Buffy the Vampire Slayer: King of the Dead

The Lost Slayer #3

by Christopher Golden

DOPPELGÄNGLAND Sunnydale. Five years into the future. A bleak, post- apocalyptic future for which the Slayer herself is responsible. Her mother has been killed. Angel is missing and presumed dead. Her friends are different, harder. But that's not the worst of it. Buffy's enemies are different, too.... In this alternate reality, old foes are wreaking havoc in vampire-dominated Southern California. This in and of itself is no surprise. But when Buffy learns that even the vicious Spike is merely a minion, lackey to the chief bloodsucker, she is rocked to the core. For he serves none other than Giles, the Vampire King. Whom Buffy must face and conquer -- as her friends back in real time struggle to bring her disembodied spirit home.... To be continued...

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

144 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 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

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caution: Spoilers ahead if you haven't read the first two books in this series.
Buffy-at-nineteen and Buffy-at-twenty-four, merged into the 24-year-old body, have escaped from captivity and learned that Giles is now king of the vampires. His plan includes slowly taking over the world by turning those in power. Buffy and her friends, now hardened, cynical versions of themselves, must mount an attack to stop him. The biggest question is whether Buffy will be able to kill the demon that has inhabited the body of her former Watcher.
As always with Golden's BtVS tales, the dialogue sparkles almost as much as if it had been written by Joss himself. The beauty of the novel form is that they can depict situations that would be far too expensive in terms of production budgets to have produced for television. However, the combat scenes are somewhat lacking in that it is hard to picture what's written. Still, a very enjoyable expansion of the mythology, with characters that are true to form and a very fascinating plot.

[Isa (Pages Full of Stars) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This third part of the series wasn't bad, but it wasn't very good either. I enjoyed the progress of the story but it failed to keep my attention a few times. In general, it was an okay read and I decided to finish the series, because I already owned all four books.

[Slayermel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part 3 of the 4 Part Lost Slayer Series

Yet another very fast and exciting read. We get to learn more about Giles in this instalment and what his goals for California, the slayer and the future are. Giles’s character as “The Big Bad” was quite ingenious, as Giles was quite the intellectual character and had such a vast knowledge of demons and Slayers, specifically Buffy as he trained her, making him very dangerous.

It’s interesting to see how Xander, Willow and Oz turn out in this alternate future as well. Everyone has changed so much, become harder and more serious. The relationships and the dynamics of the team have changed. I was also surprised at how quickly well known characters can be killed off. Did not see that coming!

I definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys Buffy. I think this series would honestly have made a great 2 part season finally. I love Christopher Golden’s Buffy novels. I find Nancy Holder and Christopher Golden always seem to catch the essence of what the show was about and have the best stories, it’s like watching the show in your head as you read along. :0)

[Jessie (Zombie_likes_cake) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"King of the Dead", book 3 in "The Lost Slayer" serial novel. For me, better than the 2nd volume which had to with this being more centered around the characters while still pushing the plot forward. Alternate universes (or in this case futures) are a lot of fun, you can nicely push the characters into interesting spots: this one reminded me of the fantastic episode "The Wish". And I loved seeing Giles as the main villain, this aspect in particular would have been awesome to see on TV and performed by Anthony Stewart Head.
The only thing that didn't ring true to me was Spike, even given these changed circumstances I just can't see him being the one taking orders. The way I see it he would have watched Giles from afar to see if he can push the vision of world domination through and show up at a strategic point in time.
That aside, this was again like watching the show which I miss like crazy. I personally expected a different cliffhanger but am actually glad that it was not some withheld information suddenly revealed, I mean we kind of knew this. So, on to the finale, let's see if it is as good as some of the finales of the show!

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lost Slayer is a novel in four parts which were published serially in separate volumes in the fashion of King's The Green Mile. Golden did an excellent job of keeping it all moving, establishing everything in the first volume, tying it all up in the last, and introducing the situation without tedium in the later ones. The story takes place in a future mirror-world, much like the famous Star Trek universe reached by the faulty transporter or perhaps more like one of the X-Men arcs where the past must be changed or the present saved in order to fix the future. The characterization is delightful and plausible, if somewhat reminiscent of the world created by Anya the demon in the episode where she granted Cordelia's wish that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale. (Especially Giles!) The serial nature of the original publication was excellent in that it re-created the episodic nature of the series in having to wait for the resolution to the cliff-hangers. This was one of the best Buffy novels.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, Christopher Golden got better and better in his storytelling and in this installment, the stakes were continually raised for Buffy and her allies to stop Vampire Giles and his vampire army from taking over Los Angeles and potentially worldwide.

Very nice callback to Season 3 Btvs episodes "Doppelganger" and "The Wish" when we see a Vampire Willow cross over to the mainstream Buffyverse, the complete polar opposite to her own Wishverse alternate reality that was created by Cordelia Chase's wish to Anyanka.

