Customer Reviews

Chaos Bleeds (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In a wry reversal of literary tradition (remember the days when the book was written first and the film second) Chaos Bleeds is a book based on a console game that is based on a television series. Given this wierd architecture I'm not sure what precise definition of 'successful' should be applied. Is the novel a good extension of the show, a fair representation of the game, or, last but not least, is it a good novel on its own.

Set in the Spike-just-got-his-chip era, the book opens with a short attempt to set the scene, followed by a battle, and then followed by a battle, and then a short cut scene, and then another battle... You get the picture - the primary purpose of Chaos Bleeds the novel is to provide a virtual reality version of Chaos Bleeds the game. If a novel could ever be considered a 'virtual reality' experience.

So while there really is a story arc, there is nothing so complicated as a plot. Is this a bad? Not really, Moore does concentrate a bit on character development, so personalities come through in a way that the game simply cannot do. And it is genuinely interesting to learn the motivations behind some of the madness of the game itself. And Moore writes as well as could be expected, given the literary constraints.

As a general rule, story telling games like the Shadowrun series translate into novels best. I think this is the first time an action game has attempted the transition, and it is almost a success from a pure readibility viewpoint. Unfortunately, the hectic pace of the game is less engaging when replayed in text. The book is hard to put down not because it is a fascinating story, but because the reader is provided with very few logical breaks in the action. So I find the book likeable, but I'm not at all sure that I would want to repeat the experience. Any more than I would look forward to the Playstation version of War and Peace.

Forms of entertainment are a funny things these days: first there was literature, and then movies that were either original, or based upon the earlier books. Now it's common to go to the movie theatre in order to watch a movie based on a theme-park ride ("Pirates of the Carribean") or a computer game ("Lara Croft"), or read a book based on a television series (titles from the "Charmed" series). "Chaos Bleeds" is another bizarre first: a book based on a video game based on a highly popular television series.

Even if the words "based on the video game" wasn't stamped on the cover of this Buffy the Vampire Slayer novelisation, I suspect that most shrewd readers would guess that this was not your average "Buffy" book, given the sheer amount of action and fighting that takes place in it. In fact the lack of character interaction, the simplistic "find-the-body-part" narrative and the sense of surrealism that the other dimensions create adds to the atmosphere of the hack-and-slash world of video games.

Buffy and the Scooby Gang are drawn into a massive arena of fighting when an old nemesis Ethan Rayne re-appears in Sunnydale and breaks to them some rather appalling news: he has made a deal with the entity known as the First Evil in a bid for power. The deal is that the two adversaries will choose five champions and pit them against each other. Ethan has chosen Buffy, Spike, Willow, Faith and (in the absence of Oz) Xander, who must fetch the five body parts of Cassandra Rayne, Ethan's ancestress who holds the key to destroying the First. But the First has his own champions, and has bent the rules a bit by selecting them from other dimensions, which means that previously defeated foes are now back in action: Kakistos, Adam, Anyanka, Drusilla and more. A little help comes from the wooden-dummy Sid, who apparently didn't get heaven-sent after killing the last demon in Season One's episode "The Puppet Show", and instead shows up to inform the Slayer about Hope's Dagger, the only weapon that can defeat the First.

It is an interesting concept, and a good way to reintroduce popular characters that no longer have a place on the television show (I'm just sorry they didn't include more - what about Angelus? Darla? The Mayor? Snyder?), but it's perfectly obvious that its true format belongs on the Playstation/X-Box/Nintendo/whatever console. Page upon page is packed full of characters fighting: kicking, punching, stabbing, running, elbowing, shooting, head-butting...and needless to say reading action sequences are utterly boring compared to watching them on the T.V. (or in this case *controlling* them on the T.V.).

Furthermore, "Chaos Bleeds" does some serious damage to the continuity of the show: it's set in Season Six (ie, Joyce is dead, Tara's still alive, Spike's chipped), and is seemingly unaware that Buffy goes up against the First once more in Season Seven, where she certainly makes no mention on the show of this particular run-in with the First, nor her triumph over It. Neither does it try to explain how Faith gets back into prison or what actually happens to Ethan (easily one of the show's most popular villians) after all this occurs.

Which is a shame, since James A. Moore is otherwise so careful throughout the book not to contradict anything that has previously happened on the show, which is to the book's detriment. He almost seems afraid to gives us any new information on the characters that could have churned up my interest in the book's progression - for instance, he often mentions Faith's first Watcher (all we know about her from the show was that she was female and died messily at the hands of Kakistos), yet he doesn't take the opportunity to tell us anything more about her - not even her name! I've always found this to be an untouched mystery well-worth exploring, but Moore seemed reluctant to give us anything on the character's backgrounds that hadn't already been mentioned on the show (and was therefore already known to 99% of the readers).

