Portal Through Time

Buffyverse Novels #16

by Alice Henderson

Evil strikes again, as a time portal enables an acolyte of The Master to change the past and clear the way for a future without a Slayer. With no Buffy to stand against him, who is to prevent him as he resurrects his king?

Genres: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Vampires, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Media Tie In, Time Travel, Young Adult

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 24, 2006

About the author

Alice Henderson's love of wild places inspired her thriller series which begins with A Solitude of Wolverines, and continues with A Blizzard of Polar Bears and A Ghost of Caribou. The latest novel is The Vanishing Kind, about jaguars in New Mexico. The series features a wildlife biologist who encounters dangerous situations while working to protect endangered species.

She has also written media-tie in novels, including official novels for the TV shows Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While working at LucasArts, she wrote material for several Star Wars video games.

She was selected to attend Launchpad, a NASA-funded writing workshop aimed at bringing accurate science to fiction.

In addition to being a writer, Henderson is a wildlife researcher, geographic information systems specialist, and bioacoustician. She documents wildlife on specialized recording equipment, checks remote cameras, creates maps, and undertakes wildlife surveys to determine what species are present on preserves, while ensuring there are no signs of poaching. She's surveyed for the presence of grizzlies, wolves, wolverines, jaguars, endangered bats, and more.

Please visit her at www.AliceHenderson.com.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my absolute favorite book so far in the season 2 buffy the vampire slayer books.

So let me explain why I enjoyed this book so much.

Sometimes when reading Buffy the vampire slayer books the characters don't quite seem like themselves or, I feel like some line's just feel fake. This was not the case with this book.

Characters interaction Nailed it 🔨

Time Traveler Nailed it
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Extremely well put together with great plot twist absolutely loved everything about this book.

Would Recommend to Buffy fans.🏹⚔⚰🎚🥇🥇🥇

Happy Reading 📖📕📙📚📓📗📚📒📘📗📓📚📙📕📖📗📓📚📙📕📒📘📓📗📚📖📙

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Portal Through Time is set in the second season of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though since it's a time travel story that could be rather fluid. Mixing a science fiction trope into a fantasy universe could (and occasionally has) have very disappointing results, but this one is done very well. The original Big Bad, The Master, plays with the let's-kill-Hitler (or his grandmother)) idea by going into the past with his evil minions to destroy the chain of Slayers before Buffy can nail him in the present. Of course, we know it's not going to work, but the historic eras are depicted in a fascinating manner, some of the twists and turns are quite clever, and the characters are quite engaging. Giles is most impressive as a swashbuckling swordsman on a Civil War battlefield, and Xander is the team's expert on time travel and paradox because he's watched Back to the Future and Doctor Who. It's a fun and well-done adventure with a big sweep.

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book as the third jump into the Buffy-verse and... it really felt like a let down. I started off with a strong book, moved into a medium, and then this book just... felt off. I didn't like the portal through time aspect and it felt so out of place. I also found that the tone and writing style didn't match the previous two books which made me feel like it wasn't even in the same universe. Yes, they are having different authors write these books but man... it didn't feel cohesive. I lost interest in this book fast and struggled to finish it. Overall, not my thing. It was just too weird. I'll still read other books but... I hope they are better than this one.

One out of five stars.

[Anastasiaadamov · Rating 4 out of 5]

When it comes to IP novelizations there are two different things that I pay attention to: 1) how true the characters are to the cannon and 2)how interesting and good is the idea of the story.
It has been a while since I've watched the original TV show but the characters did not stray from how I remember them. I got the chance to enjoy the group dynamics of the Scoobies and all the characters equally.
I was so afraid of not liking the time travel plot twist. It is always a very risk plot tool to use and I decided to make some allowances for it. There were some points that could be argued that make no sense and I would have loved to have more details on. I enjoyed most of the book and in the last 100 pages or so I got really nervous at how everything will be wrapped up. The timeline jumps were interesting and I appreciated the notable differences in scenery and motives.
Overall I enjoyed this book a lot!

[Tony Pucci · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, for once in my life, I had a hard time suspending my disbelief in reading this book. I don't know why. Buffy and Vampires? No problem. Buffy and time travel? No way! But I got over it, and powered through it. I must say, the second half of the book is much better than the first half.