I always love the idea of What If scenarioswhen it comes to certain characters and their story arcs with a twist! In The Lost Slayer trilogy this concept comes to life with an alternate universe where the 19-year-old Buffy finds herself in the body of her 24-year-old self locked in a cage for five years and yet both past and future memories are merged into one as Buffy escapes and re-aligns with her friends Willow, Xander, and Oz who have become much more battle-hardened, serious and cynical to her surprise and shock.

I really wish that Christopher Golden explored their personality changes and their dynamics a little bit more, like instead of having only had this book being solely told through Buffy's POV but also through Willow, Xander, and Oz's POV, that would've been interesting to see unfold, especially when they reveal what happened to Joyce and Anya's deaths by Spike's hand and other events which became the catalyst of the changes of Xander's and Oz's personalities to change permanently.

Sad to see Wesley still the same as his Btvs Season 3 version, sure at this point he had only spent a couple of months working alongside Angel and Cordelia in LA. His old prideful self and arrogance shine through abit when he speaks up to Willow about being shoved aside in favour of Buffy, though I can see Willow's thinking of keeping the two slayers separate, in case Buffy should die or be captured, better to have Anna (the new slayer) in the second wave and not only that Buffy being more experienced on the field.

My other question: What happened to Cordelia? Did she follow Angel back to Sunnydale? Was she unfortunately killed off by Spike and Drusilla or another of Vampire Giles' flunkies? or was she turned? Cordelia always had one foot in "I wanna be an actress but I also wanna help Angel" and The Lost Slayer trilogy happened before "To Shanshu in LA" when Cordelia was forced to have ongoing visions and that inspired Cordelia to continue wanting to help people, join Angel in his cause and also keep Doyle's legacy alive, in this alternate reality her fate is left ambiguous.

We also have hints of The Initiative's involvement and aiding the future versions of Willow, Oz, Xander, and the Watcher's Council in their plot in saving Sunnydale and stopping Vampire Giles from expanding his control to LA and further out.

I thought it was a wasted opportunity not to incorporate a future Riley in this as past Buffy would only know Riley as Maggie Walsh's teacher aid and they hadn't started dating yet, as the beginning of The Lost Slayer trilogy begins sometime after "The Freshman and Living Conditions" in Season 4.

I quite enjoyed Vampire Giles as the villain, we certainly know that when Giles was younger he had a wild and rebellious side, hence the nickname "Ripper" so to see Vampire Giles use his encyclopedia mind of vampire, demon, slayer knowledge and his training as a Watcher for a much darker purpose in his planning in taking over Sunnydale and eventually expand around America and then worldwide.

I dunno why but I get Mayor vibes from Vampire Giles, especially when revealed his plan is to sire Buffy and have her by his side when his vampire horde takes over outside Sunnydale. It kinda reminds me of the weird father-daughter bond that The Mayor had with Faith in Season 3, vampire Giles still has a fatherly bond with Buffy though it's twisted due to Giles lacking a soul.

Though I have to question Vampire Giles' motives for his reasoning for keeping Buffy locked away in a cage for five years, can only guess that his intention was to break her mind and spirit as he took control over Camazotz's vampires and eventually Sunnydale without Buffy's interference.

I thought Spike's role in this novel was too short, kept expecting another alliance like Buffy had with him as they had at the end of Season Two, but no, Buffy only holds back to gain information concerning Giles' plans and motives, and then after she gets what she wants and immediately executes Spike, avenging Joyce's and Anya's murder.

I'm kinda surprised that Spike would even KILL Joyce (maybe Anya) considering how on the show he also showed a fondness and soft spot for Joyce (mummy issues!). I don't know, I think this part of the story and Spike's arc could've been explored further, other than him running straight to Buffy for asylum or getting out of jail free card in way of information exchange, his demise was too quick!

I found this novel very fast-paced that kept the story moving and I couldn't put it down! Of course, wasn't surprised to be left on another cliffhanger that will be concluded in the final book Original Sins with a bang!

So far the second and third novels are my favourite, but I have to wait and see when I read the fourth and final book (it's been years since I read it) I have to say that this trilogy would work well as a movie!

[Fantastic Alice Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continues to amp up the stakes. Spoilers for first two books likely:



How about that reveal in the last book? Wow. This expands on the leader of the Krillitane... I mean Grayvorn er... Evil Anthony Stewart Head.

It really would have been fantastic to see this on screen as Tony is great at playing both evil characters and morally grey characters. Make no mistake the King of the Dead is pure unfettered evil but I would have loved to see this on screen as with as excellent as "The Wish" was it was just a snapshot.

This is your AU nightmare. What's worse is the characters are the same people you love. What I talked about a little in my previous review with Willow is expanded a bit here.

