Buffy

One of US TV's best shows now has a superb tie-in book--and this watcher's guide is even better than the one for The Simpsons. For novices, the title is a pun: Buffy, an ordinary high school girl with all the normal problems, also must spend her nights battling vampires and demons, supervised by her "Watcher," who poses as the school's librarian.

But the book serves novices and obsessive Buffy fans equally well. Each episode of the first two seasons gets a snappy yet learned summary, including a "Quote of the Week," a quick recap of each love entanglement and relationship switcheroo (and no soap opera is tanglier than Buffy), a "Pop-Culture IQ" guide (when Oz hunts for Buffy--who's been turned into a rat--that's Michael Jackson's "Ben" he's singing), countless pop-up balloons of fun facts (Buffy was turned into a rat in order to free up her schedule to host Saturday Night Live), and a catalogue of "Buffy's Bag of Tricks"--her weapons, plus all the spells, chants, incantations, and previously incomprehensible rock-band lyrics on the show.

There's way more than we can list here. Not only do we get an ample sample of dialogue nearly as clever as Seinfeld's, there are also scenes from the original scripts that were cut for length and cast interviews. Every single vampire, demon, witch, zombie, mummy, werewolf, shape shifter, ghost, reanimated cadaver, invisible killer, prehistoric parasite, monster puppet and psychotic robot on Buffy's acrobatic dance card gets its due.

Get this book, then send one as a gift. Friends don't let friends miss out on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. --Amazon.com

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View books by Christopher Golden, Nancy Holder.
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The ultimate Buffy reference book for Seasons 1 and 2! - Rated
Buffy: The Official Watcher's Guide Volume 1 is an in-depth look into the hit show featuring character profiles, quotes, episode guides, exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes info and much more! Never before has a book like this been compiled with so much information and knowledge on your favourite cemetery hopper!

This book covers everything that has happened in Seasons 1 and 2. First off, there is a Foreword by the authors of the book - Nancy Holder and Christopher Golden that tells you what to expect. Then we move onto The Mythology of Buffy: an in-depth look at what and who a Slayer is complete with quotes and pictures from Seasons 1 and 2. Then there's two pages on the Rules of the Game according to Buffy Summers packed with even more quotes. Following this, there's the Sunnydale Guidebook. It starts off with "Welcome to the beautiful Sunnydale!" and, "Nowadays, all kinds of interesting folks make their homes in Sunnydale...and once you've been here for a little while, you'll understand why!" This section is clevery done and a joy to read. Then, there's an amazingly intricate Character Guide on Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, Rupert Giles, Cordelia Chase, Angel and many cast regulars! Each character profile features quotes and pictures. Following this are some quotes from the main villains in Seeasons 1 and 2 such as The Master, Spike, Drusilla and Angelus. Colour photos of the Scooby Gang are after this with even more quotable knowledge!

Following this is a complete Episode Guide to all of Season 1's 12 episodes featuring off-set info, quotes, pictures and an in-depth description to what happens in each episode. Then there's the Episode Guide for all 22 of Season 2's episodes including original US airdates, more off-set info complete with more quotes and pictures from the specific episode. One of the highlights of the book is next to follow - The Monster Guide: a 40 page guide to some of the most notorious villains in the first 2 Seasons. There are seven sections to this part. These are: Vampires, Demons, Witches and Sorcerers, Werewolves, Ghosts, Reanimated Corpses and Other Monsters. Each section contains a detailed description about their history. Bloodlust is the next section - a 31 page guide to every love storyline that has ever appeared in Seasons 1 and 2 of Buffy. Whether it be lust, love, success, failure or robotic (Ted!), it's all here. Perhaps the most interesting part of this book is the Behind The Scenes section. This is the longest part of the book clocking in at a hefty 99 pages of essential info for die-hard fans. First up is the Cast. The lives of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, Anthony Stewart Head, David Boreanaz and Charisma Carpenter and many, many more come under the spotlight with interviews, quotes, pictures and all the knowledge you didn't know! After this is the Crew. This includes an exclusive interview with Buffy creator Joss Whedon, consulting producer David Greenwalt, writer and director Marti Noxon, producer Fran Rubel Kazui and many more. Finally, there's the Music of Buffy the Vampire Slayer which is a list of all the songs in every episode of Seaons 1 and 2 - most of which are played by real-life bands in the Bronze.

OVERALL GRADE: 10/10

No Buffy fan should be without this book. It has more information than you could ever dream of and will keep you reading for months! The only downer on the book is that I think there are too many quotes. I know they are essential for you to understand what's going on and for the authors to back-up and prove they know what they're taking about, but there's just too many to take in. Other than that, this is truly the greatest Buffy book you can own except The Watcher's Guide Volume 2 which is amazing as well! Buy this from Amazon today!

A great book for fans - Rated
As a fan of Btvs since mid-season 2, i have to say that this is a good guide. It is full of information Behind-the-scenes and triva. It has in-depth interviews with the cast and a lot of quotes (many from my favourite character Cordelia).
However, as it only covers Season 1 and 2, it had a lot of Buffy/Angel which put me off it a bit as i am a Cordelia/Angel shipper and we all know that Buffy/Angel's relationship was a 'tragic farce' (as Angel put it). It has 10 sides on their relationship which is a bit excessive.
It also doesn't cover the episodes properly. Yes, they are summaries, but i would have thought that a good show such as this would have put more effort into the episodes. The Angel Casefiles is more in-depth and so, in my opinion, a much better value for money.

But overall, this is a good buy and there are some good pictures and bits. I just think it could be improved.

The Ultimate Buffy Reference - Rated
This is a book for those of us who think that Buffy The Vampire Slayer is the dogs b******s. In this book you can find all the information that you'll ever need, and it's as compelling as hell. My only qualm would be that a few interviews with regards to the individual episodes would be interesting. Mind you, since it was written after the event, and people's memories are not necessarily that good, then it may be a tad difficult. But, that's just asking for too much. All in all, the ultimate Buffy The Vampire Slayer reference book.

A little disappointing - Rated
I don't know what it is about this book. Although I found it interesting, but I found the excessive quotes rather annoying. On the plus side it gives a good summary of the first two seasons, so it's probably the fact that the later seasons were much better and thus will prove for more interesting reading. Eagerly awaiting the Watcher's Guide 2!

A must for all major buffy fans. - Rated
If you're a real buffy fan then this is a must. Covering the whole of seasons one and two, it breaks down each episode and carefully discusses them. It also has interveiws with cast and crew, full colour pictures, and is one of the best non- fiction books i have read. The Watchers Guide Vol. 2 is also out and that covers seasons three and four. If you're an obsessive buffy fan just like me then you just have to have these two books on your shelf. 10 out of 10, five stars, 100%.