Paleo

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Buffy book reviews)

PALEO

Yvonne Navaro (2000)

RATING: 4/5 Stakes

SETTING: Season Three

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

MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Daniel Addison (graduate student); Kevin Sanderson (high school student); Mr. Regis (teacher); Alysa Bardrick (band manager)

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: Buffy Summers and her gang know that Sunnydale is a haven for outsiders, whether of the supernatural or strictly adolescent variety. Shy transfer student Kevin Sanderson is no exception. But Kevin instantly finds a mentor in Daniel, a paleontologist and fellow dino-phile at the Sunnydale Museum of Natural History. When Buffy starts hearing rumors of alligators in the sewers, she has to wonder about Kevin and Daniel’s hobbies. Meanwhile, the Slayerettes are having extracurricular excitement of their own. Alysa, a hotshot talent agent, wants to represent the Dingoes, and she’s offering the Scooby Gang fame and fortune. If she’s legit, it could be Oz’s big break. But Buffy’s too busy to run a background check—Daniel and Kevin have reanimated an ancient creature with a new agenda . . . an agenda that begins and ends with the destruction of the Slayer. . . .”

REVIEW

Paleo is one of those books that, at first glance, seems to have an extraordinarily silly plot: Buffy and crew fighting dinosaurs? Right. But what they say about judging books by their covers is true because Paleo is actually quite enjoyable and one of the best Buffy novels set during Season Three.

An atmosphere of mystery and suspense is established in the very first chapter, as we see graduate student Daniel Addison opening dusty old boxes in the basement of the Sunnydale Museum. Addison finds a partially burnt diary of a field archaeologist who tells of strange sightings and dark rituals involving the reanimation of extinct creatures. The plot continues to build from there, as author Yvonne Navaro does an excellent job of giving new characters interesting personalities, believable backgrounds, and strong motivation. Alongside the main plot is a subplot focusing on Oz and his band, as they’re approached by a talent agent offering to help them make it big. The amount of time spent on Oz is quite refreshing, given that he’s a minor (or nonexistent) character in most other Buffy novels.

The characterization and dialogue in Paleo is consistent with the show, even for characters like Oz that are harder to write. Perhaps one of the best parts of the book is that the action scenes are well-written and exciting (although I almost felt bad for some of the dinosaurs being slowly hacked to death!). Paleo is one of those surprising little books that contains a solid, enjoyable story.