Customer Reviews

King of the Dead : The Lost Slayer Part 3 ( Buffy the Vampire Slayer Series )

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All I can say about this series is WOW!! If you haven't read any of them yet, I highly suggest you get the first one and make your way through them. WOW!!!

In this 3rd installment, Buffy is trying to comes to terms and find out what she did wrong. What is wrong you say? Well, Sunnydale is overrun with vampires and they have a King....it's Giles. Buffy has made a mistake in the past and it has thrusted her in the furture, and her friends are different. Willow is a powerful witch, and Xander is much harder...much darker. Even Spike's a pawn...and Giles controls him. Buffy has to figure out what went wrong, and correct her mistake...if she can. It's not as simple as that...Giles is toying with Buffy. He feels that she can't kill him. Is he right? Can't Buffy kill her one time Watcher and friend? Like me, you'll have to wait to the end to find out what happens. Get the first book and enjoy the ride. I know I am.

The characters are incredible. Even through this isn't the "universe" that Buffy fans know, the characters are incredible. It's interesting to see how they turned out when Buffy isn't there for some time. Where was she? Read the series from the start, and find out.

The author has a fantastic writing style that will keep the reader glued to the page. When they are done reading one "chapter" to the book, the reader wants more. I know I do. I can't wait to see how everything turns out. The dialoge in the book is just like the show. It's a bit different, but it's fresh, crisp and quick.

I can't say enough good things about this book. If your a Buffy fan, then you have to start this series.

After the shattering revelation that Rupert Giles is now the King of the Vampires it would be difficult for Christopher Golden to top himself in "King of the Dead," Par Three of "The Lost Slayer" serial novel, and in fact he does not really try. Abandoning the "present" story line where Buffy's 19-year-old body had been possessed by Zotzilaha, the estranged bride of Camazotz, the ancient Mayan demon-god, Golden focuses entirely on the alternative Buffy future, where the now 24-year-old Slayer has finally escaped captivity and has been reunited with the old Scoobey Gang. Whereas the first two parts of the Lost Slayer ended with the reader dying to find out what happens next, "King of the Dead" ends with us wanting to know more about what happened to everyone while Buffy was lost. But all we really get are vauge references to the horrors that happened in Sunnydale while Buffy was imprisoned, namely the deaths of Joyce, Faith and Anya (and presumably Angel), and like Buffy we want to hear more of the details.

Golden takes full advantage of the fact that these books are set way back during the early part of Season 4 of Buffy, so that his characterizations of Willow as the defacto leader of the Watchers Council forces, Xander as the grim death machine, and Oz as the unleashed werewolf, ring true. One of the most impressive developments on Buffy has been the emergence of Willow as a wicca of considerably and growing power. Perhaps even more than the relationship between Giles and the Slayer, it is the relationship between Buffy and Willow that is at the heart of the Buffy mythos. The most poignant scenes in "King of the Dead" have to do with the two friends trying to find themselves again, and the realization that Willow has remained true to Buffy, even at the expense of her relationship with Oz. It is character relationship rather than action that ultimately dominates Part Three of this tale and provide the novel's best moments.

My previous bafflement as to why Buffy was incarerated in a cell that actually had a door, through which escape was finally possible after five years, is explained away by Golden's revelation that her former Watcher has further, darker plans for Buffy in his new vampire kingdom. Although as a tendency I have little fondness for writers providing their villains with an Achilles heel that will allow the hero to triumph at the last moment, there is a certain deliciously twisted logic at work here. You can certainly argue that if Giles the Vampire King is as smart and as patient as everybody keeps saying he is, then he would not play with fire in this manner, and I would absolutely agree with you. But Golden makes the whole idea work for the most part as he builds up to the final chapters of the tale. "The Lost Slayer" is far and away Golden's best solo work on Buffy and his efforts do not suffer in comparison to "The Gatekeeper" Trilogy.

