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anastasiaadamov's review against another edition
4.0
When it comes to IP novelizations there are two different things that I pay attention to: 1) how true the characters are to the cannon and 2)how interesting and good is the idea of the story.
It has been a while since I've watched the original TV show but the characters did not stray from how I remember them. I got the chance to enjoy the group dynamics of the Scoobies and all the characters equally.
I was so afraid of not liking the time travel plot twist. It is always a very risk plot tool to use and I decided to make some allowances for it. There were some points that could be argued that make no sense and I would have loved to have more details on. I enjoyed most of the book and in the last 100 pages or so I got really nervous at how everything will be wrapped up. The timeline jumps were interesting and I appreciated the notable differences in scenery and motives.
Overall I enjoyed this book a lot!
It has been a while since I've watched the original TV show but the characters did not stray from how I remember them. I got the chance to enjoy the group dynamics of the Scoobies and all the characters equally.
I was so afraid of not liking the time travel plot twist. It is always a very risk plot tool to use and I decided to make some allowances for it. There were some points that could be argued that make no sense and I would have loved to have more details on. I enjoyed most of the book and in the last 100 pages or so I got really nervous at how everything will be wrapped up. The timeline jumps were interesting and I appreciated the notable differences in scenery and motives.
Overall I enjoyed this book a lot!
halcyon_rising's review against another edition
2.0
*posts 14-year-old review - yikes*
Also: so harsh.
Portal Through Time is the book that I've spent the last 3 days reading.
I've read quite a decent chunk of the Buffy books already, I think, but is this one of the 'better' ones? No, I don't think so.
Why not? Well, I thought the writing style was pretty 'simple' in the beginning, and I was bothered with it. In fact, I went as far as thinking that, since it says the author 'started writing at the age of six', this was it. I even went to the lady's site to see if she was actually still six, or close to it. Pretty bad, yes?
Fortunately for her, when she started to get to the action-part, it lifted up a bit. Good. But don't expect endless sword fights from her, in excellent quality. You won't get this.
Okay, so what's the book about then? Lucien, a vampire who misses his master, The Master, has managed to get his hands on two artifacts. One that throws you into the past, and one that can bring you back to the future, or something alike. Anyway, if blended together, you have yourself a time travel device that opens up a portal to wherever the spell says it should go, what date, year. Think Sliders.
So, in an attempt to get his Master back, Lucien thinks he should go back into the past to slay himself a future Slayer, namely Buffy at the age of 14/15. He actually manages that, or his rent boys do it, and goes back to the future, expecting his Master to be back. Only to hear that another Slayer named Kafara has come to Sunnydale to try and close the Hellmouth/stop the Master from arising, and in the process released him with her blood, but when vampires found her she was sired, and during her very first night she dusted him, and took control of things herself. Woopsie.
Perhaps we should try that again, but axe her (yes, like that) at the age of 2 or 3 instead. Done. Woopsie. The girl that was the Slayer when the Master should have been reborn did go to Sunnydale, but instead of acting, and risking him having access to her throat/blood, she just sat in her hotel room, waiting for the moment to pass. The day after she went with her Watcher to bomb down his location. Woopsie.
Another person gives Lucien and co the advice to either go make sure that Slayers in the past live longer than they're supposed to, therefore disrupting the Slayer lineage, or kill them faster, in an attempt to have fate skip Buffy Summers instead. I don't see how one could be certain Buffy will be skipped like this, the next one might fall very quickly, but yeah.
There's 4 Slayers they're targeting, each well documented ones. Incinii, the Welsh 60 C.E. Slayer that lived during an attack from the Romans on her Druids, then there was a Sumerian Slayer by the name of Ejuk from Uruk 2700 B.C.E., Agatha Primrose lived during the Civil War of 1862 in Tennessee, and finally there's Marguerite Allard of 1792 aka the French Revolution.
Naturally we're all going to be seeing those in the book. One could say it's a mini-Tales of the Slayer book in that regard. There's a few funny things that happen along their journeys, like when Xander is in Sumer watching statues, he thinks one looks funny and starts laughing, which of course wakes it up, or rather Namtar, god of the plague.