[Brent Ecenbarger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not particularly looking forward to a time travel Buffy story. It just seemed like too easy of a method to reset everything and bring the book back to the status quo at the end. Don't get me wrong, it's a requirement of these novelizations that they tell a story that could exist in the tv show without actually affecting any of the characters that actually show up in the series. For my taste though, I want the book to be exciting, the characters to feel right and for the book to build on something already in the show while not also contradicting it.

For the most part, Portal Through Time nailed it across the board. Taking place in early season 2 of the series, Buffy and Angel are still a thing (he hasn't yet become Angelus) and Willow still has feelings for Oz. Cordelia is only present in an alternate reality and doesn't play into the story. Here a vampire named Lucien has found two rare magic artifacts that allow him to travel back in time and then return to where he came. Lucien has enlisted several other vampires, most prominently Jason and Victor to kill either Buffy before she is a slayer or other slayers in history to disrupt the lineage. His purpose is to eliminate the obstacle that kept the Master from ascending in season one and opening the Hellmouth.

The first goal, killing Buffy before she is the slayer, was handled in a surprising fashion the first time it was attempted and a shocking fashion the second time. I loved it. A strength of these books is the ability to go more violent, twisted and adult than the show could be on the WB and Henderson does it to great success on multiple occasions here. The time travel chase and missions were a bit less entertaining but they did a nice job of taking advantage of the extended slayer universe. I think it was a bit of a missed opportunity to not revisit any of the slayers from the Tales of the Slayer series; it was fun meeting new ones but I always like when you're rewarded for having more knowledge coming into a book.

The new slayers we meet are in ancient Sumeria (this was a fun one involving King Gilgamesh), the Roman Empire (specifically a battle with druids), the Civil War and the French Revolution. The Civil War story was the most disappointing, as the slayer was fairly forgettable and there was a moment where Giles was written out of character for what his capabilities have ever been shown to be on the show. The French Revolution story took a somewhat predictable turn in terms of who showed up but then had a nice twist in terms of what Buffy needed to do and how the timeline got affected.

This is a definite 4.5 for me. I'm really waffling between the 4 and 5 score as compared to many of the other Buffy books I've read this is a step above the rest. A few things bring it back down to the four star level though. The Giles scene took me a bit about of the book. The lasting injuries to Buffy and Giles at the end seemed too major to explain away as never being referenced for the rest of the series. The biggest issue though is that there is clearly the capability for time travel for the team and with everything that happens after season 2 there's no way it wouldn't be mentioned as a solution to their later heartaches. (Think Ms. Calendar, Angel at the end of Season 2, or Tara to name just a few.) As a elseworlds type story it was a five, but trying to reconcile it in the tv show universe it doesn't quite hold up.

[Sheila Samuelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 5 Stars!! (Wish i could rate it 10 stars!!)
Review:
This was my favorite of all the Season 2 Books so far!! The time travel aspect of this book was my favorite part theres just something about it that is so enjoyable to me.

The Characters were so comical at times and the Mystery aspect was so dark and suspensful that i think rounded out the story very well!!

Can't wait to read more in this series this month!!

[Estrella · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Es un libro que va de menos a más, al principio estás un poco perdida porque la acción comienza con los vampiros cabecillas de los viajes en el tiempo, y no con Buffy como suele ser habitual. Me gusta la oportunidad de viajar al pasado, conocer a otras Slayers, y va de menos a más porque a mi al menos, la primera historia me gustó pero se me hizo un poco pesada, la segunda en Mesopotamia me encantó la ambientación, el conocer a Gilgamesh, pero como que le faltaba algo, y ya las dos últimas historias o viajes al pasado, geniales, trepidante, acción, incertidumbre.
Me ha sorprendido, aunque de todos los libros que he leído de la Caza vampiros, él que más me ha gustado por el momento es "Creatures of habit"

[Jammin Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book that takes place during the series that was on tv. Buffy and the scoobies have to travel back in time to save four different slayers from being killed before their time. This nefarious plot was devised by Lucien, a vampire that was utterly devoted to the Master and who wants to bring him back. I especially liked the scene where Giles was killing vamps left and right on the Civil War battlefield, where the vamps were all supping on the dying and dead soldiers.

[Halcyon · Rating 2 out of 5]

*posts 14-year-old review - yikes*

Also: so harsh.

Time line: during season 2.

