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The Angel Chronicles #1

The Angel Chronicles, Vol. 1

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ANGELUS

BORN:
Ireland DIED: Ireland

CURRENT RESIDENCE: Sunnydale, CA

AGE: 242 years and counting

"Things used to be pretty simple. Hundred years, just hanging out, feeling guilty. Really honed my brooding skills. Then she comes along."

After a century of killing without a care, the vampire Angelus was cursed with a conscience and eventually fled to Sunnydale, where he restricted his feeding to blood banks.

Until 16-year-old Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer, arrived in town to battle vampires, demons and the Forces of Darkness. First, he has to convince her not to kill him. Then, he has to convince himself not to fall in love with her.

Now, collected for the first time, are three stories from the cult-hit TV series chronicling the beginning of this star-crossed love story.

Can Buffy and Angel survive life, death...and beyond?

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1998

13 people are currently reading
685 people want to read

About the author

Nancy Holder

352 books2,408 followers
Nancy Holder, New York Times Bestselling author of the WICKED Series, has just published CRUSADE - the first book in a new vampire series cowritten with Debbie Viguie. The last book her her Possession series is set to release in March 2011.

Nancy was born in Los Altos, California, and her family settled for a time in Walnut Creek. Her father, who taught at Stanford, joined the navy and the family traveled throughout California and lived in Japan for three years. When she was sixteen, she dropped out of high school to become a ballet dancer in Cologne, Germany, and later relocated to Frankfurt Am Main.

Eventually she returned to California and graduated summa cum laude from the University of California at San Diego with a degree in Communications. Soon after, she began to write; her first sale was a young adult romance novel titled Teach Me to Love.

Nancy’s work has appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, LA Times, amazon.com, LOCUS, and other bestseller lists. A four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association, she has also received accolades from the American Library Association, the American Reading Association, the New York Public Library, and Romantic Times.

She and Debbie Viguié co-authored the New York Times bestselling series Wicked for Simon and Schuster. They have continued their collaboration with the Crusade series, also for Simon and Schuster, and the Wolf Springs Chronicles for Delacorte (2011.) She is also the author of the young adult horror series Possessions for Razorbill. She has sold many novels and book projects set in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Saving Grace, Hellboy, and Smallville universes.

She has sold approximately two hundred short stories and essays on writing and popular culture. Her anthology, Outsiders, co-edited with Nancy Kilpatrick, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award in 2005.

She teaches in the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing Program, offered through the University of Southern Maine. She has previously taught at UCSD and has served on the Clarion Board of Directors.

She lives in San Diego, California, with her daughter Belle, their two Corgis, Panda and Tater; and their cats, David and Kittnen Snow. She and Belle are active in Girl Scouts and dog obedience training.

