The Making of a Slayer: book review

I finally got around to reading The Making of a Slayer, the official guide by Nancy Holder. As a fangirl, I was really looking forward to this. The book is described as follows "Celebrating the 15th anniversary of Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, this lavishly produced book is the first authorized, fully illustrated retrospective of the hit show. Offering in-depth commentary on the making of the series, the book explores characters and mythology of the Buffy universe and follows the evolution of all seven seasons. Die-hard Whedon fans will also find insider information on his involvement in other projects, including Angel, Firefly, and more. Housed in a foil-stamped slipcase, this volume features more than 120 images, including rare behind-the-scenes photo's, sketches, props and memorabilia from the Twentieth Century Fox archives, along with stills from the most pivotal on-screen moments. Tucked in the inside of the case is an envelope holding 'Slayer Lore: Texts and Magicks for the Battle'. These 13 removable pieces are replicas of the ancient spells and prophecies the characters used on-screen to defeat vampires, demons, and other monsters, making this the ultimate treasure-trove for every Buffy fan." Clearly, I HAD to have it ;-). Unfortunately I didn't have enough money at the time, but luckily my parents told me it could be a delayed birthday present (my birthday was in may, while the book released in december 2012). I didn't have any birthday wishes at the time, so this made my heart jump!

Let's start at the beginning
If anyone had any doubts this book would be for Buffy fans, it would be gone by the time they read the foreword. It is written by Buffy actress Amber Benson (she played Tara) and she perfectly understands what it means to be part of such a cult show and how the audience views it. Some of my favorite quotes were her opening words "Alyson - who will forever be enshrined in the science fiction and fantasy lexicon as Buffy Summer's best friend, Willow Rosenberg - was trying to explain to me how I was now part of something that wasn't just entertainment, but a bona fide way of life." Having met Amber myself at HalloWhedon I know what an amazing person she is and that she really means it when later on she says "little did I know back than how much this 'sci-fi television show' was going to change my life." She explains perfectly that Buffy transcends its medium and how it became a worldwide phenomenon. Truth be told, it might be a bit unfair to have Amber write the foreword though... considering she's a wonderful writer. But she knows just how to say it and she understands the fan community. And that's what makes it the perfect way to start this book. In short: The book had me at the beginning. Amber Benson's foreword was pure perfection and shows just how well she knows her audience.

The Making of a Slayer
The book is devided into very clear chapters. Chapter one is 'Birth of Buffy' which pretty much contains anything before Buffy was brought to television. Focusing on Joss Whedon's history, his high school and university, his work as a writer and the Buffy movie. It explains how Buffy came to be and how much love Joss already had for it. It also specifies on what his intentions were for Buffy. How people were talking about Girl Power, without actually showing it and was time that someone showed what everybody was talking about. 
The second chapter is 'High School is Hell,' which pretty much sums it up. It's about the first three seasons which focus on their high school years. With character descriptons and where they are now segments, which is really up-to-date. It also focuses on what the crew learned while working on it, as well as on the special effects, make-up, costumes and how for example the library, Sunnydale and such were made.
'College Magic' is about the seasons four and five, while chapter four 'Beyond' discusses seaons 6 and 7. While these chapters basically sum up everything that happend in the seasons, they also provide a little more information about the themes of the seasons, as well as Buffy getting a sister, fighting Dracula and a God, not to mention Dark Willow and the nice little references about going back to the beginning in season 7. The last chapter also provides a little information about 'Beyond Buffy', concerning comics, Firefly, Serenity, books written about Joss Whedon, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Dollhouse, The Avengers and Much Ado About Nothing.

Of course the most fun for fans are fun facts. Or lovely quotes. And special photo's of props or sketches of the sets. 'The Making of a Slayer' has it all. A couple of the fun facts are that Sarah Michelle Gellar (who played Buffy) was originally offered the part of Cordelia. Or that Seth Green's character Oz, was originally 'scheduled' to be the character Angelus kills, instead of Jenny Calender. Other than that there's some behind the scenes knowledge about writers and how they came to be on the show and how they worked. Another thing I really liked about the book is how up to date it is. It tells that grainy copies of the twenty-minute presentation pilot of Buffy has been uploaded on YouTube, as well as mention what every cast member is currently working on.