Perhaps the end part of the book is the best, where they're going to 1792 and meet Angelus and Darla. I cried out a 'Buffy can't meet Angelus in the past' when I read it, but through bad luck Buffy had no chance but to kill Angelus to protect the Slayer. Of course we know that things couldn't stay like that, so they travel back to Sunnydale anno 1998, which is totally overrun, ruled by vampires, all because Angel was never there to tell 16-year old Buffy about the Master in the first place. So this is what Lucien wanted all along. But then they travel back again, and fix things by having Buffy send a note to Angelus not to go with Lucien's people into the alley where Buffy saves the Slayer and kills Angelus. Hence the day is saved.
I couldn't understand why Angelus would listen to a note that said 'don't go out there, signed a friend' but ah yeah, the book needed to be done, so there it was. The end.
Read it? Liked it? Agree? Disagree?
Also: so harsh.
Spoiler
Time line: during season 2.Portal Through Time is the book that I've spent the last 3 days reading.
I've read quite a decent chunk of the Buffy books already, I think, but is this one of the 'better' ones? No, I don't think so.
Why not? Well, I thought the writing style was pretty 'simple' in the beginning, and I was bothered with it. In fact, I went as far as thinking that, since it says the author 'started writing at the age of six', this was it. I even went to the lady's site to see if she was actually still six, or close to it. Pretty bad, yes?
Fortunately for her, when she started to get to the action-part, it lifted up a bit. Good. But don't expect endless sword fights from her, in excellent quality. You won't get this.
Okay, so what's the book about then? Lucien, a vampire who misses his master, The Master, has managed to get his hands on two artifacts. One that throws you into the past, and one that can bring you back to the future, or something alike. Anyway, if blended together, you have yourself a time travel device that opens up a portal to wherever the spell says it should go, what date, year. Think Sliders.
So, in an attempt to get his Master back, Lucien thinks he should go back into the past to slay himself a future Slayer, namely Buffy at the age of 14/15. He actually manages that, or his rent boys do it, and goes back to the future, expecting his Master to be back. Only to hear that another Slayer named Kafara has come to Sunnydale to try and close the Hellmouth/stop the Master from arising, and in the process released him with her blood, but when vampires found her she was sired, and during her very first night she dusted him, and took control of things herself. Woopsie.
Perhaps we should try that again, but axe her (yes, like that) at the age of 2 or 3 instead. Done. Woopsie. The girl that was the Slayer when the Master should have been reborn did go to Sunnydale, but instead of acting, and risking him having access to her throat/blood, she just sat in her hotel room, waiting for the moment to pass. The day after she went with her Watcher to bomb down his location. Woopsie.
Another person gives Lucien and co the advice to either go make sure that Slayers in the past live longer than they're supposed to, therefore disrupting the Slayer lineage, or kill them faster, in an attempt to have fate skip Buffy Summers instead. I don't see how one could be certain Buffy will be skipped like this, the next one might fall very quickly, but yeah.
There's 4 Slayers they're targeting, each well documented ones. Incinii, the Welsh 60 C.E. Slayer that lived during an attack from the Romans on her Druids, then there was a Sumerian Slayer by the name of Ejuk from Uruk 2700 B.C.E., Agatha Primrose lived during the Civil War of 1862 in Tennessee, and finally there's Marguerite Allard of 1792 aka the French Revolution.
Naturally we're all going to be seeing those in the book. One could say it's a mini-Tales of the Slayer book in that regard. There's a few funny things that happen along their journeys, like when Xander is in Sumer watching statues, he thinks one looks funny and starts laughing, which of course wakes it up, or rather Namtar, god of the plague.
Perhaps the end part of the book is the best, where they're going to 1792 and meet Angelus and Darla. I cried out a 'Buffy can't meet Angelus in the past' when I read it, but through bad luck Buffy had no chance but to kill Angelus to protect the Slayer. Of course we know that things couldn't stay like that, so they travel back to Sunnydale anno 1998, which is totally overrun, ruled by vampires, all because Angel was never there to tell 16-year old Buffy about the Master in the first place. So this is what Lucien wanted all along. But then they travel back again, and fix things by having Buffy send a note to Angelus not to go with Lucien's people into the alley where Buffy saves the Slayer and kills Angelus. Hence the day is saved.
