Mortal Fear

First edition cover
Author	Scott Ciencin and Denise Ciencin
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre	Horror novel
Publisher	Pocket Books
Publication date	1 September 2003
Media type	Print (hardback and paperback)
Pages	479
ISBN	0-7434-6867-8
OCLC	52459488
Preceded by	Apocalypse Memories
Followed by	Spark and Burn

Mortal Fear is an original novel based on the U.S. television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Plot summary

Something new has swept into the lives of the Scooby Gang, but all through different sources as they try to find acceptance with other people outside their tight knit slayage group; Xander with his co-workers, Willow with her professor at university and Dawn with a new group of not so strait-laced friends. Meanwhile, Buffy is being sent on random missions by a man that goes by the name of Simon. He wants her to retrieve parts of a mystical sword and put them together, but he refuses to say why or who he even is. When her friends suddenly start to turn against her, Buffy has to figure out how the sword and Simon ties into all the odd goings-on in Sunnydale.

Continuity

• The Historian's Note incorrectly identifies this story as taking place in the sixth season of Buffy.

Canonical issues

Buffy books such as this one are not usually considered by fans as canonical. Some fans consider them stories from the imaginations of authors and artists, while other fans consider them as taking place in an alternative fictional reality. However unlike fan fiction, overviews summarising their story, written early in the writing process, were 'approved' by both Fox and Joss Whedon (or his office), and the books were therefore later published as officially Buffy/Angel merchandise.