But there's one thing about the book that really bugged me... And that's that the book, unfortunately, didn't have that much new information. Most of the information can be found in DVD commentaries or interviews and such. Therefore if you're a real Buffy fan, you've probably already heard or read it before. Though it might be true for fans that don't own their own boxsets on DVD yet, I think that for the most Buffy fans this book isn't exactly in-depth commentary or inside information. It just sums it up very nicely. Honestly... I just expected more.

Specials
I'm not really sure how to call them, but in between the chapters, there were special sections that focused on other issues. Such as the creative process of Joss Whedon, the writers room, producers or special episodes like Hush, The Body and Once More With Feeling. These provide some extra insight/additional information for those who care for some more background information about certain aspects of the show, episodes, the academics who study Buffy and crossovers and such.

The mistakes
Being a gigantic Buffy fan myself, I notice little mistakes. Of course being a fan and knowing this stuff, to me... they are huge mistakes. Nobody is perfect, but when you make mistakes about things like episodes, it really gets me though. I mean, if I can know these things - without looking them up - how come other people can't take the time to verify this? I'm not blaming anybody, because honestly, some descriptions could have been written by other departments and what not... And I have to be fair: Buffy is one of my main passions, so I like knowing these things, while for others... it was just work. Anyway... enough complaining, here are some of the mistakes that made me itch:

page 31: Holder states that "Unaware that another student, Xander Harris, is lurking in the library, Giles sets the scene for season one: Sunnydale was founded by Spanish settlers who originally called it Boca del Infierno." It's true that Xander was lurking in the library in the first ep and overheard Giles talking to Buffy about being a Slayer, BUT it's only in the second episode that THEY start doing research and Giles KNOWINGLY tells Buffy, Willow and Xander the story about the Spanish settlers... This is later partly rectified in the photo description on page 37, where it's indeed the exposition scene between the four of them.
Page 50: It's written that in this picture Buffy 'meets' her mother's new boyfriend... Though I understand the choice of words, it's not actually their first meeting. I would have just used 'and'. 
Page 55: The photo description states that "Angel loses his soul and becomes Angelus again." My problem is that this picture is from Enemies, in which Angel PRETENDS to be Angelus to find out if Faith has gone over to the dark side... He didn't even lose his soul. Arrrgh!
Page 71: The photo description says/references that the Mayor's face splits open in Graduation Day Part 2, while this was actually in Bad Girls. *sigh*
Page 73/76: In this picture the Hunga Munga is shown which Buffy ONLY used in the season three opening episode Anne. On page 76 you can read "the unusual ax-like weapon Buffy is holding in the credits of season two." Which of course isn't possible... But it was in the credits of seasons three, four and five.

page 76: It's mentioned that Giles was given a sword fight to get rid of his stuffy image, but this wasn't in Band Candy like the book said. It's actually in Bad Girls when Wesley first appeared.
Page 113: Though this isn't technically a mistake, you can see that Sarah and the other actor are waiting to play the scene, while the descriptoin says that 'Buffy face off against one of the Knights of Byzantium'... It just didn't feel like the right description to me for this particular picture, but I might be wrong.
Page 116: I don't really have a problem with this description as we are all meant to believe that it's Buffy, while it's actually the Buffybot. 
Page 123: The picture shown was actually right before they start singing 'Walk through the Fire', not 'led by Giles, the gang theorizes about the cause of the singing' which happends in 'I've Got a Theory' which was at the beginning of the episode while this is near the end. 
Page 130: While the Evil Trio is actually spying on Bufy in the episode Life Serial, in this picture they just discoverd free porn I believe... You can see why the description doesn't really fit for those in the know ;-)
Page 152: The description states "Here, Faith listens to Buffy's speech to the Potentials in 'Chosen'". Buffy does explain the plan there, but it's to the group and not the potentials... I admit, that this wasn't easy to spot, because Faith is wearing the same outfit. But you can see it in the background (wallpaper). 

