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Rating: 
Summary: oh what a mess
Review: 19 year old buffy's spirit is stuck in her 24 year old body. giles her trusted mentor is king of the vampires. her mother has
been brutally murdered along with faith. angel is missing and
presumed dead. all this is because of one mistake buffy made in the past. now she must not only find a way to restore her 19 year old soul to it's proper time but also how to kill giles and
hopefully find angel. a very daunting prospect for the slayer.
this final addition to the four part drama answers most of the
questions with finese that only christopher golden can. this one
is not as good as the first 2 but it is definiely worth the read.
i know most fans wants to know how buffy will get her real life
back and i don't think you will be disappointed. i cannot tell
you much more without giving away the answers to all your
questions but to tell you to go out and read this final addition.
Rating:
Summary: "The stunning conclusion"
Review: Actually, "Original Sins," Part Four in Christopher Golden's "The Lost Slayer" serial novel, offers not one, but two conclusions. In the future, Buffy and what remains of the Scooby Gang have their final showdown with Rupert Giles the Vampire King and "returns" to the present to correct the fatal error from her first encounter with Camazotz. With all the excitement about Giles becoming the king of the Vampires, it is easy to forget that Camazotz is an excellent villain to appropriate into the Buffy mythos and I think Golden deserves extra credit for coming up with two first-rate bad guys in the same storyline.Actually, I almost wish Golden had not put the two great villains in the same book, because I would have loved to have seen Camazotz and his estranged "wife" Zotzilaha, be more center stage, but obviously he is not going to be able to compete with Giles as the Vampire King. Actually, "Popol Vuh," one of the Mayan sacred books, identifies Zotzilaha not as a god, but as a cavern, "The House of Bats." Zotzilaha was home to a type of bat called Camazotz, which has been translated as "snatch bat" and "death bat." Camalotz was also the name of the "Sudden Bloodletter", identified as one of four animal demons which slew the impious first race of men. We all know much more about the European vampire legends than what happened in South America, but Golden has taped a rich vein of lore and maybe in the future Buffy will encounter the religious death cult of the Zapotecs that worshipped a bat-demon, or the soucouyant of Trinidad or the tin tin of Ecuador. Who says Buffy the Vampire Slayer is not educational? "Original Sins" is an appropriate title for this concluding volume, which certain comes full circle given that at the start of the story Buffy is 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. The entire "Lost Slayer" series clearly takes advantage of the fact that it was written during Season 5 but takes place in Season 3. Golden clearly knows how far Willow has advanced in her wicca ways and he uses that to his advantage. I have always thought that it was the relationship between Buffy and Willow that is really at the heart of the show, and both Season 6 and Golden's novels prove the point as far as I am concerned. For those who enjoyed "The Wish" and "Doppelgangland" or have always enjoyed the DC comic "What If..." issues or "It's a Wonderful Life" and its various homages, "The Lost Slayer" is a fitting addition to the oeuvre. When these sort of stories are done right they are so good. "The Lost Slayer" is on the same level as "The Gatekeeper Trilogy," and that, in the wonderful world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer books, is as good as it gets.
Rating:
Summary: Intense
Review: I have the 4 vol. in 1 book.
When I first picked up this book I wasn't impressed at all but by the middle of the first book, I couldn't put it down, the writing is excellent, and there are so many unexpected twists that you can't wait to read what is going to happen.
I really like the idea of where these characters evolved too, except Giles who I thought was great being evil. If they turned this book into an actual episode I would be totally psyched.
Rating:
Summary: Challanges !
Review: She is forced to face her most difficult challenge - destroying her friend and mentor, Giles. She finds herself living in a 25 year old buffy body while her soul is still 19 here buffy faces the hardest challanges yet ...