Let's just say that I still think Willow is gay in this book. She's obviously not in a position to realise it due to the horrors of her reality but there's little stuff that actually doesn't make this feel like its some weird Straight Willow AU.

And that brings me to my next point. Oh the emotional impact! We get to know the denizens of Nightmare Sunnyvale much more. Not just the villains but the heroes too. This is a book that will remind you that Buffy, despite having a lot of romance, was always about friendship and chosen family. Romantic feelings play a part in this book and that makes it more tragic. But it's about family.

I felt like I started to really know these people again and it's a tricky thing to not just write characters well but write future war torn versions well. I think future Willow and Xander were a greater challenge than they were in the tv series. Golden had to make them still recognisable. So unlike making evil versions for The Wish Xander reminds me a little bit of series 7 Xander and Willow honestly reminds me of series 8-9 Willow.

In some ways I think she's written better here than she was in series 7. But that's because I like optimistic Willow. There's a brilliant confidence to her that we just didn't see enough of in series 7

The fact that the books dried up years ago makes me sad.

This has a lot of darkness just like the others but is more of a character piece with a big focus on Xander, Willow, Oz, and the villains.

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The darkest future!


This is the third book of four, part of “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer – The Lost Slayer” book event, This is a prose novel that it was published in four separate parts to sell them in a lower price each. Later it was re-published in an ómnibus edition.


The story is set at the beginning of Buffy’s freshman year at UC Sunnydale.


THE MOST FEARSOME ENEMY

Buffy Summers never faced such terrible villain, so far she had faced enemies such as The Master, Spike & Dru, Angelus and the Mayor…

…BUT…

…she never thought to have to face her own mentor!

In the previous two parts, Buffy and gang met a new kind a vampires, stronger and more vicious, led by Camazotz, known by the Mayans as “the god of the bats”. While they posed certainly a new level of threat, Buffy trusted to find a way to deal with these new vampires, however she is ambushed and Giles is captured. Buffy guessed that he was used as bait or hostage but Camazotz had other plans for the watcher, turning him into a vampire!…

…BUT…

…it was a terrible miscalculation by Camazotz since Giles resulted in the most cunning vampire ever, and soon Giles took control of Camazotz’s clan, meanwhile Buffy met an entity known as The Prophet that took her consciousness into her ownself five years in the future, finding out that she has been prisoner in a cell during all those five years, in a future where Giles is king of the vampires, reuniting a vast army of regular vampires along with the new kind of vampires, having total control of Sunnydale and beginning now to make moves to do the same on Los Angeles city.

Willow had to take lead of the gang along with new allies during those five years where close friends and allies fell or got missing.

Now, Buffy needs to find a way to stop this dark future if possible, along to get back her mind to her present.

[Metalfist · Rating 4 out of 5]

De eerste twee Lost Slayer boeken lagen perfect in mijn straatje en ik had dan ook erg veel zin om te ervaren wat er nu weer in King of the Dead gebeurde. Nu wordt de kaart van de toekomst volop getrokken en als ik het me goed herinnerde, dan kwam je nu veel meer te weten van wat er in de tussenliggende jaren was gebeurd. Je had dan natuurlijk ook nog de ontknoping uit het vorige deel dat Giles de grote slechterik van dienst was, dus genoeg materiaal om een boek mee te vullen.

Alleen dan ook een beetje jammer dat Christopher Golden hier en daar een steekje laat vallen. Qua concept blijft hij trouw aan de stijl van Buffy en mondjesmaat krijg je meer informatie over wat er met bijvoorbeeld Buffy haar moeder is gebeurd, maar ik had misschien nog net iets meer beschrijving verwacht. Het zijn geen dikke boeken en effectief lezen wat er exact gebeurd is waardoor Oz zonder volle maan kan veranderen had me wel fijn geleken in tegenstelling tot het gewoon even tussen pot en pint te vermelden. Dat neemt echter niet weg dat dit voor de rest weer een erg tof deel in de reeks is. Je merkt dat Golden dit eigenlijk als één lang doorlopend boek heeft geschreven en zo kun je het volgens mij ook gewoon het beste lezen. Verder blijft natuurlijk het concept ook perfect overeind staan. Door dit als alternatieve realiteit te presenteren kun je genoeg emotionele diepgang brengen door bijvoorbeeld Anya en Spike laten sterven. Net zoals het einde van het eerste deel voelt het wel alsof King of the Dead eigenlijk uitgebracht had moeten worden als één volume met Original Sins. De climax is degelijk met de ontdekking van Camazotz, maar het voelt niet als een volwaardige climax aan.

