Post by abcfan on Feb 1, 2005 0:38:39 GMT -5
Well here is the first book club review. If anybody has any questions about the book or somebodys review just leave a question with the name of the reviwer on it
January 2005 = Resurrecting Ravana by Ray Garton
I must admit, the thought of reading a book I had read only about a year ago didn’t fill me with excitement however I seemed to recall I enjoyed it the first time I read it and gave it another go. I’m very glad I did. Resurrecting Ravana is an incredibly enjoyable book and Ray Garton defiantly does the Buffy lore and characters justice.
The book is set in Season 3 somewhere between Homecoming and Band Candy I would guess and trouble is a foot in Sunnydale. A series of mysterious murders are occurring however to make them even stranger it is between friends or relatives. Buffy and Co uncover this has something to do with creatures known as Rakshasa who turn friends and relatives against each other to cause chaos and then in one final bloody battle to the death eat the victor. The Rakshasa however are only a small start to what is coming which leads Buffy and the Scoobies into a deadly battle with a Hindu god, Ravana.
As you can probably imagine from the plot of the book it contains quite a lot of strong references to blood and murder and I really wouldn’t recommend it to very young readers unless you are used to it from Buffy. While Garton has a very detailed style of writing the murders he also achieves something which probably not a lot of writers can do. Make us feel for a character that only appears in two chapters. The character of Mrs Kepley really stuck out in my mind and I really felt for her after the death of her husband, Delbert.
I also found a nice contrast to the book was the back-story of Ravana which only covered a few pages. Garton really had the chance to write page after page here of pointless backstory however he keeps it to a bare minimum telling us everything we need to know without going over the top.
Further to the main ‘baddies’ of the book is a familiar face. Ethan Rayne. I personally really enjoyed the character of Rayne on Buffy however I find the way the writers use him in the novels to be overly excessive and he seems to always be there just for a lack of anybody else. That said his role on this isn’t huge so it is only a minor annoyance.
However on the bad side there are some mistakes in the book one of which really stuck out to me. We can assume that the book is set in Season 3 due to the fact it still contains the characters of Cordelia and Angel. We can also assume it is set before Lovers Walk as Xander and Cordelia are still together however at the start of the book a series of cattle murders occur and Buffy leads to one option as being Hellhounds however later on in Season 3 in the episode The Prom Buffy has no knowledge of what a Hellhound is.
Another thing I noticed about continuity is that this is a nice little foreshadow to most of Season 4 and specifically the episode Something Blue. This occurs due to Willow’s feeling of isolation form her friends and mainly Buffy.
Although when the story is explored further it shies away form it the start of the book is very similar to one of my favourite Angel episodes, Billy. This episode contains unexplained murders of women which gives it a similar feel to the book.
Another problem I found with it was the character of Buffy and the way Garton wrote her. I can forgive him for making the break up of Willow and Buffy’s relationship fall mainly on Buffy’s shoulders however Garton says at one point that Buffy undresses into her South Park nightshirt. Now if anybody can see Buffy wearing that please raise your hand now. Also Buffy seems not to get many funny lines or puns on this and this falls onto the shoulders of Xander who I feel Garton writes best. Some of my favourite Xander quotes are:
‘So when they look at us they will be seeing five double bacon cheeseburgers with a side of intestines.’ (Chapter 1)
‘That’s funny coming form the intellectual equivalent of the Grand Canyon. Great depth, very little content.’ (Chapter 10)
Other witty one liners come from Oz and Cordelia two of which are listed below:
‘It’s kinda like watching Jerry Springer. You know you shouldn’t but you just can’t help yourself.’ Oz (Chapter 1)
‘Oh, you’re ready for commitment all right but I doubt there are many mental institutions that would have you.’ Cordelia (Chapter 2)
I decided that to make it easier to give the book final score out of 10 I would rate each chapter and here is the full list:
Chapter Rating (Out of 10) 1= 9, 2=8, 3=7, 4=7, 5=8, 6=8, 7=8, 8=8, 9=9, 10=8, 11=8, 12=7, 13=8, 14=9, 15=9, 16=8, 17=8, 18=8, 19=8, 20=8, 21=9, 22=8 and 23=8.
