The Willow Files (Volume 1)

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Buffy book reviews)

WILLOW FILES VOL. 1

By Yvonne Navarro (1999), based on teleplays “I, Robot . . . You, Jane” by Ashley Gable & Thomas A. Swyden, “Phases” by Rob DesHotel & Dean Batali, and “Dead Man’s Party” by Marti Noxon

RATING: 4/5 Stakes

SETTING: Seasons One through Three

CAST APPEARANCES: Willow, Oz, Xander, Buffy, Giles, Jenny Calendar, Moloch, Dave, Fritz, Larry, Cordelia, Gib Cain, Angel, Joyce, Principal Snyder, Devon, Pat, Jonathan

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: “When Buffy the Vampire Slayer arrived in Sunnydale, she befriended a bookish, insecure girl named Willow. As a Slayerette, Will uses her computer prowess for good, hacking into electronic government files and researching obscure rituals on the Web. But Willow’s love life is severely lacking, consisting of an unfulfilled crush on her friend Xander and a short-lived fling with a deadly demon she met over the Internet. Through her often life-threatening experiences with the Slayer, Willow gains the confidence to just be herself in the peer pressure-filled world of high school. And when her first real boyfriend, Oz, turns out to be a bit . . . unsual . . . in his own right, Willow is just the girl to prove that love really is blind . . . and a little scary.”

REVIEW

Volume One of the Willow Files is one of the best Buffy novelizations to date. The book adapts one episode from each of the first three seasons of the show, with the stories tied together with an original and very well done framing sequence that consists of Willow’s journal entries.

Season One episode “I, Robot . . . You, Jane” tells the story of Willow’s crush on a boy named Malcolm that she met over the Internet. As can only happen in Sunnydale, the boy turns out to be an ancient demon named Moloch the Corruptor. This was the first episode of the series to center a plot around Willow, and in it we see both her insecurity and her strength. Yvonne Navarro does a good job of adopting the humor of the original script, and she adds more background into how Moloch came into being.

Season Two episode “Phases” is the first revelation that Oz is actually a werewolf. It’s an average episode, with the high points being the agonizingly/delightfully slow development of Oz’s and Willow’s relationship, the jealousy we see Willow and Xander having for each other, and some good moments between Angelus and Buffy. It’s almost hard not to cheer out-loud when Willow steels her courage and kisses Oz for the first time.

The final episode adapted is the Season Three episode “Dead Man’s Party,” which has two main plots: Buffy’s return to Sunnydale after running away and a mask that raises zombies. The zombie plot is rather banal, but the tension and drama that arises from Buffy’s return is worth the price of reading the story--suffice it to say, Buffy isn’t welcomed with open arms.

All in all, Navarro had one strong story and two average episodes to adapt. She came through with flying colors, as the adaptations retain the humor and drama of the originals. The framing sequences are far more interesting than those in other Buffy novelizations, making this book one of the better ones to pick up.