Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Lost Slayer

The Lost Slayer #1-4

by Christopher Golden

Truth and Consequences

Buffy Summers's adjustment to life at U.C. Sunnydale has not gone smoothly. She feels awkward, insecure, and jealous that Willow's all over the college life. So when she is visited by a prophecy of impending danger, the timing couldn't be worse. There's plenty of evil afoot as it is: a unified troop of vampires has descended upon Sunnydale, and tension between Buffy and Willow gets in the way of demon hunting.

Before long, a single moment of bad judgment catapults Buffy into an alternate future dimension where vampires reign supreme. Imprisoned in the body of her 24-year-old-self -- and confronting friends and foes the likes of which she'd never imagined -- the Slayer must uncover her past misstep and correct it, or risk facing a terrifying monster that she herself has created....

Genres: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Vampires, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Supernatural, Young Adult

592 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 2001

About the author

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, Of Saints and Shadows, and Red Hands. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Lady Baltimore. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden co-hosts the podcast Defenders Dialogue with horror author Brian Keene. In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards. For the Bram Stoker Awards, Golden has been nominated ten times in eight different categories. His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com

Reviews

[Clare Muldoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it was excellent. It is how I would like to see a new movie of Buffy done now. Really sad in parts. I don't cry usually when reading sad stories but this had me especially at one point. No spoilers though but if you are going to choose a Buffy book to read then make it this one.

[Jim C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is based on the television show. This one takes place during the fourth season. In this book, there is a powerful vampire demon in town and he is winning his battle against Buffy. Another demon sends Buffy into the future where things are worse and all this happened because she made a critical mistake with the vampire demon. Buffy must return home and make things right.

I don't expect the greatest book when reading media tie-in books but this one is really good. The author portrayed the characters perfectly. I enjoyed the future world and getting a glimpse of how the characters might turn out. Also, in the future world there were appearances by other characters and references to parts of the show that added to the enjoyment. This storyline was well done and I enjoyed the twists that happened in this collection of short novels that was combined into one long novel.

If you are a fan of the show, this is a must read. If you have never seen the show, this is still an enjoyable book that you can enjoy.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

TV tie-in books like this can be a sketchy lot. This one was recommended to me by a friend and fellow Buffy fan.

The story idea is a fun one and fits well in the Buffyverse. It was also cool to see most all the major players in the Buffy series make an appearance. Downers for me were how little time some characters got (Spike, Drusilla, Angel) and that the writing was rather weak in spots. Alas, Joss Whedon isn't writing this book and you can tell. Still, the idea and my love of the show made up for many of the writing weaknesses, making this a nice read.

[Anya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my all time favorite T.V. show. This (or these 4) book(s) is my absolute favorite Buffy book that was ever written. I would have loved to actually see this as an episode of the show. I can picture so much of it in my head even now. I read it originally when it was brand new; buying each of the 4 individual books as they came out then buying this combined version a couple years latter. I will say that this copy is the only one I own now.

It takes place early in season 4, after Willow and Buffy become roommates, but before the introduction of Tara. Willow and Oz are still a couple. A profit comes to town giving Buffy visions of a horrible future and a scary God that she will have to fight and loose. So they must find a way to prevent that future. Only it gets much worse then any of them would have imagined.

This book still makes me laugh, celebrate and cry. All the emotions go through this beautiful story. I love this book so much. Reviews are not great for me. I like to share my opinions but I don't like to do reviews that have spoilers. However I can promise that if you are a Buffy fan you will fucking love this book!

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really loved this book, I think it might be one of the best Buffy novels I've read. It managed to hit character notes, give us an emotional storyline, and then by jetting us into a parallel world it meant that there could be some real stakes (no pun intended) without needing to break canon of the TV show. I actually found myself getting quite emotional at some of the alternate timeline deaths that happened.

I will say though that the fight scenes were not my favourite, and the ending after Buffy returned felt like it dragged just a little too much.

[Mona · Rating 3 out of 5]

The characters were spot on and I liked their interaction. The book(s) however were too long. Sometimes it felt very drawn. The alternate future dimension was very dark and cruel and no fun. It was interesting to see Giles as SPOILER the bad guy, but the implementation didn't really impress me. All in all it was a good read in the Buffy verse.

