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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Offer You Can't Refuse, January 1, 2007
Author Diana G. Gallagher returns to the Buffyverse with this tale, set early during the second season of the television show. She's come up with a new and interesting menace for the Slayer to fight; rather than the usual demons, ghouls and, of course, vampires, Buffy has to battle an infestation of tiny vermin...from insects to bacteria...that have escaped from the Hellmouth, mystically contaminating a number of people within Sunnydale High School, including her friends Xander and Willow, her mother Joyce, and even the vampire Drusilla. Because these aren't the usual sort of villains she can punch, kick and stake, Buffy has to use her wits in order to win the day.
By quarantining the action inside of the school building, Gallagher builds a mounting degree of claustrophobia that plays well into the tension Buffy feels as she races against the clock to find some way to get the Hellmouth creatures back to their side of the mystic barrier, thus preventing the entire human race from eventually falling prey to their diseases.
Having the advantage of knowing what was to develop on the show for years to come, Gallagher has fun playing around with some of the characters by hinting at future events. Willow and Oz haven't met yet, but he is definitely curious about her (this story takes place shortly after the "Halloween" episode of BtVS). Buffy and Spike the vampire must enter into a truce of convenience during the crisis, but although they loath one another, there's still a tiny spark of sexual tension between them. And the author retroactively adds Andrew to the mix, although mostly as a character on the periphery, alongside his best friend, Jonathan. Plus, she brings in Jenny Calendar to play a prominent role in the story. And there are a lot of other fun little tidbits sprinkled throughout.
I think what makes "Bad Bargain" work the most is that the author has put Buffy into a fresh situation, and as such she allows the Slayer to employ her intelligence more than her muscles, to good effect. And as a big bonus, Diana Gallagher writes the characters of Xander and Willow very well, and it was a treat to see how she utilized them here.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
When a Bargain is not a Bargain, February 3, 2007
First of all this is set in the post-Master, pre evil-Angel era. Keeping that in mind you will find a lot of clever foreshadowing for later episodes. It is time to raise money for the band (the year before the band candy incident). The school is holding a rummage sale and a lot of the students are forced to help out. Unfortunately the donations were stored in the basement right by the Hellmouth itself (I always thought is manifested in the library but the giant slug was in the basement). The seal on the Hellmouth has developed some minor cracks. Not enough to let anything significant through, but large enough for the Hellmouth equivalent of bugs and vermin to pass through. They have infected the donated items and the items are infecting people handling them.
Soon a crisis is looming as people begin to come down with strange symptoms and wasting diseases. The school is closed and quarantined until a solution can be found. The one hope is that there is a demon that is the equivalent of a Hellmouth dogcatcher and he is supposed to get the beasties back to preserve the Earth for the big baddies when they are ready to take over. So we need to keep the slayer from killing the demon, round up the bad beasties before people start to die, get everyone back in the Hellmouth, and seal up all of the cracks. Pretty much a typical day for the Slayer, what with fighting monsters and trying to keep people from dying. To find out how successful the Slayer is you will have to read the book.
This is a fun period in the Slayer history. Angel is not yet bad, Ms. Calendar is still around. Oz has noticed Willow but she doesn't know it yet. Spike and Dru are the big baddies. All of the foreshadowing of future episodes is clever and well done. The plotting moves with just enough plot complications to keep it interesting without getting silly. Characters are portrayed true to form so you can hear them delivering their lines. All in all a wonderful little story that would have made an excellent episode. If you like the early Buffy then this is a story for you. Check it out.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Awesome Blast from the Past! Loyal fans will enjoy this throwback..., March 15, 2007
Now that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has been ended since the show took it's final bow in 2003 (*sniffle*), fans will really get a kick out of this blast from the past -- Buffy style!
While any and all Buffy novels that have been produced since 2003 must choose a position on the Buffy timeline with which to create their new tale, it is pleasantly refreshing to see one that hails from the early season 2 timeline. "Bad Bargain", in relation to it's timeline and setting within the Buffyverse, actually takes place during Season 2, before Angel turns evil. By my estimate, it would need to take place sometime after the episodes "What's My Line? parts 1 and 2" (because we know Xander and Cordelia have begun their secret tonsil hockey sessions in various broom closets), but before the episodes "Surprise" and "Innocence" because Angel is obviously not evil yet.
Buffy novels have evolved beautifully, coinciding nicely with the evolution and sophistication of the show. One of the things I loved about this novel was that it truly represented the whole Season 2 vibe in it's storyline, dialogue, and writing style. It would be easy to read this novel and be able to completely picture it being an actual episode during that season, which I think might have been the feeling author Diana Gallagher might have been trying to invoke. There are many incredible Buffy novels, but at the same time it is not always easy to try to picture some of the stories being an actual part of the Buffyverse. They are fun and entertaining, but also a little constricted with a this-doesn't-quite-feel-like-a-real-part-of-the-story kind of mentality. "Bad Bargain" is 100% a season 2 episode!
Another fun thing about this novel is that it (like all post 2003 novels) has the advantage of knowing where things are going. It can easily slide into it's place in Season 2, while at the same time constantly foreshadowing things to come. Jonathan and Andrew make an appearance, while Mayor Wilkin's darker dealings are alluded to -- and all without breaking it's own storyline. This book doesn't bog itself down by trying to do nothing but foreshadow, but it does throw enough little winks our way. The actual story, which has Buffy dealing with the bizarre and increasingly alarming behavior and physical symptoms of students and teachers who have seemingly come into contact with a mystical ailment contracted from various items during the school's fundraising bargain sale, is admittedly cheesy at times. However, then again, so were parts of season 2!
Bottom line, it's a light and enjoyable read for the average Buffy fan.
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