Interesting.

UnpluggedCrazy | April 20, 23:37 CET

I wish they'd enlist some of the best fanfic writers to write this stuff instead of one or two of the folks who have the contract now. I can think of at least three who would do a much better job, if NH's most recent book is anything to go by. (The Buffy book in which she conceived immaculately a child by both Angel and Spike at the end - that was hers, right?)

Gill | April 21, 01:49 CET

I've read a couple of the "Slayer" short story books, and they were mostly OK. I've read one Buffy novel, "The Book of Fours", and it was dreadful. I just looked it up, and it was written by Nancy Holder.

Maybe she can do better without trying to write someone else's established characters, but I strongly doubt I'd buy anything else she writes.

rkayn | April 21, 02:00 CET

"Intriguing. No, wait, boring! Pull off his kneecaps!"

I'm afraid that, going on nearly three years without BtVS and almost two sans AtS, I have pretty much all of the novels, even if they were written for the young adult set. They're fairly hit-and-miss. You can expect them to be in-canon most of the time but the characterizations are often way off the mark. Not to mention, most writers seem to have this urge to destroy Sunnydale.

I agree with Gill. I've read some fantastic fanfic that says, "Please publish me," and while there's a lot of chaff, the sheer volume ensures some wheat to be had.

Ocular | April 21, 02:35 CET

Ms. Holder is a very talented young adult writer. She has won countless top awards in her field. All of her Buffy books are among the bestsellers in this universe. But, like every book that is written, some can be better then other. Books are subjective like other forms of art. Obviously, her stories are well liked enough for her to keep being hired and winning the awards.

Fanfic, while there are some incredible ones out there, are often written for a particular audience and in a direction that does not match what is considered canon. Most are OOC and in the end have no real connection to the character's original story. It's why it is called fanfic.

[ edited for spelling by Caroline on 2006-04-21 02:53 ]

Zip-Ity-Do-Da | April 21, 04:42 CET

The Buffy novels are not canon and Nancy Holder's books may be good or bad - I don't know because I've never read them - but the fact that they sell to the Young Adult market doesn't mean they are good.
There aren't many awards out there for young adult writing. I'd be interested to know what she has won. Her website doesn't list any.

Lioness | April 21, 05:51 CET

Most are OOC and in the end have no real connection to the character's original story. It's why it is called fanfic.

Nah, it's called fanfic because its fiction written by fans for no money. Fanfic can stay true to the canonical characters or it can vere off wildly. It can be great or it can be awful. Some fans will prefer different fics to others because of their favourite characters/pairings/period and some do prefer the stories that move furthest from canon. I would say most fanfic is pretty disposable but the good stuff out there to my mind beats all the 'official' novels put together.

helcat | April 21, 05:57 CET

I've read Nancy Holder's books. One of the worst was 'Blood and Fog'. I don't have the book in front of me, but I'm pretty sure it's hers. Spelling and grammatical errors (where was her editor?) and terrible characterizations. Blech. Sorry to be so critical, but I want those books to be good and they rarely are.

[ edited by fishsanwitt on 2006-04-21 05:33 ]

fishsanwitt | April 21, 07:31 CET

It may make sense for further discussion on Nancy Holder &/or Buffy books to take place in the more recent post about Buffy books by clicking here

Dalton | April 21, 07:48 CET

Just as a comment on young adult reader fic-it tends to be better in many ways than adult fic- teens are much less patient than adults with their reading material I find.

Ceslas | April 21, 09:16 CET