[Dana Berglund · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was originally published as a serial, in four parts. Therefore, there was quite a bit of repetition in reading it as a full novel. (And for some reason it took me ages to read. I think maybe it could have been edited down a little more.) It was still a bit of fun alternative-timeline Buffyverse.

[Sarah Ehinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

you really wouldn't want to read the individual books that make up this series as stand alones. This book which compiled the four parts does a pretty good job of connecting you to your loved characters and giving an alternate reality for them that still fits into the world of Buffy that you love.

[Gemma Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books weaves an interesting narrative of Buffy being pulled into an alternate reality. The worst nightmare of any Buffy fan becomes a real. In my opinion this could of been a film, a book of what if? I enjoyed this. It addressed the elephant in the room, what if the slayer lost

[Reggay Boots]

This volume contains all four instalments of The Lost Slayer serial novel. In a single moment of bad judgement, Buffy finds herself catapulted into a future dimension, where the friends she thought she knew are frighteningly altered, and worse still, where her enemies are different too.

[chisholm · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing itself wasn't very good, but the story was entertaining.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite buddy novel ever!! Well written and it captures the character well. I have read this series multiple times!

[Mervi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes! This was an excellent Buffy alternate universe story!

The story starts when Buffy has started collage and is determined to be both 100 % Buffy and 100% Slayer. Unfortunately, this means pushing away her friends as she's trying to protect them. Willow especially is hurt by this behavior and Buffy seems to drift apart from her friends.

While patrolling, she encounters four vampires who have glowing eyes and can siphon off her energy with touch. They talk about their master Camazotz. Giles finds out that Camazotz used to be a Mayan god of bats. A dead Slayer Lucy Hannover appears to Buffy in a dream and warns her that the Prophet has foreseen that Buffy will make a huge mistake.

After a bit of bickering and research, the group finds out that Camazotz and his vampires have come over the sea. Giles and Buffy head for the harbor master's office. Unfortunately, they are overwhelmed and Buffy has to flee and leave Giles behind.

Willow summons Lucy to help them and Lucy says that the Prophet can help them. The group isn't familiar with her but they have no choice. The Prophet appears and says that she can give Buffy a vision of the future. Buffy agrees. However, when Buffy touches the Prophet, she sends Buffy's soul five years into the future and inhabits Buffy's body.

Buffy realizes that she has been a captive of the vampires for five years and meanwhile the Vampire King and his minions have taken over Sunnydale. Back in the past, the rest of the group will have to deal with the weirdly behaving Buffy.

Each book ends in a cliffhanger, except for the last one, of course.

The future is bleak. Everyone in Sunnydale has either fled or is under the vampires' rule. Buffy has been in isolation for years and has hardened, both body and soul. Fortunately, she has little trouble with integrating her current and past souls. The younger Buffy is often horrified with what she finds in the future and is determined to find a way to chance it. There are still a few who fight for Sunnydale. The surviving Slayerettes have banded together with the Watchers' Council and the military, and are trying desperately to save the town.

Like in any good alternative reality, the Lost Slayer has several canon characters who have gone through different experiences and are therefore different from the canon characters. Xander is perhaps the one who has changed most. He's become bitter and a great fighter. Willow is the unofficial leader of the paramilitary group, even Council leaders refer to her charisma and leadership abilities. There are several others, but I won't spoil them. Many of the characters are rather desperate and hardened from battle.

The books have several original characters, too. Perhaps the most intriguing one was Christoper Lonergan who seems to have a paranormal ability to sense when a vampire is near and how powerful that vampire is. He's also a Catholic priest and yet he's joined in with the military effort to clean out the vampires from Sunnydale. Anne Kuei is a young new Slayer who is fighting for the first time. Understandably, she's bit afraid and anxious but she's also very brave, and able to fight her fears. None of the Initiative characters made appearances which was a little disappointing.

It seems to me that Buffy's friends were a bit too competent in battle. Willow's witch powers are more flashy and powerful than in the show. She's very powerful in the future but she uses quite powerful magicks in the present, too. For example, she conjures up a wall of fire to keep vampires back. Oz, Xander, and Anya are able to fight of several vampires at once. The vampires here are supposed to be stronger and faster than the normal vampires and yet they seem almost ridiculously easy to kill, when convenient for the plot.

