Book of the Week

I just read Marjorie Liu's newest book, The Iron Hunt (Hunter Kiss, Book I), her first urban fantasy. Told in first person, the story is fast-paced and epic, so if you're in the market for a meaty read, the kind that mixes myth with action, then Maxine Kiss' story is the one for you.

For those who must read in order, there is a prequel to this book, a novella titled Hunter's Kiss, in the anthology "Wild Thing." I hadn't read it, and although there were some fill-in-the-blank moments, it didn't bother my reading of The Iron Hunt.

The plot is very complex, so I'm going to make this as simple as I can:

Demon Huntress Maxine Kiss is the last Warden of the "prison" that has been holding the demons from attacking the human world for millenia. Her job/duties/destiny has been passed down from mother to daughter, each "Warden" inheriting a set of demon protectors which live as tattoos on her skin during the day and peel off her body at night. These demons are her "boys," special wards against the "zombies," which Maxine sees as the real enemy because the latter take over human minds and bodies, somewhat like a possession.

The "prison" is getting weaker and more zombies are escaping. Maxine can feel something big coming, bigger than the zombie queen that she and her ancestors had always been against. She finds out that there are worse monsters than zombies coming, so evil that even the zombies are afraid. She also finds out a lot about her heritage--who she might really be, what her destiny could be. It's the first book, so we end with more questions than answers, but Maxine must prepare herself for what is to come.

The epic feel of the story comes from the immense backstory of Maxine's kind that is only hinted by Liu. There is no infodumping and there is a slight frustration on my part that everyone around Liu knows more about her world than her, including her own boyfriend, Grant. Strange beings appear in the middle of the story that could have given her some answers, but they too appear to enjoy mocking her lack of knowledge by giving her cryptic accusations about her past; they later turn out to be protectors of a sort, but the transition to that was a bit puzzling.

Whereas the many parellel plots can overwhelm, it's the main character that holds the reader by the throat from the get-go. That Maxine is something other than human is obvious--there are demon tattoos living on her skin after all. Her sidekicks/protectors, her "boys," are almost cute, until, of course, you read about them eating weapons and devouring monsters. She is a well-rounded character--not too self-righteous about the monsters, with parent-issues the size of the US national debt, alone but not too lonely, and at times, so vulnerable, you feel for her need for love and companionship.

The romance between Grant and Maxine is already established in the beginning of The Iron Hunt (I'm assuming they met in Hunter Kiss), so the romantic elements are very light here. There are a few moments where Grant and a maybe-future rival exchanged a delicious challenging look, but that is about all the sexual tension you're going to get.

This is the book in which Maxine comes face-to-face with what she has inside her and what she must be, so in that sense, The Iron Hunt is about her hunting for her own identity. What is Maxine Kiss? What's inside her? Maybe even, WHO is Maxine Kiss? Because deep inside her, she's feeling something else awakening, and her bloodline is tinged with non-human genes. Besides that, the "protectors" mentioned earlier keep hinting about the mythological Wild Hunt and Maxine being the Huntress from mythology (hey, read up Wiki!). Like any rights of passage story, Maxine transforms as she literally goes through fire and water to become...the next stage.

I look forward to the second book of the series. Marjorie Liu's vivid imagination is a wonderful place to visit, even though she teases me with too many unanswered questions.

Oooh, edited to add...I found the marvelous trailer for the book on YouTube. Here's actually the gist of the Prologue to The Iron Hunt:




Kewl!

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