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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Novelizations #11
Buffy: The Journals of Rupert Giles, Vol. 1
"You have a father's love for the child." -- Quentin Travers Buffy Summers is hip, modern, and pop culture savvy. Rupert Giles, her Watcher, is a stuffy Brit whose idea of bliss is a good book and a strong cup of tea. Odd as the duo may be, though, they have managed to avert their fair share of apocalypses. Plural. One thing they can't seem to conquer, however, is Buffy's bad birthday luck. At eighteen, Buffy is subjected to a Watcher's Council Cruciamentum, a test of her own non-physical wiles -- and of Giles's attitude toward both his charge and his calling, as well. And when the Slayerettes throw a surprise party for Buffy's big 1-9, Giles finds himself feeling useless and out-of-the-loop-y. But it is at the Slayer's twentieth birthday gathering that both Buffy and Giles are forced to re-examine the nature of blood ties and the definition of family -- or risk losing a mutual loved one more important to them -- and the fate of the world -- than either ever imagined....
191 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2002
1 person is currently reading
325 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Holder
352 books2,407 followersNancy 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.
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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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 5, 2022
This is a prose adaptation of three episodes of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The stories are set on Buffy's progressive birthdays and are told from Giles' point of view. Holder attempted too much backstory as motivation in her framing device, in my opinion, but her adaptations of the teleplays are all right. The book has "Volume One" in the title, but it's the only one that was printed. Most of the other adaptative books only had stories from the first three seasons, but this one ranges into the fifth. The stories are Helpless (for which I never cared) by David Fury, A New Man by Jane Espenson, and Blood Ties by Steven S. DeKnight.
February 18, 2019
5 🌠
Liked seeing episodes focused on Giles and Buffy's birthdays. Never did realize the weird stuff tends to happen on Buffy's birthday. Glad Giles pact with the demon didn't work. Really like Giles and Buffy's relationship.
Liked seeing episodes focused on Giles and Buffy's birthdays. Never did realize the weird stuff tends to happen on Buffy's birthday. Glad Giles pact with the demon didn't work. Really like Giles and Buffy's relationship.
August 6, 2025
I assure you that it didn't take me a week to re-read this one but what are you going to do when you have to get your child ready for school starting a new grade in a different building?
Get more sleep than read.
I am stumped that they didn't do a book centering around Giles from BTVS earlier. Season two is when we got more into the character's background but some of the other novelizations touched on a few of those points.
Volume One and done.
The wraparound connecting the stories is Giles seeking out a demon to protect Buffy fearing that her life is about to reach its end. This is around the mid-point of season five, so we get an episode per each of the seasons starting in three.
Even though this book focuses on Giles it is made through tenuous connection with each of Buffy's birthdays. The episodes in question are "Helpless" by David Fury, "A New Man" by Jane Espenson and "Blood Ties" by Steven S. DeKnight as told by author Nancy Holder.
We all know that Giles became a surrogate father figure to Buffy and even Xander and Willow and later Tara and Anya even Dawn. None of these teens had very attentive or normal home lives that even Buffy's own mother Joyce became a better mom to the Scoobies...heck even Spike liked her!
When Giles has to put his duty as Watcher to the Slayer before trying to give Buffy an eighteenth birthday better than her last, it puts a wedge between them. Out of the three stories, it is the most hard hitting one because we get to see Buffy vulnerable without her powers and it plays out heartbreakingly harsh and changes the whole game.
By her next birthday, Buffy has moved on to Riley at college and Giles is no longer a watcher or a librarian after Sunnydale High went boom-boom with a giant snake demon inside. Buffy has a part of her life that leaves Giles out of the loop and feeling quite bitter when Professor Maggie Walsh says some rude things that get under his skin.
They get so bad that Giles ends up sitting in a pub getting drunk with Ethan Rayne, his old school chum turned dark sorcerer. Not only does he get a hangover to regret in the morning, but Giles also finds that Ethan slipped him a potion that has turned him into a demon!
