Buffy the vampire slayer: The gatekeeper trilogy [Hardcover]

Christopher Golden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1999

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: Gatekeeper Omnibus of three novelizations (all 1999) in a trilogy based on the TV show based on the movie: Out of the Madhouse, Ghost Roads, and Sons of Entropy. This special SFBC edition has ISBN 0-7394-0582-9; it lacks a price and has the SFBC number on the back jacket. Copyrighted by Twentieth Century Fox.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 724 pages
• Publisher: Science Fiction Book Club; 1ST edition (1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739405829
• ISBN-13: 978-0739405826
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,250,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the best of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" novels, August 2, 2004

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Buffy the vampire slayer: The gatekeeper trilogy (Hardcover)

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is dead and gone and so is "Angel," so all we have left are comic books and novels continuing the adventures of Joss Whedon's characters. As we are about to finish our first decade of the "BtVS" universe in terms of novels "The Gatekeeper Trilogy" by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder is still the standard by which such things are judged, especially if one is ambitious enough to attempt a "BtVS" and/or "Angel" trilogy.

"The Gatekeeper Trilogy" is an epic story that manages to get the Slayer and the Scoobies out of Sunnydale. Unbound by considerations of stage space and shooting budgets the first volume, "Out of the Madhouse" manages to get the Slayer and most of her cohorts to Boston. The plot has to do with the Sons of Entropy trying to unleash chaos on the world at the behest of Il Maestro, who works mainly behind the scenes in Book One. Suddenly all sorts of wicked things come to Sunnydale and it turns out that there have been released from the Gatehouse where the Gatekeeper is dying, leading up to an initial showdown in Boston. The other recurring concern throughout the book is more personal, dealing with what Buffy, Xander, Willow and the gang are going to do when they get finally graduate high school, so there is a concern for the entropy of the group along with the potential destruction of all human life on the planet. Implicit in their concerns is the unspoken knowledge that Buffy is fated to die young as a slayer and their realization that whatever hopes and aspirations they might have seem somewhat secondary to saving the world from big evil.

The middle volume, "The Ghost Roads," is the best in the trilogy. The Ghost Roads of the title are a network of inter-dimensional shortcuts that allow Buffy, Angel and Oz to travel quickly to Europe to search for the son of the dying Gatekeeper. What they do not know is that Spike and Drusilla have the boy and are looking to make a deal with the Sons of Entropy. Meanwhile, back in Sunnydale, the Flying Dutchman has appeared off shore causing problems for Giles and the rest of the Scooby Gang. Even worse, the Sons of Entropy have kidnapped Joyce Summers in an effort to force the Slayer to return so Buffy can be sacrificed by Il Maestro to the greater glory of his demon overlord and the end of the world as we know it. Golden and Holder are clearly working on that higher level in this book: Giles has to leave behind students to die during an escape, Angel tortures a wounded man to get vital information, and Joyce deals with the idea of sacrificing herself so that Buffy can save the world (Note: This is NOT a Buffy book for younger readers).

In the concluding volume, "Sons of Entrophy," the truly tragic figure that emerges from this trilogy is Jacques Regnier, the young boy who has to become the Gatekeeper following the death of his father. His fate is different from that of Buffy as the Slayer, but he is also a Chosen One and there is a certain pathos to his having to grow up too quickly. The creation of the Gatekeeper and the Gatehouse are one of the best ideas to come out of the "BtVS" books. Ironically, Buffy has less to do that most of the other characters in the final volume, but it was definitely great to see that Xander have a bright shinning moment as the substitute Gatekeeper. His character had been the comic relief for the Scooby Gang for so long that you forget he brought Buffy back from the dead at the end of season one. They also do a nice job of getting to what Cordelia is thinking behind her tactless remarks, but Oz is back to quipping a bit too much as he was in Book One and Willow is much more the successful little wicca she ended up being in the series. However, the character who really shines in this volume is Joyce Summers, dealing with being the mother of the Slayer as best she can.

Golden and Holder were perfectly suited to the task of constructing a literary epic for Buffy, not only because they are far and away the best writers working on the Buffy books but also because they have researched the characters and the attendant mythos of the series, having worked on all of the official companion guides for the series. They have come up with a plot line well suited to a three volume tale and you only have to read a couple of chapters to acknowledge this book is so far above the vast majority of the Buffy books. Furthermore, they get beyond the surface level with all of the characters, although admittedly they are guilty of putting too many quips into dialogue. They get the important stuff right. It has been several years since "The Gatekeeper Trilogy" first came out and you still will not find a better Buffy the Vampire Slayer story (Golden's "The Lost Slayer" serial novels come closest).

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, November 29, 2008

By 

Dogmother (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buffy the vampire slayer: The gatekeeper trilogy (Hardcover)

I've had to turn to books to get my Buffy fix now that there are no more new shows being produced. I'm not a fan of the horror-action-fantasy gnere and have been disappointed by many of the books I've read. This is an exception. Set in Season 3 (pre-Mayor arc) the characters had a ring of authentic dialog; and dialog was always my favorite part of Buffy. Always good to see Oz in a story! I wonder if Golden and Holder realize just how good they are? I'm in my fifties and they've opened up possibilities for me. Now I do check out some of the offerings I would have walked past a few months ago. I've loaned it to a co-worker who's also a Buffy/Angel fan and can't wait to hear her reaction. Thanks! Write more!!

One of my pet peeves is not getting the "whole" story at once. I really can't stand the wait for subsequent books to be published. It was a treat to be able to devour the total story without having to practice patience. Kudos on this edition!