Customer Reviews

Coyote Moon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Book 3)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

John Vornholt really impressed me with this first rate teen thriller based on the tv show. This book didn't take me that long to read - thats only because I couldn't put it down. I strongly reccommend this to teens and Buffy fans.

It is about Buffy, Willow and Xander eager to take a break from slaying vampires and what-not so they take a trip to the carnival that's come to Sunnydale, only to find out the two sexiest carnies are actually werecoyotes!

Awesome book - don't let this fly by!

Coyotes and shapeshifters...whoa! I loved this book it was really good! I read it in one day! It made me feel I wanted to read on! The new characters were cool like Rose and it went into detail about the corpse which I love! The main characters like Buffy, Willow and Xander were so cool in this one and funny at the same time! I recomend this book to all Buffy fans! Shame I can't vote more than five! If you don't like this you suck! This book is the best! I loved the coyotes when they dug the graves up and how Buffy said to the carnie worker she wanted to hurl when she was snooping! The part when they said coyote moon was back as well was the best. So get out your house and buy this now! PS get child of the hunt as well!

Although this book is not quite as entertaining as _Halloween Rain_, it merits a high rating for its well-written content. If you watch the television series and enjoy the episodes written by Joss Whedon, you'll find that the intellectual writing of John Vornholt will keep you reading. The action in the book is sparse, but there are a few tense moments where you worry just a bit for Buffy. Like the previous books, the focus of this book is mostly on Buffy, Xander, and Willow... with a little Giles thrown in the pot, but so far, in this book and the ones before it, Cordelia and Angel content has been lacking. The mood of this book is not quite as dark as _Halloween Rain_, but I found the book very well-written... but lacking in the "teen-talk" and "Xanderisms" the television series is known for. If you're looking for a well-written book with a good plot (a carnival and some powerful sorcerors who walk with the night), _Coyote Moon_ is an investment worth making!

COYOTE MOON by John Vornholt is the third Buffy The Vampire Slayer book and the second all-new adventure. Like the previous volumes this was a very well-done book. I don't know if the series has a better bible than others but so far all of the characters act just as they would be expected to on the show.

At the end of Summer a carnival comes to Sunnydale. Shortly after that, coyotes are seen closer to town than usual. Buffy starts to get the wiggins about the carnival and finds some minor evidence that they are involved in something not normal. Eventually a plot involving werecoyotes and skinwalkers is revealed. Unfortunately for the townsfolk the plot involves the carnies seducing and slaughtering a number of Sunnydale's young folk. In the end Buffy triumphs and curses are lifted.

While this volume is quite good it is not canonical. The events take place at a time that we now know Buffy was not in Sunnydale. This puts it in a class with many of the Star Trek books. So if you consider this an old episode you missed then it works out quite well. Unfortunately these books are a little hard to find because they are being marketed towards young adults (hah, my 78 year-old father is one of the show's biggest fans).

Although I enjoyed the book, the end was just to simple. It took them no time to research the shape shifters and the bad guy was easily defeated. They killed the bad guy in about a paragraph. I enjoyed the story and the characters. There are some things that this book lacks. I would recommend this book for a fast read. Otherwise I really wouldn't waste your time.

This was the best.It starts with Buffy,Willow and Xander going to a carnival it sounds really bad but just the sort of thing for the slayer to froget everything.It seems cool but then coyotes turn up in Sunnydale.Buffy recognises a worker from the carnival as one of the coyotes!Help would be ideal but Willow and Xander are in friendship with workers from the carnival so Buffy turns to Giles and together they help every1 including Willow and Xander.

This was one of the more spooky Buffy books that I have had the chance to read as it brings you into the world of the carnival people and tells about how they become a pack of coyotes when the moon is full.. Most of us have been to a carnival at least once in our lives and have imagined what it is really like once all the people are gone and the lights go out. This book tells us the behind the scenes scoop of this particular carnival and the sudden appearance of a pack of coyotes that end up terrorizing Sunnydale. As always in all the Buffy books, Buffy and her friends come out on top but not before tangling one on one with a new breed of monster. Even though I am older than the expected audience for this book, I am a fan of the show and really enjoyed the book.

