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Summary: Finally, the Spike/Willow spin-off!
Review: Very interesting storyline - the myth of the origins of the theater and the attempt to go back to these origins by people with very bad intentions - that draw your attention from the beginning to the end, you can't stop reading. Also, the accurate portrayal of all characters makes it a pleasure to go through this book. For those who are Spike's fans, "These Our Actors" is a treat - in flashbacks, it picks up where the very known scene from episode "Fool For Love" left off, when good William is mistreated by Cecily Addams, and ends up in a dark alley with evil Drusilla - or even before, showing William and his liking for the arts as well as his love for Cecily. We finally have the opportunity to learn what happened right after the bloody awful poet becomes a vamp and joins Dru, Angelus and Darla in their thirst for blood and carnage. Besides, Spike gets to solve some unfinished business in 2000 Sunnydale. And, if you appreciate the idea of a Spike/Willow spin-off - as working partners, 'cause you know, Willow's gay now - this is the book for you. Set on season 5 (when Willow started attending Drama class, as seen on TV), we can enjoy once more the sweet nerd girl, who dates Tara, uses magick in a non-evil way and don't miss a class for anything, and the snarky chipped vampire who is in love with the Slayer (his feelings haven't been disclosed yet) and helps the Scoobies, although having some reservations about those folks. To understand better the last chapter, I would recommend doing a quick research on the Internet about Greek Mythology; I did, and it helped a lot.
Rating: 
Summary: Spike and his soding chip, Evil is set for an ENCORE
Review: Well, this book mostly focuses on Willow(in odd chapters, and about halfway joined with Spike) and Spike(in even chapters, in his human days, then getting sired by Drusila in Chapter 6). Plus, the evil Professor Addams. What I like about this book is it connects very well with Addams in the future, and in the past. Also, with the new Spike, and the deadly one in the past. Spike still has all those sayings he has in Buffy, and Willow is very much alike. This is not Season 5 Buffy, I don't know who brought that up. Dawn isn't mentioned once in the book, so it can't be season 5. But again, there's no Riley, but a chip in Spike's head. So, I'm guessing they just left Riley out of the picture, so it's late season 4. Plus, hint, give away, Tara, no Oz. Back to the plot, Willow wants to do a project for extra credit. So, Professor Addams gets Willow to get some books. Just getting worse. Plus, haunting ghosts in the theatre and phantoms, this is a great Buffy novel!!
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Summary: What's on the mind of everyday college students?
Review: What's on the mind of everyday college students? Homework? Sleep? Magick? That's what's on the mind of Willow Rosenberg every time she's not in class! Well, not always. She likes to hang out with her buds, especially Buffy Summers a.k.a. the Slayer, and her girlfriend Tara. When she's not hanging out or trying some spells, she's copying her notes in four different colors, or doing her homework for the week, or reading a book. A magick book, that is. But she's not the only one dabbling in the Black Arts. Professor Albert Addams wants something Willow has... and he'll do just about anything to get it. But Willow's not alone - the one- hundred-and-twenty-year-old vampire Spike, previously (before death) known as William the Bloody, is out for revenge about something old. Something as old as William the Bloody himself...and that includes Addams... This book was very exciting to me, especially when Willow first gets help fighting a vampire from Spike. Spike doesn't like the 'Scooby gang', but that doesn't mean he won't settle for fighting a vampire, since that's the only thing he can hit now that he's got the chip the Initiative (Secret underground military base that did experiments on demons lead by Maggie Walsh in the fourth season) put in. The novel changes to sad when William is turned down by his past love. The book is also suspenseful, because you never know what's going to happen next; if Willow is going to say something witty, if Spike'll actually show up, if Addams will find what he's looking for, things like that. The parts I didn't like were some of the actions of the characters, like the fighting, for instance. Willow rarely does a spell and Buffy fights once in the graveyard, but that's understandable, because the book is based on Willow instead of Buffy. The rest of the novel is all right, except for the flashbacks to the 1900's. It wasn't explaining how he was turned to a vampire, like how Drusilla found him, and changed him and promised William to find the 'effulgent' thing he wanted. Otherwise the book is tremendously great. If you enjoy the television show and are a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, read this book, These Our Actors. If you're NOT a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, read the book, and chances are you will be, because you just have to keep an open mind! And even if you're reading this, you probably already are a fan, so read the book These Our Actors, and you'll love it.
