Can we get a run down of where the land lies for the scoobs for those of us who may never read it?
This is all the information about book one, "In Every Generation," without spoiling much!
Buffy is MIA after an explosion at a "Slayer Retreat".
Xander and Dawn are mostly out of novel tracking down leads to the attack on the slayers.
Willow has a daughter, Frankie, who was basically conceived through the Slayer spell in Chosen, though she was pregnant for like a year and a half or something. (This is the one part of the story I severely despise). Willow hasn't done any magic since the spell in Chosen, up until Frankie is called and the Slayer Attack.
I really can't remember much about Giles.. I think he is in England still.
Spike is basically like an uncle to Frankie and when she is called, he becomes her de facto watcher.
"New Sunnydale" is rebuilt inside the crater of "old Sunnydale" and the high school is once again rebuilt on top of the hellmouth. Spike becomes librarian at the school as an homage to Giles, which gives the new Scoobies a meeting place during the day.
Oz has moved back to New Sunnydale to take care of his little cousin Jake, who is also a werewolf. Both have learned to control their inner wolf. Jake and Frankie are best friends, but they do not run in the same circle at New Sunnydale High at the beginning of the novel.
Vi has a little sister Hailey, who becomes Frankies other best friend when Vi never returns from the Slayer retreat and Hailey goes searching for answers.
There's another new character, Sigmund, who is an expert on portals and is a sage demon.
There is also another demon named Grimloch who is mysterious and Frankie obviously falls for him.
I am currently reading the second novel "One Girl in All the World".
Some thoughts, and general run down (so far):
The book is split into 5 parts. Which is cool, because it kind of reads like mini-arcs.
The first part is called "Sunnydale: The Demon Destination".
This part mainly re-introduces us to the characters and how they are coping following the events of the first novel.
Frankie is regularly patrolling New Sunnydale cemetaries. Hailey is shutting down at any mention of her sister, Vi. Jake and Sigmund.. are around. And then one day, Frankie stumbles upon a mutilated student of New Sunnydale High just outside of the high school. There's a new baddie that we aren't given a name to, just "slayer". So it seems like this novel is setting up a slayer v slayer fight at the end. The mysterious slayer has turned New Sunnydale into a beacon for demons to distract the new scoobies, while they hatch their nefarious plan--whatever that may be.
I just read a the finale of the first part, where Xander sends a demon Oracle to Willow's house and the oracle ominously tells Willow "the darkness is coming," which Xander (on the phone) quips about the "from beneath you, it devours" mantra of the First in season 7. The oracle says the slayer power runs through Willow (seemingly because of the chosen spell) which is why Frankie was called. Also there's an insinuation that maybe Willow can take the slayer power away from those called because of her spell? Which I always thought should be done post-season 7 for girls who can't handle it or don't want it.
Now starting part two: "The Darkness is Coming".
