I just ordered off Amazon 3 Buffy books each with three separate stories in them I was wondering if anyone else had read them and if they were any good. No spoilers please just would like to know if they were any good. Also Spike and Dru: pretty maids in a row, Blackout it's also about Spike and there was another spike book and I can't remember the name so if you can think of any other spike books not comics let me know the names of them please and I'd like opinions on all of them
Buffy books
- Thread starter slayer6
- Start date
'Pretty Maids' is an amazing read. It's one of my all time favorite books - not just BtVS, but in general. It DOES go against canon, but can be forgiven in that...Spike maybe just doesn't count it...? Sorry, it's hard to go into specifics without spoilers.
'Blackout' is...pretty crap, to be perfectly honest. It goes against a lot of canon, like above, but it's more blatantly obvious, especially considering what came out in S9.
If 'Spark and Burn' was the other book you ordered...I HAVE read it, but I must not have liked it much, as I can't think what it was about. The thing about Spike-heavy novels is that you're not really going to find many, because most of the novels are set before S5, so Spike didn't play a big part in them. There are a few that are set after that point, but not many.
If you want a Spike-heavy novel, try 'These Are Actors' or 'Wisdom of War', both decent reads, nothing brilliant, but good enough. 'Cursed' is actually an AtS novel, but Spike is featured heavily. Not the best read, but it works. 'Blood and Fog' was a good read, I enjoyed that one a lot.
The best novels from the BtVS!Verse though, I would have to say, would be:
'The Lost Slayer', amazing, AMAZING read, my favorite novel of all time. The whole story is just so perfectly written and just brilliant.
'The Book of Fours', wonderful read about the Slayer line and a little insight into the Slayer that came before Buffy.
'Monster Island', great crossover book, involving the Scoobies and Team Angel heavily and well written.
'Endangered Species', great book, focusing on Angel and Faith's relationship.
'Blackout' is...pretty crap, to be perfectly honest. It goes against a lot of canon, like above, but it's more blatantly obvious, especially considering what came out in S9.
If 'Spark and Burn' was the other book you ordered...I HAVE read it, but I must not have liked it much, as I can't think what it was about. The thing about Spike-heavy novels is that you're not really going to find many, because most of the novels are set before S5, so Spike didn't play a big part in them. There are a few that are set after that point, but not many.
If you want a Spike-heavy novel, try 'These Are Actors' or 'Wisdom of War', both decent reads, nothing brilliant, but good enough. 'Cursed' is actually an AtS novel, but Spike is featured heavily. Not the best read, but it works. 'Blood and Fog' was a good read, I enjoyed that one a lot.
The best novels from the BtVS!Verse though, I would have to say, would be:
'The Lost Slayer', amazing, AMAZING read, my favorite novel of all time. The whole story is just so perfectly written and just brilliant.
'The Book of Fours', wonderful read about the Slayer line and a little insight into the Slayer that came before Buffy.
'Monster Island', great crossover book, involving the Scoobies and Team Angel heavily and well written.
'Endangered Species', great book, focusing on Angel and Faith's relationship.
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slayer6
thank you very much and yes spark and burn was it. your insight is greatly apprecioated
Evil Angelus 95
Total Dork
I'd recommend "The Lost Slayer", "Immortal", "Chaos Bleeds", The "Unseen" Trilogy, and "Child Of The Hunt" 🙂 I enjoy the majority of the Buffy books...except "Dark Congress"....that as a shipper hurt me...badly.
BuffyElevated
Scooby
Evil Angelus 95
Total Dork
I honestly don't mind with this one now I'm unsure if I want it so if you don't want to give spoilers here if you could private message your reasoning behind it I'd appreciate it very much.
Evil Angelus 95
Total Dork
'Dark Congress' isn't the best of novels, but, shipping preferences aside, it's A LOT better than 'Queen of the Slayers', the only other novel to be set post-S7, and I think that's because it doesn't try to shove itself into the canon.
'Queen of the Slayers' tried SO HARD to line up with the canon that was created in the Angel episode, 'The Girl in Question', that it looks nothing short of ridiculous now, seeing as how TGIQ was retconned to the highest degree possible. Even the episode itself seems a little stupid now.
Everyone in 'Queen of the Slayers', though, seems completely out of character, most especially Kennedy. There is no way that she would act the way she did in this book, and I think that really got to be more than the ridiculous ending.
'Queen of the Slayers' upset me greatly, because Nancy Holder is one of my all time favorite BtVS novelists, and for her to come out with something as bad as this was honestly hurtful. I'd advice EVERYONE to stay far away from it.
'Queen of the Slayers' tried SO HARD to line up with the canon that was created in the Angel episode, 'The Girl in Question', that it looks nothing short of ridiculous now, seeing as how TGIQ was retconned to the highest degree possible. Even the episode itself seems a little stupid now.
Everyone in 'Queen of the Slayers', though, seems completely out of character, most especially Kennedy. There is no way that she would act the way she did in this book, and I think that really got to be more than the ridiculous ending.
'Queen of the Slayers' upset me greatly, because Nancy Holder is one of my all time favorite BtVS novelists, and for her to come out with something as bad as this was honestly hurtful. I'd advice EVERYONE to stay far away from it.
The Chosen
Time is all around
One that I really enjoyed was A Portal Through Time. It's not too Spike-centric, (I actually don't remember him being in it at all) but I liked it a lot at the time. That was a few years ago, though.
As others have said, The Book of Fours is solid, as is Chaos Bleeds.
As others have said, The Book of Fours is solid, as is Chaos Bleeds.
Evil Angelus 95
Total Dork
Oh I definitely agree with you on that. As much as I dislike "Dark Congress", it was a thousand times better than "Queen of the Slayers"!
Lyri
[No message]
O.K. so I am 80% finished reading spark and burn and I think it is great. I have gotten mixed reviews from other people but I guess that is to be expected from any book but this is really 50 50 so far. I am not sure if it is considered canon or not but I enjoy that it gives insight to what was going on with Spike when he was going crazy in the school basement. It also gives me insight to what he was thinking while fighting with Buffy and watching her throughout season 2 even when we don't see him in the show. Like I assumed he ran after Joyce hit him with the axe because he was afraid but he makes it clear in Spark and Burn that he ran because he wanted a fair fight with Buffy hand he felt that her having to protect her mother as well as herself gave himself an unfair advantage. This is great insight to Spike's mind IMO. It was all about the danger and thrill of fighting a slayer. I find it interesting how it is obvious to the reader that after the school he continues to make excuses for not attacking her to himself and doesn't even realize they are excuses. I personally would recommend this book to Buffy fans in general and especially if you like Spike.
emptyvessels
Can we rest now?
My public library has most of the books and I keep meaning to go and check some out but I forget. I think I will this weekend, though. I am excited. 🙂