Buffy is the main POV character through out the series. In the first book, Willow and Giles are also POV characters, but not nearly as long as Buffy. In the last two books, there are more POV characters than in the previous ones.

The pacing is quick, except for the first book. The first book spends quite a lot of time before the plot really gets rolling, focusing instead on Buffy's difficulties in collage and problems with her friends. Oh and Giles' sometime girlfriend Olivia makes an appearance and we get to know more about her than in the show.

This series is written for the fans for the show.

[Jevron McCrory · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit, I really enjoyed this particular Buffy novel!

I had only read Doomsday Deck before this (by a DIFFERENT author, I might add) and that was just plain awful! Poorly choreographed fight scenes, worse story and (this is unforgivable) terrible 'Buffy-speak!' (The writer just couldn't write that beautiful, flowing, cheeky, hyper-aware, pop culture witticism' dialogue that our Scooby Gang speak so well. If you can't imitate Whedon's banter, NEVER attempt a Buffy book)!

But THIS? Christopher Golden has a WONDERFUL grasp on how each character speaks! It feels right, it fits. I could hear each character's voice in my head as I read and it all rang true.

Then I got to the violence and man, there's a lot of it. This is how I would personally treat Buffy, ramp up the violence! Teeth were lost, countless ribs got shattered, numerous heads a-rolled, it was all unadulterated gory fun! Not to mention DARK! (My God, this was a DARK Buffy story)!

Then, head check; Spike? Check. Druisilla? Check? Angel? Check. Wesley Wyndam-Price? Check. And none of it felt forced or contrived.

Story? Okay, so Golden created an alternate universe where transference of souls, vampire hierarchies, uber Bat Vamps and non stop military style combat was the order of the day. Complicated? Not at all - but OODLES of fun! (The interlocking, inter-cutting of both time lines was also deftly handled).

I found out later that not only has Golden wrote COUNTLESS Buffy books, but he was responsible for the sweet X Box game that came out quite a while back now.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel (comprised of four separate volumes into one omnibus) and if Golden is penning, then I will definitely step back into the literary world of Buffy.

It's violent and funny and a HELL of a time!

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I want to change my scoring by 0.50 or more of a star. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)

3.75

I'm finally going through my physical tv, film etc. tie in library owned book list, to add more older basic reviews. If I liked a book enough to keep then they are at the least a 3 star.

I'm only adding one book per series (etc.) and I'm not going to re-read every book to be more accurate, not when I have 1000s of new to me authors to try (I can't say no to free books....)


First time read the author's work?: N/A

Will you be reading more?: Yes

Would you recommend?: Yes


------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)

All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked

Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book from a thrift book store just for the hell of it. I like the tv series so I thought "Why not?" The book felt very much like the television series and stayed true to its characters. Every time I read a line of dialogue, it was impossible not to imagine I was watching it on screen.

The story is so-so. It starts out pretty interesting: Buffy gets into a fight with a demon bat god named Camazotz. Somehow, she gets transported to another realm where vampires and monsters run free and humanity struggles to survive. While this does seem pretty interesting, it felt very bland in execution. I felt like I had to force myself in order to finish it. Most of the story consists of rather dull fight scenes. The world didn't feel compelling enough to keep me hooked. In fact, the entire thing felt pretty basic and formulaic with perhaps one or two decent plot twists. In the end, it felt like it was 50-100 pages too long.

Overall, The Lost Slayer is pretty much a story arc that didn't make it onto the show. While it would've made a decent arc, it lacks the dramatic conclusion and awesome moments that the show had.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are four paperbacks in this series and they form a really good examination of the psychology of the slayer and how what she does, and does not do, has major consequences. These form a "What If?" type of story; namely, what if Buffy become so independent of the rest of the Scooby gang that she no longer listens to their advice. In the series of books just such a thing happens, examining an alternative reality that is set into motion due to a present-day decision of Buffy's, and how the group tries to work to help her and stop that reality from happening.


