Emerald Tablet

(1) The Emerald Tablet (Buffy)

By Deborah Wright
Reviewed by Kathryn A on 26th February 2003 (4)
Tags: Novel
(340K)

This is set in a somewhat AU Buffyverse, around season 4, but certain events didn't happen. This is, I think, more to do with the author wishing to chose her preferred cast of characters (most notably, Oz is still around) and then just play and see what happens. What happens is a good solid story, so long as you actually don't mind the way the author pulls certain people together. I liked it, myself, mainly because it was subtle and gradual (and neither of them realize it either).

The story is divided into three parts, each with its own separate chapters, but I'm not entirely sure why, because the division seems pretty arbitraty -- it's just one long story, really.

What's the story about, you say? All's quiet on the Hellmouth, but Buffy's feeling twitchy, and having nightmares. And trying to have a social life as well. But things don't stay quiet of course. There's your usual destroy-the-world prophecy, which seems straightforward enough -- if it hadn't been for the complications. I think the best characters here are Buffy, Willow and Giles. The best-friend vibe between Buffy and Willow is still there, something I realize I missed in the later Buffy seasons. As for Giles, well, he's got a new job, and a new wardrobe... and new admirers. (grin) Hey, it's cool, okay? This has a nice balance of action, character musing, and banter.

(2) Mirror, Mirror (Buffy)

By Deborah Wright
Reviewed by Kathryn A on 26th February 2003 (5)
Tags: Novel
(338K)

This is a sequel to "The Emerald Tablet", where "Buffy is in Sunnydale, but is it her Sunnydale?". I liked this even better than "The Emerald Tablet", because it was fascinating seeing the alternates, how they were similar yet different. Also I liked how it did tie in with the previous story, as unforseen consequences and unexpected uses of things happened. And I liked the way they kept on trying to fix things up, and just made them more complicated, a mixture of good and bad. The story pulled me along, I couldn't stop reading.