Al zeker niet wanneer het volgende boek gewoon exact verder gaat. Volgens mij had Golden hier gemakkelijk een trilogie van kunnen maken door een aantal dingen samen te voegen en gewoon iets dikkere volumes uit te brengen. Doet dat afbreuk aan de kwaliteit? Absoluut niet, de Lost Slayer reeks blijft een heuse pageturner en King of the Dead is daar geen uitzondering op.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minor Spoilers!!!

Buffy's 19 year old soul still resides in her 24 year old body, she's been reunited with her friends, Willow and Xander and Oz after escaping from the Vampires and now knows that the leader of the Vamps...the King....is Giles. Where does she go from here, can she dust her former mentor...and father figure in order to save Sunnydale and the rest of California from being taken over?

I really enjoyed this chapter of the story. In fact, these alternate time line type stories are so much fun because we get the chance to see different sides of our characters. The good can be bad and the bad can be even worse and in Spikes case....they can be dead! The dynamic between Buffy, Willow and Xander is so complex due to her disappearance and their role in the war that followed. It's great to see them reconnect. The problem is....how does Buffy get home? Can she prevent all this madness from happening in the first place? I guess we'll have to read the next book and find out!

[Sidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giles is vamp king is this third book of Lost Slayer series. In an alternate universe, Buffy and Scoobies are still fighting the Big Bad Evil but all are five years older and wiser. Joyce, Anya and Spike are dead. Where the hell is Angel???

[Sarah Ehinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a middle book. tied in some loose ends, but not fantastic as a stand alone.

[chisholm · Rating 5 out of 5]

the lost slayer 1 -4 all are good

[Véronique Laplante Grenier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book in The Lost Slayer series.

[Vonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Maggie Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

honestly somebody from the Scooby Gang needs to become an ordained priest so they can bless the sprinkler system of a building on command because that was SO COOL??

[julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

vampire giles save me....... vampire giles...... save me vampire giles.....

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutal

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2513777.html

Set in early Season Four (Xander and Anya are together, so are Oz and Willow), this has Buffy yanked forward to an alternative future in which Giles has been turned vampire by the ancient demon Camazotz (I'd always thought that was just the evil planet of A Wrinkle in Time, but it turns out that it's also the name of an Aztec god of bats). This gives Golden licence to kill off many characters both new and old, before returning Buffy to our time line where everything is almost as before. It's well enough written, with reflections on how the other characters would have developed in five years where they had continued the fight without Buffy.

I'm troubled, though, as I was in the other book I read by this author, that the story ends up on the wrong side of colonialism - Camazotz, who is after all a native American entity, is rapidly outsmarted by vampire Giles who takes charge of his realm and allows the indigenous inhabitants only as much licence as he finds amusing; and this is presented as a natural development. So I may cast my reading of Buffy a bit wider, but I think I will try other writers next.

[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.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buffy is fighting in the future, fighting with her changed friends, the Watcher's Council and the army as they attempt to liberate Sunnydale from Giles' control. But even as they smoke out nests and kill numerous demons, vampires and demi-Gods, Buffy knows that the best way to stop it all is travel back to before she made her big mistake. With her 19 year old and 25 year old self trapped inside the same body, she finds herself conflicted as to the role she is expected to play.

Usually the 2nd or 3rd book in a short series like this would be merely padding, but this is no such thing. A great episode in the story and a fantastic cliffhanger, just like the previous two books. I like the very martial feel of this one, with the army invading and leading forays into Sunnydale. The little asides of humour are just right too - so much like the TV series I sometimes forgot I was reading rather that watching. Really looking forward to reading the last one.

[Rocket to Mars · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting into this book I was expecting to be slightly disappointed because how great the previous one was. However, this is a slower part of the story in which the Council party organise their next move against the opposition, so it's very hard to make a strict comparison between the two. It is, certainly, a solid book on its own merit.
I'm still finding possible inconsistencies with the TV series, but that's probably impossible to avoid when trying to slot an entire alternative reality right in the middle of an already developed storyline. A bit more attention or explanations would have been appreciated, though.
All the praises I had for the two previous books still stand: I really like the author's writing and the way he represented the characters' personalities.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the Third book in the seriel novel The Lost Slayer. I have to say it was really fun to read! I like the alternate reality angle this took. Buffy is in the future - her very Possible Future - and it's NOT pretty. People she cares about are dead or missing. Spike is working for *gasp* Evil Giles?!? NOOOOOOOOOO! Excellent reading.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buffy has escaped her prison and is reunited with her friends. In this third part of the series she learns about the outcome of her family and friends in this future she's found herself in. She has learned what her mistake has done to the ones she cares most about. She is even more determined to stop Giles no matter how much it hurts. Another good Buffy read.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is awesome in the same way that The Wish is awesome.

[Helen Maltby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starting to think this would make a really good Buffy movie! Onto part 4

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good first three, and there's one more to go

[♡ Jeri's Book Attic ♡ Jeri the Romance Bibiliophile ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]