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5 stars
487 (42%)
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267 (23%)
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303 (26%)
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69 (6%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
Profile Image for Craig.
6,333 reviews177 followers
June 20, 2022
This is the first of three volumes that took Angel-centric episodes from the first years of the Buffy television series and adapted them into prose narrative form. Holder did a very good job of transcription, without embellishing, changing, or adding much. There are three stories included: Angel and Reptile Boy from scripts by David Greenwalt and Lie to Me by Joss Whedon hisownself. In Angel, Buffy finally learns the truth about Angel's origin and nature, Reptile Boy is a little out of place but is still a good story, and Lie to Me is terrific, and concludes with what I believe is the most poignant exchange between Giles and Buffy in the whole run. I enjoyed reading the words, for a change of pace, without the distractions of the actors and the music.
Profile Image for Ivy.
1,505 reviews76 followers
January 23, 2015
Very good novelizations. Just wish they would put more in on what the characters were feeling. Wish they would write something about Giles's days as Ripper.
Profile Image for Apatricia.
335 reviews30 followers
October 15, 2016
3.5
Foi super bom ler este livro, recordei totalmente a serie, não foi nada de mais no entanto super leve e relaxante! Adorei :)
Profile Image for Scott.
695 reviews133 followers
February 1, 2021
Honestly? As TV episode novelizations go, this was pretty good! A straightforward, shot-by-shot retelling with little embellishments here and there about what characters were thinking and doing and wearing. I'm pleasantly surprised.
Profile Image for Katy.
58 reviews
October 1, 2008
YES YES YES for Buffy/Angel fans. Repeat of episodes with povs.
Profile Image for Mimi.
145 reviews7 followers
September 1, 2015
I've always been a my big fan of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' for years but sadly have never read any of the books. This book is made up of three stories that are from episodes in the first and second season. 'Angel' is my favourite one. This is from series one and is when Buffy discovers the truth about the mysterious Angel who has just making brief appearances until then. 'Reptile Boy' wasn't a bad story, and is from series 2. At this point you see how Buffy and Angel relationship have move on from the first series. In 'Lie to Me' Buffy finds out what Angel was really like as a vampire and the things he has done. It's a short book that is easy to read. If your a fan of Buffy I would recommend reading it.
Profile Image for Ashley.
1,359 reviews20 followers
January 18, 2021
When I was 13, 15, 17.. I loved me some Angel. Not gonna lie, now in my 30s, I still love me some Angel and David Boreanaz. I know that I have read this in the past, back when it was brand-new and most likely again during the 23 years that I've owned this book. (23 years??!? Wait, what?!?)
I'm still watching through the Buffy DVDs and reading the books alongside the show. This book has one novelization from season 1 and two from season 2. If you have watched the show, then you have practically read this book. It fleshes out the script book and the tv show with just a different POV. A nice addition to a Fan's collection and maybe a random hook for an unsuspecting newbie on their way to becoming obsessed.
Profile Image for Honey.
61 reviews
March 27, 2024
Angle is the OG mafia booktok lead guy in the worst way possible
Profile Image for Atikah Wahid.
Author 4 books37 followers
March 6, 2017
So, a few months back, I went through my own personal Buffy Renaissance. I always tell people that I'm a Buffy fan but really I only started watching the show from season 4 and up. Yes, I missed Cordelia, Oz and most importantly, ANGEL. I have since watched all episodes in the first three seasons and hands down, the Angel/Angelus story arc is the best plotline on the show ever. I am now a BANGEL FAN 4 LYFE. SPIKE WHO? lol. So naturally, I had to pick this book up. Plus, 2017 is the 20th anniversary of the show!

This book is the novelisation of three episodes, season 1 "Angel" and season 2 "Reptile Boy" and "Lie to Me". I think these three episodes are chosen specifically because we get a look at Angel's backstory.

In "Angel", Buffy and Angel's sizzling sexual tension finally led to their first kiss and also the big reveal that Angel is a vampire. The forbidden love's angst is just oh so delicious. I've been scoffing at Twilight for years and I never knew there's a better paranormal romance out there! I love reading Angel's guilt-stricken POV. Also, you get to see more of the tension in the love triangle between Angel, Buffy and Darla.

"Reptile Boy" is a miss to me. I wasn't that keen on the episode itself and the novelisation is just not any better. The thing is, Bangel's super angsty relationship can be a bit much if you only focus on their tension and it's all tension in this episode! Meh. Also, I think this part shows Holder's weakness. She relies and follows too closely to the show. I wish she took more creative license.

"Lie to Me" is a pretty solid episode as itself. I always enjoy any interactions between the "holy trinity" of Angel/Spike/Drusilla. Angel interacting with the other Scooby gang is also a plus. The foreshadowing to Angelus is also really nice to read. Love this!

I think this book is strictly for fans even if you're interested in Angel or Bangel. It's nice to read the characters' POVs and get a different perspective of the show. But you just can't beat watching the show itself! My imagination can only go so far in picturing David Boreanaz's gorgeous but pained face. If anything, reading this book makes me want to rewatch the show again! One of the few upsides to reading the novelisations of the show is that I can imagine them in better clothes. 90's fashion is a disaster.

I'm still going to read the next books in The Angel Chronicles because I enjoy reading this too much. I hope the next book in this trilogy has happier episodes of Bangel because damn, we only have a few more episodes left before Angelus takes over!
Profile Image for Rosa.
577 reviews15 followers
April 26, 2020
A good novelization of three episodes, one of which is an all-time fave of mine (Lie to Me.) Nancy Holder keeps all the dialogue as it is, and the action remains the same, but she does a great job giving insight about unstated character motivations and headspace.

The only annoying bit for me is reading the inner thoughts of a romance obsessed 16 year old girl. When I first got this book at age 10 and was moon eyed over David Boreanez myself, I ate up all the romantic stuff. 32 year old me just wants to tell Buffy to take a chill pill and not jump so quickly to labeling her romantic feelings as "love." (Cos, in Holder's mind, Buffy was pretty sure she was one-true-love status with Angel in 1x07.)

