Endangered Species

Definately one of Nancy Holders best, she portrays the growing Cordy/Angel relationship with realism and dignity. He acknowledges her past during high school and sees just how much she's matured over the past few years. I especially liked Nancy's portrayal of his past relationships with Buffy and Darla, although the mention of Darla as his obsession was a bit late for the time period (though not ludicrously as in her hideously written 'Heat' novel). Also, Faith's return was well incorporated, and I just loved the dynamic between her and Wesley. Personally, I feel that this is how season 3 and onward of ATS should have been portrayed, you know, before words like Kyrumption and Moira were being thrown around. They could have just as easily said spark and maturity. Overall, a good read and one that doesn't kill the plot or run rampant over the characterization (Unlike the Heat Drek).

this book starts out with cordelia having a vision that faith is in mortal danger from an unknown enemy. when the gang investigates, the run across a man named chaz who is trying to find a way to cure his wife from being a vampire. in the past these 2 have set up elaborate hunts for various species and his wife's next game is a slayer herself. on the road to figuring all of this out, they run across another vampire who was turned dby drusilla who has a game plan of her own with the help of wolfram and heart. with all of these characters as villians, you know that this has to be a great book. it is long but well worth the read.

Endangered Species is entertaining and action-packed fun. Not surprisingly, it's very high on the action and fighting, but pretty low on the character development. But in this story, it seems like it doesn't really matter.The gang is out patrolling one night when they are cornered by mutated demons... and soon rescued by their creator, Chaz Escobar. Chaz reveals that he was on his private island with his wife, Marianna, who was recently turned into a vampire. The two loved to hunt; they sponsored special gatherings in which a breed of demon, or even human, would be the prey. Marianna, however, escaped from the island and Chaz believes she may be in Los Angeles fulfilling her deepest wish: to capture and then hunt a Slayer. The Slayer in question is Faith, who is still serving her sentence in prison.Chaz soon reveals, though, that he is searching for a way to cure his wife of her vampirism. To do so he needs the Book of Interregnum, the most evil book ever made. But the way he plans on curing Marianna isn't what's expected: he wants to destroy all vampires. And he's not the only one after the Book... another vampire (incidentally sired by Drusilla) is looking for it to raise the Beast of the First Blood... AKA the first vampire.Endangered Species has several high points: the return of Faith, who was been absent from the Buffy-verse for years now, several flashbacks to Darla and Angelus's past, and a wonderfully written Hawaiian character who comes to Angel's rescue. There are also a fair share of low points: Faith is actually hardly in the novel, the final battle drags on for too long, and most of the outcomes are very predictable.Overall, I would recommend Endangered Species. If you're a die-hard Angel fan, you might want to get it right away. If you're just a reader who enjoys the novels, you may want to wait until this one's available in paperback.

For Buffy and Angel fans, this year has been a bit lackluster. While I couldn't point to any particular book and say that it was a total flop, nothing comes to mind as really outstanding. Part of the blame no doubt rests with the changes both television series have gone through. It says much that Dark Horse has decided to shift the BTVS comic series to Buffy before Sunnydale. I cannot say that I am sympathetic, but I do understand.The best of the Buffy books this year is Chris Golden's 'Wisdom of War.' Andy the politest thing one could say about the Angel series this year is that there was nothing one could identify as 'the best.' Now, Nancy Holder and Jeff Mariotte have come to the rescue with their latest, 'Endangered Species.'The book's plot is something of a tag team action story. There are three teams of bad guys. The first is Marianna Escobar a vampire who runs an elite hunting island and has a plan for making Faith the next animal on the agenda. Next up is Benedicta, made by Drusilla and every bit as crazy. She and her nasty druid sidekick want to raise the original vampire and have little super vampires by it. And no one should leave out Wolfram and Hart, who manage to collect fees from everyone while working their own agenda. On the good side is the regular team, plus the Host, Fred, and Faith. New faces are Chaz Escobar - the vampire's estranged husband, and Lohiau, an Hawaiian revolutionary and Kahuna. Between kidnappings and holdups, the good guys are every bit as fragmented as their enemies, as everyone careens around trying to assemble the components of a spell that will either destroy all vampires or end the unlives of vampires everywhere.This is obviously a story heavy on the action and light on character depth and angst, but it is just what the doctor ordered. Even so, Faith gets a lot of attention and Fred makes her first major appearance in an Angel novel. Both characters are handled honestly, although I think Fred's weaknesses are overplayed. So, lots of action, decent character development, and tight, effective writing. Making this the season's must read for Angel fans.

Endangered Species was a follow up to their pervious series Unseen. Which I know a lot of people didn't like, but I thought it was cool. Endangered Species however is a lot more of a gripper then Unseen was. The plot goes something like this. This vampire named Marinna likes to have people pay her to hunt demons on her island, were her home is located. And she has a speical hunt in mind, a Slayer hunt. She gets W & H to get Faith transfered to a 'rehab falictaly'. Meanwhile Marinna's husband Chaz is looking for her in LA, and he goes to Angel for help. He has been looking for a way to cure her of being a vampire. Plus Chaz has found a spell to rise The Beast of the first Blood. Father of all vampires. If he can kill the Beast it will get rid of all vampires. This surprises Angel, and after much thought decsides to help him in his quest. On top of all that this vampire Mary Kelly who has made her own vamp-religon is also trying to raise the Beast so she can mate with it and have, new more powerful vampires. Will she be succssful in making this new race? Will Angel kill all vampires even himself? Will Chaz cure his wife? Or will she hunt Faith down and Slaughter her? Read the book. Holder and Mariotte did a wonderful job! Cordelia and Faith had really funny lines! The plot had some twist and turns I did not expect. Holder and Mariotte did awsome job with Faith as always. Better then Golden did with her in his Buffy effort 'Wisdom of War.' Not that I don't like Golden or that book. It's just when I was reading this and Unseen Faith sounded more like herself then she did in Golden's book. I hope these two right more Angel and Buffy stuff. They are really great.