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh in my assessment - for all I know Moore was drafted into writing this novelisation, but the fact remains that it is a somewhat confusing and irrelevant addition to the stock of Buffy-inspired books.

I understand that this book was based on a game, so I want to give it some credit for not being amazingly bad, but it wasn't actually very good. It was tolerable.

The storyline could have been better developed. Again, I understand this was based on a game, but that doesn't mean it has to only go by what happens in the game. The author could have gotten a little more creative with it.

There were points where the story was confusing and complicated in the beginning, but it got too rushed towards the end. There was a lot of time spent talking about Kakistos, who was basically a minor character, but not much time spent talking about Ethan, Cassandra, or even the First, all of whom should have had bigger parts in this book.

There were also some points where things just seemed to simple. When Buffy was looking for her friends in the alternate reality, she found them too fast. That may have been how the game unfolded, but in book form, it really made the story seem weak.

I am not a cross-media fan. For instance, most comics do not translate well to film. So when I first noticed this book, I put off getting, then reading it. "Chaos Bleeds" is based on the computer game of like name. It is not familiar to me.
Buffy and the gang find themselves caught up in seemingly unending battles with vampires and zombies in Sunnydale. Tara is along for the ride; this takes place during Season 6. The action moves from one locale to another in seconds, disorienting to Buffy and Spike. Everything starts with the vampire Kakistos. Enter the Slayer Faith, and Ethan Rayne, who is caught up in the age-old battle between the Powers That Be and the First Evil.
Getting Faith out of prison is becoming old. If they must include her, authors should do some post-t.v. books. She is a better character than this "escape from prison" ploy would indicate.
The inclusion of Sid the Ventriloquist's Dummy was a nice addition. Not enough to make a good book, however.
I have the impression that the book is basically filler to connect events at the different game levels. Right or not, the book did not gel for me.
"'Got to remember never to say how easy things are going. I knew that rule, just forgot it.'"

And I say that as the author. It takes place in Season Five, just after the death of Buffy's mom. Spike wasn;t really tight with the scooby's at teh time and was still trying to deal with his own strong feelings for Buffy. Trust me, I'm a long time fan of the show and would not make an error like that.
That was an editorial error. And yes, actually, teh description of Spike as posted from the book is from Xander's perspective. Even at their closest and chummiest, they have never been friends. Not even in Seasons six or Seven. Also, I've read most of the books and own every episode of the show.

Having said all of that, sorry if you didn't like the book, it IS my first attempt at a Buffy novel, and if I am fortunate enough to get another.

I'm also a big fan of Spike (Though my wife is, understandably, a BIGGER fan.).

PS The three star review just reflects teh current average. They MADE me put in a star rating

I have read many "Buffy," books, and is deffinatly one of the best, along with the books by Chris Golden. I think a 6th star is needed for writing up a video game. Which is somthing I know I couldn't do without having to ramble.
"Chaos Bleeds," fits in well with the show, and characters. It's a delight to read each characters point of veiw because they're surprisingly accurate.

As a book, it makes a great video game. Er, that is, as a video game, it makes a boring book. I mean...

I went into this one with high expectations, which may be one of the reasons it didn't thrill me that much. James Moore is a pretty good author - his Under the Overtree is well worth reading - and he does well with the characters. But he's hampered with writing a video game, which is all but impossible even for characters as well-developed as these.

The real problem is this: the plot consists of nothing more than former plot retreads, the cast of characters merely returning cameos from the past. It's as if the entire point of the story is to squeeze in as many guest appearances from the entire history of the series as possible. Glory is nowhere in evidence, nor (strangely) is Dawn or Evil Angel, and the exclusion of Mayor Wilkins - especially with Faith thrown into the mix - is simply bizarre. Oz barely appears. But aside from the aforementioned characters, just about everyone from the Buffyverse manages to pop into what skeletal plot there is just long enough to say "hello" and "goodbye" again.

The plot - such as it is - consists of Buffy and Co. running around alternate hell-dimensions, combating The First Evil's selected army of past baddies. Eternal troublemaker Ethan Rayne made a bet with the First in order to escape his imprisonment by the Initiative, in which he staked the First's power against his own enslavement by the First: winner take all. Buffy and her friends constitute Ethan's chosen army, and a number of former Buffy villains comprise the opposition.