Seriously, rereading these s01-02 episode novelizations are really ramming home how hyperfixated Buffy was about her love life. I'd say she needed a hobby, but well...
Profile Image for Dark-Draco.
2,402 reviews45 followers
August 15, 2013
A really enjoyable read for a rainy weekend. This included the novelisations of three episodes of 'Buffy'. My favourite was 'Lie to Me' - I always thought this was a really sad, tragic episode and it comes across the same way in the book. Now that Buffy isn't on, I enjoyed revisiting the series like this, and the extra bits that Holder adds to make the scenes come to life are great.
Profile Image for Michelle Farrelly.
49 reviews2 followers
Read
February 23, 2020
I love reading these books. I've watched the two programs a million times I could probably quote them in my sleep, and getting to read the series and reading the in between feelings and emotions that you don't pick up when whatcha the show is great.

This book combines 3 episodes of season 1 and 2 together for an enjoyable read. I would recommend this to any fan of the series.
Profile Image for Brent Ecenbarger.
722 reviews10 followers
October 18, 2017
There are a set of Buffy novelizations that are coming up in my reading order that focus on one of the supporting characters in the Scooby gang. Each book selects a few episodes that feature the chosen character prominently and do a novelization of those episodes. The Angel Chronicles is obviously about Angel and featured a two paragraph framing device prior to the first episode and another one after the final one that didn’t add anything to the story but served to remind the reader that they had indeed just read a book of stories about Angel.

The three episodes revisited in this book are “Angel,” “Reptile Boy,” and “Lie to Me.” I recalled the first two pretty well by their titles just from having watched the series a few times, but the third one didn’t ring any bells until I got to the club of vampire wannabes. As far as episode quality, none are among the best episodes of the series, although “Angel” is certainly one of the more important ones.

In “Angel,” Buffy learns that her mysterious and charming admirer is actually a vampire and the two of them must confront Darla in an abandoned Bronze shootout (this was a first season episode where I imagine budgetary constraints led all fights to taking place in the Bronze). For me the most memorable part of the episode is the crucifix kiss at the end which was nicely detailed in the book. “Reptile Boy” was a fun episode about Buffy and Cordelia being sacrificed to a demon at a frat party, and more than either of the other stories benefitted from this treatment but not for anything Angel related. Here Xander’s jealousy and scheming at the end play well in a prose format. “Lie to Me,” is about an old friend of Buffy’s reappearance and a club of people interested in becoming vampires. As a written story, this one felt the most rushed and the opening scene of Angel and Drusilla is never explained and is an odd story to end the book on.

My biggest problem with this book is that the format seems like such a missed opportunity. If they were going to do quick novelizations all dedicated to one character, more space devoted to that character’s perspective on the events would have been appreciated. The episodes selected range from the episode 7 of season one to episode 7 of season two (13 episodes in between). As a reader it’s a bit jarring to have Buffy fall in love with a guy who lies to her in story one, then won’t go out with her in story two, then is seen kissing another girl in story three, at which point Buffy then decides she loves him. I suspect my enjoyment of these books will depend a lot on the quality of the episode being revisited, but overall I’m not expecting any of these to serve as standouts in the history of Buffy prose novels.
Profile Image for Courtney Gruenholz.
Author 13 books23 followers
January 4, 2025
Despite the fact that I have so many new books to read for 2025, I thought I would reread some of the books in my collection beside my ever growing stockpile of TBR books.

Since I managed to find some tie-in novels for the spinoff series Angel I figured I would reread the few actual Buffy books I had. If it is something you have never watched take it from a Buffy fan who watched the show almost religiously...it is really good.

There may be a tarnished stain on the show with some of the info brought to light on Joss Whedon nowadays but back in 1997, it was groundbreaking. To take a dark comedy movie and turn it into a dark show about a teenage vampire slayer yet still have snarky and witty dialogue from characters you came to care about was worth it.

For those of us fangirls, it was Buffy Summers and her relationship with the vampire called Angel that made us tune in. A Vampire Slayer falling in love with a vampire who just so happened to be cursed with having a soul was forbidden and you cared to see them try and make it work!

The first volume is basically novelizations of three episodes from the first and second season that have a focus on the relationship. "Angel" is from season 1 and "Reptile Boy" and "Lie To Me" are from season 2 so one could get confused but the lag in-between gets filled up with later novelizations of episodes from the viewpoints of other characters.

The first two were written by David Greenwalt and the last from Joss Whedon but given the book treatment by writer Nancy Holder.

