January 20, 2011
Precious Dragon
This one’s the third in the Inspector Chen series, after Snake Agent and The Demon and the City. I felt a bit ambivalent about this one – the opening was okay, and the ending was on par with the first two books, but the middle was rather… blah. It seemed to go on for chapters at a time without the vivid action scenes and clever narration that makes this such a fun series to read.
This may in part be my fault as the reader – I’ve learned by the third book that the fate of nice, likeable characters in this series is never pleasant, so I had hardened my heart against Pin a few pages after he was introduced, rather than sympathize with him through whatever horrors were inevitably in store. (Fool me once, shame on me, etc.) So, by the time Pin hits (literally?) rock bottom, I had forced myself to stop caring about him a good 200 pages previous. Thus, much of the emotional punch of the event was gone, because I simply refused to fall for the same trick another time.
That’s not to say there weren’t redeeming qualities: new characters, more world building, yet another Ministry of Hell explored and subsequently obliterated (yes, repetitive, but still fun to read). Inari’s role in the story was also greater than in previous books, and she interacts with (and thus is described from the point of view of) someone who isn’t attracted to her – meaning we get more of an idea of her personality this time, instead of just another description of her pretty face. Which made for a nice change.
I still stand firmly behind my high opinion of Snake Agent. It really was unlike anything I’d ever seen before in modern fantasy. However, unless you love the genre for its own sake (in particular, you’re waiting for the next Dresden Files to come out), I’d suggest saving your valuable reading hours for other innovators instead of the rest of the series.
Full Details: Precious Dragon: an Inspector Chen Novel, by Liz Williams. Original copyright 2006; paperback edition by Night Shade Books 2009.
