Customer Reviews

The Burning: The Unseen Trilogy, Book 1 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel crossover)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a treat! No sooner did I finish "Book of the Fours" when yet another Buffy thriller by Nancy Holder appears. "Unseen: The Burning" is co-written with Jeff Mariotte, who has crafted several Angel novels. They have teamed up to write the exciting first volume of a trilogy where Buffy and Angel must work in tandem for the first time since Angel left for Los Angeles. The novels will be set in relatively recent Buffy history (just pre-Dawn).

In Sunnydale: Salma de la Navidad's younger brother Nicky has disappeared, Leaving behind several books that the reader will recognized as seriously bad magic. Terrified that something horrible has happened she turns to Buffy and Willow for help. At the same time, Giles, pursuing his new hobby of listening to the police radio band, realizes that a fresh horror has moved into town, something that lurks in the shadows and can totally Cuisinart its victims. Buffy suspects the cases are related, but the solution eludes her. Following Nicky's trail leads her eventually to Los Angeles as the source of the mystery. Angel's territory.

In Los Angeles: Cordelia discovers a group of runaway girls living under the library that are anxiously looking forward to becoming vampires and feels compelled to help. Meanwhile Angel is drawn into helping Isabel Flores and her son Carlos. The boy's father has been arrested for a crime he did not commit and suddenly a poltergeist is haunting the Flores family.

The more Angel and Buffy press, the more all these strange cases seem to be interrelated. As the threads become entangled they find themselves and their friends headed on a collision course with a hungry evil that reaches out invisibly from the darkness. "The Burning" introduces enough complication to last for even more than a trilogy. Expect quite a bit of fun before the mysteries are resolved.

The relationships between Willow and Tara, and between Buffy and Riley are dealt with in these novels for the first time. The writers don't yet seem totally comfortable with either of the new characters, but Tara is portrayed a bit more sympathetically than Riley. Holder and Mariotte overplay Riley and Tara's weaker character traits, though, which makes the relationships seem artificial. Hopefully this will take care of itself in later volumes. This detracts a bit from the book's overall rating, but not enough to cost it a star - yet.

P>This is the first collaboration Nancy Holder did with Jeff Morriette, and I was very impressed with the team effort. They managed to capture all characters quite well.

There are a few adult themes in this story, which helped liven it up, and it was easy to follow along despite the constant switch from Sunnydale to L.A.

The characters were all very true to form (especially Kate, a character Holder did a very poor job capturing in an Angel book I read a few weeks ago), and the way all the events are connected is quite astonishing.

If you are a Xander, Anya, Giles, or Spike fan, you may be disappointed by the lack of these supporting characters, but everyone is included in the action and the end will leave your mouth watering for the next installment.

Kudos to the authors! It's a great story!

Now this is what I like to see -read- in a Buffy book. Extra kudos for finally getting out of season three for one thing. More props for bringing Anya, Tara, -yes, even Riley, you nay-sayers! If you're going to fill a Buffy or Angel book with an overload of characters at least they're mostly cast regulars, though I didn't mind the few original characters in this book because they were only just enough pages dedicated to them to establish them for the story. Even with the multiple plots -which compliment each other better than all the goings-on in the Gatekeeper Trilogy- the story is always moving and there's really no time to get bored, and most of the characters are given things to do but these tasks do not lead them to do things that are out of character, which seems to happen more often than not in the Buffy books -- Re: Paleo, Return to Chaos, Power of Persuasion, in order of bad to really bad. And I loved how they were able to slip Gunn in there with a cameo without contradicting canon -that Wesley and Cordelia don't actually meet him until the 2nd season premiere. And since this is the first in a trilogy, I don't mind the fact that it ended in a cliffhanger -though I do mind the two months we have to wait for book 2! A promising start for the trilogy and hopefully it does better than the Gatekeepers trilogy, where book 1, OOTMH, turned out to be the only really good one.

this is the first book that has come out since the angel spinoff and i think it is about time that the books are more up to date with the shows. it starts out in sunnydale when a friend of willow's brother has been missing for a week and asks buffy to look into it. while doing this she comes across a mysterious shadow demon that puts the whole scooby gang into research mode. meanwhile in la cordelia stumbles across a group of teenage girls who are dying(literally) to be vampires. when buffy discovers that the missing boy has links to a powerful gang that has it's roots centered in LA, she takes willow's friend to LA and starts an investigation that inventually leads her to cross paths with angel.(of course) this book was well written and i really look forward to the next 2. anyone who liked the crossover with buffy angel last november(i will always remember you) will really enjoy this book.

It's the summer following Buffy's freshman year of college, and so far she hasn't run into any major demon or vampire-related incidents. She hopes she can just relax and enjoy the summer with Riley. When a wealthy girl named Salma, who attended a class with Willow, tells Buffy her missing brother's disappearance may have been related to the supernatural, Buffy's carefree summer is put on hold. She fears that a mysterious shadow monster is out to get Salma and her family - and that it may have been summoned by Salma's brother. Meanwhile in LA, Angel is trying to solve the mystery of a poltergeist in one of the local prisons, and Cordelia is trying to help a group of teenage girls who also happen to be vampire wannabes. When Buffy travels to LA to protect Salma, her path inevitably crosses with Angel's, and the two may have to work together to defeat the evil they both face. The first Buffy and Angel crossover books are off to a great start with this thrilling novel that I reccomend to all fans of both television series.

