Last Gleaming by Joss Whedon

Book Details
Last Gleaming by Joss Whedon
Paperback, 160 Pages
2011, Dark Horse
ISBN: 1595826106
Series: Book 8 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8

Synopsis
The Season Finale is here, and Buffy must face the ultimate betrayal! Seems like a perfect time for Spike to come back. Series creator Joss Whedon writes the final story arc of Buffy Season 8, taking his greatest characters to places only he can! Teamed with series artist Georges Jeanty, Joss reunites the dysfunctional gang of Buffy, Angel, and Spike, in the thick of it together for the first time since Season 3, and gives the Scoobies their gravest challenge ever - defending reality itself from an onslaught of demons. It's the biggest Buffy finale ever!

Review
Joss Whedon, I love you. I hate you. I love you, again. No, wait, maybe I don't. Yeah, that's how my reading of this final installment of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8 went. With higher highs and lower lows that ever seen on the show itself, Last Gleaming will charm you, shock you, break your heart and leave you completely desperate for more Buffy and friends.

Now, I didn't love the last couple of episodes in the Twilight storyline, but I think Last Gleaming salvaged the season in spectacular fashion. Utterly, utterly shocking. Just mind blowing. And devastating. I cried. For a while. And then again when telling my non-reader husband how Joss hurt me. You are a bad, bad man. Never have I been as thoroughly effected by a fictional happening as I was with the monumental occurrence in Last Gleaming.

Apart from the final episodes of Season 8, Last Gleaming includes a one shot explaining how Riley became involved in fight as well as a letter from Joss to the fans. The letter explains some of the directions Season 8 chose to go as well as promising a Season 9 to come. Joss is awesome. He brings the pain, but makes it hurt so good. He managed to take this much yearned for season and make it something truly epic. The ending certainly isn't happily ever after, but it'll get longtime fans right at their cores. An absolutely perfect ending to the season that instills a great need to continue on to the next.

Rating