Portal Through Time is the book that I've spent the last 3 days reading.

I've read quite a decent chunk of the Buffy books already, I think, but is this one of the 'better' ones? No, I don't think so.

Why not? Well, I thought the writing style was pretty 'simple' in the beginning, and I was bothered with it. In fact, I went as far as thinking that, since it says the author 'started writing at the age of six', this was it. I even went to the lady's site to see if she was actually still six, or close to it. Pretty bad, yes?

Fortunately for her, when she started to get to the action-part, it lifted up a bit. Good. But don't expect endless sword fights from her, in excellent quality. You won't get this.

Okay, so what's the book about then? Lucien, a vampire who misses his master, The Master, has managed to get his hands on two artifacts. One that throws you into the past, and one that can bring you back to the future, or something alike. Anyway, if blended together, you have yourself a time travel device that opens up a portal to wherever the spell says it should go, what date, year. Think Sliders.

So, in an attempt to get his Master back, Lucien thinks he should go back into the past to slay himself a future Slayer, namely Buffy at the age of 14/15. He actually manages that, or his rent boys do it, and goes back to the future, expecting his Master to be back. Only to hear that another Slayer named Kafara has come to Sunnydale to try and close the Hellmouth/stop the Master from arising, and in the process released him with her blood, but when vampires found her she was sired, and during her very first night she dusted him, and took control of things herself. Woopsie.

Perhaps we should try that again, but axe her (yes, like that) at the age of 2 or 3 instead. Done. Woopsie. The girl that was the Slayer when the Master should have been reborn did go to Sunnydale, but instead of acting, and risking him having access to her throat/blood, she just sat in her hotel room, waiting for the moment to pass. The day after she went with her Watcher to bomb down his location. Woopsie.

Another person gives Lucien and co the advice to either go make sure that Slayers in the past live longer than they're supposed to, therefore disrupting the Slayer lineage, or kill them faster, in an attempt to have fate skip Buffy Summers instead. I don't see how one could be certain Buffy will be skipped like this, the next one might fall very quickly, but yeah.

There's 4 Slayers they're targeting, each well documented ones. Incinii, the Welsh 60 C.E. Slayer that lived during an attack from the Romans on her Druids, then there was a Sumerian Slayer by the name of Ejuk from Uruk 2700 B.C.E., Agatha Primrose lived during the Civil War of 1862 in Tennessee, and finally there's Marguerite Allard of 1792 aka the French Revolution.

Naturally we're all going to be seeing those in the book. One could say it's a mini-Tales of the Slayer book in that regard. There's a few funny things that happen along their journeys, like when Xander is in Sumer watching statues, he thinks one looks funny and starts laughing, which of course wakes it up, or rather Namtar, god of the plague.

Perhaps the end part of the book is the best, where they're going to 1792 and meet Angelus and Darla. I cried out a 'Buffy can't meet Angelus in the past' when I read it, but through bad luck Buffy had no chance but to kill Angelus to protect the Slayer. Of course we know that things couldn't stay like that, so they travel back to Sunnydale anno 1998, which is totally overrun, ruled by vampires, all because Angel was never there to tell 16-year old Buffy about the Master in the first place. So this is what Lucien wanted all along. But then they travel back again, and fix things by having Buffy send a note to Angelus not to go with Lucien's people into the alley where Buffy saves the Slayer and kills Angelus. Hence the day is saved.

I couldn't understand why Angelus would listen to a note that said 'don't go out there, signed a friend' but ah yeah, the book needed to be done, so there it was. The end.

Read it? Liked it? Agree? Disagree?

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

As Buffy books go this was bit on the mediocre side.

The premise was actually rather good, set in early to mid season 2, a remainder of the master's minions (that Buffy killed in the first season finale) are still trying to find a way to bring him back (like they did in the season premiere for season 2). They manage to locate a couple of artefacts, one takes you back in time, and one brings you back where you left. So combined you can go to a place in history, change events, come back where you left and things should be different.

Firstly they try and killing Buffy before she becomes the slayer and this doesn't give them the result they wanted. So they decide they need to go further back and disrupt the slayer line in the hope that Buffy is not the slayer when the master is set to rise in Sunnydale.

All well and good, the scoobies find out and then chase the vampire assassins back in time to stop them.

