If Snow Hadn't Fallen by S. J. Bolton

There are a dozen other books I should be reviewing before I do this one, but I can't help myself.

If Snow Hadn't Fallen (2013) (short story) (book 1.5 in the Lacey Flint series)
S. J. Bolton
Grade: A
Genre: gothic thriller horror
Source: own, eBook 
Lacey Flint series: (1) Now You See Me; (2) Dead Scared

Ever wonder what Lacey got up to between the closing of Now You See Me and the opening of Dead Scared? Now is your chance to find out …

It’s like trouble follows DC Lacey Flint’s heel like a loyal Labrador. Off-duty and on her way home, there’s a call for assistance on her radio, just a stone’s throw away from her flat. Instinct and duty prompt her to answer it, but it’s not the teenage scuffle or canoodling couple that she expected to break up and hurry along. Five masked persons surround a burning pyre in the centre of the park. A burning pyre of human flesh that’s still alive. Lacey’s appearance sends the perpetrators running, but with such extensive burns, there’s little she can do to prevent death.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 2: On Your Own by Joss Whedon / Andrew Chambliss / Georges Jeanty etc

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 2: On Your Own 
(On Your Own Parts 1 & 2, Apart (Of Me) Parts 1, 2 & 3) (2012) (Dark Horse)

Andrew Chambliss (script), Scott Allie (script), Georges Jeanty (pencils), Cliff Richards (pencils), Karl Story (inks), Andy Owens (inks), Dexter Vines (inks), Jo Chen (cover art), Joss Whedon (creator) etc
Grade: B
Genre: Buffy / graphic novel
Source: NetGalley / own
Buffy Season 9: (1) Freefall, (2) On Your Own, (3) Guarded

So, do I reveal the spoiler or not? My initial reaction was ‘yes, of course,’ but that’s my gut reaction to everything: just blurt out whatever’s running through my head. Reviews can get across the message of a book without any spoiler-ing at all, and since that was my frame of mind when I started typing this review, that’s what I’m going with – just to make y’all buy and read the book for yourself. I mean sure, you can probably find the spoiler with the help of our good friend Google without much effort, but I’m just going to be mean and refuse to state it. This is quite possibly my most deliberate spoiler-free review ever.

So at the end of Buffy Season 9 Volume One, Buffy had something of a problem on her hands. It wasn’t something she had ever had a problem with before, or even something she had ever considered. The life of a Slayer is usually too unnaturally short for this to ever become a non-issue, let alone an issue, and so Buffy is completely lost for what to do. Willow is still pissed at her for the whole destroying-magic thing and Dawn is happily settled into life with Xander, and so she turns to her go-to guy when things start getting tough: Spike.

Snow Day!

I'm quite fond of snow, really. I guess that's in part a result of being a Christmas-time baby, but also just because it's always so pretty and lovely when fresh and untouched. I have this really strange compulsion to just watch the snow fall and standing on the landing in our house last night while the skies were still letting the snow fall in truckloads, there was just something really ethereal and calming about watching nature have its way and wreaking havoc, with us humans powerless to stop it. I ended up having to walk the last 2 miles or so last night having just missed my connecting bus, and while walking with the blizzarding snow pelting down on my face was rather grim, I was at the same time a little in awe at how quiet and peaceful the roads were and how snow seems to be the one thing that grinds everything in this country to a halt.

Angel & Faith Volume 2: Daddy Issues by Christos Gage

Angel & Faith Volume 2: Daddy Issues (2012)

Christos Gage (script), Rebekah Isaacs (art), Dan Jackson (colours), Chris Samnee (art, Women of a Certain Age), Jordie Bellaire (colours, Women of a Certain Age), Steve Morris (cover) etc

Grade: B+

Genre: graphic novel

Source: NetGalley
Angel & Faith: (1) Live Through This

It’s been too long since I’ve read anything and since I had just finished my review of Buffy: Freefall but couldn’t manage to find my copy of Buffy: On Your Own from wherever it decided to hide itself on my laptop, I decided on the next best thing: Angel & Faith. One issue, I promised myself. Yeah, right. I finished the whole arc, went to bed at three in the morning and felt like crap when I woke up. But it was worth it and I’m going to tell you why.

Something is making its way across London, making people crazy and lash out at the people around them with devastating consequences. In the course of his bring-Giles-back-to-life mission, Angel has been poring over the Watcher’s journals and thinks he knows who the culprit is. The Lorophage demon feeds on the trauma of others to the point of death, but there have been rare reported cases of the Lorophage being interrupted in its feeding process, with the victim merely becoming insane – Giles was one such victim. There must be something controlling the Lorophage in order for it to be leaving this many victims alive, and whatever it is, it must be pretty damn powerful …

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 1: Freefall by Joss Whedon / Andrew Chambliss / Georges Jeanty etc

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 1: Freefall (2012) (Dark Horse)
Joss Whedon (script), Andrew Chambliss (script), Georges Jeanty (art), Karl Moline (art), Jo Chen (cover)
Grade: B-/C+
Genre: graphic novel
Source: own
Buffy Season 9: (1) Freefall, (2) On Your Own, (3) Guarded

I have to admit to being a little dubious about Season 9 what with the way that Season 8 ended. It’s rather a pain to write this review without having already reviewed any of Season 8, but that’s life. I have exposed myself rather stupidly to some accidental spoilers for Season 9 and I’ve hated myself for it. Besides this, I’m not entirely sure what direction Joss is taking Buffy this season and in my attempts to protect my heart from further break, I’m a little reluctant to actually even venture to start Season 9. But, I saw Volume 2 on NetGalley and had to have it; but before that, I needed to read Volume 1 first. So here I am.

Season 8 ended with Buffy destroying the Seed: the core of all magic. I’m still a little hazy about it all works, but basically magic has been eradicated from the world and it’s all Buffy’s fault. I’m unclear as to why Willow can no longer do magic yet Buffy still has her Chosen One powers, but Willow explained it like this:

“All the Slayers, the vampires, even the demons with magical mojo. You all got to keep your power because it was inside of you. But everyone else got cut off from what made them tick. For me, it was magic.”