Rating:
Summary: Spike's Story
Review: While the cover is deceptively focused on Willow with Spike in the background, this book is Spike's. While Willow is featured in one plot line, the main story is a flashback from Spike's past. While Willow fans might be disappointed, I was personally very pleased to find a book featuring mostly Spike. He'd my favorite character on the show and the personality that endeared him to me on Buffy is pervasive in the novel. The main story line is a tie between Spike's past as a young vampire, and Willow's drama professor who just happens to be the father of the woman Spike was in love with when he was alive. Of course the father wouldn't have lived all these years if he hadn't been dabbling in some sort of evil, which he was, and through a long story line of flashbacks, the genesis of the problem is revealed. Of course Spike and Willow defeat the evil professor and everything is set right in the end, but that's not the book's strong point. That comes from the flashbacks which reveal so much about Spike. Spike is revealed to be a likable vampire in his own bloodthirsty way and truly hurt by the rejection he received when he was human. Of course this involves killing everyone who ever crossed him when he was alive, yet he somehow stops short of killing the woman he was in love with, proving perfectly that Spike has always been a softie for the ladies in his life. Of course Angelus, Darla and Dru are there vamping in up, but the main focus is Spike and his struggle to come to terms with what he is and what he was. Even the modern Spike in the novel was menacing and endearing at the same time. Looking for a fight, but still trying to protect Willow. This is what always made him such a good conflicted character. The weak point of the book is the Willow story line. There isn't much time spent on clearing that up and it wraps up far too easily. That aside, this book for a Spike lover was great, though probably a bit confusing for those just entering the Buffy-verse.
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Summary: Behind the Scenes
Review: Willow exploits the Sunnydale University's resources by signing up for a theater class to balance her otherwise geeky curriculum. Originally, she had hoped that Buffy would join her, but a full schedule of vampire demolishment and Dawn-rearing has the Slayer completely occupied. Undeterred, Willow discovers that the class involves practical work assisting in the theater as well as attending classes. Before she knows it, Willow has been drawn into the magic of costumes and scene painting. And theatrical superstitions. And ghosts. Something is not quite right in the Sunnydale U. Theater. Accidents keep happening and Willow hears the murmuring of voices. The young witch's curiosity is piqued and she is drawn into a world where it is not always clear what is on stage and what is in the audience. Then a special assignment from her professor, Dr. Addams, sends her on a chase for books on the magical uses of the theater and things really begin to get complicated. The real treat of the novel is the other story arc, though. For the first time we are given the details of Spike's life before and after meeting Drusilla. These document his change from a well bred Englishman with a penchant for writing horrible verse to an irascible vampire who thinks that the best cure for a headache (someone else's headache) is a spike between the ears. We find out about his love for the beautiful Cecily Addams, his making, and his quest for revenge. Gradually, this story and Willow's discoveries in modern Sunnydale begin to twine together into a tale of epic proportions. Buffy is noticeable absent from this story, and the result seems to be a more introspective plot. Even Spike's story arc has less action than is usual for a book in this series. Perhaps the thing I miss the most is Buffy's ability to banter in the midst of badness. In recompense, we get addition insights into the characters of Willow and Spike, a great deal of information about the ancient history of the theater, and a dryer but more carefully crafted novel. This may not be to everyone's taste. Another issue is that the time gap between the books and current seasons. It is getting harder to become absorbed in a story that goes in a completely different direction than the show has gone. The advance of the seasons has been carefully controlled in the books, but they are in danger of losing their relevance if they do not get closer into synch. None of this is the authors' fault, but it distracts from what actually is an interesting and enjoyable novel.
Rating:
Summary: Spike and Willow; a great team
Review: Willow is really digging her new theater class. But the more she gets involved, the more she feels something wrong about her teacher. And indeed she should; Spike remembers him from his days roaming with Angelus, Darla and Drucilla in the 19th centery. Leaving the other Scobbies out of it, Spike and Willow team up to battle the professor by themselves (Willow out of obligation to fight evil, Spike to even up a score). First of all, this book is simply entertainment, and is not meant to be thoroughly examined. It is fun and interesting to find that Willow has a small attraction to Spike. And Spike is likeable, in that bad boy that we all want to be kind of way. This one, with Spike's half of "Blood and Fog", are the best Buffy books since the Gatekeeper triligy.
Rating:
Summary: Spike and Willow; a great team
Review: Willow is really digging her new theater class. But the more she gets involved, the more she feels something wrong about her teacher. And indeed she should; Spike remembers him from his days roaming with Angelus, Darla and Drucilla in the 19th centery. Leaving the other Scobbies out of it, Spike and Willow team up to battle the professor by themselves (Willow out of obligation to fight evil, Spike to even up a score). First of all, this book is simply entertainment, and is not meant to be thoroughly examined. It is fun and interesting to find that Willow has a small attraction to Spike. And Spike is likeable, in that bad boy that we all want to be kind of way. This one, with Spike's half of "Blood and Fog", are the best Buffy books since the Gatekeeper triligy.
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