There is a lot happening, of course, and we get to see some of the gang in this alternative future and how they have been changed by the horrible events going on in Sunnydale. We also have another appearance by Spike and Dru and a brief look into how the government reacts to the takeover of a city by vampires who, themselves, have much further-reaching plans.

It's actually a very good series, although it could have been published in one or two paperacks rather than four.

[Kris Dickinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ive read other 'Buffy' books and I have to say that this kept my interest more than the others. Im a big fan of the show so I love the idea that the story 'lives on'. The Lost Slayer had me suprised, laughing and dismayed at different points in the plot. It does make you wonder what could have happened down the line. The thought of Buffy existing in 2 different realities, I thought, was a good one. I was kept wondering until the end if she'd ever reverse the mistake she made in the past and saved the future for her and her friends. I wont say more for those who havent read it. But you'll enjoy it!

[C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first Buffy fiction. It was okay, but the plot wasn't very compelling. It was hard to care about the story because of the way it was written (you know from the start that one of the stories is ... less important, shall we say). It annoyed me a bit because Doctor Who has had many storylines like this, and they manage to write it in such a way that you care about the "second" storyline anyway.

On the plus side, the voices of the characters are well written and reminiscent of the TV show.

[Alannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in four parts (as it came originally, before they collected them all in one novel), and it was very impressive. In general, Christopher Golden is my favourite Buffy novel authour, and this is probably my favourite Buffy novel. It was very true to the characters, the plot was entertaining, and it held my interest through all four parts. Very highly recommended if you are a Buffy novel fan!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only in a good Buffy book can you kill almost every main Character and find a way to bring them back without bringing them back to life...

I almost cried when Giles threw Spike out of the window, thought for sure he was going to be dust before he hit the sidewalk, forgot how short the building was and he'd be alive long enough for Buffy to tourture him and Xander stake him. That was a shocker!

I noticed a few references to other Buffy books by same author, like when they do that!

[Bryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book immensely. A few of my favorite things was how Buffy woke up in the body of her older self (I love time-travel and alternate-universe stories), how she escaped, who the big bad villan wearing a friend's face is (I don't want to spoil you!), and how Buffy manages to save them all when it seems like it's already too late.

[Michel McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made a new years resolution to start reading books in late December 2005. I went through a box and found part 1 of the Lost Slayer then had to get the other 3 and a friend bought it for me. This book was what got me addicted to reading and I loved it. I am so glad I made that new years resolution.

[col13en · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a huge Buffy fan, but the Buffy novels are not always of the highest quality. This trilogy however has constantly stood out in my memory. Its very well written and the characters were actually in-character. It felt as if it could have actually been a story arc on the TV show. If you're interested in the Buffy novels this ones a must read.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've not read many, but this is easily my favourite Buffy novel. A well fleshed out dark future, a lesson learned, and pitch perfect characterization for all your favourite characters, as well as easily slotting into the Buffy canon without a flicker of a contradiction. Excellent, and highly recommended - I'm sure even the most dedicated Buffy fan will love this.

[Rachel Whelen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a reread. I read a lot of Buffy tie in books when I was in elementary and high school. This one was always my favourite and it still holds up for me ten years later. The characters are true to their television counterparts and the story is filled with tons of surprising and exciting twists and turns. This is a fun read. I recommend highly for Buffy fans. :)

[Kris Irvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh this book was so much fun to read. I loved getting an in depth-ish glimpse at the Buffyverse. It was very well written - very true to the characters and the show. I would have liked more Giles time, but that's how I feel about the show too.

Happy to add this one to my collection. And I'll probably have to start looking for more Buffy books. They're just so fun.

[Christopher Dodds · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lost slayer omnibus was a great book to read, it had great action, exciting plot developments including a few surprises or two. What I like about it the most was the alternate future and how dark her future had been which included the change in the other main character's from how they were in the show and in buffy's past to what they now are was brilliant.

[Wesley Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best series I ever read as a teenager! It was addictive, brilliantly written and really captures the characters excellently. This should have been an episode or two of the actual show. I read this book over ten years ago and I can still remember most of what happens. If you like action, thriller, adventure, or are a huge Buffy fan, I urge you to read it.