 24-year-old, she is shocked to see what has happened to Sunnydale. It is now overrun with vampires, and creatures of the night, who have claimed it as their own. Buffy soon finds that her friends, known as the Scooby gang, have now grown as well. The usually fun-loving Xander is now a humorless older man, Willow is a complete sorceress, and Oz possesses a tremendous split personality, living as both a human and werewolf. However, back in the present, Buffy's friends can't figure out why the 19-year-old is acting so strangely, and walking around in a trance-life state. They don't yet realize that the Prophet has taken-over her body. Now it's up to the Slayer's friends to draw her out of the future, and bring her back to the present before it's too late.
"King of the Dead" - 5 stars - Buffy has been launched five-years into the future, and is now inhabiting her 24-year-old body, while her 19-year-old mind reigns over all. She has been rescued by Willow and Xander, her two best friends, who, now, in their 24-year-old bodies, have begun working for the Watchers Council. No, they are not watchers, but protectors. The world is bleak five years later, for Buffy has found that her Mother is dead, and that Angel is missing. But that is not the worst of it, for a strange bit of information has found it's way to Buffy, and she now knows that Giles, her beloved Watcher for years, has switched sides, and is now the Vampire King. And Spike, who seemed pretty powerful in the past, is now nothing more than a minion to Giles. Now Buffy is forced to fight to take back Sunnydale, and soon, the rest of California back from the dead, or rather, undead, while her friends back home are struggling to bring her 19-year-old spirit back home.
"Original Sins" - 5 stars - The world is changing. At least inside the walls of the town of Sunnydale, California. Spike is dead, as are Faith, the slayer gone bad, and Joyce Summers, Buffy's beloved mother. All is not right due to the fact that Southern California is now being ruled by vampires. And Rupert Giles himself, is the king of them all. Buffy knows that all that is happening in the future was caused by her. The fact that she didn't want help from her friends in fighting the vampires, and Camazotz led to Giles' capture, and ultimately pushed him to become the King of Vampires. Now, Buffy must gather all of the strength that she has, and fight the demon that is inhabiting Giles' body to alter the future. Now, with the help of Willow, and the rest of the Scooby Gang, Buffy must kill Camazotz, save Giles, and bring her body back to her old self before it's too late.
As a fan of Christopher Golden's writing, both for the BUFFY series, and his side projects, I try to read everything that I can by him. THE LOST SLAYER QUARTET, I am happy to announce, is one of the best collections of novellas that has ever graced the BUFFY series. Each book is filled with immense, and intense action and fight scenes featuring Buffy and the Scooby Gang both as their 19-year-old selves, and 24-year-old selves. THE LOST SLAYER QUARTET is something that cannot be missed by BUFFY fans, as it is essential reading.
Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper
Rating:
Summary: Grand Master Giles
Review: An ancient Mayan bat-god's highly organized and frighteningly resilient vampire servants are in the process of behind-the-scenes takeover in Sunnydale. A miscalculation on Giles' and Buffy's part ends up with him captured by the nasty bat-god and her catapulted five years into the future - where everything has taken a decided turn for the worse.Future Sunnydale and its surrounding environs are completely owned by the undead. The vampires now have a leader more organized and strategic than The Master: Rupert Giles. Buffy's fatal error of five years ago cost her Watcher's life, turning him into the smartest vampire on the planet - one who understands the Slayer's moves and strategies better than any prior foe could ever hope to have done. Worst of all, Giles has no intention of killing her. He wants Buffy very much alive - or, more specifically, undead - to become allied with him, and make him truly unbeatable. And with her world falling apart, her friends dead and dying, the Initiative defeated, Angel no more than a memory, and no known way back to the world from which she came, that prospect becomes a very real possibility for our beleaguered Slayer... When Golden is on his game, he's hard to beat - and he's very much on his game, here. This is one of the greatest Buffy story ideas ever, and he handles it excellently. It has similarities to the series' best episode, "The Wish," with its nightmare alternate Sunnydale, and incorporates the most memorable elements of the entire first four seasons. The time-travel angle has logic holes, but they're reasonably unimportant given how richly detailed Golden's action and psychological portraiture of the characters is. The only real complaint about this volume is its sheer size. Being a collection of the four-part serialized novel, it has some unnecessary padding and repetition. It should have been re-typeset to a smaller size, and re-edited, instead of simply pasted together from the four prior installments fully intact. But that is a small complaint - for a very, very big book. And a very, very good one.
