Tales of the Slayer, Volume 1 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) [Paperback]

Yvonne Navarro (Author), Nancy Holder (Author), Christie Golden (Author), Mel Odom (Author), Doranna Durgin (Author), Greg Rucka (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2001

A collection of stories from top genre writers which feature the battles of Slayers both past and present. "Into every generation a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world, to find the vampires where they gather and to stop the spread of their evil..." In our time the Chosen One is Buffy Summers. But Buffy is merely one Slayer in an eternal continuum of warriors for the Powers That Be. Others are known to us: The Primal Slayer, who stalked the earth and the forces of darkness in fiercelyguarded solitude. Nikki, the funky hipster whose death at the hands of Spike lent an urban edge to his wardrobe and a bigger bounce to his swagger. Kendra, called when Buffy briefly drowned in her epic contest with The Master before Xander revived her with CPR, and then murdered by Drusilla with her razor-sharp nails. Slayers by nature have a limited life expectancy. It goes with the job description. And for each one who falls another is summoned at once to take her place. Tales of the Slayer Volume One tells of past Slayers in various times and places from ancient Greece to revolution-era France, and from Hungary in the days of the blood-soaked countess Elizabeth Bathory to the decadent Munich of the 1920s. Each has a personal history, a shared moral code, and a commitment to conquer evil, regardless of the cost. Contributing authors include Nancy Holder, Mel Odom, Yvonne Navarro, Christie Golden, Doranna Durgin and Greg Rucka.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Best-selling author Nancy Holder has published sixty books and more than two hundred short stories. She has received four Bram Stoker awards for fiction from the Horror Writers Association, and her books have been translated into more than two dozen languages. She has written or cowritten twenty Buffy and Angel projects. A graduate of the University of California at San Diego, Nancy is currently a writing teacher at the school. She lives in San Diego with her daughter, Belle, and their growing assortment of pets.

Award-winning author Christie Golden has written over thirty novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Golden launched the TSR Ravenloft line in 1991 with her first novel, the highly successful Vampire of the Mists. She is the author of several original fantasy novels, including On Fire's Wings, In Stone's Clasp, and Under Sea's Shadow, the first three in her multi-book fantasy series ?The Final Dance? from LUNA Books.

 

Among Golden's other projects are over a dozen Star Trek novels and the well-received StarCraft Dark Templar trilogy, Firstborn, Shadow Hunters, and the forthcoming Twilight. An avid player of Blizzard's MMORPG World of Warcraft, Golden has written several novels in that world (Lord of the Clans, Rise of the Horde) with three more in the works. She has also written two Warcraft manga stories for Tokyopop, ?I Got What Yule Need? and ?A Warrior Made.? Golden is currently hard at work on three books in the major nine-book Star Wars series ?Fate of the Jedi.? Golden lives in Colorado with her husband and two cats.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment (October 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743400453
• ISBN-13: 978-0743400459
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #530,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read for "Buffy" fans, November 17, 2001

By 

"padawanalli" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales of the Slayer, Volume 1 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (Paperback)

For any fan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and especially for fans who love Slayer mythology, this is an excellent read. With short stories spanning the lives of eight different Slayers, each set around a different historical event, there's little not to love about this anthology.

The writing is strong and the tales are very engaging. If you're looking for something to tide you over in between new episodes, I highly recommend "Tales of the Slayer."

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very, very good., November 11, 2001

By 

The Duke. (Canada.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales of the Slayer, Volume 1 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (Paperback)

I just finished the last story in this hefty tome and I have to say I find the complaints levelled at this book confusing to say the least. Tales of the Slayer Vol. 1 (and I can't wait for further volumes in this series) is an entertaining collection of horror stories. Accent on the word _horror_. While Buffy as a television show has a mix of laughs as well as scares, humor is not the theme of this book. It's theme is the Slayer, what it must be to be the Chosen One charged with the protection of the world from the forces of evil. The stories are grim tales of the fight of these young women and the Watchers who stand by their side against vampires and other creatures, and no they don't all end happily, which I found a refreshing change of pace from other Buffy books, in which the characters are protected from true harm or change because of the constraints of being part of the television show's continuity. I bought this book on a whim, and I'm glad I did. my only regret is there's only 7 stories in this book. Long stories and good stories, but it left me wanting more. Guess I'll have to wait for November 14 and the upcoming release of the Tales of the Slayer graphic novel to satisfy my appetitie. ^_^

This book and Pretty Maids All in a Row should be required reading for any Buffy fan, to give people a glimpse into how truly _scary_ Buffy's world can be away from the quips and comedy.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent collection of short stories, February 7, 2002

By 

A. Felton "voracious reader" (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tales of the Slayer, Volume 1 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (Paperback)

"Tales of the Slayer" is a collection of short stories based on the premise of the Slayer myth as created by Joss Whedon in his critically acclaimed tv series "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" and the not-so-acclaimed movie of the same name. According to the legend, "In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer." The Slayer is a girl, usually in her late teens, who has superior strength, fighting, and healing abilities and uses those abilities to fight vampires and demons. When one Slayer dies, the next is called.

This collection of short stories tells the tales of some of those slayers. From a Slayer in Ancient Greece to a young African-America Slayer in 1950s Florida, each story details a portion of these girls' short lives as the Slayer. Written mainly by genre novelists, the majority of these stories are well-written and range from humorous to chilling to poignant.

Some of the stories are particularly touching such as my favorite story, "A Good Run," which tells of a Greek Slayer in 490 BC who must protect a messenger during the first marathon, the Battle of Marathon between the Greeks and the Persians. The story follows the thoughts of this Slayer as she runs along with the messenger, protecting him from evil as he heads toward Sparta to ask for the support of Spartan troops for Athens.

The only downside to this collection is that Slayers rarely live long lives so many of the stories deal with the death of these Slayers. Some are particularly depressing or horrible such as in "Die Blutgrafin" and "Silent Screams."

I recommend "Tales of the Slayer" to anyone who is, was, or will be a fan of "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." It can also be enjoyed by fans of vampire stories or the fantasy genre since, as long as you know the premise, the stories will make sense even to someone who has never seen an episode of "Buffy." This book is labelled "Volume 1"; I sincerely hope that "Volume 2" is in the works.