The Longest Night, Volume 1 [Mass Market Paperback]

Various (Author)

Book Description

Series: Angel: The Longest Night | Publication Date: December 1, 2002

Even if it takes an eternity, he will make amends....

FROM DUSK UNTIL DAWN

December -- sure, 'tis the season and all that, but evil generally isn't up for a holiday. And December 21 -- well, that's usually the winter solstice.

A.K.A. the longest night of the year.

It's easy enough to see why this night would practically be the undead's New Year's Eve, which means, visions or no, it's a crunch time for Angel Investigations.

Now, in the first-ever Angel short story collection, follow our gang hour by hour, evil by evil. From twilight to daylight, Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, and Fred have to keep the forces of darkness at bay -- even when black magick has a head start....

With Contributions From:
Pierce Askegren, Scott and Denise Ciencin, Doranna Durgin, Nancy Holder, Christie Golden, Christopher Golden, Jeff Mariotte, Yvonne Navarro, and Emily Oz

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment (December 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743427564
• ISBN-13: 978-0743427562
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #804,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Happy Birthday Dear Sun God..., February 19, 2003

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Longest Night, Volume 1 (Mass Market Paperback)

I am not much of a fan of short stories as a rule, but I'm also not one to skip a new Angel book because of a personal prejudice. Right now Angel is getting better writing than Buffy is and this set of short stories is full of both old-timers who made both series a success and newcomers who have come to their own with the Angel startup.

The overall story arc that binds this made-for-Christmas volume together isn't really Christmas, but the Winter Solstice that precedes it - a much older sacred day than the one we celebrate now. This solstice is the longest night of the year and hence offers the most opportunity for badness. That plus its special nature as a magical day means that this is truly Angel Investigations' busiest day of the year. And as Cordelia would be quick to point out, their least profitable as well.

The book contains 12 stories set from 6:00 PM to 5:00 AM, written by 9 different authors from very old-timer Christopher Golden to complete newbie Pierce Askegren. With a certain amount of cheating, the editors have actually forced the tales to fit in a 12 hour span, but don't look for perfect timing. Almost all are written to a consistently high standard, and certain standing themes are developed evenly throughout. Like Angel's sense of isolation, echoed by Cordelia's internal struggles with her own lot.

The one story that bothered me a bit was Nancy Holder's 'Have Gunn, Will Travel.' In reading it, I kept thinking that she felt quite awkward with Gunn. Which is the case, since Holder has little direct experience with the uniquely Angel characters. Other than that, from Askegren's tale of a father's love gone comepletely awry to Christie Golden's finishing tour-de-force these are completely enjoyable. Since this is marked Volume One, we can look forward to another effort next year.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something Wicked This Way Comes, February 3, 2003

By 

J. Boccanfuso (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Longest Night, Volume 1 (Mass Market Paperback)

There really isn't much to say about The Longest Night except that I enjoyed it.

The Longest Night contains several short stories, each taking place within a one-hour time slot. Angel and the gang encounter ghosts, ice monsters, and last-minute shopping traffic. Each story is entertaining in its own way, some more so than others.

"The House Where Death Stood Still" is a wonderful opening story written by newcomer Pierce Askegren about a missing boy and his supposedly-dead father who is making phone calls to his ex-wife. Very creepy, and also very well told. "A Joyful Noise," written by veteran author Jeff Mariotte, features the return of many characters that we haven't heard from in a while (including a certain billionaire who can't seem to act his age and a certain ex-girlfriend who can't handle the dangerous life of demon-fighting, among others).

My favorite stories are "I Still Believe" and "Generous Presence." The former, written by Christopher Golden, tells about Angel and Cordelia going shopping for the gang; Angel doesn't have any ideas what to get them, so Cordy is there to help. The two run into trouble on the way, inevitably. "Generous Presence" (by Yvonne Navarro) occupies the 12 a.m. time slot, and it involves everyone at Angel Investigations getting gifts from Lilah Morgan at Wolfram & Hart. It seems like Lilah is just getting into the holiday spirit, but the gifts tend to show "what you're really worth."

Really, The Longest Night doesn't have many low points. Some stories seem outgraeous and unlikely to only take place in one hour. For example, in "The Anchoress" the gang time-travels to stop druids from performing a ritual, escape death, and return... all in one hour? And some of the stories don't gel with others: a holiday party takes place early on in the novel, but there is no mention of it anytime later. However, these things can be easily overlooked while you're actually reading... the stories are so well written, you tend to get completely engrossed in them.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an excellent angel novel, January 9, 2003

By 

Buffy Fan "Buffy Fan" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Longest Night, Volume 1 (Mass Market Paperback)

i picked this book up just shortly after christmas with some leftover christmas money, i was pleasantly suprised by how good this book was. i have read all the other angel books in the series and this is by far one of the best. i enjoyed that it was short stories not one long, continuous story, after all, it is over 400 pages long. i would definitley recommed this book to an angel fan.