Rating:
Summary: Just like a buffy move (but not quite as good)
Review: Annotation: The Lost Slayer is a continuation off of the fourth season of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series. Buffy Summers feels very uncomfortable in her new college life. Willow Rosenberg, her best friend, seems to have no problem adjusting to college. As if adjusting to college wasn't enough a new breed of vampire is lurking around town. Buffy is convinced she can do it on her own but she finds herself in deeper than she could have ever imagined. After an unbelievable journey into the future she realizes that she cannot fight the forces of evil by herself.
Author Bio: Christopher Golden is an award - winning, L.A. Times bestselling author. He was born and raised in Massachusetts where he still resides today. He earned his undergraduate degree at Tufts University. He has written many popular books such as The Ferryman, Strangewood, The Gathering Dark, Of Saints and Shadows, Prowlers, and the Body of Evidence series. He has also written and co-written many books and comic books. He writes comic books based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel television series. Other comic book characters he writes on include Batman, Wolverine, Spider-man, The Crow, and Hellboy. He also co-wrote the script for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer video game.
Evaluation: Buffy Summers is determined to make it through college, have a social life, and fight the powers of darkness all by herself. Willow Rosenberg, her best friend, seems to breeze through college. This makes Buffy feel defeated. Willow knows that Buffy can't possibly do everything by herself and tries to help. Buffy feels like she must do everything on her own because she is the slayer. What she doesn't realize is that the only reason she has been able to live beyond the average slayer life expectancy is because of her friends' help. Her trying to do everything on her own ultimately leads to a decision that changes the whole course of history. A new breed of vampire comes to Sunnydale at exactly the wrong time. These vampires are more powerful than any others Buffy has ever seen. They have all been sired by Camazotz, a bat like demon who started the vampire race. When she comes face to face with the demon she is torn between giving herself up and saving Giles, her watcher, and saving her own life. She knew that if she gave herself up she would die so she makes a run for it. She and her friends contact a slayer's ghost in order to get a perspective on what to do. Buffy ends up being thrown five years into the future. In this world she is held in a cell that is impossible to get out of. Can Buffy get out of the cell? Who is part of the watcher's council? Can Buffy take Sunnydale back over? Can she find a way to return to the present?
This book was an amazing continuation of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. Christopher Golden wrote this book in complete accuracy. He captured the characters' personalities perfectly. This book was very creative because it tied in both the current day Sunnydale life and how Sunnydale was going to be five years from then. While Buffy was in the future, her friends were trying to figure out what had happened to her in the present. It was fairly confusing at first because Buffy seemed to be both in the future and in the present. When reading this book I did not see any of the twists coming for a second. I love how surprising this book was. There were just too many unexpected twists and turns that were never foreshadowed. The only downside to this novel is that to truly understand it the reader must have seen all of the previous Buffy episodes from the fourth season.
Rating:
Summary: A Good "What If" Story
Review: As you've read in the other reviews, this book takes place mostly in the future. One wrong move, and Buffy is rocketed 5 years into the future, where vampires have taken over and she is imprisoned to keep another Slayer from being called. She escapes and learns that although most of her friends are still fighting the good fight, they've changed...
I've read this omnibus at least four times, and as soon as I'm finished Monster Island, I plan on picking it up again. Another reviewer complained that the future characters have no sense of humour. I think that only underscores how dreary and dangerous their lives have become without Buffy to save the day. (Sounds trite, but she is the Slayer.)
I'm one of the only adults I know who reads the Buffy books. I loved the show, and I enjoy the books. Golden knows the characters well; you can close your eyes and imagine Sarah, Alyson, and Nicholas acting this book out. I gave this book 5 stars. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: Grandmaster Giles
Review: Buffy makes a mistake in present-day Sunnydale with far-reaching consequences, and finds herself magically transported into the nightmare future her miscalculation has created. There, Buffy has been a prisoner of the vampires for five years. The creatures of the night have conquered Sunnydale and its surrounding cities, and are continuing to expand under the tutelage of a new leader more crafty and experienced than the Master: Rupert Giles, Buffy's former Watcher. If Buffy can't escape and make her way back to her own time, this is the world that will come to pass - a world in which most of her friends and loved ones are dead. When Christopher Golden pulls out the stops, he's hard to beat, and here he's pulled out the stops. This mammoth Buffy novel has everything any fan could want, and even non-fans might enjoy the story for its own apocalyptic roller-coaster ride. It's reminiscent of the T.V. series' best episode, "The Wish," in which all the characters everyone has come to know and love succumb to a nightmarish alternate-dimension vampire Armageddon, though The Lost Slayer is its own story. The only real complaint that can be made about this tome is its ungainly length, the consequence of its being a bind-up of four previous shorter serial novels - which could easily have been streamlined both editorially and in reduction of typeset size when published in a single volume - but that is a small complaint for a big book. A VERY big book.
