Customer Reviews

Sons of Entropy(Buffy the Vampire Slayer Gatekeeper Trilogy)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

So often serial novels fall flat with little or no introspection or thought. The characters sound like they are from a tv show, but somehow this triology did get you to thinking and like most dark fantasy we find Buffy's world a metaphor for teenage existence.

The tv series is wildly popular with the young crowd and the old crowd that is young at heart, Angel being the series for older people with a lot more dark content.

But the Buffy books written for adults offers a depth and an insight into what teens are going through today. Women have changed at a very basic level in our society. No longer do we see the tough mail hero. We see girls and women filling those roles and trying to keep it all together. In this series we see a reflection of having to grow up too young both in the slayerettes and in Jacques an 11 year old that will spend 100's of years keeping evil out of the world and bad things at bay. Giving up any childhood that older people might have enjoyed.

The symbolism of this book is deep drugs violence gangs the world is very different. Keep your minds open grown ups and understand that being a child or a kid today is very different than when you were that age that the rules have changed and nobody gave them a rule book and the symbolism will jump out at you.

The only disappointing thing is Angel and Buffy....Give me a break I feel like after a couple of hundred years one would gain some wisdom. Why doesn't angel display it he makes the same mistakes over and over again. He needs to be the Slayers paramour or else he would be dust

You know how many times you get suckered into buying a bunch of paperbacks because it is some giant continued story? Well, trust me, this one is well worth the investment in time and cash. Golden and Holder are far and away the best writers working on Buffy books and in this entire series they get free reign with the characters and their imagination. There is also a respect for Buffy and her friends you do not always get in such books. Let me put it another way: you know how good this series is? I went out and got a hardback edition because this is a keeper (even if you do not have a gate).

This was an awesome conclusion to the wonderful Gatekeeper Trilogy. I especially liked the final battle scene; all the characters were well done, as always. I read the entire trilogy in two days and I was not dissapointed at all. A must read for all Buffy fans. Thumbs-up to Chris Golden and Nancy Holder for another great effort.

Oh, my gosh! The Gatekeeper Trilogy is the most entertaining series of books of all the Buffy books!!! I love the way the authors included all the characters instead of just focusing on Buffy all the time. I thought it was cool how, in the last book they brought Belphegor, Il Maestro,and The Sons Of Entropy together at the end and finished them off. It was just totally entertaining. I loved how they had Xander become the Gatekeeper, I never expected that, I really thought he was gonna die! This trilogy is definetely a MUST for all Buffy fans!!! It will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning 'til end!!!!

This, as always with Buffy books, was a great book! In fact, the whole gatekeeper trilogy was awesome! But out of all 3 books in the trilogy, this one would be my least favorite. Though this one was really exciting, it just didn't have what I liked about the first two. The third one had Buffy and Angel apart in almost the entire book! And the ending wasn't so good, it kinda just ended with Cordelia, Xander, Willow, Oz, and ANGEL, in Boston, and Buffy, Giles, and Joyce in Sunnydale. The second one was my favorite, it had Buffy and Angel traveling through London together, I loved it! It showed how the two obviously were still completely in love with eachother, but couldn't be together. But I would still defenitly recommend this book. And the whole trilogy!

With the few 'Buffy' books Christopher Golden & Nancy Holder has written ('Child of the Hunt, 'REturn to Chaos, 'Halloween Rain') , I knew there work was awesome. When The Gatekeeper Trilogy came out, they lost their rank of awesome in my book, and they now have UBERAWESOMERIFFICAL (dumb word, but means BIG TIME awesome). They depicted each character to the bone, and gave literally so much detail my mind was playing lie a movie as I pictured the scenes in my head. I do that with all books, but this is the one that I clearly could see happening. All in All, Christopher G. & Nancy H. KICK VAMPIE BOOTIE!

