The Deathless (Buffy novel)

The Deathless is an original novel based on the U.S. television series Buffy.

Plot summary

Little is so far known AbOUT the story of the book. The author has revealed that the book is "traditional Buffy fare, a third-season adventure that involves Ring Day at Sunnydale High School and the arrival of several people from Russian folklore, including Koschei the Deathless and Baba Yaga."

Trivia

• The author confirmed characters that would appear in the novel: Buffy, Angel, Xander, Willow, Giles, Oz, Cordelia, Principal Snyder, and Faith. Other familiar Sunnydale High students are likely to appear as well, including Willow's fellow magic user Michael (from "Gingerbread").
• Ring Day - Occasion in American Highschools, where students receive their class ring. It usually would take place in junior or senior year.

Folkore and Mythology

The book uses draws from Slavic mythology:

• Koschei - In Russian mythology, Koschei is an evil person of ugly appearance, who principally menaces young women. Koschei is also known as Koschei the Deathless (Коще́й Бессме́ртный). Koschei is extremely difficult to kill because his soul is hidden separate from his body, and as long as his soul is safe, he cannot die.

• Baba Yaga - The wild woman, the dark lady, mistress of magic, and a forest spirit, leading hosts of spirits.

Continuity

• Will be set after "The Zeppo" but before "Bad Girls". According to the author, "At the end of "The Zeppo," Giles and Willow are injured, but in "Bad Girls" they're all better. Since neither of them have the super-healing powers of vampires and Slayers, it has to be several weeks between those two episodes, so it's the perfect spot to place a novel-length adventure -- with the added bonus that I get to use Faith as a good guy."

Canonical issues

Buffy novels, such as this one are not considered by most fans as part of canon. They are usually not considered as official Buffyverse reality, but are novels from the authors' imaginations. However unlike fanfic, 'overviews' summarising their story, written early in the writing process, were 'approved' by both Fox and Whedon (or his office), and the books were therefore later published as officially Buffy merchandise.

Timing

• Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:

Footnotes

1. - Keith R.A. DeCandido reveals story (June 2006)

2. - Author reveals characters (scroll down) (June 2006)