Slayer Lore - The extra's

There's this beautiful envelope in the case, which contains several replica's of things used on Buffy. And I have to admit: It's pretty awesome to hold the Ritual of Restoration (to make Angelus Angel again) in your hands. Or an excerpt from the book about the Slayer's origin from Get it Done as well as the shadow puppets (made out of paper) which tell the story!!! It would be too much to describe all of them here, but just to give you an idea of the other items in here are: the page with Lethe's Bramble, text written in the Nezzla demon language, the word of Valios, newspaper articles about Lowell, the page about The Harvest (with drawing), the floor plan of City Hall and even a never-before seen page from the Watchers Diaries about a previously unknown Slayer named Rebecca. I think there are a couple of things I left out right now, but I think you get the point ;-).


Even though I had trouble with the mistakes that were made and the book didn't offer that much new information for me, I can highly recommend this book. Especially the version with the Slayer Lore and all these little collectibles. It's amazing to see so many pictures on the set and the book shares some eye opening moments as well as fun facts about the beginning, the running and the ending of the show. The pictures are beautiful, but the a lot of them are official photographs. Therefore it's the sketches and behind-the-scenes poloroids from make up departments and the like that give it something extra. It even had me wishing that I could own one of the props like the Sunnydale map, which is featured in this book on a double page picture :P. This book has it all. It is (and will probably always be) one of my most prized collectibles.

The Death's Daughter series

One of my favorite writers of this moment is Amber Benson. I know her from the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where she played the role of Tara. But she's so much more than that. Not only has she made independent movies such as Chance, Lovers, Liars and Lunatics and Drones. But she also writes. Boy, does she write! And I LOVE her writing. I got the fourth 'Death's Daughter' novel for my 24th birthday, called How to be Death. I couldn't wait for the final book in the series, which I just got for my 25th birthday :D. She's also wrote Ghost of Albion and Among the Ghosts. Great works, that really deserve a read. I like her writing, her use of words and all the supernatural elements that surprise you. So in this blog, I will talk about the five books in the Death's Daughter series, just because I love it and because I can :-).

>>>>>>>>>>>> SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Death's Daughter

All Calliope Reaper-Jones wanted was a normal life: buying designer shoes on sale, dating guys from Craig’s List, web-surfing for organic dim-sum for her boss... It's the reason she used a forgetting charm to stay clear of her real life. But when her father—who happens to be Death himself—is kidnapped, and the Devil’s Protege embarks on a hostile takeover of the family business, Death, Inc., Callie returns home to assume the CEO mantle— only to discover she must complete three nearly impossible tasks in the realm of the afterlife first. 

One of the things I absolutely love about this book is that Callie is more of an anti-hero. Yes, she's immortal so she can't really die, but she's very human as well. Her character is sarcastic and sassy, she struggles during the fights, cares a lot about fashion... And she does what she must to save her family. Even though the story is set in today's world, Benson uses greek mythology, theology and hindi, which makes the story even more fantastical. The story is exciting and amazing, the supernatural world goes beyond your imagination and the characters are awesome. In my eyes, Callie's world is the best fantasy world to get lost in.

(this macarena dance by Amber Benson 

was part of a challenge for her first book)

Cat's Claw

The second book in the story goes a bit further. Calliope Reaper-Jones is Death's Daughter, this we know. But now she owes a debt to Cerberus, the three headed dog that guards the gates of hell. And this debt involves many things, such as a trip to Purgatory, Las Vegas, ancient Egypt and.... a discount department store that's even more frightening than any supernatural creature she'll ever encounter.


Callie's talking pup, Runt, was amazing in the first book. You immediatly want one of those dogs for yourself, but I also love cats. So I immediatly was interested in the book. Sad to say that the immortal Callie is actually allergic to them... Anyways. It's also about Egypt, which I like very much. I've always been interested in Greek mythology as well as ancient Egypt, the way they lived out there and the cultures/beliefs they had. Benson addes this to the story which makes the fantasy world even greater, with more different mythological creatures. Every books keeps you hungry for more. To see how Callie will handle the next thing, as well as how the other characters will grow and help her.

