Precious Dragon

Precious Dragon (2007) Liz Williams

The third Detective Inspector Chen book finds Chen back at work, and, after having stopped a rampaging goddess in the previous book, Chen and Zhu Irzh must now suffer the attentions of the public, and, more specifically, the accolades of part of the government of Singapore Three.

This, of course, does not go well.

Chen and Zhu Irzh are sent to Hell to escort a Celestial in a show of diplomacy and relationship building between Heaven and Hell.

The demon grimaced. “I thought Governor Ling already had improved connections with Hell. They’ve been giving him kickbacks for years.”

Although Zhu Irzh is pleased to take a break from his relationship with Jhai, his less pleased when he realized it means he’ll be in Hell for his mother’s birthday and won’t be able to get out of seeing her.

In the meantime, Mrs Pa is delighted that not only is her daughter (who was sent mistakenly to Hell when she died at the age of three) finally getting married, but she even gives Mrs Pa a grandchild, though no one is quite sure how that works.

The boy, Precious Dragon, is a delight.

When at last they were able to sit down, she ordered soup and noodles and bought him a fortune cookie; she had not done this for a long time. When the cookie was opened, it revealed a blank slip of paper. “Oh, what a shame,” she exclaimed in disappointment, but Precious Dragon seemed quite pleased.

“It means that anything can happen,” he explained kindly.

As with the previous books, Zhu Irzh is a delight.

“Oh, come on,” Zhu Irzh said.”“You’re a Celestial warrior, aren’t you?”

“Well, yes. I am.”

“So why are you pretending to be this helpless little thing?”

“It is important to be humble and modest,” Miss Qi said reprovingly. Zhu Irzh looked as though he didn’t even know what she meant.

I was also surprised by a passage I’d forgotten.

“Do you find much call for bows, these days?” Chen asked.
…
“Why, yes, you’d be surprised. Not just in the more— medieval— regions of Hell, but also in the inner cities of Earth. One might almost say that the weapon has been undergoing something of a renaissance recently.”

Oddly, that seems to be coming true in some ways, in the US, where archery is making a resurgence.

Again, I want to show you the original cover, which was marvelous.

I really loved these covers, and am sorry they were lost with the change in publishers.

So once again, another thoroughly enjoyable story and time spent with Chen and zhu Irzh. And also, bits to consider.

perhaps that was the essence of Hell, for you to know that you were in the same place as your loved ones, and to be unable to find them.

Rating: 8.5/10

Published by Open Road Media



 
 

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