This is one of my recent reads. Author Jim C. Hines has been a favorite of mine for a few years, and I always check out his work. Hines is falling back on one of his favorite tricks here, skewering an older favorite TV show. His second series, Princesses, featured fairy tale princesses recast as Charlie’s Angels. Slayers of Old is an urban fantasy, billed as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Golden Girls.” I didn’t watch those series intensely, so I can’t say how exact the comparison is. I do enjoy his take on the end life, if you will, of a chosen ones who had to walk away from the perpetual chaos.

The three protagonists are Jenny, the chosen one who walked; Annette, a succubus with a complicated family life; and Temple, a 99-year-old master wizard whose powers are fading. Jenny, to me, is the most recognizably Buffy. She had a teen squad of support heroes through high school and an older mentor watching over them. After a dramatic turn that I won’t spoil for you, Jenny realized it was more than a little problematic to turn teenagers into living weapons and send them out on death-defying missions. That was when she walked. Once she stopped her heroics, her team drifted apart.

Annette also has gone through trouble in her relationships. Being a half-demon with uncontrollable sex appeal was useful in some ways to her career as a detective. However, her children and grandchildren also inherited this trait. Her son doesn’t want her to tell his kids of their supernatural heritage but as they go through puberty, there’s no way to hide it. Things get messy.

Temple, the wizard, has simply grown very old. He’s having a hard time, not only with the physical symptoms, but just caring enough to get up in the morning. Temple has allowed Annette and Jenny to move into his magical house and turn part of it into a supernatural shop. But as his age catches up with him, the house begins to fray.

The fourth important character is Ronnie, a nascent hero who turns up to harass the supernatural store. It turns out Ronnie is descended from a different heritage of chosen ones. Both his parents are dead, although his mom, Margaret, is haunting his battle van. Ronnie is trying out the family trade for himself. After some initial misunderstandings, he becomes Jenny’s trainee.

Things seem to settle down, but evil is still afoot. One by one, the characters are attacked by a shadowy cult that is trying to summon something they never could hope to control. Jenny, Annette and Temple are forced out of retirement to save the world yet again.

It’s a fun story over all. I have a few quibbles, but I’ll keep them to myself. I don’t know if Hines is planning a follow up, but he usually does trilogies. I’ll be there for it if he does another. You’ll enjoy Slayers of Old, especially if you were a devotee of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Golden Girls.

---

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky.