meganbmoore | (no subject)

On a very unwise whim, I went by the used bookstore (Because we all know how desperately I need new books. That, or I operate under the mistaken belief that if I feed the monster-sized backlog more books, it'll keep it from eating me.) after lunch with my mother today and got I think most of Marjorie M. Liu's Dirk & Steele books and some of the multi-author Crimson City series. Can someone who's read one or both clue me in on where I stand? (And if the ones I'm missing are needed.)

Dirk & Steele:

The Red Heart of Jade
Shadow Touch
The Wild Road
The Iron Hunt
The Last Twilight
Eye of Heaven

Crimson City:

Liz Maverick: Crimson City
Marjorie M. Liu: A Taste of Crimson
Jade Lee: Seduced by Crimson

Other grabs, if anyone is curious:

Shana Abe: The Last Mermaid
Joanna Bourne: My Lord and Spymaster
Lois McMaster Bujold: The Curse of Chalion and Young Miles
Susan Grant: Moonstruck and Your Planet or Mine?
Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett: Havemercy (for $1)
Robin McKinley: Rose Daughter
Dian Curtis Regan: Princess Nevermore
Nancy Springer: I Am Morgan LeFay

Not that I'm likely to read any of these by the end of the year, as I have a list of things I want to get read by then.

ETA: Also, I have decided that the computer and laptop should have names. The computer is black and a little older and pretty reliable, but it's also cranky and sometimes has to be coaxed into doing what I want. The laptop is newer and little and pretty and silver. It's pretty fast and generally willing to please , but sometimes throws temper tantrums when it thinks I'm taking advantage of its good will and working it too hard. Or something.

I'm pretty sure the computer is male, and the laptop is female. Name suggestions?

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The books you have, in order:
[Tiger Eye]
Shadow Touch
Red Heart of Jade
Eye of Heaven (I loved this one by the way)
[Soul Song]
The Last Twilight
The Wild Road

The Iron Hunt, as

shadawyn noted, is not Dirk & Steele & is a completely different series. It's UF.

Is the UF one good?

I didn't particularly like it. It's one of those books people either like or dislike. There's not much in between. I found the prose off-putting, the heroine boring, and the relationship between the heroine and the love interest had about as much chemistry as a pair of socks.

Marjorie's main flaw as a writer, and I feel I can say this because I've read so many of her books, is that she often lets both the prose and plot get away from her. The ending of Red Heart of Jade, for example? Was a incoherent, hot mess. It's a pattern that carries throughout all her books, to greater or lesser degrees. She likes having crazy plots so when she nails it, it's awesome. But when she doesn't, it's ugly. (see: Red Heart of Jade)

Werd.

(I think Shadow Touch was my favorite, followed closely by Eye of Heaven. I also loved The Last Twilight, but Vern did not. Wild Road was a DNF for me, but it might have just been my mood.)

Liu has amazing concepts, great heroines, but she also has emo heroes. The hero/heroine usually fall in love almost right away and then the rest of the story keeps you wondering if they will get together. IE, most of the conflict is external not internal. Which is cool if you are into that (and she does it well) but every once in a while, I want the main characters to not look soulfully at each other throughout the entire novel.

Well, I'll add the caveat that I burned out on novels about emerging viruses in Africa in high school and since The Last Twilight is kind of based on that premise, not much interest there.

Her urban fantasy is VERY different style from her Dirk and Steele. Sort of more disjointed on the writing at the beginning. I like her Dirk and Steele more though I like the premise to the Iron Hunt. There is a a prequel to Iron Hunt in the anthology Wild Thing if you like the book, Iron Hunt. It started off slow after the prologue so I will be curious to see what you think of it when you read it. AGain, it is NOT written in teh same way as her romances so don't judge her work by it.

Personally, my favorites of the dirk and steel are Tiger Eye, Shadow Touch, Soul Song, The Last Twilight and The Wild Road. She also has a short story that ties-in to the dirk and steele series in Dark Dreamers (Christine Feehan is the other author in it)that has a gargoyle and witch story that was VERY cool.

She also did a nice tie-in book to the X-men universe called Dark Mirror where all the X-men are in an asylum and somehow they have been switched into human (non-powered) bodies. The whole concept of Wolvie personaility being switched in a short female was hilarious.

http://www.crimsoncity.com/ I really liked her Crimson City entry. I think it was one of her best written story overall.
IN order:
Crimson City Liz Maverick
The TAste of Crimson by Marjorie Liu
Through A Crimson Veil by Pattie O'shea
A DArker Crimson by Carolyn Jewel
Seduced by Crimson by Jade Lee
Crimson Rogue by Liz Maverick
and The anthology Shards of Crimson
and a possible book 8 is in the works.