Liu, Marjorie M. - Tiger Eye

[oyceter]

Despite several people reccing Liu to me, I've been avoiding her books after reading a snippet of one (Red Heart of Jade, I think) and being completely weirded out by the Taipei in it.

Dela Reese buys a strange puzzle box in a Beijing street market; the next thing she knows, she's surrounded by flashy golden lights and a seven-foot tall guy with a lot of weapons is demanding to know what her command is. When he learns that she doesn't want anyone killed or conquered, we get:

"If you did not bring me here to kill or fight, then I was summoned to pleasure your body." He looked like he would rather impale himself face-first on a bed of nails.

Not quite what I had envisioned, and thoroughly welcome!

My general impression of the recent paranormal trend is that they tend to be more sexually explicit and have better worldbuilding, but to my surprise, this book's strengths lie in the snappy dialogue and the characters. Not that the sex is bad, and the worldbuilding is pretty neat, but I am so glad to have a romance in which the characters actually feel like they're falling in love, not insta-lust.

Anyway, Hari (aforementioned seven-foot tall shapeshifter guy from the box) and Dela soon discover that not one, but two groups of people are out to kill Dela. Oh, also, Dela has psychic powers, namely, an affinity for metal, as does most of her family and the detective agency her family founded. To my surprise, Dela not only protests that she's capable of taking care of herself, most of the time she follows through. She's smart, funny, down-to-earth, and also wary. Hari's also a surprise -- rather than being the alpha male intent on seduction, he's fairly shy and hurt after being basically tortured and enslaved for two thousand years. My favorite part of the book was watching the two of them gradually get to know each other and trust each other; there's a sweetness about Hari that's particularly charming, especially when juxtaposed with Dela's practicality.

Some of the prose descriptions in the beginning were a little too purple for me, but Liu soon gets into Hari and Dela's voices, and that's when she really begins to shine. I haven't laughed so much while reading a romance for quite some time.

We later get to meet some of Dela's friends from Dirk & Steele, the detective agency cum hideout for other psychically-powered pepole. Normally, I would resent meeting all these people who were clearly going to star in the next books, but instead of giving me endless descriptions on how testosterone-ladden, gorgeous and broad-shouldered the men are, Liu focuses on their dialogue and personalities. For once, I'm actually excited to be reading the next books in the series because I want to know more about the characters (I have slight crushes on Dean for his total guy-ness and Eddie because he is cute and "ma'am"'s Dela).

In terms of gender politics, the only thing that really bugged me was that I wanted more women in Dirk & Steele. That's more a minor complaint, though; we get to meet one of Dela's female friends, and there are several powerful women in the background, including the co-founder of Dirk & Steele. In terms of race politics, I do wish that there were Chinese main characters, given the early setting in Beijing and a later subplot. While the inclusion of the Chinese mafia as villains in a book with a mostly white cast would normally bug me, I am not as irritated, given that Liu's later books do seem to star an Asian character (or more?). I'm particularly looking forward to the one that's set in Africa, starring an actual black man! Not specifically targeted as an African-American romance! (To clarify: I have no problem with African-American romances, but am irked that the trend of Exotified Ethnicities a la Harlequin Presents somehow always skips over black men.)

In conclusion: I am very happily surprised. This isn't just a good paranormal, it's a good romance and a fun read, period. I'm also extremely glad ladyjax persuaded me to buy the next book in the series last week and that I have the third one sitting around somewhere (Dean! In Taiwan! AWESOME!).

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I don't think Red Heart of Jade is very good. I couldn't finish it, and also thought its Taipei did not resemble the one I so briefly visited.

I liked Shadow Touch (I think) quite a lot. It has angsty telepaths.

Just from those two books, Liu seems to have a large and multiracial cast having sex in various combinations. I didn't get an exoticized ethnicity vibe, though it helped that there was no chili pepper on the cover!

[oyceter]

Darn, I was getting that impression re: Red Heart of Jade from oracne too.

I just started Shadow Touch and am already liking the angsty telepaths who cannot touch! Although I have to admit, I was thinking of you when everyone started to vomit as a reaction to trauma (uh, that sounds sketchier than I mean...).

I so far have the same impression re: Liu and multiracial casts and non-exoticism. I suspect it helps that she doesn't constantly describe how people look! I kept forgetting the heroine was blonde, which is pretty abnormal for a romance.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I have high hopes of reducing the overall incidence of trauma-related vomiting in fiction, solely because everyone who read those posts apparently found my rant about it so memorable!

[oracne.livejournal.com]

So far, RED HEART is the only one I haven't felt driven to reread. I posted on it here:
http://oracne.livejournal.com/797087.html

I think I might reread it, though, to see if I like it better now I know what to expect. It does have some great dialogue.

[sparkymonster.livejournal.com]

but instead of giving me endless descriptions on how testosterone-ladden, gorgeous and broad-shouldered the men are, Liu focuses on their dialogue and personalities

Oh thank god. I hate it when I can't remember which tall, alpha male with long flowing locks is which.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

ROFL!

[oyceter]

YES! It's amazing how much better one feels about sequels when the future stars have actual personalities.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Eddie has a subsidiary role in THE LAST TWILIGHT. It seems clear she's setting something up for him in a future novel.

[oyceter]

WHOO! I got to the end and thought he would be out of bounds for a sequel.

