Discuss: Chapters 9 - 16

[Taake]

Here is where you can discuss chapters 9-16, pages 109-198, of Slayer!

 

[Taake]

Theeeeere we go... Wesley and a Spike reference on the same page. Just as I start to enjoy the reading something jolts me back to remind me that THIS IS PART OF THE BUFFYVERSE! GUYS! THIS IS PART OF THE BUFFYVERSE! In case you didn’t know. BUFFY!

General thoughts:

• Ugh, Nina’s mom is really awful. It reminds me of Wes’ terrible, if fake, dad. I’m guessing Nina’s mom will at some point turn around and have reasons for being the way she is and it’ll all be explained, but I kind of hope not. I kind of like that she’s such a raging bitch.
• “I wont let him see what my mother obviously sees: That I’m weak. That I don’t deserve to be a Slayer. That no one needs me to be one.” It’s a bit teen angsty but I like it and it feels genuine for the character and how one would feel after such a rejection from ones mother. More of this please, I really feel for Nina.

• Her anti-Leo stance is a bit tiresome, because we all know it’s going nowhere. But I guess we need it there. It does make sense. It’d be dull if she just fell for him again immediately.

• Seriously though, with Nina’s mom keeping secrets even from the Council – I kind of want her to be a bad guy. Please, please, make her a bad guy.

• I do appreciate that from the legacy of Btvs White has remembered one crucial aspect – the Watcher’s Council are dicks. Even from the inside it seems. Gees. the way Artemis is treated, as an ‘assistant’, Nina being the medic, Imogen the babysitter. Even when they’re decimated to such a low number, they still have time to be assholes.

• Also, I’m guessing there’ll have to be a “Giles is alive” reveal at some point.

• Again, I like Cillian. It’s a bit forced at times but I like the levity he brings.

• I like Nina being so caring and healing. She does remind me about Buffy though. Hiding that demon to talk to it and so forth.

• Lol “Why didn’t my dream fast-forward past the relatively easy vampire only threat and ive me a sneak preview of this much, much worse scenario? Whoever created his system was an idiot! Oh. Right. My ancestors created it. Thanks a lot, jerks.” (p169)

• I like that Cosmina was a jerk too. Leaving her and then going all “I hope you die soon”. Artemis was right, she was worth risking your life for. Well, I guess she was, and Nina shows us that because she’s a good person... so I don’t have to be.

• I like that Nina has been raised to be a Watcher because it is interesting to get the Watcher perspective on things, like when she’s thinking about the difference between killing things in self-defense and actively choosing to kill something and she thinks - “Watchers have to make calls like this all the time. And Slayers don’t even make the call. They just act.” 192 – this feels very much like a Council perspective and not a Slayer perspective. I feel like Buffy, or Faith for that matter, throughout most of the series would very much have argued that it was them all along making the call.

 

[Spanky]

50 words or less, how were Spike and Wes referenced?

 

[Taake]

50 words or less, how were Spike and Wes referenced?

Nina shielded from reading about "William the Bloody" because too scary and Wesley in terms of being a terrible Watcher, booted from the Council.

 

[Taake]

@Spanky Sure, but in a sea of other references, it is a bit sigh for me. Not to mention that he's referenced more than once (because it is also mentioned how hilarious it is that he works for a vampire, who's named Angel, Annnnngel, but he's a vampire, so get it, Angel is a funny haha name for a vampire)

 

[Foxy]

The story is finally picking up and again there is more than I like than dislike.

What I disliked:

• The references died down, but sometimes they are so shoe-horned into the story that I wonder where these came from. I wonder if this is coming from the editors or the author? It seems so out of place?
• This brings me to my next point, because this book would have been pretty good instead of pretty okay, if all these repetitive references to all things Buffy were taken out. Some references could have stayed in and still made her hatred (which is slowly changing) towards Buffy clear. The same goes for the fire trauma. Okay, we get it. It's traumatic, but I don't have to be reminded ever 5 pages. However, it has gotten better compared to the first 8 chapters.

Her anti-Leo stance is a bit tiresome, because we all know it’s going nowhere. But I guess we need it there. It does make sense. It’d be dull if she just fell for him again immediately.

- Ah, Leo. The most Mary Sue characters I have read in ages. He is just perfect. I really want him to do something stupid or make a fool of himself, because now he is so YA trope-y that I just dislike him. I would have rather had that he returned and became her watcher and that they become friends. Then, in the second book or third book they would have fallen in love. You can keep the poem thing in, because it makes Nina more relatable, but eh. I hate insta-love.

- I don't care for this murder hunter type of person. I think this would have been much more interesting to explore in the second book. I feel like this book wants too much at times.

What I liked:

- The only reference I actually really loved was the zompires (thanks for the name, Xander). I like that the Watchers don't know what they are and just have to deal with it. This is my favourite reference, but if you haven't read the comics then it's also fine, because it's not so obvious.

Ugh, Nina’s mom is really awful. It reminds me of Wes’ terrible, if fake, dad. I’m guessing Nina’s mom will at some point turn around and have reasons for being the way she is and it’ll all be explained, but I kind of hope not. I kind of like that she’s such a raging bitch.

