Customer Reviews

Tales of the Slayer, Volume 1 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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."

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.

"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.

There have been hundreds of Slayers over thousands of years of human history and this first volume of "Tales of the Slayers" begins to reveal the past. We have seen Lucy Hanover in several of Nancy Holder's books, walking the Ghost Roads and doing what she can to help Buffy and the Scoobies in the here and now, but only "Spike & Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row" by Christopher Golden and Holder's "The Book of the Fours" have dealt with past Slayer in any substantive way. Those were novels and these "Tales of the Slayer" are short stories, a distinction that as I constructed this review.

Like any collection of short stories these tales are a mixed lot and anybody who reads them will like some more than others and visa versa. I liked "Silent Screams" by Mel Odom, set in 1923 Germany, although it, ironically is the story least about a Slayer of the seven tales. At the other end I would put the first tale, "A Good Run" by Greg Rucka, set in 490 B.C.E. Greece, which tells of the Slayer Thessily Thessilonkikki at the Battle of Marathon. While I like the idea of a Slayer obsessed with doing something important and memorable to justify her brief existence, I would have like to have seen something more creative than a footnote to the Greek battle against the Persians, not to mention something dealing with the Greek conception of vampires. But the biggest problem seems to me to be the story is 18 pages long, hardly enough time to set up let alone deliver the payoff. In contrast, Odom's story proceeds at a crisp pace and while it makes an ironic contrast to what Hitler was doing in Munich in 1923 he comes up with an even better twist on the German Expressionistic film movement in general and the classic "Nosferatu" in particular. Yes, it will remind you of "Shadow of the Vampire," but it is making a different point.

I really liked the historical figure who turns out to be the Slayer in Christie Golden's "The White Doe" (and I appreciate the story even more having read the About the Authors section at the back of the book) and the encounter the Slayer and Elizabeth Bathory in Yvonne Navarro's "Die Blutgrafin." Nancy Holder deals with questions of class in "Unholy Madness" while Navarro's second tale deals with the issue of race," both of which touch on the idea that people might not be happy with who the Slayer is and where she comes from (Holder's story also offers the most chilling point in the book, bottom page 119). Doranna Durgin's "Mornglom Dreaming" also has an intriguing premise, a Slayer who does not know she has been called, which is the story I most would have liked to have seen as a novel instead of a short story. Conversely, Odom's tale is perfectly suited to this format. I suppose my compromise suggestion would have been fewer stories developed with more depth (i.e., novellas). Still, these stories reflect what you would hope from such a mixed bag of tales: Slayers learning they have been called and their final battles, with only one tale comfortable with the idea of exploring the middle rather than the beginning or the end. Yes, there is high drama to be found in the birth and death of Slayers, but the mother lode is going to be in between and that is what needs to be mined in Volume 2.

i resolved to stop reading Buffy tie-in novels after the mess that Nancy Holder made of The Book of Fours - anyone who can actually have Buffy say to Angel "Oh my love you are my life" pretty much screams the fact that they don't get the characters. Seeing that Nancy Holder only wrote one of the stories in this collection persuaded me to buy it - tellingly enough, her contribution was as overly long and messy as i expected.

The real gem in this would have to be the first story, weaving in Persian/ Greek battles and the first marathon with a slayer that really deserved to be written about. Loved the writing as much as the concept, and it wasn't too depressing when she died.

Reading on, of course, this gets a whole lot more miserable. Knowing slayers die young is one thing; seeing it over and over again is pushing it a bit. Buffy itself isn't about her death (granted she does die quite frequently :o)) but about her life - there are very few instances in this collection where a slayer actually survives their story. 'Mornglom Dream' was a nice exception, about a slayer being called on the eve of her marriage - there's potential for more material on that. By the time the slayer facing the Bloody Countess had met a grisly end, i was desperate for a little light reading. This is not the place to find it.

The 1920s Munich story, actually related by a Watcher, is creepy and atmospheric, but ultimately unsatisfying. Being presented with deaths in nearly every case is all very well, but overall, there's not enough time to get to know the slayers before the end. And you just know that, unlike Buffy, they're not coming back.

We learned from the beginning that a Slayer is born into every generation. In "Tales of the Slayer," we meet seven of them.

"Tales of the Slayer" starts off with 'A Good Run' by Greg Rucka. It tells the story of a Slayer in ancient Greece and lasts only 19 pages. The story of 'A Good Run' could have had the chance to be better, but it has no character or plot development.

If you watch the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then you know that the Slayers we've met have certain qualities: skill, cunning, etc. In some of these stories, the Slayers just seem, well, incompetent. The Slayer in 'Die Blutgrafin' doesn't have the ability to sense danger. If she was the Slayer, shouldn't she get all the characteristics of one?

The best tale in this book is 'Silent Screams' by Mel Odom. It tells the story of a Slayer in Germany in 1923. It is very well written and has a very entertaining premise. Guests are invited to the screening of a horror movie, and one of the guests is the Slayer, Britta Kessler. The deaths in the movie seem all too real, and the ending is mysteriously left out. I think you can figure out what happens next.

Overall, "Tales of the Slayer" is an entertaining compilation. New Buffy writers Christie Golden and Doranna Durgin impressed me with their tales of past Slayers. I hope we may see more of them in the future. But there are still the uneven stories thrown into the mix. 'A Good Run' is too short for me to be able to tell whether or not I liked it. 'And White Splits the Night' has a disappointing ending. However, the other tales make up for error in those.

