The thing I really liked about this book was that it stayed true to the characters. For the most part, Xena stayed Xena and Gabrielle stayed Gabrielle. At times the dialog got a little awkward (overuse of "I mean" or lengthy explanations), but I think a lot of that had to do with crossing from TV to print. Xena's tone of voice and Gabrielle's timing from the show do not translate to print, so I think that accounts for some of the clunky dialog.

Furthermore, the fight scenes feel a little dry and vague, but again, this is probably due to the barrier of turning TV into a book. So while watching Xena's chakram bounce from to tree to tree to henchman in the TV show is thrilling, it's a little dull to read about.

The book was a little slow to start and heavy of the descriptions, but overall I enjoyed it. Emerson did well despite the challenge of turning TV show characters into book characters. The story, once it got going, was interesting and stayed true to the kind of Xena story that would take place in the show.

Panellists: Foz Meadows, L.M. Myles, Tansy Rayner Roberts,Sarah Shemilt, Christi Scarborough

At the end of last year, to mark ten years since the broadcast of the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the BBC, Naomi Alderman made a special edition of the Radio 4 programme Front Row, featuring interviews with cast, creator, and critics. Among other things, she asked what the show’s legacy had been, and whether the right lessons — female characters written as well as men, given as much narrative importance as men, and surrounded by other women — had been learned. Following on from her discussion, our panel will ask: who are Buffy’s heirs? (And you can listen to the original programme here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03m7zmq)

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