The Demon and the City
Liz Williams
Night Shade Books
374 pages
February 2008
When I reviewed Snake Agent, the first in the Detective Inspector Chen series, you might remember how much I loved it. The clever blend of science fiction with unusual fantastical elements -- a bureaucratic Chinese Hell -- interesting characters and a lot of style really won me over. Would The Demon and the City do the same for me?
Well, mostly yes.
With Chen out of the city enjoying a long-deserved rest, Zhu Irzh, demon of Hell, former member of it's Vice squad -- now assisting police officer on Earth -- is left in charge... But is it really a good idea to leave a demon -- even if it does have the character flaws of mercy and a conscience -- in charge of murder investigations... particularly when he becomes a suspect...
In Snake Agent I had a lot of fun seeing a Chinese Hell; in this sequel we get to see a lot more of Heaven -- and guess what: it's less than perfect... In fact, Heaven is about to crash down on Singapore 3 with devastating results...
One thing that I suspected would be a flaw was the fact that Chen -- one of my favourite characters in Snake Agent -- isn't in this book so much. He might be credited with "guest star" were this a film, and with Williams' quick, short chapters (some only a page in length) that dart back and forth between villain and hero, anti-hero and other people who defy classification, it certainly feels like a film, and a rather good one at that. But back to my original point: I didn't miss Chen at all! He's a great character, certainly, but when you leave a demon like Zhu Irzh, he's just going to take over. Witty, funny, and just plain bad, occasionally; he stole all the scenes he was in.
Interestingly, I thought the premise was better in this novel, but that, in just a few places, the execution fell a little flat. For someone as talented as Liz Williams, I mean. After all, in The Demon and the City, unlike Snake Agent, there were moments in this book where I actually put it down for things like eating and sleeping...
The Demon and the City isn't quite the read that Snake Agent was, but nevertheless, it's still a very good one, and this series is a one of a kind. Williams juggles so many things together -- things that shouldn't work -- and, as usual, pulls it off with a flourish.
The layout of the title on the cover is a bit different on the version I got sent, but I prefer the version above as it shows more of that great artwork! That would have me picking up and buying the book without a second thought...
For more information:
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Friday, 11 April 2008
The Demon and the City
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3 comments:
I felt the same way and sad as much in my review of this second book. I enjoyed it, it just wasn't as solid a novel as the first. I have the third in the series (and the fourth is due soon) and I need to get it read. I put it aside at the time simply because I didn't want to take a chance on it right away after my quibbles with Demon. I will eventually get to it though as I do really like the characters she has created.
I really need to start reading this series. I'm a big fan of Liz Williams and I have a copy of "Snake Agent" somewhere around here... Hope the series picks up though in the third book!
After reading Some Kind of Angel, I realized how much I love the whole heroe turns villain,or at least shows his darker side. So I am definately interested in "Demon and the City". Thanks for the heads up.
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