The Book of Fours

By Nancy Holder

Book Overview

* The third Buffy adult hardcover filled in a missing link: the Slayer who died to make Buffy the Chosen One When an old classmate of Buffy's in LA is killed, and Willow is severely injured in a car accident, both in the space of one week, the Slayer must yet again face the vulnerabilities of her mortal friends. At the same time, from a place of nightmares - which Buffy and Faith share - a terrible evil invades Sunnydale, setting off a quartet of disasters. Earth, air, fire and water - each represented in the dreams by a primitive figure carrying a box moulded from skin and bone. Faith thinks she recognises the box. Research leads Giles to the Watchers' Diaries, where he learns that the last Slayer to encounter a similar box was one named India Cohen... Buffy's immediate predecessor. Buffy, who has strangely never considered the Slayer whose death activated her own term, is eager to contact India's Watcher, Kit Bothwell. Kit, in turn, is excited at the prospect of working with two simultaneous Slayers. Over the years, he has honed his sorcery skills, and he thinks he can bring Buffy in communication with India, among others. And this begins a journey through history that forces Buf

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743412400
• ISBN13: 9780743412407
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

It's Elemental

The Book of Fours takes place in season three of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - meaning Faith is 5x5, Buffy is still seeing Angel, and the teenage Slayerettes are in their senior year of high school. Buffy and Faith begin to have shared nightmares, and four elemental disasters - earth, air, water, fire - sweep Sunnydale. The villain of the piece is seeking out Slayers thatrepresent each element, with Faith of fire, Buffy of air, India (the Slayer whose death triggered Buffy's calling) of water and Kendra of earth. With India and Kendra both having passed on years earlier, the Ghost Roads come into place as the town erupts in chaos. As someone who has always wanted Buffy to research her predecessor, I was very pleased with the introduction and backstory for India. It was high time for Faith to debut in theofficial novels, having been a driving force in the third season, where the books were set for quite some time. Holder captures Faith's essence, yearnings and burnings to wonderfully; I adore the scene in the nightclub. The book travels through a multitude of locales and periods in time, with a little bit of something for everyone. Those who have followed the show from the start and read the official novels - especially Child of the Hunt, The Gatekeeper Trilogy, Immortal and the like - are in for a real treat as characters you know and love (or love to hate) pop up everywhere. The climax shows girl power to a tee, with Cordelia and Willow stepping up to assist Buffy and Faith.The history of the world. The headquarters of the Watchers. The essence of the Slayers. The Book of Fours concludes on a note like that of The Neverending Story - and I hope to Joss they let Holder write a sequel.

Earth, Air, Water and Fire

We're used to strange events in Sunnydale, but the latest problems make it doubtful that there will be a Sunnydale in the near future. An unstoppable forest fire, hurricanes, downtown tidal waves and a gratuitous earthquake pummel the unlucky city, and the Slayer and her faithful companions begin to smell a rat, or several rats. Buffy, Faith (appearing for the first time) and even poor Willow find themselves having nightmares, the very same nightmares. And the keep running into very irritated mummies with unpleasantly sharp axes. Giles investigates and realizes that a universal bad hair day is in the works. The mummies are called the Wanderers, serving a prehistoric evil known as the Gatherer. To make matters worse, a voodoo queen and a gangster demon are also chasing Slayers. Not just the two current slayers, but their immediate predecessors India Cohen and Kendra become tangled up in the demonic plot. Even Willow and Cordelia must become directly involved in what becomes a titanic struggle to prevent the Gatherer from conquering Sunnydale and the rest of the world. This is a complex plot, rich in parallel threads and frantic action. Perhaps a bit too complex. Prepare to have to pay attention. No one is quite who they seem to be and our young heroines must face magic and betrayal before they can confront their opponents.Lately some of the Buffy chronicles have been slightly short on plot, but Nancy Holder has served up one of her best. At a time when the television series seems bogged down in one tragedy after another, it's a true relief to settle down with a Buffy story that is about the strength and courage that is the hallmark of Buffy and her companions. The book provides a great mix of story and Slayer lore that will delight all fans. Despite the many zigzags taken by the plot, Holder manages to keep everything working together. This one's a keeper. Hopefully the author will figure out how to put Sunnydale back together again in time for the next novel.

incredible book

this is one very cool book. sunnydale has always been known for it's disastors because of it's proximity to the hellmouth. but when everything from earthquakes, hurricanes, and forrest fires start raging against the town all at the same time, giles goes into research mode. they come to find out that an ancient evil has been brought to sunnydale. his minions are called the wanders. they each possess an axe that is used to kill slayers. one wanderer is of air, fire, earth and water. as buffy is the slayer of air and faith is the slayer of fire, the ancient evil called the gatherer will be unstoppable if both slayers are killed because no more slayers will be called ever. this leads giles to the conclusion that they need the spirits of the last 2 slayers which was kendra(slayer of earth) and india cohen(buffy's predessor and slayer of water). they perform a ritual where kendra possesses cordelia's body and india posseses willow's body to try and stop this evil from ruling the earth. this book has a lot of twist and turns in it and a lot of history lessons. it was a great read and i would highly reccomend it to all buffy fans. it was also great to see a book with faith and buffy working together. most authors seem to avoid faith. i don't know why. she was one of the best characters on buffy besides angel of course.

Best Buffy Novel to date...

Curious about the Slayer before Buffy? Holder explains the Slayer legacy in ways Joss Whedon has only hinted. Nancy Holder has written the best of the bunch. I have read the majority of the Buffy books and this is the most well-crafted and in the vein of Joss Whedon. This book would make an incredible movie, one of those billion dollar special effects spectaculars. The only thing, you should really read the Gatekeeper trilogy by the same author to understand some parts of plot fully.

One of the best Buffy books ever.

In 1993, India Cohen was fifteen years old. She had just arrived in Japan, where her Navy father had been transferred. She had her whole life ahead of her. That all changed one dark night, when she met Christopher Bothwell, who told India that she was the Slayer, chosen by fate to fight vampires and demons until the day she died. That day came in 1997. And as fate chose India, so it chose the girl who would follow her as Slayer - Buffy Summers. Now Buffy and Faith - the second Slayer, the freak accident, who succeeds Kendra, made Slayer when Buffy died and was revived - are having nightmares. Sunnydale is bombarded by the four elements - a raging fire, a devastating hurricane, a powerful earthquake, and a deadly flood. Buffy and Faith fear the worst - the end of the world may be near. To stop it, Buffy and Faith won't have to just work with each other, but with the Slayers that came before them, who lost their lives to the same evil that now threatens the world. This is one enemy Buffy and Faith may not be strong enough to defeat. But they will have to. Because the world is counting on them. This was an excellent new Buffy novel, one of my favorites. Nancy Holder has written an exciting, thrill-a-minute adventure.