A little bit of Ethan Rayne in the Buffyverse is such a treat for the reader. In the "Sons of Entropy", one would think that Ethan would feel right at home in the realm of chaos, but he soon finds out that without some order, chaos isn't as much fun. Throughout the novel, he struggles with this dilemma with style, humor and dare I say, humanity.
Being the mother of the Slayer should create enough pain in a lifetime, but in this novel, Joyce is put through unnecessary pain and torment. It seems a bit much. Buffy will always go with her heart and if that means going after a horde of demons or rescuing her mother, mom wins.
This reader is convinced that Xander is the perfect man for the universe. You can never keep a good man down.
Il Maestro was a tenacious character. His background story was sad ad proves once again that humans are not born evil: evil seeps in due to events and horrible circumstances. His final scene was handled cheaply.
"Sons of Entropy", not as great as "Out of the Madhouse", but ten times better than "Ghost Roads". This novel had monsters and battles galore,but it didn't forget the heart. Golen and Holder did a wonderful job.

SONS OF ENTROPY
Book 3 of The Gatekeeper Trilogy
Christopher Golden & Nancy Holder (1999)

RATING: 4/5 Stakes

SETTING: Third Season

CAST APPEARANCES: Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Angel, Oz, Cordelia, Amy, Joyce, Ethan Rayne

MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Jacques Regnier, Jean-Marc Regnier, Antoinette Regnier (Gatekeeper family); Micaela Tomasi (ex-Son); Fulcanelli/Il Maestro (Sons leader); Brother Claude, Brother Lupo (Sons of Entropy); Belphegor (demon); Hadrius (Fulcanelli's teacher)

BACK-OF--THE-BOOK SUMMARY: "Led by the fanatical Il Maestro, the Sons of Entropy are assaulting the supernatural Boston mansion that holds back the realm of monsters, and stealing the life force from the besieged Gatekeeper. In limbo, the Ghost Roads are crumbling, becoming weak and unstable where Hell and the Otherworld have begun seeping in, blurring the passages that lead to the human world. And Xander lies mortally wounded from a failed attempt to free Joyce Summers from the clutches of the zealots who hold her hostage. With the Gatekeeper rapidly weakening, Buffy sends Willow and Cordelia to escort Xander along the Ghost Roads to the Gatehouse, which may hold his only hope of survival. Meanwhile, she, Giles, and an unlikely band of allies take their fight to the very mouth of Hell itself, desperately hoping to save Joyce and repel the evil spawn before Sunnydale becomes a demonic ground zero. Only then can Buffy safeguard the Gatekeeper's eleven-year-old heir, the only one able to prevent the ultimate destruction of humanity."

REVIEW

Sons of Entropy ends the Gatekeeper Trilogy on a strong note. As the novel begins, Xander lays near death, Joyce is kidnapped, and the Gatekeeper is coming closer and closer to defeat at the hands of Il Maestro. Golden & Holder do an excellent job of threading these various storylines together into an enjoyable whole. As a special treat, Ethan Rayne makes one of his characteristic guest appearances, but this time there is a twist: in order to save his own skin, he's forced to serve the forces of Order and the result is quite funny.

Golden & Holder like epic stories with cosmic implications, and Sons of Entropy is no exception. As with most of their work, I find the best parts of Sons of Entropy are those with the more mundane, "believable" aspects than the apocalyptic elements. The dialogue and characterization remain first-rate, and even the villains get interesting, distinct personalities. Joyce and Giles are especially well done. Although a battle against a minotaur in a labyrinth is a bit too cheesy for my taste, scenes of Xander (?) wielding awesome powers are exciting and suspenseful.

The Gatekeeper Trilogy would serve as a nice introduction to the world of Buffy novels for fans interested in the show but wanting a more substantive plot than the stand-alone books. Although not perfect, Sons of Entropy is a solid novel and a worthwhile conclusion to the trilogy.

(c) 2005 Jeremy Patrick (jhaeman@hotmail.com)

Buffy Novel Reviews: http://www.geocities.com/jhaeman

The entire trilogy is awesome, but this book was major wow material. Good character description, nice conclussion, lot's of Angel/Buffy angst. Bravo!

Through the three books, there was action love and dispair that brought everybody closer and more united. This book has the golden touch finally to a great sequel. Loved this trilogy to the end!