What I’ve Been Reading: Liz Williams
And today we’ll swing back to fantasy.
One series I’ve been following and enjoying is Liz William‘s Detective Inspector Chen series.
Chen lives in Singapore Three, in a world like but quite unlike our own, where technology and magic coexist (even if not everyone believes in the magic), the dead can make phone calls, and a demon from Hell is a visiting detective working with Chen.
The feel of Singapore Three–and Hell when they visit–is quite unlike any other world I’ve read about. Singapore Three is obviously a future version of our world–assuming it is our world, which I’m not 100% certain about. There is technology that does not exist in our world, however, the focus is upon Hell and Detective Inspector Chen’s cases which involve Hell and the after world.
And the secondary characters are fantastic as well, especially Zhu Irzh and the Badger. I’m still not clear about the Badger, and I still haven’t figured out why the Badger rings so familiar to me, as if I’d read about it in Chinese or Japanese folklore. I always mean to look it up, but never do. (And so I just looked it up. Much of the familiar folklore regarding the badger comes from Japanese folklore, not Chinese, although the badger does make an appearance in Chinese folklore.)
Of course I also quite like Chen. He’s a good man, in a job that no one else wants. He believes he’s on the outs with his goddess, but continues to worship her despite this believe–after all, any problems were of course his fault. He is also extremely moral and ethical, in a time and place where it would be quite easy to be other. And the fact that he eventually partners up with a demon without difficulty makes him even more complex.
If you like supernatural fantasy and worlds that are both familiar and strange, I highly recommend you check out Liz Williams. The only caveat I have is that there have been frequent delays in the publishing of her books–I’ve been waiting a year I think for her newest book to come out (date according to Night Shade books is the end of this month. But I’m not sure if I truly believe that. But there are already three books out in print that you should be able to find, to get your sucked into the world of Detective Inspector Chen and Singapore Three.
The Banquet of the Lords of Night & Other Stories (2004), Snake Agent (2005), The Demon and the City (2006), Precious Dragon (2007)