Tales of the Slayer, Volume I, is a collection of short stories inspired by Buffy, who does not actually appear within the volume. Each of the seven stories introduces a previous girl who was Slayer over various periods in time, ranging from ancient Greece to the segregated South of the 1950s. Sometimes the Slayer dies, and the story chronicles her last few days. This kind of stuff is official fan fiction, a place where authors actually get paid to write in someone else's word. We've seen it before in the publications for Star Trek, Star Wars, Xena, Farscape, and any number of licensed properties currently sitting on contemporary SFF bookshelves. Most of said material is mediocre at best, with the occasional brilliant work that stands out.

Unfortunately, Tales of the Slayer is not such a work. The seven stories, while introducting Slayers, Watchers, and villains interacting in intriguing time periods, are often passively constructed, expository narratives without much compelling material. There are a few exceptions, however, and those three stories not only provide an entertaining read, but also offer unique characters.

The first story in the collection, "A Good Run," takes place in ancient Greece. Written by Greg Rucka, the story follows the tale of one of the longest-living Slayers as she struggles to prevent a vampire invasion. While much of the text is expository at times, the setting and 29-year old heroine are strong enough to push past the moments when the author tells rather than shows.

"The White Doe" explores the myth of Roanoke and the missing colony while dropping an English-born Slayer, orphaned as an infant, into a tribe of Native Americans. There were some intriguing points, but the entire set up seemed trite and obvious; I've lost track of the number of stories I've read that placed an orphaned white girl to live and struggle and prove herself among the "noble savages," be they Indians or prehistory man. Again, there were many passive, expository passages that did little to advance character development or story, and the myth seemed forced.

One would think that placing Slayer against Elizabeth Bathory, as "Die Blauthafen" explores, would be an exciting story... but I was bored by the vast number of pages that simply did not advance the action. Short stories have little space to tell their tales... why waste half of one's allottment on telling us all about the Slayer's history until that point? On the one hand, it's good to know something about a story, but on the other hand, in medias res means getting into the action now rather than waiting until the second half of the story. More dialogue, too, would have helped advance many passive areas that served to trample the pacing.

As with the previous story, I was also disappointed with "Unholy Madness," a Slayer story set during the French Revolution in 1789. The approach was initially unique with placing the Slayer as a member of high French society where she functioned under Royal command and took care of demons that threatened Royal civilization. She knew nothing of the poor and common man because she'd been sheltered away from it all. This was a very good angle, but, again, there were problems with the pacing. I also felt that the character, Christine-Marie, wasn't fully developed or realized, that what I was reading was akin to a movie novelization, with emphasis on the bare minimum.

I really, really liked "Mornglom Dreaming," a story that takes place in late 19th century Kentucky. Not only was the Slayer a fully-realized character, but the narrative was crisp, descriptive, and compelling with a solid story. Think of Little House on the Prairie meets the Slayer and that's the kind of unique setting we have with Mollie Prater's world. The narrative moved between Mollie and her Watcher as he tried to locate her, the story working its way from Mollie's discovery of her Slayer powers to her impending marriage. Well-balanced and fun.

"Silent Screams" explored the silent movie making of the 1920s with a new, scarier Nosferatu... as with other stories, this one didn't actually get started until the halfway point because the author spends far too much time setting up the characters. If that development was interesting, it might have saved the story, but Mel Odom spends far too much time working his way up to the climax without really advancing the plot. Why send Britta and her watcher to a movie preview, for example, without previously mentioning the interest or the technology? We move from training, daily activities, and shopping to suddenly accepting an invitation from a friend... the flow just didn't work, which is disappointing because the rest of the story -- the movie, the battle, and the conclusion -- are very good and creepy.

The final story is "And White Splits the Night," which takes place in Florida during segregation. Our Slayer is Black, orphaned when a vampire cult kills her father and hides the bite marks under the thick rope of a lynching. This story engaged me immediately and kept my attention throughout, merging well conceived and executed characters with a creative setting. There was a nice balance between description, dialogue, thought, and exposition, and the conclusion was both satisfying and heart-rendering.

Overall, this is an average collection of short stories with a few highlights that make it worthwhile. The concept is unique and offers a wealth of possibilities throughout time and history, and there is a second volume of Slayer tales, published this year; I haven't read it yet.

I wasn't really sure what to think of this book at first, but the fact that it is about past Slayers really got me interested. Most of the stories were extremly well written (though there were I few I didn't really enjoy). I only really have one problem- all the stories are very dark. I sort of expected it, but after awhile I got tired of reading about death on every page. And that's what it was. All but one story deals with death. It would be nice if, for further volumes (I'm assuming there will be more since the is *volume 1*) they dealt with the lives of the slayers as well as the deaths. But, all in all, this was a good read.

This book is one of the better ones in the large Buffy section of my personal library. I'd rank it right up there with the Holder-Golden novels.
Most of the stories are short, but they all left me feeling satisfied that I'd learned something about another slayer and the Buffyverse. There wasn't a clunker in the bunch in my opinion.

The idea for this anthology is a cool one. Placing Slayers throughout history is exciting. Some of the reviews are strange, however, with people surprised that the characters might die, even when they lived hundreds of years ago. (duh!) Others mention the characters aren't like Buffy. (Not everyone is from Suburbia.) Whatever.

For myself, it's this historical change of pace that I appreciate the most! History is exciting. Slayers are exciting. What's not to like? Especially when the quality of stories in this anthology are so high.

This is an excellent addition to the Buffy Books. Seeing the way other Slayers act allows me to understand Buffy better. I want more.