Customer Reviews

Visitors (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I like this book a lot more than most of the other reviewers did. It was fun. The dialogue is good. The plot is a bit thin, though. Also, it's a bit short for the price. Try reading "Deep Water" first. It's a Buffy book by the same authors. If you like it, read this one too.

Contrary to what other reviewers have written about this book i liked it. I found it very entertaining and i dont know what all the talk of no plot line is as i definately read one. True Ethan Rayne was thrown in for no reason at all but that did not make the book bad. I liked the fact that this one didnt fully focus on Buffy killing creatures from the dark side, but focused somewhat on her life with her friends. This is one of the best "Buffy" books that i have read, and i recomend it to all who like the show.

VISITORS
By Laura Anne Gilman & Josepha Sherman (1999)

RATING: 2/5 Stakes

SETTING: Third Season

CAST APPEARANCES: Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Angel, Cordelia, Oz, Joyce, Ethan Rayne, Devon, Jonathan, Principal Snyder

MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Gerald Panner (Watcher); Sheila, C.B., Rebecca, Elaine, Miriam (student teachers)

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: "The paranormal forces centered in Sunnydale attract the vilest kinds of evil: vamps, demons . . . and student teachers? An invasion of collegians testing their teaching prowess on Buffy and her peers coincides with the arrival of a supernatural stalker. The Slayer feels the evil entity watching her every move, and she's not the only one. But researching the best is going to be problematic with the student teachers setting up shop in Giles's home turf--the school library. When the stalker starts to take his malicious game to the next level, Buffy finds herself face to face with a being unlike any she's ever encountered. But can she figure out its weakness before she is forced to participate in its dance of death?"

REVIEW

For the first few years of the line's existence, the Buffy books were subtly separated, on a list of books inside the front cover, into "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" books and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer adult books". In reality, it's difficult to tell the difference between "adult" books and non-adult books as the cover designs, plots, and other details of the books seemed largely identical. Although the distinction was later abandoned, Visitors is a good example of a Buffy book intended for the teenage crowd--it's relatively short, uncomplicated, and straightforward.

In fact, the entire plotline of Visitors could easily have been condensed into a short story for one of the Tales of the Slayers types of book: a korred (a mythological creature with goat feet and a penchant for making people dance to their deaths by playing the flute) comes to Sunnydale and starts stalking Buffy, while the arrival of several student teachers makes the Scooby Gang wonder if there is some connection between the two events. Unfortunately, an appearance by trouble-maker extraordinaire Ethan Rayne and a spy from the Watcher's Council end up being tangential to the plot and unsatisfying.

Visitors develops very, very slowly, and the tepid would-be climax is not worth the wait. However, there are some great moments with the characters, such as Willow getting spastic on caffeine or the group's fear that they will drift apart when college comes. The dialogue is strong and Buffy and her friends are portrayed "accurately." It's hard to think of anything else to say--simply put, not much happens in the novel. Plot-wise, Visitors is one of the weakest of the Buffy books, but the "quiet" moments are written well enough that there is still some entertainment to be found within.

Jhaeman's Reviews: www.geocities.com/jhaeman
(c) 2004, Jeremy Patrick-Justice

I've read every Buffy book up to this point. Both the adult and YA ones. And this one.....I don't know. It contained a very slow and developing plot. I couldn't even finish. I only got halfway through. I honestly thought it would and even could be tons better. Hmm. Very disappointing. I think Chris Golden and Nancy Holder have everything down more and it comes easier to them. Their books are the best. :) But this one. I mean I thought the ST's (student teachers) were there to cause evil to happen, but it seemed they were only connected to the monster by way of mere stalking. Kind of typical. From the parts I read, it was okay though......

Visitors really isn't that bad of a book. True, some parts were dragged out more than they should've been, but that doesn't make this book horrible. Also, I couldn't figure out why Ethan Rayne or Gerald Panner were put in this story. But again, that doesn't make this a bad book. There are many good things about Visitors. I liked that the korred isn't just another average demon, but instead it's a creature of the earth (earth as in one of the four primal elements). I also liked that all the characters acted just like they do in the show. Another good thing about this book is that instead of having a ton of action always going on, it takes time to really look at the characters personalities and their normal lives. Over all this is a nice addition to the Buffy universe and I recommend it to everyone who likes the Buffy novels.

I've read lots of Buffy books and most of them have good stories, some better than others of course. This one was really good. I think the characters were portrayed well. Readers who don't think so I think are being picky, like the writer isn't doing it just the way they would want to do it. But the idea of creepy student teachers was spooky and worked well and I read it in one sitting.

This is one of the few Buffy books where the characters act and sound just like they do on the TV show. That's important, because the appeal of the show is in the characters and the dialogue. However, in this book these characters just don't *do* much of anything, and the plot elements just keep fizzling out. For example, the evil Ethan Rayne, who has caused so much trouble for the gang on the show, pops up, tries some magic that doesn't have any clear purpose or noticeable results, then leaves. Similarly, a bunch of student teachers (the "visitors" of the book's title) seem to serve no purpose other than to give a rather pointless clue as to the reason the latest magic/evil creature has come to Sunnydale. Even then, we don't really need a reason for its arrival--it's the Hellmouth after all. The climactic battle against the magic/evil thing is rather lame, with no particular innovations or excitement.

So, while I sort of enjoyed spending time with the characters (especially now that the show is in reruns for a while), it was not really very interesting, and certainly not exciting. Maybe next time, these authors can team with someone who will supply an engrossing and believable plot. That would be a match made in Heaven--or rather, the Hellmouth, if you want to be technical about it.

I kept hoping and hoping this book would get better, but it didn't. The threat to the Scoobies was not intriguing, the characters, while not terribly written were also not at their most accurate, and the ending was quite anticlimactic. I found myself skimming most of this dull novel. Only read if you're a huge Buffy fan, and do not make this your first Buffy novel.

I quite liked this book.It was good character wise but the plot was so thin.This was my first BtVS book and as it wasnt that good i decided not to read them and then my mum bought me power of persuasion and that was good!But the buffy books never really explore the characters like this book did.And i think the plot could of been better i mean Ethan Rayne good villian on the show but on this book not good he just walked about i mean how boring! the student teachers what was the point in that?! I would recommend this book if you are a die hard buffy fan(like me) but in case ure not that then dont buy this.

Buffy is being stalked - by a creature with a sinister giggle and an unpleasant way of making its victims dance themselves to death. At first the beast's attention seems focussed solely on the slayer when bodies turn up, the deceased all having died in suspicious circumstances. With time running out, Buffy and her friends must figure out the identity of the creature. But why has it come to Sunnydale, and what is the connection with a group of student teachers?

Having just read "Unnatural Selection" by Mel Odom, I was expecting Visitors to be just as good and unfortunately I was disappointed. There just seemed to be something missing from this book. The inclusion of the student teachers seems to serve very little purpose and the synopsis is misleading in suggesting that they are part of the evil that takes place. The characterisation was excellent, but there was little plot and the story just wasn't exciting or scary enough to keep you reading. Overall, this wasn't one of the best Buffy books, but it was still pretty good, although I enjoyed it because of the series and not for the book itself. I would recommend this to all fans of the series.