Seriously though, with Nina’s mom keeping secrets even from the Council – I kind of want her to be a bad guy. Please, please, make her a bad guy.

- I really, really want her to be evil. I have a feeling that the story will turn it around and reveal that the mom was amazing in the end after all. I am really liking the conflict between Nina and her mom, as well as, Nina having to hide that she is training. It added some needed tension.

“I wont let him see what my mother obviously sees: That I’m weak. That I don’t deserve to be a Slayer. That no one needs me to be one.” It’s a bit teen angsty but I like it and it feels genuine for the character and how one would feel after such a rejection from ones mother. More of this please, I really feel for Nina.

- I am really starting to like Nina as a character. I love her conflict with wanting to heal things and destroy them at the same time. She is defintely growing on me.

Again, I like Cillian. It’s a bit forced at times but I like the levity he brings.

- I like him well enough. He feels like the Joyce of this story at times, as Joyce acted as the 'mundane' and was not used to all the stuff that happened in Buffy's life. Cillian is, in my opinion, fulfilling that much needed role.

I do appreciate that from the legacy of Btvs White has remembered one crucial aspect – the Watcher’s Council are dicks. Even from the inside it seems. Gees. the way Artemis is treated, as an ‘assistant’, Nina being the medic, Imogen the babysitter. Even when they’re decimated to such a low number, they still have time to be assholes.

- I am glad they did this, too, because I was afraid that it was all going to be 'The Watchers are amazing blah blah blah...' while the show made it clear they weren't that great.

I like that Nina has been raised to be a Watcher because it is interesting to get the Watcher perspective on things, like when she’s thinking about the difference between killing things in self-defense and actively choosing to kill something and she thinks - “Watchers have to make calls like this all the time. And Slayers don’t even make the call. They just act.” 192 – this feels very much like a Council perspective and not a Slayer perspective. I feel like Buffy, or Faith for that matter, throughout most of the series would very much have argued that it was them all along making the call.

- I think this is part of Nina's growth. The Watchers are anti-Buffy and Nina has been brainwashed in that way, but I think a big part of her arc will be that she will change her mind about Buffy and the Watchers. I am looking forward to see where they are going with it.

And that was an incredibly long post! Off to read the next few chapters

 

[Taake]

The story is finally picking up and again there is more than I like than dislike.

What I disliked:

• The references died down, but sometimes they are so shoe-horned into the story that I wonder where these came from. I wonder if this is coming from the editors or the author? It seems so out of place?

My guess is editor. The writing isn’t bad and the references seem forced and inorganic, as if she had to fill a certain quota or was told to add them later. Even if the author was a superfan they’re a bit much and could no doubt had been done in a better way/lessened. I think she had to put them in there because they wanted a super clear Buffy connection.

 

[brinkster130]

The references are killing me, I find them SO distracting. I'd say I hope the name dropping stops but we're 200 pages in and they keep coming.

For a split second I thought Nina and Leo could be an interesting story, but that interest has faded. He's perfect but he has to have had some secret hard times that he'll confide in her about eventually. He saw her worth before everyone else...a little too neat and tidy.

I too hope that Nina's mom ends up being bad! But my guess is she's going to end up being the contact that the demon was planning on meeting up with, you know to stop Sean or find out info about Slayer whereabouts....something that'll make her good.

 

[Buffy Summers]

I did think these chapters were better than the first group. I actually might want to read on this time.

I’m a little annoyed at the Leo-Nina interaction. It is so obvious that this is a misunderstanding between them on what happened with the poem - I wish they had made him an actual dick. I also think it’s weird she didn’t tell Artemis what happened.

I am over the “monster fight club” thing.

I also sort of find it hard to believe that Nina fights as well as she does with no training. Yes, Buffy could catch a knife but plenty of new slayers got killed the first time out. It never seemed like they could fight without training. But then there was the nunchuck incident.

Nina’s aversion to killing can be a little annoying, like suggesting they “talk it out” with the vampire that kidnapped Cosmina.

I liked the demon in the shed story, and want to know who the contact is. That part interests me most.

Also, I feel like the hunter is going to be someone we know, and I don’t think that’s a good thing.

 

[Priceless]

I must be the only one who enjoys the Buffy references, but they all work for me. Everytime a show character is mentioned, it makes me smile. White is obviously channeling Spike for the demon in the shed, doesn't Spike even say at one point 'Good. Go do that'?

Really enjoying the Irish setting, and the use of technology. It made me smile that all Cillian had to do was use Facebook to find the kidnapped slayer. The fight scene was a bit repetitive, but I liked the overall story of a demon dog fighting ring.

There does seem a big disconnect between these kids being 16 and expected to be watcher, slayers or medics (there are actual doctors in Ireland). Half the time these kids are treated as adults and half the time as children (Leo is older of course, but most are 16). Cillian and Rhys talking about having kids seemed way off, age wise.

I like how White has captured that first terror of finding out you're a Slayer and having to commit to your first kill, but how Nina's body took over for her, she knew instinctively what to do. White wrote that well I thought.

Like the story, like the pacing, like the humour, overall this is a good book. I'm stating to get a handle on the characters too, though I think the first person pov keeps the other characters at a distance. The plot has calmed down a bit and can't wait for all the secrets to come out.