Customer Reviews

Night of the Living Rerun (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Book 4)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Arthur Byron Cover's "Night of the Living Rerun" is my least favorite book in the series to date. As a fan of the television show, I found numerous discrepancies when reviewed in parallel. Not only was the book difficult to read (I had to go back and reread portions of the book to follow the plot), but I think some of the characters were not portrayed accurately when compared to the television series. The plot centers around past lives and recurring history... basically a plot that has been gone over many times before. History repeats itself and so on. I do have to mention that Cover mentioned Cordelia and Angel, which seems to be a first in the history of this series... of course, the mentions are small and don't contribute to the plot. If you're a collector of the Buffy series, you'll want to get this book, but others might find it a hard read with an unsatisfactory plot.

I didn't have trouble following this book, but I've been reading horror stories for over 30 years. The author doesn't have a good handle on the characters, but I didn't care. I've been an H.P. Lovecraft fan since I was 16, so I got a kick out of seeing the middle name of his good friend, Clark Ashton Smith, showing up, not to mention Giles consulting Eibon (A true Lovecraftian Evil Old Recluse will have the Book of Eibon amongst his forbidden tomes collection. Another of Lovecraft's friends, Robert E. [Ervin] Howard, is most famous for creating Conan the Barbarian, but he also created a fanatical Puritan adventurer who fought supernatural horrors. The name of that Puritan was Solomon Kane. That's why I laughed in delight over the dreams about the Puritan Slayer Samantha Kane and her Watcher, Robert Erwin. As a fan of "Kolchak the Night Stalker" [starring Darrin McGavin] from its first TV run, I chortled with glee when the even more hapless reporter Darryl MacGovern came on the scene. Readers who dislike Cotton Mather for his role in the Salem Witch Mockery-of-Justice will enjoy what happens to him in this book. Many of the other character names tease at my memory, but I haven't yet taken the time to look them up (worse, I left my notes at home!). Ooh -- almost forgot to mention how much I enjoyed the Master's dream of "Old Scratch." I found this book a very amusing romp and I suspect other horror fans will, too.

BTW, the scene where Samantha Kane is stalking after escaped witch Dim[n?]sdale [name from Hawthorne's THE SCARLET LETTER?], before she's gruesomely attacked by various body parts that refuse to be slain, it says Kane didn't even have a captor to keep her company. Shouldn't that have been "captive"?

I just finished reading this book and was disappointed by it. The author obviously didn't know the show and the characters well so he chose to write more about characters and events from the past than he did about the characters of Buffy. There were a few interesting parts. The showdown with the Master and the possessed characters wasn't bad although I wouldn't have staged it at a steakhouse. I don't know what that was about. But on the whole, if you are looking for action, you will find it. But if you are truly immersed in Buffyness, I would try another book.

This is one of the most forgettable "Buffy" books I have read thus far. The plot wasn't one, and when it seemed it was going somewhere, it hit a brick wall with a loud thud. There were these different elements that just didn't fit into one another. I think the only thing I enjoyed, is how the characters from the past matched with those from today, except for Willow, which was revealed at the end. I think the ending was the best part, actually, because of that. It was just very choppy, and the characterization (which I am very big on) was very awkward. Not a must-read.

This book was excellent. I have read every Buffy book up to date, and this was one of my Favorites. Also I enjoyed Child of the hunt very much. The reason I enjoyed Night of the Living Rerun because it showed the characters from a diffrent point of view. This book went into their pasts and showed them together. I think my favorite part of the whole book was when throughout the whole book Willow wasn't having any dreams like the others, and then at the very end of the book Willow has a dream that puts her and Xander together in the past. I think that that was an excellent ending to the book, and it was an exellent book. I have gone back and read it two more times. Out of all the books this one is my favorite, because of history it brings out, also I now know alot more about the Salem witch trials then I did before. I love the movie, I love the show, and I love the books, I'm obssed with BtVS!

The thing that makes Buffy the Vampire Slayer such a great television shows is that it is able to combine action, comedy and drama in such a seamless manner. Once you get past the idea that all that martial arts stuff is needed to drive a steak through the heart of a vamp, the action routines are the best on television. The comedy is character driven to such an extent that a priceless funny moment can be a double take or a raised eyebrow as much as a quick quip or arcane pop-culture reference. But the heart of the series is the dramatic undertones, always implicit in the fact that Slayers die young and reaching its operatic heights with Buffy's tragic relationship with Angel. All of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer books, whether original stories or adapted from various episodes, automatically lose the action elements. Break down the fight sequence from the second part of "Becoming" and it is going to lose something on the printed page. So losing one part of the Buffy triad is an automatic given. The problem with "Night of the Living Rerun" is that the story overloads the comedy and comes up way short of the drama. Arthur Byron Cover is not alone in this regard as this my standard complaint with the vast majority of Buffy novels.

Forget about the cute title, the heart of this story is a compelling tale: the story of Samantha Kane, the Slayer during the title of the Salem Witch Trials. How does this fit into the Buffy mythos? This happened to be when the Master was accidentally trapped in the other dimension. Buffy keeps dreaming about the past, and when the same thing starts happening to Giles and Xander the set up is for a symbolic replay of the past, hence the book's title. However, this particular story idea would have worked better either as a bookend to the final demise of the Master or as some sort of parallel story. Working in Buffy and the Scooby gang just ends up providing extra layers that takes away from a fascinating story idea. If you think of "Night of the Living Rerun" as a trial run for the "Tales of the Slayers" volumes that have come out since this novel was published you can better appreciate it because this story would have worked a lot better without Buffy.

The first time I read this book I found the character slipping found past to present clumsey. It drew me out of the plot. After putting it aside for several months I reread it and found that it easier to follow when you understood who was who in the past and present. I found it much more enjoyable and actually rather clever. Perhaps the title is suggestive. I recommend you buy the book and read it twice.

This book was not brutal, but it is probably the worst of all the Buffy novel's so far. Usually I would read one of the Buffy books in two days, but it took me almost two weeks to finish this one. It is so slow, and at the start it seems to be going no where -- not what a good Buffy book should be like. The characters aren't really that good in this either, and the dialogue is really bad

"Night of the Living Rerun" is, by far, the WORST of the Buffy novels. The author obviously has no understanding of the characters and only a basic knowledge of the premise. The characters were trite, the references inconsistent at best (completely wrong at worst!), the premise was shaky, and the storyline unsalvageable.

Do yourselves a favor - skip over this book and go directly to "Blooded". I guarantee you much more bang for your buck...

I adored this book.I loved the part when Xander turned into that woman.I thought that when Buffy talked to the demon it was funny (I usually do)I loved how she was sarcastic as well.Some of it I didn't get like when these people said they'd talked to the witch's ghost and Giles said they'd made a mistake or something.I liked the discription of the demon because it sounded like it was disgusting and I love that sort of stuff.I also liked it when the zombies came to the cafe where Buffy was working and she said to a waitress "You'll forget about it." and the waitress replied "I'll bet you one steak dinner I don't." I would love to write a Buffy book because it's one of the only books where I can get away with writing gory stories.This book is also really good because of the way the writers discribed it.When they said abot the demon's minions though I thought they were like the minions from Anastasia and only until later on did I realize that they were vampires.My favourite part was the part where Buffy fought the demon.I liked the epilouge when Willow was asleep and she dreamed she was a man from the past.