Door to Alternity is volume two of the "Unseen" trilogy of Buffy/Angel crossover novels. It's filled with demons, monsters and magic, but also with more human violence than is usual in these stories, with an all-out shooting war between Mexican and Russian gangs in LA and Sunnydale. At the end of volume one, The Burning, Buffy and Angel saw a man disappear into a strange shimmering golden circle which then vanished and now similar circles are appearing in Sunnydale, disgorging monsters of every description. Buffy and Riley are kept busy fighting them, helped by Spike, who still can't hurt humans and is delighted to have something he can hit. Meanwhile, in LA, more teenagers are vanishing, apparently into thin air. The background story takes us to the USSR in 1971 where scientists were experimenting with a "Reality Tracer" designed to make contact with alternate realities, looking for worlds where communism has triumphed. When the Soviet Union collapsed, some of the scientists brought their machine to LA, where they hooked up with the Russian mafia who are currently fighting a turf war with Mexican gangs. But the portals created by this machine aren't working exactly as they should. In amongst the action, the authors still find time for the familiar bickering between the regulars--Cordelia's Wesley-baiting and Anya's general tactlessness are particularly enjoyable, and it's good to see Tara included in the Scooby Gang. This is a very good second volume and sets the stage for what should be an explosive finale in volume three: Long Way Home --Elizabeth Sourbut
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
for the fans of the two programmes this book is a must for fans of the buffy realm. but you need to read the other two books that come in this set of books. a good read and one that you can really lose yourselve in. it has the characters that if your a fan you will associate with but i also believe it is a good book for the first time person coming into the buffy/angel realm.
Buffy and Angel finally find out what is really going on... "Door to Alternity," the second in the "Unseen" Buffy/Angel crossover trilogy, offers us an explanation for why people are disappearing in Los Angeles while monsters are popping up all over the place in Sunnydale. But what is more interesting is what we discover to be the power behind the opening of these doors to "alternity," as Nancy Holder and Jeff Mariotte offer an interesting twist on the downfall of the Soviet Union. Now we understand why the Russian Mafiya has been playing so prominent a role in the... more info
Not Bad The first book of the Unseen trillogy was very enjoyable. Its great to have Buffy and Angel working together and it keeps you wanting to read more with the focus switching between Sunnydale and LA. As in all of Nancy Holders books the characterisation is spot on and everyone seems true to their respective series. However, this book isn't quite up to the standard set in The Burning. Thats not to say it's bad though. The book is quite enjoyable and it sits well as the middle of a trillogy. If you've read... more info
Not overly impressed 'Door To Alternity' keeps on plodding forward, but that's about the best that can be said for it; I hope Holder and Mariotte are keeping their top material back for the final part of the trilogy, because it's not here.
Characterisation, in general, is good: far too much sex talk from Anya, a depth of feeling from Buffy for Riley that the show doesn't really bear out, and a non-entirely-believable volte face for one of the original characters. There are some snide comments about Spike/vampires and evil... more info
