Heat

Death, Destruction and Heartbreak are all in the book "Heat" by: Nancy Holder. This book is filled to the brim with evil the evil that Buffy the vampire slayer will never recover from. Buffy , Angel And Spike band together to beat the most evil of evils that will ever enter Sunnydale, California. The books pages are over run by demons and vampires and all kinds of little nasty things to many to count. The book was really good because I am into all of that blood , guts and mayhem.

Nancy Holder's HEAT is the Hong Kong movie-style episode that BUFFY should have done and never did. This fun, fast-paced mix of Buffy, Angel and Chinese mythology is well-written and kept me turning pages faster than a kung fu kick! It captured the dialogue and tone of the original shows, and yet still managed to provide some fresh insight into the characters and themes. A very worthy new satellite in the Buffyverse.

I liked it a lot and I would recommend it. I found the interaction between the characters to be more realistic, or at least closer to the original cannon of the shows than in the last season. In addition to wonderful, true to canon characterization the plot is suspenseful. There is a scene where a security guard gets killed in the parking lot of the Sunnyhell museum....that was good, heart pounding good. As a Spike fan I particularly liked his characterization here. Ms Holder was a lot kinder to him that the writers were. I loved the little shutouts that only hard core fans of the show will get. My only nitpick is that the resolution felt a bit rushed.

I read the book, loved it and bought three extra copies to give to friends. I couldn't help but notice how many people are commenting on how it's not "Canon" and how Buffy loved Spike. These people are taking a work of *fiction* too seriously. Also, most of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer books don't really fit in with the series at all. (See: Coyote Moon)

This book came highly recommended by a friend who reads a lot of Buffyverse books and comics, and I'm very glad I bought it. Even though I was never a big fan of the Jheira/Oden Tal story on AtS but I like the way Nancy Holder developed it in this story. Jheira is both villian and victim; enemy and ally.As for the story about Chinese demon warlord and his army of terra cotta warriors, and the contra-forces that plot against him as he plots against most of humanity, starts off a bit slow in places, but I like the concept and I think it builds nicely as it goes. I like the little referenced the author sprinkles in for the long-term fans of the shows and castmembers ("tossing the joss"; references to the musical groups "Kane" and "Ghost of a Robot", etc.) and she weaves in bits of canon very effectively, in my opinion. I also think she writes the characters very true to form. There are lots of little tid bits that I like. For example, she writes Lilah Morgan's thoughts about sacrificing her own secretary for the client is a way that I think is very typical of Lilah at her deliciously wicked best.I personally think Spike is portrayed in very sensitive and positive manner in this book - consistent with season 7 "canon" Spike. Issues of Buffy's feelings for Spike and Angel's feelings for Cordelia are dealt with sensitively and respectfully, making appropriate references to canon. Likewise, the author explores some of Gunn's feelings about Fred and how their relationship changed after the killing of Prof. Seidel and Wes's conflicted feelings for Lilah. From reading some of the reviews, it's obvious that some fans of the Buffy/Spike relationship aren't happy with how Nancy Holder writes their interactions in this story. I happen to think it's fairly accurate in terms of what happened in Season 7 of BtVS. There are refences to the stories that were going on at that time woven throughout the book.I also happen to like the Buffy/Angel relationship so I'm pleased with how it was treated in this book. I agreea tiny bit of the dialog is a tad... mushy - but just a tiny bit. But then it's written for young adult readers so I try to keep in mind that more graphic or "adult" dialog might not be appropriate. In any case, I'm glad that the author has taken the time to explore Buffy and Angel's love for one another in the context of their mutual existence; both the changes in their lives since the parting at the end of Season 3 and the aspects that haven't changed. It is clear in the story that Buffy and Angel still long for each other and are still in love, and as always, the Buffy/Angel romance is not without sadness and wistfulness. Having said that, the book is approximately 450 pages long, and the "shippy" portions of it are a fairly small part of the overall story. On the whole, no book is "perfect" but as BtVS books go, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I can gladly recommend this book.