Bibliofreakblog

Angel: After the Fall Vol. 2 (First Night) by Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch

Usually, I’m all for prequels.  But not when they come in the second installment of a series.  So, the proper order to read the After the Fall books in might actually be the following:

Volume 2 (First Night)
Spike: After the Fall
Volume 1
Volume 3
Volume 4, etc.

And so, by some twist of fate, that is more or less the order I’m blogging about them, as I happened to read volume 1 last year and never blogged about it, and read Spike some months ago and did blog about it.  Get it?

O.K. then.

So, we back up to right after the fall of Los Angeles into Hell.  Each character gets their own little part of the story, and we find how they are adjusting to their new (un)lives.

Spike meets up with Illyria.  Of course, we already know that if we have read either volume 1 or Spike.  Really, that’s the case all over here.

It’s more the how and the why that the authors seem to be after.

The best bit is Connor’s story, in which, during various situations, he tries to think what his Dad would do, but remembers that he has three dads, so tries to think what each of them would do:

“Should I fight them?  Angel would.  Second Dad would avoid the fight if he could, get them while they’re sleeping.  Third Dad would call the police.”

Lorne’s section is all in rhyme–and I’ll be honest, it’s a bit cheesy.  But then again, so is Lorne.

Wesley is a ghost.  He is not in heaven with Fred.  It is sad.

And then there’s a blast from the past…

And then comes some bits about Gwen, and then some civilians.

And we’ll just skip Gunn in order to avoid spoilers…

Yup.  Gotta go re-read volume 1 before delving into volume 3.
Buy Angel: After the Fall: First Night Volume 2 on Amazon

If you like this author/book, you might like:

(my reviews in blue)

Spike Omnibus
Angel Omnibus
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus, Vol. 1
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus, Vol. 2
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus, Volume 3
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus, Volume 4
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume 5
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume 6
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume 7
Watchmen by Alan Moore
The Physics of the Buffyverse by Jennifer Ouillette

Other Works by Joss Whedon:

Fray
Tales of the Vampires
Tales of the Slayers
Serenity Official Visual Companion
Serenity: Those Left Behind
Serenity 2: Better Days
Firefly: The Official Companion: Volume One
Firefly: The Official Companion: Volume Two
Firefly: Still Flying: A Celebration of Joss Whedon’s Acclaimed TV Series
Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 3
Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 4
Angel: Not Fade Away
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 1: Long Way Home
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 2: No Room for You
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 3: Wolves at the Gate
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 4: Time of Your Life
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 5: Predators and Prey
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 6: Retreat
Astonishing X-Men Omnibus
Runaways, Vol. 8: Dead End Kids

Other works by Brian Lynch:

Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 1
Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 3
Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 4
Angel: Smile Time
Spike: Shadow Puppets
Spike: Asylum
Spike Omnibus
Spike: After the Fall