Angel: Nemesis

Buffyverse Novels #87

by Scott Ciencin, Denise Ciencin

Even if it takes an eternity, he will make amends.

When an old friend from graduate school contacts Fred for help with her job at a top scientific facility, Fred feels a mixture of dread about renewing ties to her past and wistfulness for the quiet life she might have led entrenched in her research. But the night they are supposed to meet, her friend is gunned down, the seemingly innocent victim of a mob hit gone wrong. Fred is inconsolable.

Although Angel and the others want to help, they have been called upon to solve a rash of murders among a group of wizards. These wizards are the only ones preventing an apocalyptic breach of the walls separating our reality from other, more-deadly worlds.

Fred decides to leave the investigation and take her friend's place as a researcher in order to uncover the truth behind her murder. But when the worlds of scientific research and the supernatural collide, Fred may be the only one who can solve the case and stop the coming apocalypse.

Genres: Vampires, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Media Tie In, Young Adult, Paranormal, Fiction

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 10, 2004

About the author

Scott Ciencin was a New York Times best-selling novelist of 90+ books. He wrote adult and children's fiction and worked in a variety of mediums including comic books. He created programs for Scholastic Books, designed trading cards, consulted on video games, directed and produced audio programs & TV commercials, and wrote in the medical field about neurosurgery and neurology. He first worked in TV production as a writer, producer and director. He lived in Sarasota, Florida with his wife (and sometimes co-author) Denise.

(Also wrote under the pseudonyms Nick Baron and L.J. Oliver)

Reviews

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t think I expect too much out of a media tie in novel. Just a fun little side adventure with familiar characters, really. But I was definitely hoping for more. The plot is messy and not all the characters feel true to how they were portrayed on TV. Overall, this is just a bit of a boring read.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a tie-in adventure novel set in the latter part of the penultimate season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's spin-off series, Angel. It's not a bad story and could have been really good at maybe half the length. It features Fred questioning her choice to stick with Team Angel rather than returning to her former life, which is done well, but also Gunn not seeming quite true to his character (could've done without the comic book script), Cordelia and Lorne not having much to do, and Connor, which is always a mistake. It's okay for completists, but not one of the best.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was probably the worst Angel book I've read! I actually managed to finish it but that was an effort and I so wanted to quit but I hate doing that.

Everything about this book was bad. The characters were just wrong and the story was boring. It didn't help that everyone was separated in this book and there was a lot going on which was supposed to connect but it seemed to take forever! Totally disappointed - an Angel book to avoid unless you have to!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nemesis is not a bad book. It’s just not great. Cordelia and Lorne play almost no role other than stupid quips here and there. There’s bad stereotypes of black people. It’s very obvious those areas where Gunn was writing his fantasy drama that this book is not written by someone versed in black culture. Nemesis itself is not really fleshed out. It had interesting promise at the beginning. I did like the twist involving the head mage, although the whole Ord thing made little sense.

[Sarah Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The authors fully hated the Gunn/Fred ship and I was completely on board for that alone.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an avid fan of the Whedonverse, I continually read Buffy and Angel novels, hoping to find some that match the brilliance of the shows. Unfortunately, they are few and far between.

Nemesis is an ok book, a bit of brainless fun. The plot is simple and it heavily involves my favourite charater, Fred. The writing is simple and mostly enjoyable, though it got a bit dull in places.

My main gripe with Nemesis, as with most Buffy and Angel novels, is the abruptness of the ending. The action is packed into a few pages and then it is over. That is not to say I like excessive exposition after the final confrontation, but a little background knowledge at the end would be nice. How is Fred coping with things, do Wesley and Connor team up again in fighting the baddies, what was Gunn thinking for an end to his comic?

Definitely not a prizewinner by any means, but an enjoyable read for a lazy Sunday.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nemesis is a book, written by Scott and Denise Ciencin, based on the television show Angel (starring David Boreanaz). In this book, Angel and the gang are faced with a single embodiment of evil greater and more destructive than they have ever seen before. The whole book walks the reader through the hunt for this shadowy figure, named Nemesis. All the while, Angel and his colleagues must work around a number of personal issues to come together to fight for good. If you want to read this book in sync with the full storyline, this book appears to happen after Connor returns to Angel as a teen.

Read more: http://bookstove.com/children/angel-n...

[bluetyson]

isbn,original

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually enjoy Angel books, but the writing in this one was awful.