The first problem was though the author obviously knows here history, but I think she lost of sight of the fact that it's a Buffy book not a history book! She got so stuck in describing the history and the buildings and people around them and placing them in history that you actually got a bit bored!

Also, the characterisation was not quite right. I like Xander, he is the light relief, he makes me laugh. He was the only one that didn't end up with special powers, but he always had everyone's back. In this book the author actually managed to make him so whinny and annoying, that you actually wished they left him behind and that was so unfair for Xander I would never normally think of him like that! For Giles, it was like the author could not make up her mind, one second he is comic relief Giles, getting knocked on the head and going 'oh dear' the next he is ripper Giles fighting vampires on his own! Willow also seemed to have Wicca knowledge, which she really didn't get until the very end of Season 2 start of Season 3 when she started to help Giles with spells.

Overall the premise of the story was good, but poorly executed. 3 stars. (more like 2.5)

[Terese]

If you take a shot any time Henderson writes "vamps" instead of "vampires", you'd be very drunk by the end of this book.

It is a bit of a petty pet peeve perhaps, but she even has Giles say "the vamps" and it's really uncharacteristic of him.

Also, once you start noticing it becomes rather an eyesore. The vamps, the vamps, the vamps...

Any way, about the story... I read these for fun, and to re-live the show. They are short so though the ideas are often ambitious the execution is generally rushed. Like time traveling to four different time periods is ridiculously easy, Giles apparently not only reads but speaks ancient sumerian (who would he have practiced with?) and they manage to find Slayers with ridiculous ease. It's just for fun, so I'm good with it, but it is just something to keep in mind.

My favorite part was the start - with some gruesome Buffy murders that rather unsettled me, and then the final journey to France which includes a surprising staking (with a really insulting resolution... she tossed him a note? Really? REALLY?), it was a great way to bring characters we already know into the time period.

The rest of the book I was mostly struck by how crimminally negligent both Buffy and Giles were for bringing Xander and Willow along. As they almost get injured or killed immediately, generally. Willow gets to shine but only after Xander nearly got them all killed by enraging a god of pestilence, showing that he serves no real purpose to the mission. Also, his humor does not translate to the page.

That said, this was one of the better Buffy books. It is creative and fun, they do things they could never do in the show, and it just a light, fun, read.

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun time travel adventure that contained everything my nerd heart requires to be a good story in that genre. I got to see all the Scoobies have a moment where their skills shine and their presence is proven to be integral to Buffy's success. Their character voices and histories are intact and we got a sufficient historical background on all four time periods they jumped to without feeling like we are reading a history novel.

Also, Xander was present to make obligatory nerd boy references to classic era Doctor Who, Terminator, and Back to the Future, which makes him their time travel expert. He was the perfect character choice for them to use as a handy reference and I was glad to see Xander used to his best effect.

Some of the time periods they went to were the same or close to those of Slayers used in the Tales of the Slayer collection, but none were the same Slayer. I guess these are meant to be those directly preceding or succeeding the previously chronicled ones.

A lot of fun and an adventure I can see myself revisiting many times in the future.

[BooksWithBonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buffy! Saves the world again. A portal through time is about vampires desperate attempts to save their master's from his fate of death, by the hand of the one and only Buffy. The Vamps know they are no match for her, but what if it was a different version of the Buffy, maybe a version of her before she gain her strength and knowledge of killing vampires. Vampires go back in time to kill Buffy before she gains her abilities but not even killing her is enough to bring back their master.

I really enjoy the play on time travel and the complicate timeline. The back and forward was simple enough to follow while keeping the story line entertaining. I do feel toward the end the use of time travel was a little bit over done. However I wouldn't change it. the ending plot twist was fun and her friends were more so "in-the-way" than a part of the solution. Maybe she just needed company during her adventures. Over all fun time and good old slang. most def a goodie for me. I will be continuing this series.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I realize I had already read this back in 2021 in book:Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1|7441947]Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1.

So here's my review for this book: Portal Through Time by Alice Henderson

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4198808174

Definitely recommend!! WARNING! There will be spoilers for Coyote Moon and Night of the Living Rerun in the review above!!

[George L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Portal Through Time is a must-read for any fan of the TV series. With its intriguing storyline, wonderfully historical world-building, and unexpected twists, this novel offers an exciting glimpse into a chapter in the lives of our favourite Scoobies. So grab your stake and prepare to be transported across time with Buffy as she faces one of her toughest challenges yet!