Giles has to go to Spike for help since he is the only one who can understand his demon speech and Buffy and the others believe that demon Giles has taken their beloved father figure and possibly eaten him!
The last one is not even about Buffy in her own show and only has a thin connection to Giles being relevant...it is a Dawn episode. Whether you liked the character or not, it was still a whammy of an episode and it can hit home to anyone really. People keeping secrets from you, lashing out or becoming despondent to even the point of contemplating suicide, not feeling worthy or loved and having the world as you knew it come crashing down.
It isn't all misery because it brings about the importance of family through blood not being as important as those you choose as family. Buffy and Giles and even Joyce have to come clean to the others about The Key that Glory is after once learning she is a god desperate to open portals to make it hell on Earth.
The Key is no longer energy but in the shape of Buffy's "Baby Sister" and Dawn has only really existed for six months, but magic has plastered her into everyone's memories as if she were here from day one.
Three stories, three stars so I guess a star for effort on each one but there were much better episodes that could have focused on Giles in book form.
Get more sleep than read.
I am stumped that they didn't do a book centering around Giles from BTVS earlier. Season two is when we got more into the character's background but some of the other novelizations touched on a few of those points.
Volume One and done.
The wraparound connecting the stories is Giles seeking out a demon to protect Buffy fearing that her life is about to reach its end. This is around the mid-point of season five, so we get an episode per each of the seasons starting in three.
Even though this book focuses on Giles it is made through tenuous connection with each of Buffy's birthdays. The episodes in question are "Helpless" by David Fury, "A New Man" by Jane Espenson and "Blood Ties" by Steven S. DeKnight as told by author Nancy Holder.
We all know that Giles became a surrogate father figure to Buffy and even Xander and Willow and later Tara and Anya even Dawn. None of these teens had very attentive or normal home lives that even Buffy's own mother Joyce became a better mom to the Scoobies...heck even Spike liked her!
When Giles has to put his duty as Watcher to the Slayer before trying to give Buffy an eighteenth birthday better than her last, it puts a wedge between them. Out of the three stories, it is the most hard hitting one because we get to see Buffy vulnerable without her powers and it plays out heartbreakingly harsh and changes the whole game.
By her next birthday, Buffy has moved on to Riley at college and Giles is no longer a watcher or a librarian after Sunnydale High went boom-boom with a giant snake demon inside. Buffy has a part of her life that leaves Giles out of the loop and feeling quite bitter when Professor Maggie Walsh says some rude things that get under his skin.
They get so bad that Giles ends up sitting in a pub getting drunk with Ethan Rayne, his old school chum turned dark sorcerer. Not only does he get a hangover to regret in the morning, but Giles also finds that Ethan slipped him a potion that has turned him into a demon!
Giles has to go to Spike for help since he is the only one who can understand his demon speech and Buffy and the others believe that demon Giles has taken their beloved father figure and possibly eaten him!
The last one is not even about Buffy in her own show and only has a thin connection to Giles being relevant...it is a Dawn episode. Whether you liked the character or not, it was still a whammy of an episode and it can hit home to anyone really. People keeping secrets from you, lashing out or becoming despondent to even the point of contemplating suicide, not feeling worthy or loved and having the world as you knew it come crashing down.
It isn't all misery because it brings about the importance of family through blood not being as important as those you choose as family. Buffy and Giles and even Joyce have to come clean to the others about The Key that Glory is after once learning she is a god desperate to open portals to make it hell on Earth.
The Key is no longer energy but in the shape of Buffy's "Baby Sister" and Dawn has only really existed for six months, but magic has plastered her into everyone's memories as if she were here from day one.
Three stories, three stars so I guess a star for effort on each one but there were much better episodes that could have focused on Giles in book form.