(My signed copy of her second book! )

Serpent's Storm

Callie is still trying to stay away from the family business of Death Inc. while wanting to achieve her dreams in the Big Apple as a normal working girl. But no matter how much she tries to stay away from daddy's coorperation, it just keeps hunting her. Especially now that her older sister, Thalia, has made a deal with the Devil himself, to engage in a hostile takeover of both Death Inc. and Heaven... once they can get Callie out of the way.

Sisterly rivalry... Who isn't familiar with it? I myself have two sisters (I'm the middle one) and this book focuses - more than anything - on family ties, on backgrounds. Not just of Callie, but also of her boyfriend, her boss and her sisters. I especially love Clio (the younger sister) and all the discoveries Callie makes about her own childhood. There's also this big discovery that Callie and Daniel aren't the only ones in the running for Death... A third person is introduced. This book is bloody brilliant and exciting, a little darker then the other ones. It was supposed to be the last one in the series, but it was such a succes that two more books were added. You'll never get enough of it!

I couldn't upload the vid I wanted so just watch it here. It's Amber Benson reading from her third book, with someone else and.... it's a sex scene!!!!! It's hilarious, just watch it ;-)

How to be Death

By now Calliope Reaper-Jones is the official brand new President of Death, Inc. But nothing ever comes easy. The Board of Death is breathing down her neck and her dad's copy of How to be Death (A Fully Annotated Guide) remains unopened, so Callie is really feeling the tension. To celebrate her newly found position, there's a formal dinner being held, but during this fancy dinner the guide book is stolen. So not only does Callie have to figure out how to be boss, she also needs to find the book before the powers it holds get out and destroy humanity forever...

This book was something: A whodunit! Who doesn't like that?! I loved it. It's totally different in the way it reads and Benson knows just how much information to give away and how much to hold back. Issues such as (ex) boyfriend troubles, living up to expectations and murder are all included, just like many of the favorite characters (Runt!!!) and adding some new ones. It's an absolute joy to read!

(Amber Benson reading the first chapter)

The Golden Age of Death

This book resumes where How to be Death left of. Callie is still the reluctant head of her father's company, Death Inc. To say it in her words: "I was gradually learning how to be a businesswoman. Had the power suits and shoes down, though the day to day was slow going. Then I was blindsided by Enemies Unknown and sent off to I-don't-know-where. Not a good thing. Now not only must my friends and family be frantic, but without a CEO, Death, Inc., can't function. With the newly deceased left free to roam the Earth, it's a zombie apocalypse come true." Safe to say... the world needs Callie back for another adventure!

I got the final book in the series, The Golden Age of Death, for my birthday this year and just started reading it. So I can't say much about it right now, except that I'm loving it. Big things are happening and worlds are colliding... I can't wait to see how Calliope is going to challenge this one. I'll be sure to update this little section once I finished it ;-).

The greatest news yet? At the convention I attended in Octobre 2011, Benson mentioned that they are negotiating about making it a (animated?) series. I'm not if that is still in the works, but it sure would be awesome!

Amber Benson also has her own blog and gave some advice there about people who always say they want to write. It's good advice, so if you are one of those people, take a look right here.

Birthdays

A little over a week ago I celebrated my 24th birthday. Now, normally I do not think this is a big deal. People always ask you what you want for your birthday and I come up blanc. Seriously... I don't know. I don't really have any money and a lot of the time I just see things and wish I had them, but when that one moment a year comes I don't know what to say. There is another reason as well. That is that I think people are to materialistic. They always want so much stuff and I can't stand it. Sure, I also wish I had some things. I love reading books and I love watching movies. So if I have the money I would buy it. But it's a whole different thing if you ask other people for it. In a way I think its rude and shallow and basically it makes me uncomfortable and gives me a bad feeling. Like I'm doing something wrong. 

But it's not that I'm against presents. I love presents. I just don't really know how to act when I get them. In my previous blog I mentioned that I got a present, or should I say THE PRESENT? It was a Serenity DVD signed by Joss Whedon. I got this present in the train and I gotta tell ya. You wouldn't believe my reaction. I'm pretty sure I turned red and even cried a little. I couldn't stop staring at it and thanking the wonderful man that gave it to me. Because it means so much to me and it sooooo awesome ;-). What I guess matters most to me when I get a present, is that it comes from the heart. Around birthdays it's expected to bring presents. And maybe that's what's wrong with it for me. There's no surprise there. I much rather surprise my Mom or sisters with a present just because I saw it in a store and thought they might like it. The surprised and happy look on their face, that's why I do it. And no, of course it doesn't need to be expensive. Why would anyone even say such a thing? It would only make me uncomfortable, knowing that I'm holding something in my hands that's expensive. And possibly guilty, that someone spend that much money on me. I guess I just don't deal well with it or something.

