Tales of the Slayer, Volume 2 [Buffy Review]

Tales of the Slayer, Volume 2 (2003)

RATING: 4/5 Stakes

SETTING: Before Season 1 (other Slayers), Seasons 3, 4, and 6 (Buffy)

T.V. SHOW CHARACTERS: Xander, Willow, Oz, Buffy, Joyce, Harmony, Larry, Principal Snyder, Giles, Warren, Jonathan, Andrew, Josh Headly, Tara, Anya

MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Sunnydale, 2000: Sesostris (demon); Japan, 980: Kishi Minomoto (Slayer), Bennin (Watcher), Lady Ankimon-in (Noble), Aikiko (friend); France, 1320: Michel (Watcher), Eliane (Slayer), Gervais (son), Isabeau (daughter), Tatoul (demon), Gaston Roux (Watcher); The Caribbean, 1661: Robin Whitby (Slayer), Dr. William Henry Pratt (Watcher), Carmelita Aponte (survivor), George Newgate (mutineer); London, 1843: Charlton Muzzlewit (Watcher), Catherine Hogarth (Slayer); Atlanta, 1864: Frankie Massey (Slayer), William Tecumseh Sherman (General), Edward Landers (Watcher); London, 1897: Angelique Hawthorne (Slayer), Professor Peter van Helsing (Watcher), Gordon Mycroft, Molly, Patch (friends/assistants), Dracula (Lord of the Vampires); New York City, 1922: Sally Jean (ingenue), Brett Blakely (beau), Ardita O'Reilly (Slayer), Mr. Whiskers (Watcher) Tom Valentine (admirer); Chicago, 1943: Betty (Slayer), Judy (secretary), Marcus Redmond (Watcher), Frank Nitti (gangster), Radu Hunyadi (vampire)

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer has always held an irreverent attitude toward her calling, but ultimately she understands the ramifications of her destiny and is prepared to die to protect the world from Evil. In fact, she has died. Twice. It's an ancient tradition, steeped in lore, mythology, and fateful prophecies. Slayerdom consists of a Council of Watchers, a continuum of slayers, an archive of journals, and even a handbook. But first and foremost, it begins with a girl. One girl in all the world. A Chosen One. Now, catch up on otherSlayers past and present, in the second short-story collection, Tales of the Slayer, Vol. 2!"

REVIEW

Like its predecessor, volume 2 of Tales of the Slayers is a solid collection of short stories. As before, most of the stories feature a single Slayer from the past; but this time around, two of the stories feature Buffy in a starring role and one has a Buffy cameo. On the whole the stories are lighter this time around, with the Slayers avoiding the grisly deaths that made Volume 1 so dark.

The first Buffy story, "All That You Do Comes Back Unto Thee" features Josh Headly, the Goth kid seen in the episode Gingerbread. Josh does meet a sad ending, but this story doesn't amount to much other than the usual "demon summoning gone bad" plot. "Lady Shobu" is an interesting take on a feudal Japanese Slayer and is set in a noblewoman's palace; it contains a good twist. "Abomination" is definitely the darkest story in the collection, as a medieval French Slayer falls in love with her Watcher; he's cruelly taken away from her by the Council, so to force their hand, she refuses to intervene when a vampire leader begins massacring her village. A pirate Slayer on the high seas is the concept behind "Blood and Brine", which does a nice job explaining the difficulties a female ship's captain would have in the time period. The less said of "The Ghosts of Slayers Past" (Dickensian England, of course) the better, and "The New Watcher", a Civil War story, isn't long enough to develop a real plot. "House of the Vampire", set at the turn of the century (before this one) tries to hard to recreate the relationship between Buffy and her friends using different characters a hundred years earlier. "The War Between the States", set during Prohibition, is one of the most interesting of the bunch, because it backgrounds the usual Slayer story and focusses on a rural girl's fascination with life in the glitzy big city. "Stakeout on Rush Street" gives us a Slayer smack dab in the middle of a classic private detective story. The final story, "Again", features Buffy, Willow, and Xander of circa-Season Six being sent back in time into the bodies of themselves circa Season Three. It sounds goofy and could have gone incredibly bad, but actually works really well: Willow can't believe how insecure she was, Xander impresses himself with his knowledge of construction work, and Buffy just wants to stay in the past, where her Mom is alive.

For those looking for a little bit of Buffy and a lot of past Slayers, this is a good buy.