Customer Reviews

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Watcher's Guide Series (The Watcher's Guide 1, The Watcher's Guide 2)

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The Watcher's Guides are good books, but you should know a few things before you buy volumes one and two as a set. (1) On Amazon, the books are cheaper separately. (2) The two volumes cover only the first four seasons of the show. There is now a third volume that covers seasons 5 thru 7. (3) There are other guides by different authors that cover more than four seasons in a single volume. (I think "Dusted" by Lawrence Miles and the newest Buffy guide from Keith Topping cover **all 7** seasons.)

These are really great source books for Buffy fans. The Watcher's Guide books not only answer your questons, there are also some great photos and quotes from the Scooby gang. Christopher Golden, Nancy Holder, and
Keith R.A. Decandido all did a wonderful job on these books.

With the third volume in of "The Watcher's Guide" coming out those of you who do not have the first two official companion volumes to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" need to pick them up. In the original volume of "The Watcher's Guide," authors Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder, along with Keith R. A. DeCandido, cover the first two seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Having written some of the best original "BtVS" novels, both together ("The Gatekeeper Trilogy") and individually ("The Lost Slayer" and "The Book of Fours"), Golden and Holder were the perfect candidates for the job. This is a thoughtful effort by and for people who celebrate one of the best shows on television, a series that combines exciting action sequences with caustic wit and exquisite teenage pathos.

Buffy episodes are covered in a very comprehensive but quite user-friendly format. The plot summaries are fairly brief, serving more as reminders for those who have seen that particular episode rather than a more detailed description of what has happened for those who had the misfortune of missing the program (but if you need more you can certainly find it on-line at several excellent Buffy sites). However, there are several running categories for each episode: Quote of the Week with the episode's most memorable line; Love, Slayer Style which keeps track on the romantic developments in the series; Pop-Culture I.Q. to translate the arcane references; and Continuity to cover references to past episodes or highlight what is down the road. Sometimes we are treated to scenes/dialogue cut from the original teleplay and/or Buffy's Bag of Tricks, which keeps track of her expanding repertoire of weaponry. You will usually find a couple of trivia boxes containing interesting tidbits about a particular episode.

The other significant strength of this collection is the hundred pages of Behind the Scenes material, consisting mostly of in-depth interviews with Joss Whedon along with the entire cast and crew. Other choice items dispersed throughout the pages are the Song Lists for the first two seasons; a list of spells, chants, and incantations not to try at home; and quips and quotations organized on a thematic basis. What impresses me is that every step of the way this book provides something more. There are the expected color photographs of the cast, but there are also color costume drawings. Along with the interview with stunt coordinator Jeff Pruitt there are sample storyboards for several fight sequences.

In "The Watcher's Guide, Volume 2" there are three major and two minor sections in focusing on seasons three and four of "BtVS." First there is the Buffyverse, which recaps what we need to know from the first two seasons of the series in terms of the whats and wheres, covers the main characters with choice quotes from each, and includes an interesting section on "The Pain" which explores the rich pathos of the series. Section two covers the episodes from seasons three and four by providing plot synopses, choice quotes, lines cut from the original teleplays, continuity concerns, pop-culture footnotes, and updates on "The Agony and the Ecstasy" dealing with the aforementioned pathos. The third section provides cast profiles, which are really a hit and miss compilation, with most of the regulars receiving brief treatment and then interviews of varying lengths and value with the rest, most of whom are guest stars. The use of interviews continues throughout the fourth section on the production side of Creating Buffy. The last two sections deal with "The Bands of Buffy" and "Merchandising."

The first volume of "The Watcher's Guide" offered 300 pages and while Volume 2 taps out closer to 500 but you do not really get the feeling you are getting that much more in terms of quality. When I look over this volume now I think I know why: It is not because the original team of Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder split up for him to do "The Monster Book" and her to do "The Watcher's Guide, Volume 2." It is because the second half of the book consists of interview transcripts and I think this comes across as being sort of the easy way out. There is some good information and stories in most of the interviews, but sure, a few of them are not worth the effort. You cannot fault Holder and her new cohorts Jeff Mariotte and Maryelizabeth Hart for being comprehensive, but taking more than one pass at each of these people might have been helpful. However, once again it is clear that "The Watcher's Guide" sets that standard by which all official companions to television shows should be judged.

These two books are both very good starter points, for any one who wants to become a Buffy fan. Both of the books have really terrific information on the series.
You really can not go wrong with them.
They both have great photos, quotes, character guides, and a whole lot more.
Very good tool for any Buffy geek. There great books for a plain trip or even just to curl up in bed with.
These books have more then you ever wanted to know about Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her Scoobies.
I'm sure that after you check out these two books. Then you will want to start getting other Buffy items.
There are so many to pick from but make sure to get these though. There really isn't enough that I can say about them.
So just buy the dang books and enjoy!