There are some presents I got that I absolutly LOVE! For instance, in one of my previous blogs I mentioned a trip to a theme park called the EFTELING. This was a birthday present from my sister and her boyfriend for me and mine. It was an awesome day! Yes, I did feel a little bit guilty, because it was expensive. But it was so good and an outing is about the experience instead of something materialistic. I got to spend a day with the people I love in a beautiful place. What's not to love? :-). 

Moving on to my actual birthday celebration and the presents. My dear, sweet uncle gave me a book that I have been wanting to read since I started studying Film and Television. It's called Twentieth Century by Albert Robida. Kinda sci-fi about inventions that we would have in the 20th century. So I'm very excited to start reading it. It's the perfect present after waiting such a long time to get my hands on it.

My parents and sister also gave me great presents. A couple of years ago a movie came out with Sarah Michelle Gellar (yes, she plays Buffy) called Veronika Decides to Die. It took forever to come out here. In the meantime I already downloaded it (so sue me, I got impatient!) and bought the book and read it twice. Now I own it on DVD and watched it with my family. I finally got to share it. I really loved the movie the first time I watched it and I love it even more. It's so beautiful and sweet and just ... so GOOD. 

There is one more present I like to pay attention to. And that's the book How to Be Death - Yes, my family really thought there might be something going on there, but I don't think of the titles, I just love the work ;-). In October I went to this convention and I got to meet the amazing and wonderful Amber Benson. I know her from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I kept up with what she was doing. She made some great movies, not to mention great books like Death's Daughter. It was supposed the be a series of three books, but at that convention Amber was nice enough to share that there would be two more books. Safe to say that I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. It came out in February I believe, but me not having a job or a paycheck... decided to do the smart thing and spend the money on food and rent. So I was very thrilled to get it for my birthday. I just started reading it and I can't wait for what's coming next!!!!! As an added bonus, I posted my happiness with the book on Twitter and shortly after I got a reply. By none other than Miss Benson herself!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D (I have to stop, but seriously, there are not enough smiley faces). She wished me a happy birthday!!!! How awesom is that for a birthday present, right? A very little thing, but it made me jump up in the air. And that really made my birthday. So honestly people, money isn't everything. 

Which leeds me to my other thing. To me the most important thing about birthdays or just any special kind of event is to spend it with the people you love. Birthday in itself, not so special. I don't really like the attention. But on my actual birthday me, my sister and my parents, we played games (cards, boardgames and Yathzee) and it was so much fun. In the weekend - the actual celebration - my uncle, boyfriend other sister and her boyfriend came to visit and we talked and had fun. So my perfect birthday would be spending time with family and friends. Just talking, nothing special. Well, maybe some kind of cake or pie. Because I love me some of those ;-).

I feel like there's a lot more I wanted to say about birthdays and presents, but I seemed to have forgotten most of it. So let me end with this:

- Presents? Sure they are nice, but much better when it's not from a list, but given from the heart.

- Attention? Not so much, though spending time with family and friends is definitely the most important to me.

- Aging? Not really a thing for me. Though I have to a admit, I thought around this time I wanted to have a job and maybe some more stability in my life. So maybe that's why I didn't want a whole big thing.

- Cake/Pie? Yeah baby!!!! One of the best things right?

--> Family and friends are what matters most. Without them, what's life even worth.

All in all I had a wonderful time on my birthday, not to mention the past year. Because I finally graduated. Wootwoot! It was fun and I loved the presents I got, not to mention the company I was in. Now I'm still enjoying the books and dvd :-). 

P.s. A while ago Eliza Dushku started her facebook page, which of course I liked (she played Faith in Buffy). I made a comment on here page and she 'liked' it, which also send me through the roof :-P.