As far as Buffy essay collections go, this one was hit and miss. ( )

As always, when reading a collection from many different contributors, it's impossible to like them all equally. My favorite essays were written by Roxanne Longstreet Conrad (loved her frisky creativity), Scott Westerfeld (his ideas about story types intrigued me), Laura Resnick (liked her writing and it rang true to me), Justine Larbalestier (really loved her voice and her "festival" ideas), Kevin Andrew Murphy (interesting behind-the-scenes info about making the show), Christie Golden (another fresh and frisky voice, explaining just why Willow isn't a Wiccan) and Lawrence Watt-Evans (offering an unexpected choice for a Buffy love interest).

Several of the other essays were interesting enough but not standouts, and a couple didn't support their arguments very well or took things to a weird, and in my opinion, overly-serious level.

Also, the intro by Drew Goddard had me laughing out loud.

Fun collection and a must-read for Buffy fans. ( )

Most of these essays are on the silly side, intentionally or not. The only writer I'd actually read before was Sarah Zettel and I liked her essay that made some sense of the difference between the high school seasons and the post high school seasons - why the latter didn't work as well. I haven't been watching reruns, but it will probably be fun in a few years after memory has faded. (January 17, 2005) ( )

A lot of the essays in this book start getting samey. The power of friendship, sexiness of vampires, who should Buffy be with, wiccan good, love the earth, woman power. It starts feeling like refined versions of online editorials, only by professional authors.

And that's saying something because, unlike most things, I did not lurk on Buffy web sites. I didn't read the analyses or identify with a main character or get into discussion groups. Mostly because I wanted to avoid spoilers, but because I thought the TV show, by itself, was perfect. Anything extraneous would sully it, like dumping a bunch of toppings on ice cream. ( )

Why read: Received for review.

What impressed me: Many authors I had read, or at least heard of, contributed essays to Seven Seasons of Buffy. I didn't agree with everything the essayists put forth, but appreciated the contrasting opinions that made me consider other outlooks. This book is a celebration of everything that Buffy was, but doesn't hold back when presenting theories and ideas that show fans may rabidly disagree with.

What disappointed me: With any anthology of this nature, some essays were drier than other and some essayists seemed less familiar with the subject that they should have been. It wasn't perfect, but it was one of the better books that look deeper into Buffy.

Recommended: Buffy fans, obviously, but the more fanatical the better. ( )