Buffy and Angel do not learn that they are in a crossover story until fairly late in "The Burning," the first book in the "Unseen" trilogy by Nancy Holder and Jeff Mariotte, which is to be expected since there are two more books to go (Yes, I did not start the first book until the third one was published because I do not like to wait for the next volume). It is the summer after the downfall of the Initiative and Buffy and Willow are trying to help Salma de la Navidad, a fellow student at UC-Sunnydale, who is upset that her brother Nicky has disappeared. From this rather simple beginning the Slayer becomes involved in a case involving magic and gangs as well as invisible monsters. Meanwhile, in L.A., Angel is working on a case that he thinks involves poltergeists, but which really involves supernatural abilities, corrupt cops and the Russian Mafiya. When Buffy discovers that what is happening in Sunnydale has its roots in L.A., she visits Angel's turf. Only at the very end of the book do our unhappy couple discover the two cases are related, which is about where you would expect the connection to be made. Actually, the subplot involving Cordelia and Wesley dealing with a group of young girls who are vampire wannabes is more interesting at this point. Of course there is even a hint that this all links up with the main plot lines as well.

The strengths of "The Burning" as the opening volume in this trilogy are as follows. First, the mystery appears to be big enough to give Buffy, Angel and the rest of the gang plenty to do. Second, the evil this time around is magic rather than vampires, which is nice because it gives Willow more to do. The best new character in the novel is Dona Pilar, the bruja of the Navidad family who has some opportunities to take our red-headed wicca in training under her wing. Third, the large number of Hispanic characters work well, not only because it introduces some nice mystical elements into the Buffy mythos, but also because there is a large Hispanic population in Southern California which really deserves to be represented by more than the Inca Mummy Girl. Fourth, the story gets Buffy out of Sunnydale. I have always been in favor of Buffy road trips, especially after "The Ghost Roads" trilogy. I know L.A. is only a hop, skip and a jump for the Slayer, but new turf is new turf. Finally, I love it when Buffy uses the name "Anita" as a cover. Nothing like a good homage to make my day.

The main problem with "The Burning" has to do with the relationship of the main characters. Riley is edgy about Buffy and Angel, Buffy is edgy about Angel and Cordelia, Tara is edgy about Willow and the known universe, etc. Yes, most of this makes sense at face value, but there is a sort of tentativeness to all this angst. These feelings get repeated over and over again without anything really happening and I think I know why. The major problem for dealing with the relationships on "Buffy" and "Angel" is that things are so fluid on the show that by the time one of these novels comes out, things can be radically different. By the time "The Burning" came out, Riley was long gone. This sort of forces the authors of these books to tread water with the characters since you cannot really create any epic moments between them because they are reserved for the two television series. So when Buffy is miffed with Angel because he does not drop everything to come help her as soon as she shows up in "his" town, it comes across as motivated more by plot concerns ("Buffy is mad at Angel in Book 1, but then they make up in Book 3") than true characterization. However, Holder and Mariotte have set up some solid elements to be explored in the rest of the trilogy, which is enough to justify four stars at this point. Now we shall see what happens next in "Door to Alternity." True, Holder co-writing this trilogy with someone other than Christopher Golden, but she is still the finest belly dancer writing Buffy books today.

Unseen, The Burning is the first book in a promising new Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel crossover trilogy. Nancy Holder and Jeff Mariotte have created interesting plots for both Buffy and Angel to pursue. Buffy is trying to help Willow's friend while Angel is responding to a summons by the powers that be. When all story lines lead to LA and the same informant, Angel and Buffy collide literally. The novel is set at the end of Buffy's fourth television season and the first season of Angel. The authors are careful to keep the relationships and conflicts intact. They include enough background so anyone could enjoy the book but not too much to bore a TV fan. The cliffhanger ending is frustrating but ripe with promise. Riley, Angel and Buffy forced to work together. Missing girls, gangs, shadow monsters and witchcraft all combine to convince the reader to preorder the next volume. I recommend the series highly

If you are buying this book because you believe it is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel crossover, save your money. The two supposed "main characters" move in separate storylines, as though the two authors took turns writing chapters. While the Angel sections are mildly diverting, and at least somewhat true to character, the book is ultimately little more than a paean to the "deep," and according to the show's own eventual revelations, entirely imaginary love of Buffy Summers for Riley Finn.

From the time I first read about it, I really looked forward to the issuance of this book. It is now residing in my garbage can, one of only two books I have thrown out in my life.

I must admit, the book started off slow, but got extremely good and exciting as you kept on reading. I must warn you though, before you read this book, make sure you have already bought the two sequels that follow this book. Don't be like me, and finish the first book, then had to wait a week to get the other two.

This is the first book of the Unseen trilogy, and I found it to be a little slow-paced. Still, the book makes for a good weekend read, especially if you're a Buffy fan! All your favorites from the TV shows are here, including Spike and Anya, and they remain true to their TV selves. There are many subplots to juggle, including Buffy and Willow helping a friend in Sunnydale find her lost brother, and Angel working diligently in L.A. to help free a man framed for murder. Actually, the subplot that I enjoyed the most was Cordelia's--she finds a group of teenage runaways who worship vampires and learns that they may have found a vampire who will turn them. Again, I found this book to be a little slow-paced, but it was still fun to read. Worth checking out if you love Buffy!