Bloody Hell!!! Giles is a vampire. the one mistake that
buffy made has caused her beloved watcher to not only become
a vampire but their king. who better to lead the vampires than
the one that trained the slayer himself. as buffy reels from this
shock, she must not only try to figure out how to beat the person
that knows her the best, but try and fit in with a much altered
world that really does not know how she will fit in. her best friends from 5 years ago are all tougher and harder than they were
and they are not too sure what to make of this new buffy. also
willow and buffy try to find a way to send the spirit of her 19
year old self back in time to try and avert this horrible future.
this book is a good lead up to the fourth one but not quite as
suspenseful as the first 2. even though i cannot wait to see how
this one ends, the third installation seems to have run out of steam somewhat.

As an adult viewer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I've read all the novels intended for older fans (as well as some younger), and my favorite authors are, no question, Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder. Together they're incredible, apart they're still heads and shoulders above the rest of the professional Buffy novelists. So, when I picked up this book, I was expecting to enjoy it just as much as I have the others, especially when reading the premise off the back. Unfortunately, the short length of the books takes away all the potential the storyline had. Details are glossed over, and the emotions of the characters are skimmed so briefly you can't possibly feel for them. The dialogue is impressive, as it always is with Christopher Golden, but that's about the only good thing I have to say about this book and the others in the series. Trust me when I tell you, save your $3.00 and put it towards a different, longer novel by the same author, or by Nancy Holder. Or both. Because while I can't say enough good things about full length Christopher Golden stories, he definitely should avoid short length from now on. And if you don't want to waste your time, you should avoid his attempts at them, too.

At the end of Part Two, Buffy is confronted with the unbearable truth. She has found the Scooby Gang but they have been deeply changed by the vampire war. Anya, Buffy's mother, and Willows parent's are dead. Worst of all is that the king of the vampires is no longer Camazotz. Taken in Part 1 shortly before Buffy's own capture, Giles is now a vampire. Not just any vampire but the new crowned king, fearsome and subtle and determined to create an empire on this earth.

Buffy joins with the rest of the vampire fighters but finds it difficult to reach rapport with the newer members of the team, to whom she is just a legend. And her old friends don't know quite what to make of her either. One part of Buffy, imprisoned for 5 years, is colder and calculating. The other part, the mind of the 19 year old that was thrust forward in time, still loves her friends dearly, and hates what has happened. Buffy must determine the mistake that has let this future occur, and then find a way back to her past to undo it.

Spike, always a rebel, has a confrontation with Giles over the death of Drusilla. The argument ends when a thoroughly irritated Giles throws Spike out into the sunlight. Thus it is a badly singed vampire that shows up at Resistance headquarters seeking revenge. Buffy is in no mood for games, and Spike has a very uncomfortable interrogation. Then, in short order, she has her first confrontation with Giles. He is now a master of the very things he once trained her in, and dreams of turning her into his mate, at his side forever. He escapes, and Buffy prepares for war.

The subsequent battle for Sunnydale is a miniature military action, fought by commandos against sun protected vampires, demons, and human conspirators. The action is furious, as the old team members slip back in synch again. And the ending is another shocking surprise. Christopher Golden is completely successful in maintaining a level of excitement higher than several other recent Buffy books, proving himself still a master of Buffy lore. He portrays the characters with unexpected sensitivity while telling the kind of story that you wish would never really end. End it does, though, and now you and I must wait impatiently for Part 4.

Any fan of Buffy should read the entire Lost Slayer series. It kept me captivated and waiting for the release of the next part. I read and reread these books constantly. Willow ...as the "super sorceress" and the insight into Oz's werewolf self is rather intriguing. These books are just incredible Buffy reading.

Buffy has been launched five-years into the future, and is now inhabiting her 24-year-old body, while her 19-year-old mind reigns over all. She has been rescued by Willow and Xander, her two best friends, who, now, in their 24-year-old bodies, have begun working for the Watchers Council. No, they are not watchers, but protectors. The world is bleak five years later, for Buffy has found that her Mother is dead, and that Angel is missing. But that is not the worst of it, for a strange bit of information has found it's way to Buffy, and she now knows that Giles, her beloved Watcher for years, has switched sides, and is now the Vampire King. And Spike, who seemed pretty powerful in the past, is now nothing more than a minion to Giles. Now Buffy is forced to fight to take back Sunnydale, and soon, the rest of California back from the dead, or rather, undead, while her friends back home are struggling to bring her 19-year-old spirit back home.

