Review: Darkness Calls by Marjorie M. Liu
(Hunter Kiss, 2) by Marjorie M. LiuUrban Fantasy
Ace (June 30th, 2009)
320 pages
ISBN: 978-0441017300
From Marjoriemliu.com:They are the obsidian shadows of my flesh - tattoos with minds, hearts, and dreams. By day, they protect me. But when night calls to them, they leave my body, dissolving into their true form - as demons…I read Darkness Calls right after I finished The Iron Hunt
Nomad born and bred, demon hunter Maxine Kiss has always relied upon herself to fight the darkness that surrounds her, the predators-human, zombie, and otherwise - who threaten the earth. But one man has penetrated her lonely life: Grant, the last of his kind. With music he is able to control any living creature…including demons. And now his life is in danger.
Haunted by the past, determined to change the future, Maxine soon understands that to save Grant, she has only one choice-to lose control, and release her own powers of darkness…
, with both installments fresh in my head, I have to say that I enjoyed this entry into the Hunter Kiss canon a bit more than the previous one. Like most first novels in a series, Iron Hunt was burdened with the task of laying all of the groundwork. Combined with all of the riddles, this made the first novel more talk than action. This is remedied the second time around. The characters encounter new struggles, both external and internal. In the face of said dangers, Maxine and her boyfriend, Grant, both discover new strengths and knowledge about themselves that leads to great character development.
The major theme, as evidenced by the title, is that darkness is everywhere, even within the heroes. This reality is something that Maxine and crew have to come to terms with. It's in no way an issue that is resolved by the end of the novel, nor is it one that you want to be. I imagine that Liu will carry on with this theme throughout the series as the characters and story continues to grow and develop.
If you have read Iron Hunt and enjoyed it, then you will probably like this one even more. If you wrote the series off after the first book, give this one a chance. It may just give you what you were looking for before.
Grade: A-
Read an excerpt from Darkness Calls
3 Comments:
Nice review. This book is on my wish-list. =)
Thanks for the review, I will have to get my hands on both of these. :)
I enjoyed the first book very much, so it's good to know the second is even better. That is, if we have similar tastes ? :)
Post a Comment