Darkness Calls by Marjorie M. Liu
Sep. 5th, 2009 01:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreThe second book in Marjorie Liu’s series about Maxine Kiss, the latest in a long line of hereditary demon hunters, features Maxine’s boyfriend, a former priest, being targeted for his own (mostly unknown to him) mythic heritage. Unfortunately, while I quite like Grant, I’m less interested in him and his past than I am in the Kiss women and their history. Really, I’d be happy if the books were divided between Maxine learning about the “real” mythology of her world and flashbacks to her ancestors.
Also, I can’t help but notice certain similarities to Buffy. I mean, the entire setup is a woman who is the chosen demon hunter of her generation, who comes into her powers when the previous hunter (in this case, her mother) dies. And then there’s the fact that “zombies” are demons inhabiting human bodies, and there’s an organization of men who having been watching the hunters for centuries. Mind you, positive Buffy comparisons are never a bad thing. Well, the first five seasons, at least.
There’s also the “exotic setting” of Shanghai which…seems to be there as an exotic setting. It doesn’t really contribute anything to the plot. That is, it could have been set anywhere. Which is odd, because even when the various setting in the “Dirk & Steele” book don’t feel “right,” Liu tends to at least try to do something with them besides provide window dressing, and the glimpses here into other worlds and dimensions prove that she can make different settings interesting.
However, the focus on Grant and his mythic heritage is far from a bad thing, it’s just less interesting to me than Maxine’s mythic heritage, and every tidbit dropped about past Kiss women making me want more of them, and less of anything else.
Also, I can’t help but notice certain similarities to Buffy. I mean, the entire setup is a woman who is the chosen demon hunter of her generation, who comes into her powers when the previous hunter (in this case, her mother) dies. And then there’s the fact that “zombies” are demons inhabiting human bodies, and there’s an organization of men who having been watching the hunters for centuries. Mind you, positive Buffy comparisons are never a bad thing. Well, the first five seasons, at least.
There’s also the “exotic setting” of Shanghai which…seems to be there as an exotic setting. It doesn’t really contribute anything to the plot. That is, it could have been set anywhere. Which is odd, because even when the various setting in the “Dirk & Steele” book don’t feel “right,” Liu tends to at least try to do something with them besides provide window dressing, and the glimpses here into other worlds and dimensions prove that she can make different settings interesting.
However, the focus on Grant and his mythic heritage is far from a bad thing, it’s just less interesting to me than Maxine’s mythic heritage, and every tidbit dropped about past Kiss women making me want more of them, and less of anything else.