Door to Alternity

Rating:
Summary: Buffy and Angel finally learn what is really going on here
Review: "Door to Alternity," the second in the "Unseen" Buffy/Angel crossover trilogy, offers us an explanation for why people are disappearing in Los Angeles while monsters are popping up all over the place in Sunnydale. But what is more interesting is what we discover to be the power behind the opening of these doors to "alternity," as Nancy Holder and Jeff Mariotte offer an interesting twist on the downfall of the Soviet Union. Now we understand why the Russian Mafiya has been playing so prominent a role in the proceedings. However, overall "Door to Alternity" is pretty much a holding pattern for the Vampire Slayer and her former beau, as well as the supporting players. By the end of the book is it finally time for Buffy and Angel to go do something about it and all you can say is "About time."

The idea of "alternity" is certainly interesting, but the explanation gets held off for over 200 pages and there is no exploration of the concept in this novel. For those of us who were so impressed by "The Ghost Roads," the second book in the first Buffy the Vampire Slayer trilogy, "Door to Alternity" suffers in comparison, but to be fair, most Buffy books would. Among the supporting cast Wesley has a couple of nice moments, Willow gets to be a bird (but does not get to learn as much as I would have wished from Dona Pilar), Anya continues to say the wrong things (usually about sex) at each and every opportunity, and Gunn gets to take a road trip to Sunnydale. But now that this second book has put (almost) all the pieces in place, it is time to see if Holden and Mariotte can put it into high gear for the finale.