Overall Rating (Out of 10) 8
A good read which most fans should enjoy with a nice look at a lot of the Buffy characters and not mainly focusing on one in particular.
January 2005 = Resurrecting Ravana by Ray Garton
I must admit, the thought of reading a book I had read only about a year ago didn’t fill me with excitement however I seemed to recall I enjoyed it the first time I read it and gave it another go. I’m very glad I did. Resurrecting Ravana is an incredibly enjoyable book and Ray Garton defiantly does the Buffy lore and characters justice.
The book is set in Season 3 somewhere between Homecoming and Band Candy I would guess and trouble is a foot in Sunnydale. A series of mysterious murders are occurring however to make them even stranger it is between friends or relatives. Buffy and Co uncover this has something to do with creatures known as Rakshasa who turn friends and relatives against each other to cause chaos and then in one final bloody battle to the death eat the victor. The Rakshasa however are only a small start to what is coming which leads Buffy and the Scoobies into a deadly battle with a Hindu god, Ravana.
As you can probably imagine from the plot of the book it contains quite a lot of strong references to blood and murder and I really wouldn’t recommend it to very young readers unless you are used to it from Buffy. While Garton has a very detailed style of writing the murders he also achieves something which probably not a lot of writers can do. Make us feel for a character that only appears in two chapters. The character of Mrs Kepley really stuck out in my mind and I really felt for her after the death of her husband, Delbert.
I also found a nice contrast to the book was the back-story of Ravana which only covered a few pages. Garton really had the chance to write page after page here of pointless backstory however he keeps it to a bare minimum telling us everything we need to know without going over the top.
Further to the main ‘baddies’ of the book is a familiar face. Ethan Rayne. I personally really enjoyed the character of Rayne on Buffy however I find the way the writers use him in the novels to be overly excessive and he seems to always be there just for a lack of anybody else. That said his role on this isn’t huge so it is only a minor annoyance.
However on the bad side there are some mistakes in the book one of which really stuck out to me. We can assume that the book is set in Season 3 due to the fact it still contains the characters of Cordelia and Angel. We can also assume it is set before Lovers Walk as Xander and Cordelia are still together however at the start of the book a series of cattle murders occur and Buffy leads to one option as being Hellhounds however later on in Season 3 in the episode The Prom Buffy has no knowledge of what a Hellhound is.
Another thing I noticed about continuity is that this is a nice little foreshadow to most of Season 4 and specifically the episode Something Blue. This occurs due to Willow’s feeling of isolation form her friends and mainly Buffy.
Although when the story is explored further it shies away form it the start of the book is very similar to one of my favourite Angel episodes, Billy. This episode contains unexplained murders of women which gives it a similar feel to the book.
Another problem I found with it was the character of Buffy and the way Garton wrote her. I can forgive him for making the break up of Willow and Buffy’s relationship fall mainly on Buffy’s shoulders however Garton says at one point that Buffy undresses into her South Park nightshirt. Now if anybody can see Buffy wearing that please raise your hand now. Also Buffy seems not to get many funny lines or puns on this and this falls onto the shoulders of Xander who I feel Garton writes best. Some of my favourite Xander quotes are:
‘So when they look at us they will be seeing five double bacon cheeseburgers with a side of intestines.’ (Chapter 1)
‘That’s funny coming form the intellectual equivalent of the Grand Canyon. Great depth, very little content.’ (Chapter 10)
Other witty one liners come from Oz and Cordelia two of which are listed below:
‘It’s kinda like watching Jerry Springer. You know you shouldn’t but you just can’t help yourself.’ Oz (Chapter 1)
‘Oh, you’re ready for commitment all right but I doubt there are many mental institutions that would have you.’ Cordelia (Chapter 2)
I decided that to make it easier to give the book final score out of 10 I would rate each chapter and here is the full list:
Chapter Rating (Out of 10) 1= 9, 2=8, 3=7, 4=7, 5=8, 6=8, 7=8, 8=8, 9=9, 10=8, 11=8, 12=7, 13=8, 14=9, 15=9, 16=8, 17=8, 18=8, 19=8, 20=8, 21=9, 22=8 and 23=8.
Overall Rating (Out of 10) 8
A good read which most fans should enjoy with a nice look at a lot of the Buffy characters and not mainly focusing on one in particular.
