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Average Customer Rating: 
Obsidian Fate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) >
Customer Review #1:
 At the best, Okay...
This book was...in one word...disappointing. After the long awaited release of "A" Buffy book, I was extremely excited to see this one in my local Barnes and Noble. Directly when I got home, I started reading it. Almost all Buffy books start out with some history, and a droning explanation of the plot to come, so when I started Obsidian Fate, I thought that after I got past the first three chapters, I would get to some exciting action. However, not to add upon the fact that the chapters were way too long for the ideas put into them (ten different settings and people in ONE chapter, what English teacher did you have Gallagher?), it did not get more exciting until the last three, maybe four chapters. Gallagher got all the characters wrong. Willow was too much of a ditz, Cordelia was too involved in Buffys and the Slayerettes lives, Giles was just not Giles (I cant explain it), and Angel was definitely too involved. If youve noticed, Gallagher, Angel (even in the middle of the third season) has not even been in a quarter of the episodes. I read most books in two to three days. This one took me 3 weeks to finish, because I was so uninterested. Yeah, and another thing: Buffy and Giles are not that oblivious! Someone that is so sweet and innocent, then suddenly starts acting seductive and snippy, right after an Aztec god thats looking for slaves he can control is just set free, um DUH!!! Who do you think it is? Jeez, Gallagher, we know you were just trying to give some suspense value, but you ended up giving us the Teletubbies with an Aztec god. All and all? Beginning (as in, from page 1-250) weak. Gets a 1, Middles/end gets a 3, And ending gets a zerio because of the utter corniness (for lack of a better word) of it. Complete waste of time. Dont even bother. And for the publishing company: Dont hier Gallagher...
Obsidian Fate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) >
Customer Review #2:
The problem with trying to write a tie-in novel...
I do not envy the writers who try to jump into the Buffy phenomenon. It must be amazingly difficult to write an engaging, exciting novel when you are unable to change characters or situations in any major way. Add to this the fact that you must mimic someone elses characterizations rather than being free to create your own, and the task becomes even more daunting.However, I have to believe that it can be done better than this. The characters feel very forced. I have read fanfiction that had a better grasp of the characters speech patterns and behavior. For example, Cordelia was just a bit too biting, Xander a bit too useless, and Giles feelings for Jenny a bit too overblown. We only see Giles mourn for Jenny once on the show and though I believe that he did it more off camera, I cannot believe that he was thinking about her with the degree of purple prose that Ms. Gallagher uses. The other problem is the actual events of the story. I have read on other reviews that the author is accurate in her use of this mythology. If so, it would be refreshingly rare and I applaud this. However, I had trouble believing the rest of the story. I understand the desire to make a story which is bigger than just another episode of the series, but this is not the way to do that. The events of the finale would have had lasting repercussions on the town of Sunnydale that would have affected the later episodes of the series. You simply cannot do this when you are writing within an established and ongoing world. In general, I would be happier with this series of novels if the authors would stop trying to create bigger monsters and explosions, and start getting deeper into the characters. In my mind the characters, their relationships, and their emotions is what the show is really all about. The demons are just the backdrop.
Obsidian Fate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) >
Customer Review #3:
 A So-So Scoobie Tale
While the author generally has a good hold of the voices of the characters, and some of the dialogue made me smile, this novel is not one of the best. The problem comes in the plot. Its quite dull. The developement is mostly logical, but threat is not always intriguing. The plot made me want to give up on the book, but the dialogue made me want to continue reading. I expect this author could do much better with a different topic.
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