James B. South

Out of the 22 essays in the book, I felt that perhaps six, at most, were well-written and solid in their arguments. While the first "Codex", which dealt with Buffy and feminism in a fairly atrocious and patronising manner, nearly made me give up on the book altogether, Codex 3 (Buffy and Ethics) and Codex 4 (Religion and Politics in Buffyverse) saved quite a lot by taking a clear and concise look into the morals of Buffyverse.

Kudos to the editor for including the somewhat subversive final essay, "Feeling for Buffy: The Girl Next Door", that criticises many academics for giving the TV series qualities and merits it doesn't have, but even that ends with half-arsed Freudian analysis of the relationship between Buffy's character and the viewer.… (more)

I like Bond, I like some philosophy now and then too so I'd thought I'd like them together. The authors' use of Bond as a symbolic analogy to compare or to support philosophical points was unnecessary, unconvincing, and not even entertaining. It's clear that the authors are not really consummate Bond fans and do not understand the depth of the character. Reading this feels like they were intellectually torturing Ian Flemming himself. It seems using Bond was more of a way to sell a philosophy book that no one would have bought otherwise.… (more)