The Fire King

A 3000-year-old, hunky shifter and a special woman wounded physically and emotionally make for an engrossing read. "The Fire King" is Marjorie M. Liu's latest in her 'Dirk & Steele' series and I loved it. Each of her books, at least those in this series, dig down behind the differences in her characters whether they're shifter or human and draw on the feelings and emotions that are present in each of them.

Soria is a human with something extra--the ability to understand and speak any language, as long as she is in the presence of a native speaker of that language. One year ago she suffered a horrible betrayal and lost her right arm. Since then she has barricaded herself in her apartment...until a strange pair bring her a new mission show more from Dirk & Steele. Imagine her surprise when her new mission turns out to be a 3000-year-old fairy tale...a chimera. The product of two different shifters, something that is supposed to be impossible. Now she and the chimera are on the run and Soria isn't sure who is friend and who is enemy.

Karr was the warlord of the shifters from a time when Egyptians and Hittites ruled. He sacrificed himself to save his people, so what is he doing alive now? And who is this woman who appears to be the only one who can understand and speak with him? Is she enemy? A spy? Again and again she appears to help him during their escape and flight...but the more Karr learns, the more unsure he becomes of who is or should be an enemy.

Liu does a wonderful job of making her paranormal characters human. She brings out their hopes, fears, happiness, and disappointments and I, for one, can't get enough of it. Each of these books can be read as a stand-alone, but each also furthers an overarching storyline that continues to evolve with each novel.

"The Fire King" has action, romance, hot sex, mystery, and magic. The story rolls out as smoothly as my favorite chocolate and the characters become people I want to know more about and want to see happy. My only real beef is that she doesn't write fast enough! show less

Karr is a 3000 year old chimera who was just dug out of a cave somewhere in China. A chimera is a creature whose parents are both different types of shapeshifters. Chimeras had been hunted to extinction because they were greatly feared. Karr is tied up and held prisoner and no one can understand him because his language is now extinct. Soria has a gift for languages, in fact she can understand any language in the world by using some kind of psychic connection. Soria's past involves a horrific major trauma from a betrayal and she is still somewhat fragile. She has separated herself from all her friends and family but D&S needs her help with Karr to translate his extinct language and discover why he survived for 3000 years. Karr and Soria show more are two incredible well-formed characters and Liu makes you feel their isolation and loneliness. Soria was especially well done. I really felt her sense of betrayal, pain, and fear. Yet I marveled at how tough she was and appreciated her sharp tongue. I think she is probably one of my favorite heroines of the year.

Another plus was the unusual setting of China and Mongolia. Can't say I have ever read any book with this setting. And the characters were all fantastic from the tribe of nomads (and a foreign exchange student) to some shapeshifters that have appeared in previous books in the series. The sexual tension was marvelous and this is where Karr really shines with how he falls for Soria and doesn't see her "flaws". There was only one short (but warm) sex scene which had me wishing for more. But Liu never puts many sex scenes in her books unfortunately.

All in all an enjoyable read. TFK kept my interest from first page to last and I think it's the best one in the series.

GRADE: B+ show less

I received Marjorie M. Liu’s The Fire King, her ninth Dirk & Steele novel, as an Advanced Reader’s copy. In general, I am not a romance reader, with the exception of paranormal romance, and even so, there are only two authors I like and whose series I follow. That number has now grown to three.

The Fire King pairs Karr, a three thousand year old shape-shifter with a twist and Soria, a maimed human with an innate gift for languages. What they have in common is a painful past. Karr also has a threatened future but to even achieve it, he must first discover the secrets of his past. Since Soria answered a friend’s request to try to communicate with Karr, her future becomes linked to his.

At each step of the journey into Karr’s past, show more the two are forced to throw off very different doubts and suspicions to learn to trust each other if they are to survive the several different groups – shape-shifters aligned with humans, a couple of mercenaries whose alliances are hard to decipher – who are after Karr.

I truly enjoyed this book for several reasons. First of all, Marjorie Liu’s characters are distinctive (with one exception – a supporting character who I so enjoyed, I chose to overlook her derivative nature). Their motivations, actions and responses are credible and described with a clarity that indicates that their author invested much effort in knowing the characters she writes – no cardboard cutouts here.