Rating: 
Summary: Satisfying Conclusion
Review: The Lost Slayer: Original Sins is the final, and arguably, best installment of the 4 part series. Author Christopher Golden took his time in crafting a story that is suspensful, exciting, and at-times heart-wrenching! This book explores Buffy's strength. She is forced to face her most difficult challenge - destroying her friend and mentor, Giles. The events leading up to the climatic battle are intense and very exciting! Though Buffy is 25-years-old for the bulk of the book, her 19-year-old soul is still entwined and experiencing everything. It allows her to be a little bit wiser when she ultimately has to relive the horrifying events that lead to Giles' capture and death. The final scenes are well-written and the mental image that is painted is so intense it's like watching the show. The final few paragraphs are very heart-warming. While the series as a whole is quite horrifying, the ending is a touch lighter. Golden did a splendid job portraying the characters future selves. Willow is a remarkable sorcoress who still maintains the spirit of a shy girl who excites easily. Xander is a stoic play-by-the-book military man who has lost everything and is now fighting to survive. Oz is still quiet and emotionless, only now he has the ability to control his animal instincts. Buffy is a girl who has seen a lot, both as a 25-year-old and a 19-year-old, and it's left her tough as nails, but still with a slight Slayer's edge. The characters continue to grow and develope even in the future Sunnydale. They remain as interesting as ever! The return of characters such as Angel, Wesley, and Lucy Hanover shows there there is continuity among the books like there is in the show. New characters such as the priest who has a sixth sense to tell where vampires are hiding, and Anna - the slayer the preceeds Faith, give the book a unique flavor that the show often doesn't have. The entire series was fantastic! A truly enjoyable read. The books are all less than 200 pages and all make for a nice 3 hour read. While they are classified as "young adult", the story can be enjoyed by Buffy fans of all ages. Treat yourself and check them out!
Rating:
Summary: "The stunning conclusion"
Review: The stunning conclusion of the 4 part book can be considered the best of all four. Christopher Golden continues to show what a imagination he has. The book continues from where it left off. Giles is missing and Buffy finds her lover Angel. When Buffy went missing Angel went looking for her and was captured. The fait he awaits is more pain that Buffy can handle. Buffy finally finds Giles. The book is so compelling. I actually felt a tug at my heartsrings when Xander met his dire demise. And when Wesley was dramitically killed. Buffy fights with Giles in a well described scene and Buffy wins. The book is both adventerous and thrilling and at the same time stunning. Buffy manages to return to her past but she must find a way to change what happened in Prophesies. I think this is the best book out of the four because it shows that Sunnydale has really gone to hell and Buffy must go back to stop this horrible future so she can be with her friends and everyone she loved will not be gone. Like her mother. The conclusion was well done. Christopher Golden did a fantastic job on the whole series of books. If you want to settle down and read a really good book about the Scoobies, fun times, bad times and very sad times then you have to read this book along with the first 3 parts.
Rating:
Summary: Enthralling Conclusion to the Phenomenal Quartet
Review: 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.
I have been closely following Christopher Golden's LOST SLAYER QUARTET, due solely to the fact that I adore his writing, and I have not been at all disappointed in any of the volumes, especially ORIGINAL SINS. In this fourth and final installment readers are treated to numerous battle scenes, and Buffy's old sarcastic wit, that has made, and kept, all of us such big fans. ORIGINAL SINS is an absolute must-read for anyone who has read the previous three novels in THE LOST SLAYER QUARTET.
Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper
Rating:
Summary: All That Is Lost Can Be Restored
Review: Those that have been following along know that the previous episode of this series ("King of the Dead") ended with Buffy in hot pursuit of Rupert Giles through the cellars of Sunnydale's City Hall. Giles, turned into a vampire by the Bat God Camazotz has become a master vampire. Under his control the blood drinkers of Southern California are preparing to take over a sizable chunk of the Southwest. For Buffy, suddenly thrust forward into this time to share her own body with her five years older self, this is a confrontation she absolutely cannot afford to lose. But it is one she will hate to win. I'm not going to play at maintaining suspense by not quite telling you she is going to win this battle. Win she does, but at tremendous cost in energy and lives. And Buffy quickly discovers that this is to be only the first of many struggles. The future she is in came about as the result of an error she made five years back. She must find out what her mistake was and undo it if there is to be any way of unmaking the horror and returning a better future to the world. Buffy and Willow combine efforts to discover the error and to find a way for Buffy to return. Buffy's trials are hardly over, and if the final end is not in doubt, it still offers a titanic and moving end that is much different than from Buffy's usual tales. Right away the reader will sense that there is more to this story than being yet another Buffy tale. The characters are vivid, sharply drawn by Christopher Golden's. Willow is stronger, Xander is etched by loss and struggle, and Buffy, after 5 years locked in a cell, is tougher and more determined than ever before. As events force Buffy into self examination and new understandings she provides more than just her usual woman-in-charge role model. She demonstrates deeper values of friendship and commitment that make this a great story for all ages. Golden has very much outdone himself this time. The pace of action, which builds constantly over the four episodes, never seems to flag. He has found new ways to use and work with all his characters and maintained a steady stream of surprises and inventions. My only regret is that this was published in four parts rather than as a single 500 page offering. Thus the price a bit higher than it need be, although I would not have quibbled at the price even if the publishers had chosen to issue this as a hard cover. At least then I wouldn't have had to way three months for the conclusion. Highly recommended
