Marjorie Liu
Iron Hunt (2008)
I picked this up partially because the story looked interesting and partially because I loved the cover. Plus I read several recommendations and thought I’d like it. And I did like it, but there is one major drawback.
It’s one of those books that doesn’t really end. Yes, there is a conclusion to the book–we aren’t left hanging–but there is an over arching story arc, and that is left very open-ended, which I don’t particularly like in a first book.
Now I have to admit that it wasn’t a bad way to write the story, and it was very well done. I just have not been in the mood for epic fantasy for a very long time. I want to read a series because I enjoy spending time with the characters, not because reading on is the only way to find out if everyone survives (or whatever).
So, aside from my pet peeves, how was the story?
Not bad.
Maxine Kiss is a demon hunter. She has skills and advantages that have been passed along from mother to daughter for centuries, as they are the last of the Watchers to guard the earth from Demons. Most of the demons she encounters are zombies. Except that her zombies aren’t the shambling undead that live upon brains, but are instead possessed humans that thrive on the pain of others.
Although her mother lived a life of solitude, traveling only with Maxine and the boys, moving from place to place and hunting demons, Maxine has broken her mother’s rules and has settled down in one city, in one place, and with one man. A man with unique skills it must be said, but one still a single man. And because or despite of this, she has been found by those who are searching for her, and who have come to tell her that the world as she knows it will soon be ending.
The story did wander a bit, and was confusing at times, and did refuse to conclude the major story arc, meaning sequels are not just in the works, but mandatory, but Maxine and Grant were interesting, and I wanted to discover who Jack was and why he was involving himself with Maxine. I also wanted to learn more about the boys, but they remain very much a mystery.
I’ll pick the next book up in the series at some point after it comes out, but I won’t rush to look for it, and I may have Michael read it first, to let me know if the level of resolution at the end of the story continues to decrease, in which case I’ll definitely put off continuing the series.
Rating:6/10
Darkness Calls (2009)
As a disclaimer, I read much of this book on the plane, so that may have affected my opinion to some degree.
Darkness Calls continues the story of Maxine Kiss. She is a Hunter who has inherited a fight against demons and the darkness. Unfortunately for her, it is no longer clear to her who are the bad guys in this fight. Grant, her lover and one called the Lightbringer, is being hunted by demons and the powers of darkness. Maxine, who was raised to be a loner, now has to look out for someone other than herself and the anonymous people possessed by demons.
First and foremost, there were several passages I have to go back and reread before I could make sense of what was going on. I got lost several times in the story, and occasionally wondered just precisely where things were going.
Most things eventually cleared up, but I am still not sure why the bad guys acted in the way they did. I mean, there are bad guys and there are bad guys, and I like to feel like bad guys have reasons for what they are doing, beyond simply Being Evil. I wasn’t so sure about that here.
Yes, the Big Bad was manipulating others, but I’m not sure that, “he’s a demon and they’re not like is” is enough of a reason for some of the things that happened.
I was also bothered by the fact things were far more visual this time. It’s not that I don’t like visuals, I’d just rather have action more than long descriptions of the horrors the bad guy has created.
I did keep reading, and did want to know what happened to the characters. I’m just hoping that the next book in the series (and there will be more books in this series) is better than this one.
Rating: 6/10
The Fire King (2009)
This is a kissing book.
I knew that when I picked it up, because it had a floating man head on the cover, and that swoopy writing you only see on romance covers. But I was somewhere without a book, and when I stopped at the grocery store to pick up something else, I saw this book and thought, “hmmm… I like her writing well enough. And it has to be better than having no book,” so with that I bought it.
I am coming to believe that if I know a book is a romance before I start reading it, I don’t mind so much.
Although this book is part of a series, I didn’t have difficulty falling into the story without knowing anything else about the characters and their world, which I think is a high recommendation in and of itself.
Soria is still trying to recover from the loss of her arm a year previously. Because of her unique skills, she is asked to return to the agency Dirk & Steele to see if she can understand a man whose language no one else recognizes. Karr awakes to a world he does not understand and where he can communicate with no one. He is bound as a captive because his skills as a shape shifter are a threat when he tries to escape a confusing world full of strangers.
The story shifts between Soria and Kerr’s points of view, which made it particularly interesting, since Kerr does not recognize the world around him, and so things we take for granted are strange and confusing to him. We also learn about their pasts as they learn about each other. I thought this was well done because although we are in the minds of the characters, it didn’t seem as if they were hiding anything from the reader, as much as trying not to relive painful memories, so when their discuss their pasts with one another, it doesn’t feel forced.