Also refreshing and unusual for the genre, is that her characters are not so ethereally physically beautiful that they come across as plastic. This extends from her main characters right through to her villains and supporting characters. I was able to see her characters vividly in my mind and this was very much due to the lucidity with which they were drawn.

The background history, along with the nature and origin of the conflict was also credible and well handled. The action was exciting and held my interest. The romantic interaction was developed naturally with the storyline, and there were no gratuitous physical encounters.

On the negative side, I only had an issue with a small action by the heroine that didn’t seem to be logically possible given her limitations.

Overall though, this was a wonderful example of the genre and should be a favorite of readers already acquainted with the series, as well as first time readers.

Of course I now plan to read all of Ms. Liu’s preceding novels, and am very glad that there are so many waiting to be read. show less

I enjoyed this one much more than the previous installment in the series, The Wild Road, mostly because of the heroine. Soria is a former agent of the Dirk and Steele detective agency, someone who can understand and speak any living language (most awesome superpower ever, y/y? She says as a medievalist who struggles with Latin), who left the agency after suffering a disabling injury.

While this book has the same flaws as Liu's other books (her prose never rises above the serviceable; some of the dialogue makes me wince), I'm willing to take that for an awesome, multiracial heroine who is sexy and kickass despite having lost an arm. (Was anyone else picturing her being played by Zoe Saldana?) Also to be liked: older women being awesome show more and in control; the reappearance of Eddie and Koni. show less

This is the second Dirk and Steele novel I've read after the newest book, In the Dark of Dreams (yes I did things out of order). Liu doesn't write easy stories, and by that I mean her books more often then not will have both the hero and heroine face tremendous odds. Odds that most people would find unimaginable; The Fire King is no different. Karr faces the fact that he wakes up thousands of years after he thought he had died, in a world that is in stark contrast to what he knew, but still manages to be prejudiced and brutal towards his people.

Soria meanwhile lost an arm, but more than that she lost her faith. Emotionally hurt and physically impaired, she just wanted to be left alone. Well Dirk and Steele is a bitch of a company to show more work for and they don't let assets just fly in the wind. Soria's stubborn refusal to come to terms with losing her arm is part of what drives the book. She is determined to prove that no matter what she can be self-reliant. She puts on her 'tough as nails' face, snaps at anyone who even hints at pity and ignores the startled looks others give her.

Part of what draws Karr and Soria together is her ability to talk his language, but their scars as well. Individually their pasts and memories overwhelm them, but together they sort of work. Karr doesn't treat Soria like a cripple or someone to pity, he's a warrior and he understands that when you can no longer be what you are, its hard to come back. Soria in turn understands that Karr is lost and adrift, so much has changed and nothing is what he remembers.

Like In the Dark of Dreams Liu keeps the book in the 'here and now'. Since I'm reading things backwards (apparently) some of the storylines were spoiled for me so I knew what would eventually happen. Like with Eddie, but it didn't ruin my enjoyment. I was so focused on what was going on with Soria and Karr everything else was just gravy. show less

I love that in a book with three thousand year old shape shifters and psychic translators, the only moment that broke my suspension of disbelief was "Oh, sure, he cuffed her at wrist and upper arm? On the same arm?! The amazing redundant serial killer!". The old dragon is really getting on my nerves, though things turn out better in this book than expected. Also didn't expect Roland to turn up as an ex boyfriend. I wonder if he will ever get a HEA?

An abomination in the eyes of other shifters the male is Chimera, born of two shifter species and hunted for it. They have a mental instability that causes them to snap without warning and after such a spell, the man realizes he's killed his friends woman. So he committed suicide only to wake 1000 years in the future and kidnapped by modern day shifters. The heroine can speak and understand any language so she's sent in to determine if he's a threat or not. She's been through a horrible trauma that cost her her arm but although she's tortured with self conscious and lingering pain in the stump she's strong and intelligent and a survivor. She saves the male though it's very clear he doesn't trust her and together they go in search of his show more people. The book was very nice, as all of Marjorie books are. The characters started out as enemies, then partners. Then the became friends before finally turning into lovers. The evolution of their love was believable. With them gradually beginning to respect one another and not tossing out words like love or romance prematurely. It was nice to see that as I find sometimes characters fall in love far too quickly and therefore cheapen the romance somehow. Marvelous addition to a stellar series. show less