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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
*Great Characterization*, December 13, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Mortal Fear (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (Paperback)
Despite what the historian tells you, Mortal Fear is set in the seventh season before the appearance of the First but after Selfless. Mortal Fear is one of few books that allows Dawn to play a active role. For those that hate Dawn, this book may confirm your feelings. The plot of the story revolves around Buffy, Dawn, Willow and Xander so don't expect much from Anya or Spike though they do make an appearance. The main story of this plot is that the scoobies are in a slump. Dawn (hormonally charged teen) is acting distant from Buffy and starts dating a troublesome guy. Willow struggles to hold back her dark side. Xander, although now very successful, is brooding over women troubles. Meanwhile, Buffy is running around town after demon attacks, collecting pieces to a soulsword told to her by a mysterious tipster called Simon. Things start to look up for the scoobies when they like the other Sunnydalers start to feel well...fearless. However without fear, the residents start to turn aggressive and both friend and family turn against Buffy. Vampires are also in the slump as their food turns out to be dangerous and Slayer and vampire work together, quickly before they are both killed by the humans of Sunnydale. For those that missed the simple day to day life detail of season seven, you'll love this book. It focuses much on the characterization of the foursome and you'll get to see their day to day life and moments that you wished had happened on the show. Overall a great book with great characterization and plot. Although the plot gets sci fi and complicated sometimes, it is very well written.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The New Age Of A Dawn, February 22, 2004
This review is from: Mortal Fear (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (Paperback)
Season Seven must present some extraordinary difficulties to the scribes of the Buffyverse. While the names are the same, almost every character has no resemblance to their original appearances before Season 4. Problems of character development are complicated by having to ride shotgun on an underlying story that resembles a Chinese fire drill. That the Ciencins have managed to overcome the dangers of plot drift and produce a coherent and even original story is a compliment to their skills. Taking advantage of the frayed nerves of all the season 7 Scooby-ites a mysterious mage named Simon manages to trick Buffy into collecting the bits and pieces of a magical sword that, naturally, could bring about the end of life as we know it. As part of the scheme he unleashes a weird magical nanovirus that completely erases fear as well as any compunction to do good. The big victims are Xander, Willow and Dawn (not that Dawn ever needed an excuse to be obnoxious). These three become part of the overall scheme as well as a means to torment our humble Slayer. Well written, and tightly plotted despite its length, Mortal Fear is one of the better Buffy books to appear in the past year or so. Even so, there are a few devices that stretch ones ability to believe. Especially what has happened to Willow. While the idea is not original to the Ciencin's, I find the device of a split personality Willow a bit tedious. After all, the is only one Willow - one whose naturally sweet nature is unable to contain her anger when her world falls apart. This is a natural, human thing - only larger than life because of Willow's powers. I find Willow-in-denial a bit hard to accept. On the other hand, Xander's anger at Buffy may be irrational, but it is appropriate to the character. And, as I've mentions Dawn was already irritating, so her characterization here is exactly right. Almost every other character puts in a spot appearance as Sunnydale once again starts to slip into chaos. Once again (for the umpteenth time) Buffy must handle the impossible and save the world. There is a part of me that misses the old Buffy, when the stories were mostly about finding an killing vampires. Yet we all know that Buffy's attraction is that it is far more than hacking and staking. Mortal Fear manages to tread the same thin line between horror and comedy that the best of the TV show does. Certainly worth reading if you are a fan.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simon Says, "Apocalypse Now...", September 15, 2003
This review is from: Mortal Fear (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (Paperback)
Buffy's running ragged around Sunnydale. She keeps getting anonymous tips, concerning demon attacks round and about town - in advance. Her mysterious source stays hidden in the shadows, and cloaked by magic. He calls himself "Simon," and Buffy does whatever he says - though she doesn't much like it. After all, how does this "Simon" character know so much? Is he sending the demons out to lunch on the Sunnydale citizenry himself, just to put Buffy through her paces for some agenda of his own? Why do the slain demons all dissolve into so much goo, and form themselves into more and more pieces of a lost legendary sword? And just what is "Simon's" admitted interest in this particular weapon? Complicating matters is the fact that Sunnydale itself seems to be growing more collectively insane, by the day. Kids, adults and senior citizens all seem to be developing a remarkable lack of inhibition, leading them to commit outrageous acts on nothing more than the impulse of the moment. Xander and Willow are being subtly targeted and preyed-upon by an unknown force, bent on unleashing their innermost desires and unlocking a strange power within them. And Dawn is literally turning renegade - and superhuman - in the throes of teenage hormones run wild. Even the vampires are willing to call temporary truce with the the Slayer, until Sunnydale's burgeoning crisis can be contained. They have to - something is poisoning their food supply, at the same time as it drives the mortals of Sunnydale crazy. With Xander, Willow and Dawn ganging-up on her, and no one but the mentally unbalanced vampire, Spike, and Xander's ex-fiancee, Anya, to help, can Buffy decipher the riddle of "Simon's" identity, and stop his - or someone else's - diabolical plan, before Sunnydale erupts in a kind of apocalypse, the like of which even Buffy Summers never could have dreamed? The Ciencin's write a first-rate Buffy tale, long, involved, well-developed and absorbing. I actually didn't think the plot to this one sounded all that promising, and was delighted to discover my preliminary judgment was greatly mistaken. Mortal Fear is one of the best of the Buffy books. It's well worth the read, and a real keeper.
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