Coyote Moon author John Vornholt does a good job of translating our favorite Sunnydale regulars from the little screen to the written form. The Pre-Oz Willow crush on Xander is explored as is the reocurring theme in the tv show of Buffy feeling alienated from the rest of teendom by her enormous responsibilities. In this highly entertaining novel, Buffy and the gang are on summer break from school. Our slayer is bored with a noticeable lack of action since there are few vampires to slay and school is out. A seedy carnival rolls into town promising the perfect culmination to the summer vacation. The gang gets more than they bargain for when a quest for greasy food, and a few cheap carnival thrills give way to a summer romance for both Xander and Willow (though not with each other to the latter's chagrin). When coyotes start acting in a bizarre way throughout Sunnydale, Buffy becomes suspicious and she is convinced that there is something evil behind this carnival. Yet, Buffy is alone in her quest to find the truth behind the coyotes because her friends are mesmorized by a pair of young carnival workers. The elements of Joss Whedon's creation are firmly in place here: Giles does research, Xander reacts as any teenage boy would when wooed by a mysterious member of the opposite sex, and the Slayer is as perky and as tough as portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar. This is a must read for any true fan of the Slayer.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is the best television show ever aired. That's pretty much all there is to it. I love the series, I love the spin-off Angel - Complete Series Collector's Set and I love the official continuation we've been getting this year through the medium of comics. I've played the video games, I've bought the soundtracks, and I've met James Marster. But yet I had never read an entire Buffy novel. I did start Queen of the Slayers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), but I had to put it down because of Holder's bad writing. But, with this book, I decided to give Buffy novels a second try.

There were a few things I really liked. The plot is very focused, with every plot thread pulling us in towards the major story, which is a creative one. Skin-walkers were never touched on in the actual show, so it was interesting to see something different pop up here. As a writer, John Vornholt is talented, and he handles the story well. Even during the parts of this book I didn't love, I never felt the desire to put it down or to read something else.

What I didn't like was some of the characterization. Buffy is pretty much in character, though she says a few things that would never come out of the character's mouth, and the term "wiggins" is used too often and also incorrectly. Xander is a caricature of himself and Willow's character is, for the most part, driven solely by her crush on Xander. Giles is the worst. In this book, Vornholt turned one of the most interesting BtVS characters into a stereotypical fuddy-duddy who cowers in the face of danger. Vornholt also misunderstands the fundamentals of the Slayer/Watcher relationship. There are many instances in this short book where Buffy either "puts Giles in his place" or tells him something along the lines of "I thought I told you to ____!" Giles accepts these orders as if he is simply her employee. Even though this book was published early in the series, there was absolutely nothing in the first season of the show to suggest Buffy was Giles' boss, because she just isn't. Another problem with this book was the timeline. While it isn't a big deal, as the book isn't part of the canon, it's annoying that there is no logical way to fit the events of this book into the series. On a stretch, it could take place right before Episode 2:02, but the book implies that Buffy spent the summer in Sunnydale after "Prophecy Girl." Which she, as the fans know, did not.

Characterization and timeline errors aside, "Coyote Moon" was good enough to convince me to give other Buffy books a try.

5/10

COYOTE MOON
BY JOHN VORNHOLT (1998)

RATING: 3/5 Stakes

SETTING: First Season (summer)

CAST APPEARANCES: Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Cordelia

ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Rose, Lonnie, Hopscotch (werecoyotes); Dr. Henshaw (friendly doctor); Spurs Hardaway (villian)

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY

"The seedy carnival looks like just the thing to give Buffy and her best buds, Xander and Willow, a break from staking bloodsuckers. Some greasy food, a few cheap thrills--what more could a Slayer ask for? But then Buffy senses something evil behind this carnival. Xander and Willow aren't so sure. They don't buy Buffy's notion that the carneys are somehow connected to the corposes turning up around Sunnydale. It doesn't help that her two best friends are each interested in someone at the carnival. Which puts the burden of proof on Buffy. Can she find out what's going on in time to save her friends? Or has the Slayer become the prey?"

REVIEW

Coyote Moon, the second original Buffy novel, is a solid if unspectacular story about the arrival of werecoyotes in Sunnydale (disguised as a carnival) and their attempt to resurrect their long-dead leader. Buffy spends most of the novel attempting to gain proof of the carneys' true nature (with Giles' help), while Xander and Willow are seduced by two of the carneys. Xander's terribly luck with the ladies holds out, as his new girlfriend Rose simply wants him and Willow to be the human sacrifices necessary to resurrect Spurs Hardaway, a Buffalo Bill Cody type of Western performer who died exactly a century ago and discovered the secrets of "skinwalking" from an unnamed plains Indian tribe, which allowed him and the other performers to become an animal by donning its skin. After being captured by the werecoyotes, Buffy manages to escape with the aid of Hopscotch, a renegade werecoyote who wants her to stop the resurrection because he was the one who secretly killed Spurs Hardaway to begin with. In her own inimitable style, Buffy manages to arrive at the resurrection just in time to drive a silver knife through Spur Hardaway's werebear form and save the day.
The novel has some strong elements. Xander's teen lust for Rose is depicted well, as are the feelings of love and hurt that Willow feels everytime Xander fails to notice how much she loves him. Also well played is a scene where Buffy interrupts a Xander-and-Rose makeup session, prompting Xander to tell Buffy off. Other highpoints include Xander trying to grow a goatee (failing miserably) and some interesting use of Native skinwalker stories.
Overall, Coyote Moon is a competent addition to the Buffy line and has the feel of a first season episode. It's by no means a page turner, but it also doesn't prompt groans of dismay like some other books in the series.