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Previously,
the only novelisations Pocket Books have given us have been adaptations
of the Buffy movie and selected television episodes. Now,
Christopher Golden has novelised his Oz comic mini-series.
For
those who haven't read the Dark Horse comics, the story picks up
from Oz's departure in Wild and Heart and his subsequent
claim in New Moon Rising that he had control the werewolf
inside him.
Most
of Pocket Books' Buffy novels have followed a fairly familiar
route, with some or all of the Scooby Gang facing up to Sunnydale's
latest threat.
Into
the Wild
therefore stands out from the crowd in several ways. The story itself
is a tale of Oz's journey and subsequent attempts to control the
wolf side of his nature, while apart from a brief appearance by
the Scoobies, they only characters from the TV series are Oz and
Cain the werewolf hunter from Phases.
Oz's
nature makes him one of the most difficult Buffy characters
to capture in print, and if the characterisation was off then Into
the Wild would have failed dismally. Fortunately,
Golden captures him well, and also manages to flesh out Oz's comment
in Phases about his cousin Jordy.
Of
course, we know from New Moon Rising that Oz had at least
a degree of control over the wolf, so we know to some extent how
things will turn out. Golden uses this to his advantage, with the
journey proving more interesting than the conclusion itself.
In
fact, this was a little disappointing, as I'd guessed from a long
way out how this would involve Oz conquering the wolf. But to be
fair, it would have been difficult for Golden to have avoided this.
Nevertheless,
this is definitely one of the better Buffy books, even though
Pocket Books have now jacked the price of the range up to a penny
short of seven quid. BACK
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