{"id":26409,"date":"2026-03-21T19:48:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T23:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=26409"},"modified":"2026-03-22T20:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T00:06:08","slug":"precious-dragon-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26409","title":{"rendered":"Precious Dragon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Precious Dragon<\/em> (2007) Liz Williams<\/a> (Detective Inspector Chen #3)<\/p>\n

\"PreciousDetective Inspector Chen and Zhu Irzh are taken from their current cases and sent to Hell to escort the Celestial, Miss Qi.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Qi will be coming with us, then?\u201d Chen asked, more to stave off yet another difficult discussion than out of any real attempt to clarify matters. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe will indeed.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat, to Hell?\u201d Zhu Irzh said. It was the demon\u2019s turn to look disapproving.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Things seem to be going unusually well (despite Zhu Irzh needing to attend his mother’s birthday party) until, typically, everything goes terribly wrong.<\/p>\n

He stopped and an expression of sheer horror came over his face. <\/p>\n

\u201cZhu Irzh?\u201d Chen said sharply. \u201cAre you all right?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d The demon collapsed back onto the couch. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve just remembered. I knew there was something. It\u2019s my mother\u2019s birthday. Tomorrow. And we\u2019ll be in Hell.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, a young man has disappeared, after reporting the disappearance of one of his cast mates.<\/p>\n

There had to be more than this, but if it were a choice between either corporate indenture, or Fourth Chorus and occasional bouts of prostitution, he\u2019d take the latter options.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Mrs Pa is delighted to celebrate not only the wedding of her only child, but the arrival (from Hell) of her grandchild.<\/p>\n

Mrs Pa had been hard put to explain how, after being married for only a few days and being, in any case, dead, her daughter had somehow managed to produce a two year old child with the demeanour and vocabulary of an elderly gentleman, but people seemed to understand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Plus, and elderly dragon.<\/p>\n

It was said, too, that it was from the stars that the dragons had come, making their way to the sanctuary of Cloud Kingdom, but Embar Dea did not know whether this was true or not.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Detective Inspector Chen, Inari, badger \/ teakettle, Seneschal Zhu Irzh, Jhai Bhatya Tserai, Mrs Pa Niang, Precious Dragon, Kung Mai, Kung Ahn, Pin H\u2019siao \/ Ryu Tang, Miss Jhin, Maiden Ming, Embar Dea, Prince Rish, Mhara, Robin, Miss Mi Li Qi, Celestial Emperor, Lu Yueh, Mr and Mrs Kung, Daisy, Erdzhe Shen, Madame Zhu Feng Li, Underling No, Lesser Lord Nine, Foreperson Tung, Sip Lu, Su Yi, Mrs Pang<\/p>\n

Cover by Jon Foster<\/p>\n

Publisher: Night Shade<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 out of any real attempt […]<\/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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,292,204,42,148,41,25,34],"tags":[127,126,655],"class_list":["post-26409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-ebook","category-good","category-police","category-queer","category-reread","category-science-fiction","category-urban-fantasy","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-6RX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4240,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4240","url_meta":{"origin":26409,"position":0},"title":"Precious Dragon","author":"Michelle","date":"December 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Precious-Dragon.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":662,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/662","url_meta":{"origin":26409,"position":1},"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":25939,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25939","url_meta":{"origin":26409,"position":2},"title":"Snake Agent","author":"Michelle","date":"March 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Snake Agent (2005) Liz Williams (Detective Inspector Chen #1) It's been more than half a decade since I last read this series, and I'd forgotten how much SF and horror it has. Probably because both are far less important than the fantasy and mystery, and neither the SF or the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snake Agent","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Snake-Agent-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":384,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/384","url_meta":{"origin":26409,"position":3},"title":"The Demon and the City","author":"Michelle","date":"May 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Demon and the City (2006) Liz Williams After reading The Snake Agent, I've been looking forward the reading the next Detective Inspector Chen book. (In fact, the paperback edition has been on pre-order for several months.) As with many authors I like, after getting a book, I'm hesitant to\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\/www.klishis.com\/Books\/images\/demon_and_the_city.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25946,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25946","url_meta":{"origin":26409,"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":2358,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2358","url_meta":{"origin":26409,"position":5},"title":"The Iron Khan","author":"Michelle","date":"April 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Iron Khan (2010) Liz Williams I stumbled across The Snake Agent in 2007, and since then have eagerly bought books in the Detective Inspector Chen series whenever they came out. However, at some point finding those books was getting to be more and more difficult. Scuttlebutt has it that\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\/2011\/04\/Iron-Khan.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26409","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=26409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26409\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}