Everything you want in a Buffy story is there - action, wisecracks, a bit of clever intrigue - but there's simply too much of it. Action is on literally almost every page, with nothing more than a minimal passing nod to plot, and that passing nod doesn't happen until the novel is more than half over. You can skim over entire chapters and miss nothing at all by way of story.

Still, it is Buffy, and sometimes fun. Xander escapes an evil Anya by means of a very funny bunny trick; Faith gets another go-round with her vampire nemesis, Kakistos; Sid the ventriloquist-puppet demon-hunter is in on the act, and Ethan Rayne can't help but be entertaining even if he is utterly irredeemable.

Not bad for hardcore Buffy fans, but newbies will be lost from page one. And even hardcore Buffy fans could do better. If all you want is some Buffy kick-it action, though, you won't be disappointed.

As a HUGE fan of Buffy, I've read all of the books; ALL of them, Buffy, Angel, the Comic Books, Fray, the unauthorized readers from various publishers, etc. I found Chaos Bleeds to be, albeit not the best of the series, a good read. While the fight scenes were, at times, needlessly long and drawn out, the characters were written well, both in dialog and description. While the books states that it takes place during Season Six, the Author himself has stated that was an editorial mistake and the story actually takes place in Season 5, shortly after the death of Joyce and before Glory began her attack on the group in earnest. Based on the Video Game of the same name (aka Buffy 2:Chaos Bleeds) the story attempts to cram as many Buffy characters as possible into the pages. As I read this, I couldn't help but picture each scene as challenges in the game, rather than scenes from an episode. I'm sure the author had very little leeway in the plot or characters as a result of this.
As a fan, nothing makes me more upset when reading these books to come across continuity errors. There have been many times in both the Buffy and Angel series when a comment is made to refer to an episode in the series that contradicts when the story is actually supposed to take place. I cringe, and then I continue reading. For those who don't know, when the editors at Simon Pulse solicit a new story for the series, they have guidelines of when the stories can take place and what "status" the characters currently have. For example, last summer they were only taking new stories that took place in an "alternate Season Six" where Tara was dead and Anya was a Vengeance Demon. The latest Buffy/Angel crossover book, Seven Crows, followed these guidelines.
...

To Susan Guberman-Garcia: I have not read this book. I do know that it's based on a computer game. That means that the author had little choice in plot for the book, and it's a good bet he's not a big Buffy fan. If I were you, and anyone else reading this review, I would run to the library and get practically any Buffy Book by Christopher Golden or Nancy Holder, or both. Try the excellent "GateKeeper" trilogy for grownups, or "The Lost Slayer" for the younger set. There were times while reading those books that I could actually hear the actors speaking the dialog, it was so dead-on. Don't judge all Buffy books by this one!!

Chaos Bleeds

By James A. Moore (2003)

RATING: 3/5 Stakes

SETTING: Season Six

T.V. CHARACTER APPEARANCES: Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Faith, Ethan Rayne, Anya, Tara, Spike, The First, Sid the Dummy

MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Cassandra Rayne

BACK OF THE BOOK SUMMARY: "Life on the Hellmouth--a.k.a. Sunnydale, California--has always involved a steady parade of demons intent on ruining Buffy Summers's nightlife. Staying at the top of her game means Buffy's racked up some powerful enemies. Now an old nemesis has returned: Ethan Rayne, a college `friend' of Giles's, has arrived in Sunnydale, and this time he actually wants Buffy's help. Not surprisingly, he's run afoul of The First--an ancient evil that predates humankind. And now The First has made Ethan a deal he can't refuse: ultimate power. All he has to do is lure Buffy into battle. With their sanity on the line, the gang is going to need all the help they can get. Enter Spike and Faith . . ."

REVIEW

Chaos Bleeds is the only Buffy book ever to tie in with a video game (released for PS2 and Gamecube in 2003). The plot involves The First blurring the walls between dimensions so that Buffy and Co. have to fight old enemies they thought were dead (like Kakistos) and sinister versions of themselves (e.g., vampire Tara, evil Giles, etc.). The key to stopping The First is assembling the scattered body parts of an ancient warrior named Cassandra Rayne and along for the ride are allies Faith, Ethan Rayne, and Sid the Dummy (from the Season One episode The Puppet Show, in his only novel appearance).

The book is actually better than I thought it would be and isn't slavishly devoted to recreating ever level of the video game. It is, however, very action heavy and contains only serviceable dialogue. The guest stars are okay, but they lack enough personality in the novel to make them really stand out and the "evil versions of the heroes" plot was handled better in The Lost Slayer. All in all, this was okay but nothing special.