You get to see Buffy and Angel's inner feelings towards each other but a pretty good bit of insight from Buffy's buddies Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris as well as Buffy's Watcher, Sunnydale High librarian via England Rupert Giles.

The main theme that lines up these stories are of course: trust.

Can you trust your heart when you want to love someone who has not been honest with you?

Would you have to lie to those you care about just to have one night of freedom?

What are you supposed to do when your trust in someone is put to the test?

It is actually very heavy stuff to process and as the show went on...it didn't get any easier. To lighten such drama there are a few laughs so how could I not give this anything but five stars for tugging at my heartstrings?
Profile Image for Francisco.
561 reviews18 followers
May 14, 2023
Basically a collection of three novelization of first and second season episodes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, these are pretty run of the mill, but still entertaining extended recaps of those three episodes.

The book covers the first season episode "Angel" as well the the second season "Reptile Boy" and "Lie To Me". None of them are amazing episodes, but it's still fun to go through them in this form as you get a little more detail and internal monologue than you got in the series.

There is a kind of framing device here, with Angel telling the stories, but this is really perfunctory, with it consisting mainly of introductions to each story and then promptly abandoning the conceit to just have an omniscient narrator telling the story exactly how it went down in the episodes. Meh. Competent, but a bit useless.
Profile Image for Alex.
491 reviews21 followers
September 12, 2021
This was a pretty fun and easy read. When I first saw the episode titles, I wasn't sure exactly how well the Season 2 episodes would fit into the Buffy/Angel storyline, but actually all three of them together work quite nicely to portray a tragic, angsty teen romance.

I don't remember which episodes are covered in Volume 2, but it might be nice if we get even just a hint of some more actual romance between Buffy and Angel instead of just tension. But as far as this book goes, the episodes are three great episodes, and it was fun to spend a couple of hours reading them.
1,179 reviews5 followers
June 29, 2018
Ce tome reproduit fidèlement 3 épisodes de la série télé. La première histoire a clairement un lien avec Angel. Par contre, dans les deux suivantes, il n'apparaît pas très longtemps.
J'avoue ne pas trop voir l'intérêt d'adapter les épisodes TV en livres (je préfère les histoires inédites), mais c'est toujours sympa de retrouver cet univers.
Profile Image for Immy V.
21 reviews2 followers
March 16, 2025
Basically just three episodes at the beginning of BAngel's relationship, with a few little nice funfacts thrown in: Angel, Reptile Boy and Lie to Me. Last one is my fave and read this while on my way to a convention meeting 'The Master' and 'The Annointed One' from Angel and 'Billy Fordham' and 'Chantarelle' from Lie to Me. Couldn't have been timed better.
Profile Image for Rosa Ross.
2 reviews
April 1, 2025
It was mostly just a re telling of the episodes honestly and I was kinda hoping that we would see more of Angels POV which we did a little but not as much as I would have hoped. I still really enjoyed reading it, it just wasn’t quite what I was expecting
Profile Image for Joe.
64 reviews
January 21, 2018
didn't realize that these were three short stories that are not in order but taken from various places in the series. still all good reads though, just threw me between the first and second story.
Profile Image for Sidney.
2,038 reviews7 followers
October 8, 2020
Chronicle 1: Three stories about the early days when Buffy and Angel first meet.
Profile Image for April.
1 review22 followers
January 30, 2021
I was disappointed in this cause it was just an exact play by play of an already existing episode.
Profile Image for Maïlys.
459 reviews43 followers
April 16, 2022
I haven't read those in years, felt like enjoying old memories, still holds up even if it's sometimes a bit corny :) I like knowing what Angel thinks, because he's not really the type to say much.
Profile Image for Polina Traore.
Author 2 books12 followers
September 6, 2023
It’s a novelization of several episodes and I love those episodes. For that alone I give this book a four.
It’s a 1000% fan thing.
Profile Image for Christy.
237 reviews
December 28, 2024
Not well written, but I love the series, so any Buffy is good Buffy.
Profile Image for Chelsea-anne Kennedy.
452 reviews5 followers
October 22, 2023
This book is a novelization collection of three episodes of the show in which Angel features heavily. It was enjoyable to read but it is exactly the same as the episodes. In which case I would rather watch the show. Onwards to the next book.
Profile Image for Yiota.
942 reviews24 followers
March 24, 2017
Throwback to my 12 year old self. Loved these books - this one completely mirrors the shows. Angel, *sigh*
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews

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