November 24, 2019
As I continue my march through the Buffy novelizations, I'm amazed they were still putting these out in season five of the show as the bulk of the episodes previously revisited were from season three and earlier. With Nancy Holder switching to Giles, she's decided to focus on an event more than a specific character, with each installment being about Buffy's birthdays (18, 19 and 20). The first two also happen to be Giles-centric episodes, which makes sense for the title/cover, but the third is very much a Dawn focused installment.
First up in this book is Helpless (Season 3, Episode 12) which is the one where Giles has to drug Buffy to remove her powers and then set up an encounter with a vampire per the age old tradition of the Cruciamentum. This was a good episode, that set up some interesting future storylines with Giles and the Watcher's council, but on its own here it falls a little flatter without any of the surrounding context. Fans of this episode should instead check out the excellent short story collection, Tales of the Slayer Vol. 4 which focuses exclusively on other Cruciamentum's throughout history.
Next up is A New Man (Season 4, Episode 12). In a fairly jarring change of scenery, Angel's gone, the gang's in college, Buffy's discovered the Initiative, is dating Riley and Willow is having secret witchcraft sessions with her platonic friend Tara, Oz being nowhere to be found. As Giles feels left behind, he meets up with Ethan Rayne and ends up being turned into a demon with only Spike able to understand who he is. This was another fun episode, but the shift in time/place with very little explanation would make a tough book for those not already familiar with the series.
Finally it's Blood Ties (Season 5, Episode 13, kudos to the creators for keeping Buffy's birthday close to the same point in each season). By this point, Buffy's not in college, she now has a sister, Buffy and Tara are an item, Anya is a regular, and Spike is in love with Buffy. The Dawn thing is handled/explained pretty well, as the point of the episode reveals everything, but the big bad Glory and her brother are very random and confusing as presented here. The episode is also confusing to put in a Giles centered book, as he has no bigger part than Willow, Xander or Joyce, and a much smaller part than Dawn.
The framing device used to bookend the story is Giles attempting to sacrifice a part of himself to a demon to keep Buffy safe, and he's reliving the last three years of watching over her. It doesn't make a lot of sense, and goes absolutely nowhere in a 3 page epilogue. I'd have preferred some some entries in his watcher's diary which is already a part of the show.
First up in this book is Helpless (Season 3, Episode 12) which is the one where Giles has to drug Buffy to remove her powers and then set up an encounter with a vampire per the age old tradition of the Cruciamentum. This was a good episode, that set up some interesting future storylines with Giles and the Watcher's council, but on its own here it falls a little flatter without any of the surrounding context. Fans of this episode should instead check out the excellent short story collection, Tales of the Slayer Vol. 4 which focuses exclusively on other Cruciamentum's throughout history.
Next up is A New Man (Season 4, Episode 12). In a fairly jarring change of scenery, Angel's gone, the gang's in college, Buffy's discovered the Initiative, is dating Riley and Willow is having secret witchcraft sessions with her platonic friend Tara, Oz being nowhere to be found. As Giles feels left behind, he meets up with Ethan Rayne and ends up being turned into a demon with only Spike able to understand who he is. This was another fun episode, but the shift in time/place with very little explanation would make a tough book for those not already familiar with the series.
Finally it's Blood Ties (Season 5, Episode 13, kudos to the creators for keeping Buffy's birthday close to the same point in each season). By this point, Buffy's not in college, she now has a sister, Buffy and Tara are an item, Anya is a regular, and Spike is in love with Buffy. The Dawn thing is handled/explained pretty well, as the point of the episode reveals everything, but the big bad Glory and her brother are very random and confusing as presented here. The episode is also confusing to put in a Giles centered book, as he has no bigger part than Willow, Xander or Joyce, and a much smaller part than Dawn.
The framing device used to bookend the story is Giles attempting to sacrifice a part of himself to a demon to keep Buffy safe, and he's reliving the last three years of watching over her. It doesn't make a lot of sense, and goes absolutely nowhere in a 3 page epilogue. I'd have preferred some some entries in his watcher's diary which is already a part of the show.
