The top 20 ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Angel’ books
Book list: John picks the 20 elite “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” novels out of the nearly 100 spinoff books published since 1997.
Mel Odom
‘Roswell’ flashback: ‘Shades’ (Book review) (2002)
Mel Odom, who wrote many outstanding “Buffy” and “Angel” novels, makes an all-over-the-place debut in the “Roswell” universe with “Shades” (September 2002), the fourth tie-in novel. It’s a daring novel in a way, as it […]
‘Buffy’/‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Cursed’ (2003) (Book review)
“Cursed” (November 2003) is a rare novel with “Buffy” in the title that doesn’t have Buffy in it (aside from a phone conversation on the last page). This “Buffy”/“Angel” crossover by Mel Odom is truly […]
‘Buffy’ flashback: All 4 stories from ‘Tales of the Slayer, Vol. 3’ (2003), ranked (Book review)
It’s like an all-star writing contest when Yvonne Navarro, Mel Odom, Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder get together to write four novellas for “Tales of the Slayer, Vol. 3” (November 2003). At this point in […]
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Image’ (2002) (Book review)
The competition is on: Is Jeff Mariotte or Mel Odom the best “Angel” novelist? At this point in my re-read, Odom moves out in front with “Image” (April 2002), the best “Angel” novel so far. […]
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘Crossings’ (2002) (Book review)
After a few late-Season 5 novels skimmed over Joyce’s death as if scared to address it, Mel Odom does it right with the young-adult novel “Crossings” (June 2002). Set between “Forever” (5.17) and “Intervention” (5.18), […]
‘Buffy’ flashback: All 7 short stories from ‘Tales of the Slayer Vol. 1’ (2001), ranked (Book review)
I remember when “Tales of the Slayer Vol. 1” (October 2001) came out, it felt to me like for first time the Buffyverse had a sprawling Expanded Universe similar to what “Star Wars” had developed. […]
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Bruja’ (2001) (Book review)
Mel Odom pens another winner in the “Angel” book series with “Bruja” (August 2001), which blends a lot of story threads into a surprising yet natural conclusion. Without using the flashback device often found in […]
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Redemption’ (2000) (Book review)
Thus far in my re-read, I haven’t encountered another author who makes such an improvement between his first and second Buffyverse novel as Mel Odom. After the weak “Buffy” entry “Unnatural Selection,” he bounces back […]
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘Revenant’ (2001) (Book review)
“Revenant” (January 2001) is a big step up from Mel Odom’s “Buffy” debut, “Unnatural Selection,” although if memory serves, he’ll go on to do even better work on “Angel” books and “Buffy”/“Angel” crossovers later. Freed […]