I’m giving this one a 7/10.

Read my full review here:
https://georgelthomas.com/2024/07/05/...

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Buffy, Giles, Willow and Xander have to travel to four different times to stop some vampires from killing Slayers of each of those times and permanently throwing off the line of Slayer Secession. Along the way they encounter some magical places and Buffy not only meets the four Slayers, but gets to fight side by side with them.

[Corrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would be supremely happy for this to be canon! Seriously this is easily the best/my favorite of the Buffy side books I’ve read so far. I think it would’ve made a great 3-4 episode arc too. Really loved it and you could tell Alice Henderson was actually a true fan of the show, she nailed it with little callbacks, great characterization and dialog I could really hear in their voices. Loved it.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book. One of my favourites so far. I loved the ‘Tales of the Slayer’ series so I really enjoyed this book as we got to meet past slayers. I also love History so this book was everything that piqued my interests.

*Spoilers*
The ending with Darla and Angelus was not expected but so freaking good.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Definitely better than the other novels.

[dottie moyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

just an excellent book for all you Buffy fans out there. I really couldn't put it down. had it read in 2 nights

[BookLoversLife · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that's more like it. Like peeking into a window and seeing beloved friends from twenty years past.

[Geiosh A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn't really get into this one took me forever to finish

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Veleka Georgieva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, the book is really good for Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans. It's nice going back to second season Sunnydale when the characters are still so young and fresh, and the story is somewhat lighter than what it becomes later on in the show. The descriptions in this book were so well-written and thorough that I could practically see everything I was reading about right in front of me! The separate stories within the book were quite amusing, and the starting idea of killing Buffy in her earlier years so as to let the Master reign was amazing. When the Scoobies started travelling back in time I honestly thought that four time-jumps were just too many, especially because of the doomed and damp atmosphere in the first one which made the story a bit had to read. But then the pace accelerated and even though the stories were complete and long enough they felt lighter than that first one. In returning to Sunnydale after the last time-travel, I expected something quite different. Still, it turned out very nicely and quite surprising. The only thing I could not understand was: if in the French Revolution Paris there arrived two groups of Scoobies, how come only one returned to Sunnydale?

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Significantly better than the two other Buffy tie-in novels I've read recently (although that's not exactly difficult, as both of them were pretty awful). It's also kind of an achievement in a subjective sort of way, as Portal Through Time is, unsurprisingly, all about time travel, which is something that generally doesn't appeal that much to me. But I liked it here, partly because Henderson seems to have gone to some trouble with historical detail (the Civil War section seemed strongest, though my knowledge of that period is minimal so what do I know).

I note that the author has a Masters in folklore and mythology, so that might account for the historical detail and the difference in quality between this book and the other two; there certainly seems to have been more thought put into this one. It's just been written at a higher level all round. Fingers crossed this is the case going forward with other novels from this franchise!

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much to say about this. It has all the things I like in a book. History, Buffy, Words. I love the French Revolution part. Though I spent most of it picturing Buffy popping to the future to B*tch slap Angel for not telling her he was there and to avoid him. This was actually the first time in a long while that I've read a book cover to cover (digitally speaking) without putting it down or even looking at a clock. so it definitely held my attention remarkably well. Characterization is perfect. Parts made me smile, parts made me want to cry, parts had me chanting no no no as i continued to read. actually i even put that in my notes. It's definitely worth reading.

[Adriane · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand it was exciting and I loved all the different cultures, on the other hand it got a little repetitive, but only a little hence the fact that it's still 4 stars.
Also I learned something about myself because in the first trip there are magically alive trees and rocks that crawl out of the ground and I didn't blink twice. In the second story a giant statue of a god comes alive and I totally balked. So I guess magicky nature is fine but man made sculpture crosses a line somewhere. When I realized this I totally laughed at myself because I know that doesnt make sense, but is kinda funny.

[Kris Irvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was weird. In some places, the character development was really off. (Not development... but... true to their characters in the show? Not quite.)

The beginning started off SO slowly. I was really bored up till they made it partway through Sumeria. Then I finally got interested in the story. After Xander angers the plague god, it moves pretty quickly. But the first bits are slow and boring.

Also, wish there had been way more French Revolution. And way more Civil War. I don't know. The whole book just felt really rushed for me.