Rating: 
Summary: The Series Creaks to a Finish
Review: Well, I have to say that out of all the novelisations based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Christopher Golden's "The Lost Slayer" has *not* been by favourite. Beginning with 'Prophesies', and moving through 'Dark Times' and 'The Vampire King' Golden gives himself the freedom to do what he likes with the characters (including killing them) by instigating a plot device that has nineteen year old Buffy hurtled into the future to her twenty-five year old body, fighting in an post-apocalyptic Sunnydale ruled over by Giles, the Vampire King. All this is due to a fatal mistake she made in her college years, and the course of 'Original Sins' can be divided into two: Buffy going up against Giles, and Buffy attempting to rectify her long-ago mistake. Also on the scene are her former friends - the powerful sorceress Willow (who plays the largest part in the story after Buffy herself), the hardened warrior Xander, and the werewolf Oz hovering between humanity and animalistic tendencies. Along with the Watcher's Council and the latest Slayer Anna Keui (who doesn't play any sort of meaningful part in the action) they go up against Giles and the demon-god Camazotz, previously a dangerous foe, now just a battery for the Kakchiquels (vampires that fed on his mystical energy). Despite a rather potent scene that has Buffy fighting between what Golden describes as "the two men she loved most" - the vampiric Giles and a trapped Angel, the final showdown with her former Watcher is somewhat anti-climatic, and all that follows with Willow and former-Slayer Lucy Hanover sending Buffy back into the past has absolutely no edge to it, simply because everybody *knows* that things will get back to normal. Such is the problem with writing a book set in an already-established plot line - you can't develop anybody or anything. "The Lost Slayer" was a vaugely entertaining read, but after volume one, there was no way you could read them out of order without becoming utterly lost. I suggest the publication that has all four books in one volume so that one doesn't have to hunt all over the place for the next installment in the series (one of the things I hate about any kind of book that isn't self-contained). There's an interesting look in the future of what *could* one day happen, but nothing we haven't seen in episodes in television such as "The Wish" in Season Three, and eventually Golden's killing off of practically every character for no other reason but simply because he *could* got tiring. By the end, I was skim reading in order to get to the finish. By all means, give it a try, but don't feel bad if you have to return it to the library before you're done.
Rating:
Summary: The Series Creaks to a Finish
Review: Well, I have to say that out of all the novelisations based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Christopher Golden's "The Lost Slayer" has *not* been by favourite. Beginning with 'Prophesies', and moving through 'Dark Times' and 'The Vampire King' Golden gives himself the freedom to do what he likes with the characters (including killing them) by instigating a plot device that has nineteen year old Buffy hurtled into the future to her twenty-five year old body, fighting in an post-apocalyptic Sunnydale ruled over by Giles, the Vampire King. All this is due to a fatal mistake she made in her college years, and the course of 'Original Sins' can be divided into two: Buffy going up against Giles, and Buffy attempting to rectify her long-ago mistake. Also on the scene are her former friends - the powerful sorceress Willow (who plays the largest part in the story after Buffy herself), the hardened warrior Xander, and the werewolf Oz hovering between humanity and animalistic tendencies. Along with the Watcher's Council and the latest Slayer Anna Keui (who doesn't play any sort of meaningful part in the action) they go up against Giles and the demon-god Camazotz, previously a dangerous foe, now just a battery for the Kakchiquels (vampires that fed on his mystical energy). Despite a rather potent scene that has Buffy fighting between what Golden describes as "the two men she loved most" - the vampiric Giles and a trapped Angel, the final showdown with her former Watcher is somewhat anti-climatic, and all that follows with Willow and former-Slayer Lucy Hanover sending Buffy back into the past has absolutely no edge to it, simply because everybody *knows* that things will get back to normal. Such is the problem with writing a book set in an already-established plot line - you can't develop anybody or anything. "The Lost Slayer" was a vaugely entertaining read, but after volume one, there was no way you could read them out of order without becoming utterly lost. I suggest the publication that has all four books in one volume so that one doesn't have to hunt all over the place for the next installment in the series (one of the things I hate about any kind of book that isn't self-contained). There's an interesting look in the future of what *could* one day happen, but nothing we haven't seen in episodes in television such as "The Wish" in Season Three, and eventually Golden's killing off of practically every character for no other reason but simply because he *could* got tiring. By the end, I was skim reading in order to get to the finish. By all means, give it a try, but don't feel bad if you have to return it to the library before you're done.
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