Rating:
Summary: Christopher Golden's Best
Review: Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder are often listed as the two best Buffy the Vampire Slayer novelists around. Both are good, but personally I give the nod to Christopher Golden. He has a knack for writing the characters so well. When Willow speaks in one of his books, you can hear Alyson Hannigan in your head saying the words. That isn't so much the case with Nancy Holder -- she knows the Buffy characters well, and includes much of the same details from other BtVS stories as Golden, but she doesn't capture the patter of their speech as well as Golden does. And with this book, he's in rare form. Probably his best story yet featuring the characters from the TV show. A apparently new breed of vampire has moved into Sunnydale, a clan led by a bat-demon. They seem to be even more powerful than ordinary vampires, and as Buffy merely begins to battle this new foe, she finds herself catapulted forward in time to a world where she's lost the fight and most of her friends, and the new vampires have taken over. Now she has to figure out the mistake she made five years before that allowed this to happen, to save Sunnydale, her friends and herself. The story takes place early in season 4. It's fall; the Initiative have yet to make their appearance, but Buffy has already survived her run-in with the roommate from hell, Kathy, and she and Willow are sharing their room at Stevenson Hall. Compared to most BtVS tie-in novels, this one is extra-long and extra-engrossing. The packaging of this supernovel maintains the serial-novel progression; it's divided into four parts, corresponding to the original four novels that make up the whole Lost Slayer story. But make no mistake -- it is one extra-long Buffy story that will be even harder to put down than the standard length novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite as good as a new episode, but not bad
Review: Christopher Golden's "The Lost Slayer" is a dark "what if" story in which one action of Buffy's leads to not so nice, big time consequences. While trying to balance her life as the Slayer and her attempts to have a life outside of slaying, Buffy finds herself dealing with the normal Sunnydale "this week it's a ________ demon" crisis. She does what she thinks is the right thing, compounds it with another mistake, and ends up in a future in which a vamped Giles and his minions are taking over Southern California. (Given the havoc he creates here, one wonders what Giles was must like in his Ripper days.) Buffy finally manages to save the day and bring things back to the way they were, but not without the help of her old, now vastly changed friends. Golden's style is pretty straightforward, which makes this book an easy read. He has a good grasp on the characters. Spuffy shippers will probably not be happy, since the book takes place in the pre-Iniative days of Spike and Dru. But most of the pre-fourth season characters appear, at least in passing. Nothing can replace a new episode of "Buffy" (alas, those will be no more). This book isn't a bad substitute for the true Buffy diehard.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite as good as a new episode, but not bad
Review: Christopher Golden's "The Lost Slayer" is a dark "what if" story in which one action of Buffy's leads to not so nice, big time consequences. While trying to balance her life as the Slayer and her attempts to have a life outside of slaying, Buffy finds herself dealing with the normal Sunnydale "this week it's a ________ demon" crisis. She does what she thinks is the right thing, compounds it with another mistake, and ends up in a future in which a vamped Giles and his minions are taking over Southern California. (Given the havoc he creates here, one wonders what Giles was must like in his Ripper days.) Buffy finally manages to save the day and bring things back to the way they were, but not without the help of her old, now vastly changed friends. Golden's style is pretty straightforward, which makes this book an easy read. He has a good grasp on the characters. Spuffy shippers will probably not be happy, since the book takes place in the pre-Iniative days of Spike and Dru. But most of the pre-fourth season characters appear, at least in passing. Nothing can replace a new episode of "Buffy" (alas, those will be no more). This book isn't a bad substitute for the true Buffy diehard.
