From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
   http://www.hypable.com/demons-of-the-hellmouth-book-review-buffy/   
      
   ‘Demons of the Hellmouth’ book review: A guide to the monsters of ‘Buffy   
   the   
   Vampire Slayer’   
      
   BY   
   SELINA WILKEN   
   Attention, all Vampire Slayers: Buffy Summers’ Watcher, Rupert Giles, has   
   published a handy guide to the Demons of the Hellmouth.   
      
   [snip]   
      
   Titan Books’ Demons of the Hellmouth, written by tie-in novel writer Nancy   
   Holder, was made exactly for someone like me.   
      
   Or, at least, it claims to be. As a legitimate obsessive fan who has watched   
   the series far too many times, I think this book is half amazing, and half   
   disappointing. But still absolutely worth your money.   
      
   [snip]   
      
   But the thing I found most lackluster about Demons of the Hellmouth was the   
   notes in the margin, ostensibly written by the characters in response to   
   Giles’ main entries.   
      
   The scrawls would oftentimes be direct quotes taken from the show, making   
   the whole experience feel a little less real. I couldn’t help but compare it   
   to the Sunnydale High Yearbook, which employs a similar technique, but does   
   a much more elegant job of it. In Demons of the Hellmouth the notes add   
   little substance, feeling like ghostly echoes of sentiments.   
      
   As for the text itself, the book mainly comprises of an alphabetical   
   breakdown of all the major monsters encountered in the show, with those   
   awkward screenshot pictures that could never actually have existed in   
   universe. We’re given synopses of various demons and vampires’ actions, and   
   most of the time it’s nothing more than what we saw in the show itself.   
      
   [snip]   
      
   I was still left with big questions this book could potentially have   
   answered: What was Darla’s real name? Had the Key ever transformed in the   
   past? Do some demons have souls? Why are some vampires more human than   
   others? (Giles does touch on this last point when describing Drusilla, and   
   it’s one of the best passages in the book.)   
      
   [snip]   
      
   Did we know that the First Slayer’s name was Sineya? Did we know that Spike   
   was born William Pratt? Answer: Yes, kind of, but it’s not something your   
   average Buffy fan would necessarily know.   
      
   Unlike most of the other information in Demons of the Hellmouth, these   
   obscure details made me feel like I was given “behind-the-scenes” details.   
      
   [snip]   
      
   Demons of the Hellmouth is available now. Buy it from Titan Books and other   
   retailers.   
      
       [much much more of the review at the link, plus pics of demons from the   
   book]   
      
   http://daviderl.com/SarahMichelleGellar.html.   
   http://daviderl31.blogspot.com/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)