Product Description

The third Buffy adult hardcover fills in a missing link: the Slayer who died to make Buffy the Chosen One. When an old classmate of Buffy's in LA is killed, and Willow is severely injured in a car accident, both in the space of one week, the Slayer must yet again face the vulnerabilities of her mortal friends. At the same time, from a place of nightmares - which Buffy and Faith share - a terrible evil invades Sunnydale, setting off a quartet of disasters. Earth, air, fire and water - each represented in the dreams by a primitive figure carrying a box moulded from skin and bone. Faith thinks she recognises the box. Research leads Giles to the Watchers' Diaries, where he learns that the last Slayer to encounter a similar box was one named India Cohen...Buffy's immediate predecessor. Buffy, who strangely has never considered the Slayer whose death activated her own term, is eager to contact India's Watcher, Kit Bothwell. Kit, in turn, is excited at the prospect of working with two simultaneous Slayers. Over the years, he has honed his sorcery skills, and he thinks he can bring Buffy in communication with India, among others. And this begins a journey through history that forces Buffy to orient herself on a continuum against the evil that predates even humanity itself...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #277510 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The third Buffy the Vampire Slayer hardback novel, The Book of Fours, is an adult horror novel, an action-packed adventure spanning several centuries and continents. It's set during season three of the series; floods and hurricanes are wreaking havoc in Sunnydale, while a major forest fire rages nearby. When earthquakes begin to hit, Giles realises that all four of the primal elements--earth, air, fire and water--are involved. Willow and Buffy both dream of previous Slayers, who warn that the Gatherer, an ancient entity that feeds on souls, and has a special taste for Slayers, is on the way to Sunnydale. Each Slayer is associated with one of the elements--Faith is fire and Buffy is air ("No airhead jokes," says Buffy), Kendra was Earth, and Buffy's immediate predecessor, India Cohen, was water. Together, the combined power of the two living and two dead Slayers may be able to stop the Gatherer. Nancy Holder's complex tale of unfolding evil spans the centuries: from the Arabian desert of AD 1200, to the Watchers' Council headquarters in London, to modern Jamaica where Kendra's Watcher reminisces about her battles with a voodoo master, then back to Sunnydale as the Gatherer's consort, the almost immortal Cecile Lafitte, prepares for the final ritual that will allow it to walk the Earth. All the plot-lines draw together into a major finale that is a fitting climax to the story. This is a strong entry in the series from the now seasoned pen of Nancy Holder. --Elizabeth Sourbut

About the Author
Nancy Holder lives in San Diego with her husband Wayne and young daughter Belle. She is a four-time Bram Stoker award winner for her work in supernatural fiction.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant!!
Brilliantly written and one of the best Buffy fiction books I've read. A little slow at first as it seemed to dot about between different and new characters, but understandably this is setting a background and linking the story together. A powerful story bringing together the present slayers Buffy and Faith and past slayers including Kendra and Buffy's predecessor India as they battle against an ancient evil manifesting in the four elements. As well as this it's an insight into the slayers not only dealing with being The Chosen One but also the strife of being a teenage girl. Once the story has developed it's a hard book to put down. If there was to be a movie then this is a plot they should definitely consider.

Ok...but could try harder
Having read several of the Buffy tales I have to say this is probably one of the weaker books.

If you're a devoted Buffy fan, buy it if you've got all the others - especially now the series itself is over.

I found the pace of the book laborious and too much of the story seemed to revolve around Holder's attempts to create the "uber-villian" beyond everything thats come before.

I find this to be a common flaw in spin off books (and the Star Wars books in particular) - the authors want their created characters to be at the top of the pantheon of heroes/villains, when after all they're just hanging on the coat-tails of the original creator....

Good, LONG but slightly confusing at times
Hancy Holder has as ususal written a very good book. There's suspence, action, magic... all things Buffy-wise. But - and there is a but - why we need to read 20 or so sub-stories and sub-plots I personally don't get. It slows the story down and makes it a bit difficult to go with the flow of the story.

It's a good book for Buffy-fans, but new fans should not read this as their first venture into the book side of Buffy.