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It's always a little unfair
to review something out of sequence, but somehow Coyote Moon slipped
through the Planet Buffy reviewing net first time around.
In practice, this means
that what seemed like a reasonable run-around for younger readers back in
1998 seems less impressive second time around.
As with many Pocket Books'
novels, there are major problems placing Coyote Moon into the TV
series' continuity. It appears to be set between the first two
seasons, yet Buffy is in Sunnydale, which contradicts the television series
and the later How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Vol. 1.
Despite that problem, John
Vornholt serves up a fairly enjoyable take on the werewolf story, with a
bunch of shape-shifters who take the form of coyotes in place of the more
familiar wolf.
While Buffy has the coyotes
to deal with, Giles goes into research mode (although you'd also expect him
to know what candyfloss is) and Xander and Willow fall for a couple of
attractive carnival folk.
This being Sunnydale they
carnival is in town for more than just money-making reasons, with a long
dead 19th showman lying in one of Sunnydale's graveyards.
Being reviewed so out of
sequence means that Coyote Moon's mark is probably a little lower
than it would have been had I reviewed it on its release. As it
stands, it's a pretty enjoyable story whose style fits with the series'
early episodes. The absence of Angel and Cordelia helps keep the focus
on just four regular characters, but in 160 pages you're never going to get
much more than a fun runabout.
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