Tales of the Slayer, Vol. 1

[oyceter]

The title of the book is rather self-explanatory, if one is a Buffy fan ;). The only other Buffy tie-in I’ve read is Tales of the Slayers, the graphic novel. I'm usually not one for tie-ins, although I love fanfic. I think there's something about the boundaries of the world that is more limited in tie-ins -- the authors can't play around with the world or the characters that much, especially in an ongoing franchise. I like fanfic because it has the opportunity to be much more speculative, to drag the characters into situations that the writers of the show may not dare to, to bend and twist the world in shapes that may not happen otherwise.

That said, I really do enjoy these forays into the Buffyverse because they aren't about Buffy and the crew. Much more can happen. And it helps that the Buffyverse has a very enticing mythology for me, a Slayer in every generation, since the dawn of man or so.

This collection of stories has fun taking the concept and running with it, some with several rather obvious historical choices, not that I can blame them. I like the first story best, about a Greek Slayer in the battle of Marathon. I think it's because it's not a story on putting a Slayer in a cool historical period (again, not that I can blame them!), even though Thessily the Vampire Slayer is in a very cool historical period, during a very cool historical event. I like that Thessily is an old Slayer, given their short lifespans, and I like seeing her whole life as a Slayer.

I also liked the 1880s Kentucky Slayer because of the era and the voice and the wonderful ordinariness of it.

Some of the other stories just don't work for me, particularly the one on Roanoke Colony, which feels like it's trying to hard to twist itself into the Slayer mythology. Others feel like they're trying too hard to be dark and therefore artistic. It is rather silly complaining that a book on Slayers is too morbid, though. But one of the reasons why I like Buffy so much is because it's about the ordinary within the extraordinary, about those little touches of humanity.

Pretty interesting, though mixed. Will probably be seeing if I can borrow more in the series. (Ooo, vol. 2 has a Heian Slayer written by Kara Dalkey! Ok, I'm in.)

Comments

[oyceter]

It's a lot like the graphic novel, just.. in story form. The writing quality varies, like most collections. I tried Buffy tie-in novels and gritted my teeth through the first few chapters and then gave up. For some reason, it works better when it's other Slayers not Buffy that I haven't spent hours of TV watching.

Btw, do you have access to all the Buffy and Angel DVDs? If not, let me know and you can borrow mine.