Christopher Golden is one of my favorite authors, there is no doubt about that. So his LOST SLAYER quartet was one that I couldn't possibly miss. While PROPHECIES and DARK TIMES were a fantastic start, KING OF THE DEAD is an amazing middle novel, for it is beginning to bring in new aspects to the quartet. Giles as the Vampire King being one of them. Overall, this is an amazing addition to the LOST SLAYER quartet, and will have all BUFFY fans gripping the edge of their seats in anticipation for what will come in the conclusion, ORIGINAL SINS.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

"The Lost Slayer" series continues to impress. Why oh why couldn't this story appear as a two hour Buffy tv special? Two Buffys still exist in the horrific world of Vampire domination over humans. Spike's appearance wasn't bothersome. His character added to the plot nicely and the reader still cannot completely hate him even when he does something unforgivable. Buffy and Willow remain tight after five years of chaos, but Xander has turned into a metaphorical army robot. Not even a tender gesture from Buffy can truly demolish the wall he has built around himself. In this novel, Giles is a different type of leader, but the reader cannot truly hate him either. This novel rocks. I read it in two hours. READ THIS BOOK.

In the future California, Spike is not happy that Giles separated him and Drusilla, given Drusilla became a flaming torch, courtesy of Buffy and her extraction team.

Confronting Giles, he gets the defenestration treatment, and hence goes to give the Council information. Bad move for him, as they torture information out of him, and Xander dusts him in revenge for the death of Anya.

The Council, prepared with this intel, decides to move on Giles and his vampires.

After a slow but promising start in "Prophesies" and a fast-paced, exciting second installment "Dark Times", the third part of Christopher Golden's Lost Slayer serial begins to drift away from any coherent plot, becoming no better or worse than the myraid of fan fiction out there based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (except the fan fiction is free).

Due to the designs of the demon-goddess Zotzilaha, Buffy has been catapulted five years into the future where her past and future souls merge in the body into her twenty-five year old self who has escaped from the high-facility prison in which she was kept and found Sunnydale to be ruled by vampires. Forced to kill the second Slayer August (Faith's successor) Buffy is reunited with her friends who have also been changed in the five years she's been held prisoner. Here Golden makes some rather remarkable predictions about the character's future personalities: Willow's incredible power as a witch, Oz's inability to fully surpress his werewolfry, Wesley's new kick-butt attitude, Faith's redemption - these are but a few of the accurate soon-to-be fates of the Scooby gang on the television show.

But despite these interesting points, the plot soon begins to waver. Buffy learns that due to the mistake she made over five years ago concerning the bat-god Camazotz and her Watcher Giles, she herself is responsible for all that has come to pass. Giles is now a vampire himself, sporting the rather ridiculous title of 'King of the Vampires', and his goal is to turn Buffy herself into a vampire. Also on the scene is the new Vampire Slayer, Anna Kuei, who serves no real purpose in the story that I can see, and Spike whose death is equally pointless, especially since he rather stupidly walks into the Watcher's compound to give them information they already knew. And what exactly was his escape plan...?

The basis of the story is Buffy joining forces with the Watcher's Council and her old friends to go up against Giles and his minions. The whole 'two souls in one body' nicely contrasts the theme of the former books in which Buffy-the-person tries to separate herself from Buffy-the-Slayer, but all tension over this is lost, as Golden continually informs us that the rightful soul will eventually return to the nineteen year old Buffy. There's a nifty Buffy physic dream and a pretty cool twist involving a priest and fire sprinklers in the ceiling, but other times the story falls short of expectations - a fighter named Yancy is introduced as a somewhat irratic killer (aha! I thought, there's the turncoat!) but is needlessly killed off before he plays any sort of impact in the story.

Basically, a quick, mildly entertaining read, but with too much descriptions on endless fighting and unlikely what-if senarios to be taken seriously.