I couldn't understand why Angelus would listen to a note that said 'don't go out there, signed a friend' but ah yeah, the book needed to be done, so there it was. The end.
Read it? Liked it? Agree? Disagree?
briarsreviews's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
1.0
I read this book as the third jump into the Buffy-verse and... it really felt like a let down. I started off with a strong book, moved into a medium, and then this book just... felt off. I didn't like the portal through time aspect and it felt so out of place. I also found that the tone and writing style didn't match the previous two books which made me feel like it wasn't even in the same universe. Yes, they are having different authors write these books but man... it didn't feel cohesive. I lost interest in this book fast and struggled to finish it. Overall, not my thing. It was just too weird. I'll still read other books but... I hope they are better than this one.
One out of five stars.
One out of five stars.
krisis86's review
2.0
This book was weird. In some places, the character development was really off. (Not development... but... true to their characters in the show? Not quite.)
The beginning started off SO slowly. I was really bored up till they made it partway through Sumeria. Then I finally got interested in the story. After Xander angers the plague god, it moves pretty quickly. But the first bits are slow and boring.
Also, wish there had been way more French Revolution. And way more Civil War. I don't know. The whole book just felt really rushed for me.
The beginning started off SO slowly. I was really bored up till they made it partway through Sumeria. Then I finally got interested in the story. After Xander angers the plague god, it moves pretty quickly. But the first bits are slow and boring.
Also, wish there had been way more French Revolution. And way more Civil War. I don't know. The whole book just felt really rushed for me.
octavia_cade's review
3.0
Significantly better than the two other Buffy tie-in novels I've read recently (although that's not exactly difficult, as both of them were pretty awful). It's also kind of an achievement in a subjective sort of way, as Portal Through Time is, unsurprisingly, all about time travel, which is something that generally doesn't appeal that much to me. But I liked it here, partly because Henderson seems to have gone to some trouble with historical detail (the Civil War section seemed strongest, though my knowledge of that period is minimal so what do I know).
I note that the author has a Masters in folklore and mythology, so that might account for the historical detail and the difference in quality between this book and the other two; there certainly seems to have been more thought put into this one. It's just been written at a higher level all round. Fingers crossed this is the case going forward with other novels from this franchise!
I note that the author has a Masters in folklore and mythology, so that might account for the historical detail and the difference in quality between this book and the other two; there certainly seems to have been more thought put into this one. It's just been written at a higher level all round. Fingers crossed this is the case going forward with other novels from this franchise!
sheilasamuelson's review
5.0
Rating: 5 Stars!! (Wish i could rate it 10 stars!!)
Review:
This was my favorite of all the Season 2 Books so far!! The time travel aspect of this book was my favorite part theres just something about it that is so enjoyable to me.
The Characters were so comical at times and the Mystery aspect was so dark and suspensful that i think rounded out the story very well!!
Can't wait to read more in this series this month!!
Review:
This was my favorite of all the Season 2 Books so far!! The time travel aspect of this book was my favorite part theres just something about it that is so enjoyable to me.
The Characters were so comical at times and the Mystery aspect was so dark and suspensful that i think rounded out the story very well!!
Can't wait to read more in this series this month!!
star_laufeyson's review
4.0
3.75 Es un libro que va de menos a más, al principio estás un poco perdida porque la acción comienza con los vampiros cabecillas de los viajes en el tiempo, y no con Buffy como suele ser habitual. Me gusta la oportunidad de viajar al pasado, conocer a otras Slayers, y va de menos a más porque a mi al menos, la primera historia me gustó pero se me hizo un poco pesada, la segunda en Mesopotamia me encantó la ambientación, el conocer a Gilgamesh, pero como que le faltaba algo, y ya las dos últimas historias o viajes al pasado, geniales, trepidante, acción, incertidumbre.
Me ha sorprendido, aunque de todos los libros que he leído de la Caza vampiros, él que más me ha gustado por el momento es "Creatures of habit"
Me ha sorprendido, aunque de todos los libros que he leído de la Caza vampiros, él que más me ha gustado por el momento es "Creatures of habit"
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