{"id":1679,"date":"2010-04-04T17:40:24","date_gmt":"2010-04-04T22:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=1679"},"modified":"2026-03-22T10:37:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T14:37:54","slug":"the-shadow-pavilion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1679","title":{"rendered":"The Shadow Pavilion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Shadow Pavilion<\/a><\/em> (2009) Liz Williams<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Detective Inspector Chen has multiple problems to deal with: his partner Zhu Irzh has disappeared, along with the badger, a Bollywood star\/tiger demon is on the rampage, and someone wants to kill the Emperor of Heaven. Add to that the complexity of everyday life in Singapore Three, a new liaison position between Earth, Heaven, and Hell, and the fact that someone tried to kidnap his wife. <\/p>\n

Interestingly, we spend more of the book with other characters–including the badger–than we do with Chen. We follow Go and his attempts to escape from Lara the demon tiger, we spend a good deal of time with the badger and then Zhu Irzh, as well as Inari, Chen’s wife.<\/p>\n

We actually don’t spend much time in Hell in this book–at least not the Chinese Hell we saw so much of in previous books. We do spend time in Heaven, and learn about another realm, the between<\/em>, where the assassin lives.<\/p>\n

There is much for me to like about this series. First, the setting is unlike any other setting I’ve read, a mix of fantasy, science fiction, and Chinese folklore. Second, although the stories build upon one another, each book has a complete story arc–no cliffhanger endings here. Third, I love the writing.<\/p>\n

Inari was wrestling with her own conscience–something that, as a demon, she is not even supposed to possess, but which may have come from that human ancestor, the ancestor who had brought such shame on their family, tainting it as she had with mortal blood. Inari had often wondered about that woman, since learning of her existence. She would be long dead, but what had happened to her soul? In Hell, presumably, since she had abandoned the Imperial Court of China and fled the shores of Earth for those of Hell. But i in Hell, then where? Not Inari’s own family home, that was for certain, unless–horrible thought–they had imprisoned her somewhere.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That single paragraph gives you a sense of Inari and her history, as well as the Hell from which she’d come.<\/p>\n

This book had multiple mysteries, and, interestingly, since multiple characters were involved, multiple things happened at the same time, however, there wasn’t any confusion as to who was doing what where, which I believe is a good sign.<\/p>\n

If you have not read any Liz Williams before, you should be able to start here without difficulty, although you may find it more rewarding to start at the beginning, with The Snake Agent<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Published by Night Shade Books<\/p>\n

Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Shadow Pavilion (2009) Liz Williams Detective Inspector Chen has multiple problems to deal with: his partner Zhu Irzh has disappeared, along with the badger, a Bollywood star\/tiger demon is on the rampage, and someone wants to kill the Emperor of Heaven. Add to that the complexity of everyday life in Singapore Three, a new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,31,2,8,291,42,16],"tags":[127,126,655],"class_list":["post-1679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-10","category-asian","category-fantasy","category-mystery","category-paper","category-police","category-supernatural","tag-detective-inspector-chen","tag-liz-williams","tag-violence"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-r5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26412,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26412","url_meta":{"origin":1679,"position":0},"title":"The Shadow Pavilion","author":"Michelle","date":"March 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Shadow Pavilion (2008) Liz Williams (Detective Inspector Chen #4) Mhara is about to be coronated as Emperor of Heaven, but his changes are making people unhappy. Mhara went on, \u201cWhat is the essence of our relationship to the human world?\u201d \u201cCompassion?\u201d someone ventured after a moment. \u201cSanctuary, after the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Shadow Pavilion","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Shadow-Pavilion-202x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4269,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4269","url_meta":{"origin":1679,"position":1},"title":"The Shadow Pavilion","author":"Michelle","date":"December 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Shadow Pavilion (2009) Liz Williams There are certain people who are not happy about the changes The Emperor of Heaven is making. But you'd think plotting assassination would be beyond Celestial Beings. You'd be wrong. The assassin is a strange creature; a centuries old child of a demon and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Shadow-Pavilion.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":662,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/662","url_meta":{"origin":1679,"position":2},"title":"Precious Dragon","author":"Michelle","date":"September 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Precious Dragon (2007) Liz Williams The third Detective Inspector Chen novel, it seems as if recent activities have brought Chen and Zhu Irzh to the attention of authorities, and they are charged with escorting the emissary from Heaven, Miss Qi, through Hell. Meanwhile, an old woman arranges the marriage of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/precious_dragon.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12076,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12076","url_meta":{"origin":1679,"position":3},"title":"Snake Agent","author":"Michelle","date":"September 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Snake Agent (2005) Liz Williams Detective Inspector Chen is in charge of crimes that stretch into Heaven and Hell (obviously, far more cases involve Hell over heaven) and as an occult practitioner whose patronage of the goddess Kuan Yin affords him a measure of protection when he has to travel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Snake-Agent-e1511012771669.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25946,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25946","url_meta":{"origin":1679,"position":4},"title":"The Demon and the City","author":"Michelle","date":"March 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Demon and the City (2006) Liz Williams (Detective Inspector Chen #2) \u201cI\u2019m here about an irregularity in your feng shui dowsing license,\u201d the demon said. \u201cMy name\u2019s Seneschal Zhu Irzh. Want to see my badge?\u201d At this point he had produced a piece of paper which, to Paravang\u2019s horrified\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Demon and the City","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Demon-and-the-City-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26409,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26409","url_meta":{"origin":1679,"position":5},"title":"Precious Dragon","author":"Michelle","date":"March 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Precious Dragon (2007) Liz Williams (Detective Inspector Chen #3) Detective Inspector Chen and Zhu Irzh are taken from their current cases and sent to Hell to escort the Celestial, Miss Qi. \u201cMiss Qi will be coming with us, then?\u201d Chen asked, more to stave off yet another difficult discussion than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Precious Dragon","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Precious-Dragon-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1679\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}