Of course this is a kissing book, so you know the two characters are going to end up together, it was just interesting to see how they dealt with the challenges.
Rating: 7/10
No Way Home (2009)
Marjorie Liu, Kalman Andrasofszky, Sara Pichelli
I came across No Way Home at a book store and snatched it up. When I realized there was a volume prior to this, I ordered Wannabe, wanting to read that first.
I loved Wannabe.
Only problem with that is it set up expectations for No Way Home.
No Way Home is good, and I liked it, but it wasn’t quite as good as Wannabe, which is the problem with reading books one after the other.
But setting aside the first book, I did like No Way Home. We learn more about the background of Bobby Soul and little brother, which is just as horrible as you’d expect, but we knew going on they were just as damaged as Kiden and Tatiana coming in.
The story opens with Kiden chained to a table, in bad shape. There is someone talking about her, but we have no idea who it is. The we jump back two days earlier. Cameron is still checking in on the kids, and trying to get them back into school. Unfortunately, someone is after Kiden and her friends, and is willing to do anything to get them.
The story is good, and a little more resolved than the ending of Wannabe, and I kept turning the pages to discover what happened, which is always a good sign for a story. We’re still left wondering what is going on with Kiden’s father, but we know he achieved what he wanted.
The characters remain very well done and maintain their individuality. Kidden and Bobby Soul remain complex, and I enjoyed learning more about them. I like that Tatiana has remained scared and seems far younger than her companions, even if their age difference isn’t that great.
I would recommend this series–especially to non-comic readers–but just be aware that Wannabe is the stronger of the two volumes.
Rating: 8/10
Never After (2009)
Laurell K. Hamilton, Yasmine Galenorn, Marjorie M. Liu, Sharon Shinn
The only reason I have this book a second glance after seeing Laurell K. Hamilton’s name was because I’ve read books by Yasmine Galenorn, Marjorie M. Liu, and Sharon Shinn and loved what I read. So I grabbed the book, despite my misgivings.
I freely admit that I didn’t bother to read Laurell K. Hamilton’s story. I’ve read other stories by her in other anthologies, and wasn’t impressed, and since I was looking for something enjoyable, I skipped straight to Yasmine Galenorn’s story “The Shadow of Mist.”
Siobhan is a selkie who has moved to American to escape a forced marriage. When her former betrothed hunts her down after a century, she turns to her friends for help, but also has to learn to depend upon herself.
I enjoyed the fact that she chose to write about a selkie character. Strangely enough, I just read another story about a selkie, but I’m still glad to see supernatural fantasy stories branching out from vampires and werewolves and elves.
Although the story was about love and forced marriage, it was in greater part about Siobhan learning to trust herself and take care of herself, which I quite liked.
The second story was “The Tangleroot Palace” by Marjorie M. Liu. Sally is told by her father that she is to marry the Warlord of the South, to create a peace between their peoples. As the Warlord of the South has a terrible reputation for violence and destruction, Sally wants nothing to do with him. When her oldest friend, the gardener, suggests that she will find a solution in the haunted Tangleroot , Sally runs there in the hopes of finding a way out without leading to the destruction of the kingdom.
I really liked this story. Even though I guessed a major plot point right away, it didn’t particularly matter to the story. Sally was a wonderful heroine, and the supporting characters were also very good, and well developed despite the short length of the story.
The final story, “The Wrong Bridegroom” by Sharon Shinn was the longest–and also possibly the strongest–story in the anthology. Olivia is a princess who’s father wants to marry her off. His first choice, Harwin, she most definitely didn’t want to marry, and so convinced her father to hold a contest for her hand in marriage. Unsurprisingly, things don’t go as Olivia expects.
This was an absolutely fabulous story. Olivia is not particularly likable at the start of the story–she’s very much a spoiled brat and you know she’s being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn and you kinda want to smack her. But you have to keep reading, to see what happens, and then pretty soon things have changed.
The story is full of surprises, the characters are extremely well done, and overall, this is one of the best stories I’ve read in a long time.
So although I can’t tell you about the first story, I can highly recommend the remaining three stories. Check out this anthology, I don’t think you’ll regret it.
Rating: 9/10
Hunter Kiss: Iron Hunt (2008), Darkness Calls (2009)
Dirk & Steele: The Fire King (2009)
Never After (2009), No Way Home (2009)