Rating:
Summary: Christopher Golden's fantastic "Lost Slayer" serial novel
Review: Christopher Golden's "The Lost Slayer" is one of the very best of the original "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" stories, on the same level with "The Gatekeeper Trilogy" he wrote with Nancy Holder. Originally published as a four-part serial novel, "The Lost Slayer" takes us back to the early days of season four, when Buffy was after Angel but before Riley and trying to enjoy being a freshman at UC-Sunnydale while Willow was still dating Oz. This is a Buffy who is on edge, accidentally backhanding Willow, repeatedly snapping at Giles, and finding freedom not in the classroom as she desires but only in letting lose the full violence of the Slayer in combat. But then two troubling things happen to up the ante. First, the shade of the deceased Slayer Lucy Hanover appears in a dream and warns Buffy of a prophecy of impending danger that will somehow be caused by Buffy herself. Second, a new pack of vampires, with bats tattooed on their face and glowing orange eyes, and showing up in increasing numbers in Sunnydale. Of course, these two developments are related in the worst way possible. For most of the novel it seems pretty clear the title refers to Buffy as a Slayer who has lost sense of her true self. But then we come to the final chapter and a dramatic development that gives "The Lost Slayer" an entirely new and unforgettable meaning. This first book gets five stars because it achieves its highest goal, which is to make the reader desperate to read the next installment. Fortunately in this edition all four books are bound together. A single bad judgment as the result of a monstrous lie has catapulted Buffy into the future and a world where vampires rule Sunnydale and the Slayer has been held captive for six years. A horrified Buffy learns she is now known as "The Lost Slayer," forgotten by the Watcher's Council. The most dramatic scene in this book comes early, when Buffy stages a chilling escape from her cell after resolving the cliffhanger that ended Part One, when August, the recently imprisoned second Slayer called to replace Faith, decided to kill Buffy so that a new Slayer could be called. This is definitely one of those sequences that is too intense for small children. Meanwhile, in the present, Giles is still being held hostage while Willow and the Scoobies discover something is not right with Buffy. The other prominent figure in the series is Willow, because Buffy's best bud is a significant figure in both of the time periods in which this tale is told. Golden also sets up Willow's growth as a Wicca on the show. The once and future Willow gets to see almost as much action as the Slayer this time around. One of the things that made "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" one of the best shows on television is that there is a dark side, a world in which bad things happen to good people and the world just might come to an end as we know it. Golden creates such a world, which is as horrific as when Anyanka granted Cordelia's wish that Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale in "Dopplegangland." Halfway through "The Lost Slayer" Golden comes up with a shattering revelation, an dif you do not know what it is then I will leave it to you to be as stunned and shocked as the rest of us were when we read it for the first time. The third part of the story focuses on the alternative "BtVS" future, where the now 24-year-old Slayer has finally escaped captivity and has been reunited with the old Scoobey Gang. Whereas the first two parts of the tale ended with us dying to find out what happens next, "King of the Dead" ends with us wanting to know more about what happened to everyone while Buffy was lost. Unfrotunately all we really get are vauge references to the horrors that happened in Sunnydale while Buffy was imprisoned, and like Buffy we want to hear more of the details. The characterizations of Willow as the de facto leader of the Watchers Council forces, Xander as the grim death machine, and Oz as the unleashed werewolf, ring true and the most poignant scenes in this part have to do with the two friends trying to find themselves again, and the realization that Willow has remained true to Buffy, even at the expense of her relationship with Oz. It is character relationship that ultimately dominates this part of the tale and provides some of the novel's best moments. "Original Sins," the finale, offers not one, but two conclusions. In the future, Buffy and what remains of the Scooby Gang have their final showdown with the Vampire King and "returns" to the present to correct the fatal error from her first encounter with the demon Camazotz, who is an excellent villain to appropriate into the Buffy mythos. Golden gets extra credit for coming up with two first-rate bad guys in the same storyline, although I almost wished Golden have saved Camazotz and his estranged "wife" Zotzilaha for another story simply because they cannot compete with the Vampire King (nobody could). In the end the story comes full circle given that the story starts with Buffy trying to separate her life as the Slayer from her life as a college Freshman. In dividing that world she thinks that her friends belong with the later, which is somewhat surprising since I always thought one of the reasons Buffy has lasted so long as a Slayer is because she was not going it alone. You would think the Watchers Council would have figured out somewhere along the line that a Slayer with support in the field was going to last longer than one forced to go solo. So in addition to creating a great alternative Buffyverse, Golden has a morale to "The Lost Slayer" as well.
Rating:
Summary: Totally Worth Reading
Review: Couldn't wish for a better Buffy book. The way they challenged her, and made her look like truly the best Slayer. Her conflict with Willow made it almost seem real. Many of the things she went through lived up to the expectaitons of the tipical Buffy fan. The futuristic detail, and sadness moved my heart. I never wanted to put the book down. The discovery of an old breed of vampire, and Giles being the king of Darkness was fasinating. How Buffy was able to move to and from the future made this book totaly worth reading.
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