Wow. I am still amazed that I am actually wanting sequels! But really, he's so cute! I want to ruffle his hair and awww at his super-polite car-thiefness.

[ladyjax.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'll fess up to liking Red Heart of Jade if only because of Dean and Mirabelle. But I know squat about Taipei so could not twig to how much was made up and how much was real.

There is a novella about a female agent in Dirk and Steele and that's in the book Dark Dreamers, which Liu shares with Christine Feehan. The story is called A Dream of Stone and Shadow. In it, Dirk and Steele operative Aggie Durand stumbles across Charles, a gargoyle, and his brothers who are being held captive by someone from the Consortium.

I love it and wish it was a standalone, if only because if you read the Feehan first and then Liu's story, you'll realize just how bad Feehan's writing is. I know a lot of people love her but I just wanted to rip the book in two and keep Liu's half.

[oyceter]

I suspect I will still be weirded out by Taipei, but... Dean!

Possibly I am a little embarrassed by how quickly I got attached to some of the side characters, but... he cracks me up!

Also, um, even though I have only read one Liu so far, I am tempted to go out and get all the anthologies she has short stories in as well, I like her characters that much. I am a total sucker for people who can make me laugh.

[nojojojo.livejournal.com]

Y'know -- this book actually sounds like a lot of fun. I think I'll go get it. Thanks for the recommend. =)

Question, though -- "Dela" is coded in my mind as a typical African-American woman's name. And the fact you've mentioned the story goes to Africa in the future makes me wonder more -- is Dela black?? What is Hari's ethnicity, if he counts as human enough for that?

[oyceter]

It was a lot of fun! Also, seven-feet-tall hot guys from boxes learning the joy of flossing will never cease to amuse me.

Hrm, in the book "Dela" is short of "Delilah," and she's explicitly described as being blond-haired, blue-eyed and very pale. I was trying to figure out the ethnicity of her friend Kit, who I think gets her own book later, and of the rest of the Dirk and Steele guys, but I actually didn't quite catch what they looked like. Artur's Russian, Dean is blond (I think), Eddie supposedly looks like Orlando Bloom, and Blue has long black hair and high cheekbones. I keep picturing Eddie as a cute young Asian guy and Blue as possibly mixed, but I think I am making stuff up.

I was wondering about Hari too -- he has gold eyes and auburn/gold/multi-colored hair, but then again, he's a tiger shapeshifter. I was mostly placing him as Indian, partly because of the name and partly because he was called out of his box by one or two Mongolian leaders. On the other hand, he's also spent time in ancient Rome and under a Goth master, so I'm not sure.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

The new book, THE LAST TWILIGHT, has a black hero. He's not on the cover, though, which is a pity.

http://oracne.livejournal.com/1002211.html

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

Geez, why don't I ever see boxes like that in street markets? I totally need a 7-foot-tall hot dude to slay my enemies and pleasure my body.

Anyway, I tend to steer clear of the romance section, but this actually sounds fairly entertaining and non-painful! Do you think it would appeal to somebody who generally doesn't read romance novels? (I have nothing against romance per se, but many many romance genre conventions make me want to set things on fire.)

[oyceter]

Hrm, I'm not sure. What are the conventions you hate?

This one has some that I tend to dislike, like the obvious setting up of sequels and a life bond, but the life bond is presented more as "mates for life" as opposed to "you are my soulmate and if you don't like me, too bad."

I liked the dialogue and the characters a lot, but I'm not sure if it works for people who don't read romances?

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

Frankly, Red Heart of Jade is a hot mess. There's really nothing more I can say about it.

Liu's main flaw is that she sometimes does get carried away by her own writing. It's something I've seen in all of her books and novellas, so I'm thinking it's really just a stylistic thing, not a "beginner writer" thing.

[oyceter]

*nods* Gotcha. I'm guessing the style thing is re: the lengthy scenic descriptions?

[ladyjax.livejournal.com]

You do realize at some point we have to get a bunch of people together and write the Greatest Multicultural Romance of All Time? Because that way we could share the funny.

[oyceter]

YES! That would rock.

[sparkymonster.livejournal.com]

Right now I'm nagging a friend of mine to write a MultiCulti Paranormal Romance for me. Current negotiations include what mythologies are going to be used. The generic Celtic mythology is out, ditto for Voodoo and Santeria for being cliched and usually poorly used. Also, no co-opting of Native American mythologies.

I'm hoping it will be awesome.

[keilexandra]

I normally would have skipped over this, since it doesn't really sound like my thing, but the quote changed my mind. I'll give the book a try just to see where Liu goes with that line. Hee.

[oyceter]

The best part is, that is the first of many funny lines. I was pretty skeptical about reading this as well, given the aforementioned weirdness of Taipei in another book and not being overwhelmed by the Nalini Singh paranormal I just read, but then I flipped to the little excerpt in the front, which ended with that. I thought, "Ok. I wasn't expecting that! This could be good."

[fannishly.livejournal.com]

"If you did not bring me here to kill or fight, then I was summoned to pleasure your body." He looked like he would rather impale himself face-first on a bed of nails.

Oh. my. god. This nearly made me spew out my mouthful of espresso/dulce de leche ice cream mixed thingy from Haagen Dazs out all. over. the screen.

LOL!!!!!

[oyceter]

I know, isn't it great? Not where I thought a story with a magical genie-esque stud hero was going to go!