Product Description

In SPARK AND BURN, fan-favourite Spike - the other vampire with a soul - takes centre stage. For centuries he was a bloodthirsty scourge of humankind, killing without bias, feeding on whomever (or whatever) came his way. That would all change when Riley Finn and the covert organisation known as the Initiative planted a microchip in his brain which rendered him incapable of harming a human being. As Spike learned to cope with this handicap - the worst a vampire could imagine - he found himself falling in love with the woman who had been his nemesis - Buffy Summers, the Slayer. Their relationship is a stormy one, with years of mistrust between them. But after Spike regains his soul, undergoing terrible trials in the process, he and Buffy come to a kind of peace with one another; and Spike, finally, begins to find peace with himself.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #204906 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Diana G. Gallagher is the author of numerous television tie-ins for Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Star Trek Deep Space Nine, in addition to several stand-alone adult science fiction novels.

Customer Reviews

What a disappointment
I've waited for years for a Buffy book which centres on Spike and makes his character the focus of the story, so I couldn't wait to read "Spark and Burn" so much so that I ordered it well in advance of the release date. But what a disappointment! This is described as an "original" novel based on the TV series but there's nothing original about it. It's just a word for word rehash of the most well known scenes from the program which involve Spike, cobbled together by a few "missing" scenes which add nothing of value. You'd be better off watching the DVDs - it was all I could do to be bothered to finish it. The whole book jumps around from one time period to another and back again - it gets hard to remember whether the Spike you're reading about at any one moment has a chip, a soul, neither or both and it becomes increasingly more difficult to care! Where's the adventure and excitement, the witty one-liners, the tension, the complex relationships, the great (original) storyline? The writers of the series created in Spike a fascinatingly flawed, enigmatic and multi-layered character and this was the perfect opportunity to write a brilliant book about him. Unfortunately this isn't it.

Underated History of Spike
First of all i think the rest of the reviwers so far have been unfair with thier reviews; bitter because they were expecting something diffrent than Spark and Burn turned out.

Yes, the book falsly advertised as an 'original'; but in a way it isnt really false at all, because even though we have seen most of the events in the book on the show we have never seen it through Spike's eyes, with his wording and view.

By no means is this book a new story starring Spike; but it still has its merits and is one of the few books i own that i feel worth reading more than once.

Want to know most (if not all, but i cant be sure since my viewing of the last two series was inconsistant at best) of Spike's history quickly? What makes him Tick?

This book is perfect if that is your want.

Want a story of Evil!Spike, Dru/Spike and Basement!Spike?
Want to read Spike's slaying of two slayers in bed or on a journey?

This book will deliver.

Expecting a tale of Souled Spike gallavanting around being a 'Champion' in an all new adventure?

You will be extremly disapointed and review exacly the way these other reviewers did.

On the negative side; it does advertise it as if Spike's adventure would be new ground; and all the timejumps can get a little annoying if you want to follow one centuary more than another, but there is never a huge length between each one.

These are the reasons i took a star off.

I disagree with the previous reviewer that time periods can be come confusing; as they are clearingly labelled in Bold text at the start of each change of era.

All in all if you go into this book with no expectations of a new storyline or read it for Spike's history from his own POV, this book is a great read, i finished it in one sitting... err, laying.
I'v also started reading it a second time.