April 13, 2023
“i have a father’s love for buffy, and that cancels out all else.”
another buffy novelization, this time focused on my man giles!!! and his love for buffy!!!! which means i’m emo. (and there’s some spike moments, bless)
(novelizations of 3x12 “helpless,” 4x12 “a new man,” and 5x13 “blood ties”)
another buffy novelization, this time focused on my man giles!!! and his love for buffy!!!! which means i’m emo. (and there’s some spike moments, bless)
(novelizations of 3x12 “helpless,” 4x12 “a new man,” and 5x13 “blood ties”)
April 3, 2024
A collection of three novelisations of the show's episodes featuring Buffy's birthdays. (18th-Helpless, 19th-A New Man and 20th-Blood Ties).
An interesting cross-section of Buffy's life. With three episodes contained within this slim volume, there's not much meat added to the story as seen on screen and the whole lot has been 'brought together' by Giles in some blood-pact with a demon which adds nothing to anything and goes nowhere.
An interesting cross-section of Buffy's life. With three episodes contained within this slim volume, there's not much meat added to the story as seen on screen and the whole lot has been 'brought together' by Giles in some blood-pact with a demon which adds nothing to anything and goes nowhere.
June 24, 2023
It's a really good novelisation of 3 different episodes with an interesting little wraparound story. This wasn't a basic script to story novelisation like some of the others, Nancy Holder gets into the head of the characters and offers their thoughts on situations, particularly Giles, who this book is centred around. I just have no complaints, I wanted a fun simple read, and that's what I got.
August 26, 2025
Three great episodes of the show, so of course I'm going to enjoy reading them as a fun little adventure. The between-episode interstitials feel a bit weird and unnecessary, but they're so brief it'a not a huge deal.
July 12, 2022
Thought is would be an addition to series information.
Read
August 5, 2023Obviously, for Buffy fans only! If you watch the T.V. series, you'll be hearing the characters saying the dialog in your head as your read it.
March 19, 2024
3.5 stars. This has been the better of ‘episode recap’ books.
August 17, 2025
This was only about 3% Giles' journal which saddens me greatly
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2017
Absolutely loved it. I know a lot of people seem to be disappointed with books that are just novelisations of episodes but I love them especially when they are well done like this one. When they are done right I can see the episodes in my head and it's great.
For this particular book it was three of the Buffy birthday episodes Season 3's Helpless, Season 4's A New Man and Season 5's Blood Ties.
All of tales are told from Gile's perspective of how he worries for Buffy every year as slayer's tend to not live long lives and Buffy's birthdays always seem to have some type of drama attached to them.
I loved it, all of the references to timelines etc were spot on and the episodes showed the dynamics of the relationship between all the charachters.
For me if you love Buffy, what's not to like?
For this particular book it was three of the Buffy birthday episodes Season 3's Helpless, Season 4's A New Man and Season 5's Blood Ties.
All of tales are told from Gile's perspective of how he worries for Buffy every year as slayer's tend to not live long lives and Buffy's birthdays always seem to have some type of drama attached to them.
I loved it, all of the references to timelines etc were spot on and the episodes showed the dynamics of the relationship between all the charachters.
For me if you love Buffy, what's not to like?
March 20, 2025
I enjoyed this more the second time around! Nancy Holder captures the tone so well, and there were some really lovely additions. As the number one Rupert Giles fan, I still am bothered by the fact this is effectively a novelisation of three episodes because it annoys me when we get entire scenes written up that Giles wouldn't be there for, or he is there but it's being told from a different POV, especially when this is being sold as his journals.
October 17, 2009
A novelization of three episodes with the slight slant of Giles's perspective in flashback mode and a contrived plot tying them together. A quick read that evokes some nostalgia for the show (ie. ohh, that was a good moment).
Read
August 23, 2008isbn,original
December 26, 2008
Basically just a novelization of three episodes -- if you've seen the episodes, you've seen most of the material here. Kind of disappointing.
February 25, 2019
Novelizations are what they are
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews