Customer Reviews

Not Forgotten (Angel)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Nancy Holder dieplays the imaginative writing skills that won her several Horror Writer awards in this tale of the lost and the oppressed in LA. She introduces a bunch of monsters and gods I've never heard of before, and Angel has his hands full fighting them to defend the innocent. She is defenitely one of the best authors of the Buffy books.

The opening grabs the reader and pulls you into a strange world of the dead and the near dead. Angel flash backs are always interesting to further establish his character. Also the faint Buffy references provide a nice continuity. But the flash backs between Angel's life, Meg's life and the past often break up the action. In the end as masks are removed and villians become victems there is no satisfaction and much confusion. Angel's encounter with an dying old woman is the most touching I've read in a long time. I almost wished for an epilogue in which Angel finds the child and passes the memory so she is not forgotten. I enjoyed the book but the plotting is not Ms Holder's best.

First of all, let me explain that I am a big fan of David Lynch and other very odd cinema and literature. However, it takes a very skillfull artist to make a mindwarp like "Twin Peaks" work without losing the audience completely in the process. Of course, when you go for the bizarre you'll lose some people, but when your die-hard fans start scratching their heads you have a problem.

Nancy Holder, in "Not Forgotten" has done a great job with the characters. With only a few minor flubs, their actions and interactions seem like they came right out of a season one script. (Flubs include a little more humor than standard from Angel, some incorrect Irish phrasing from Doyle and flashback Angel, and the fact that Angel's human name was Liam, not Angelus - but at the time the novel was written the show had not revealed that latter point).

I was able to hold on through all the twists in the story and had no problem believing that Ms. Holder would make all clear in the end. In fact, I told my girlfriend when I was half through the book that this was the best Buffy or Angel book I'd read so far and the first one that I'd recommend to her.

Then I got to the end.

I had to re-read the last few pages several times. I was sure that I was more tired than I thought and just wasn't getting something. But no. I won't spoil the end here except to say that it does not successfully tie up any of the dangling plot threads and does not do a good job of making clear what the author intended. I am sure that Ms. Holder had in mind an ending that would wrap up everything nicely and leave the reader going "Oh.... so that's what was going on this whole time!" I can see the edges of the idea she was trying, but in my opinion she left a little too much of the ending up to the reader to interpret. Just a little more laid out would have let us grasp the rest.

All-in-all, a frustrating experience. Only recommended to die hard fans of the show or the author.

I read all the other available Angel books, but could never get into this. I tried starting it several times. The beginning had too many original characters, too much confusing mixed mythology (and I have blood relatives in South East Asia so it is not a cultural bias I am talking about...). Finally I had finished Avatar and had no new Angel or Buffy or Sixth Sense novels to read ((The SIXTH SENSE books are for "intermediate readers" but are TERRIFIC and should not be missed. I am over 20 years old and I mean this.)) I tried once more to read NOT FORGOTTEN; it continued to be "more work" than the other novels in the series---but, you know what?, it did pay off. I would have preferred an easier read, but I was desperate and it DID give me an Angel reading experience, with much reward, when there was nothing else available. I'm glad of that.

This book was okay, but a bit confusing and strange. Still, being a big fan of the TV show, I enjoyed the interaction between the main characters.

It took me a few minutes after I read the book to figure out what had just happened. This book has to be the worst in the series. It tries to mix humor in with Angel's broody nature and it fails. Can anyone out there who watches the show actually picture Angel responding to the question "what are you doing here?" with "livin' la vida loca"? It isn't a terrible book but it just doesn't stand out like "Redemption" for example. It does have it's strong points though but other parts are either confusing or just plain boring, especially the strange ending.

This book is about a cult worshiping an Indonesian death god and bringing over illegal immigrant as sacrifices. This book had the potential to be really good, but was rushed and confusing near the end. The writer also needs to do more research. In the Buffy episode, Halloween, it's said that Angel was 18 and still alive in 1775, but in Not Forgotten he supposedly became a vampire in 1752, 5 years before he was even born.

This book was only ok. I have read much better from Nancy Holder. The book falls short for Angel. However, the interaction between the characters is still maintained. I would not necessarily recommend this book for anyone besides super fans of "Angel."

I haven't been reading buffy and angel books for long but I'm a big fan of the tv shows. I've only read two other angel books and this one was my third - and least favourite.

The book started strangely to begin with, and I must admitt did not get much better. I never understood what was going on with the girl, Meg, was she a decendant of that wierd Banshee thing angel encountered when he was human? Did she ACTUALLY die in the end? Or was she even real? All the talk of the weird chemicals that Jusef was injecting into her and the false memories confused me. Another thing, Jusef's father Bang Rais, did he die? After I had finished reading the book it took me a while to even realise it was meant to be an ending. I didn't even feel it had finished properly.

In my opinion there was too many weird deaths with people being killed and then kinda...not. In all it was an ok book, not the best angel story I have read. It has some good moments particually with Cordy and Doyle (one of my fave characters) and Angel getting a speeding ticket was funny.

If you dont want to end up being confused, or you dont like complicated plots or stupid endings don't read this book. I wouldn't recomend this for people reading their first Angel book - it'll put you off picking up another. Try reading a better one like Shakedown or Avatar.

If you're an avid Angel fan, then you probably already read this. But for those of you who haven't: I'd advise you not to unless you want to end up really confused. Overall, plot was pretty good, but kind of at the climax of the story...it appears as though the writer left out a few pages. It's an alright book, but City Of, Redemtion, Close to the Ground, and all thereafter are much better.