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Hunter Kiss #3.5
Armor of Roses and The Silver Voice: A Hunter Kiss Novella
“Armor of Roses” (previously published in INKED): When New York Times bestselling author Marjorie M. Liu’s demon slayer Maxine Kiss investigates a grisly murder, she finds herself involved in a conspiracy dating back to World War II—and a secret mission that her grandmother may have carried out for the US government, one that involves the mysterious armor of roses.
“The Silver Voice”: On their honeymoon, Maxine helps Grant explore his heritage through memories locked inside a mysterious seed ring, leading him to the silver voice and secrets his mother kept hidden from him—until now.
“The Silver Voice”: On their honeymoon, Maxine helps Grant explore his heritage through memories locked inside a mysterious seed ring, leading him to the silver voice and secrets his mother kept hidden from him—until now.
122 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 6, 2011
13 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
About the author
Marjorie M. Liu
322 books4,300 followersNew York Times bestselling and award-winning writer Marjorie Liu is best known for her fiction and comic books. She teaches comic book writing at MIT, and she leads a class on Popular Fiction at the Voices of Our Nation (VONA) workshop.
Ms. Liu is a highly celebrated comic book writer. Her extensive work with Marvel includes the bestselling Dark Wolverine series, NYX: No Way Home, X-23, and Black Widow: The Name of the Rose. She received national media attention for Astonishing X-Men, which featured the gay wedding of X-Man Northstar and was subsequently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding media images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Ms. Liu also wrote the story for the animated film, Avengers Confidential: Black Widow and Punisher, which was produced by Marvel, Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) Inc., and Madhouse Inc.
Her newest work is MONSTRESS, an original, creator-owned comic book series with Japanese artist (and X-23 collaborator) Sana Takeda. Published by Image in Fall 2015, MONSTRESS is set in an alternate, matriarchal 1920’s Asia and follows a girl’s struggle to survive the trauma of war. With a cast of girls and monsters and set against a richly imagined aesthetic of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS #1 debuted to critical praise. The Hollywood Reporter remarked that the longer than typical first issue was “world-building on a scale rare in mainstream comics.”
Ms. Liu is also the author of more than 19 novels, most notably the urban fantasy series, Hunter Kiss, and the paranormal romance series, Dirk & Steele. Her novels have also been bestsellers on USA Today, which described Liu “as imaginative as she is prolific.” Her critically praised fiction has twice received the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, for THE MORTAL BONE (Hunter Kiss #6), and TIGER EYE (Dirk & Steele #1). TIGER EYE was the basis for a bestselling paranormal romance video game called Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box.
Liu has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, MTV, and been profiled in the Wall Street Journal.com, Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. She is a frequent lecturer and guest speaker, appearing on panels at San Diego Comic Con, the Tokyo Literary Festival, the New York Times Public Lecture series, Geeks Out; and the Asian American Writers Workshop. Her work has been published internationally, including Germany, France, Japan, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
Ms. Liu was born in Philadelphia, and has lived in numerous cities in the Midwest and Beijing. Prior to writing full-time, she was a lawyer. She currently resides in Boston.
Ms. Liu is a highly celebrated comic book writer. Her extensive work with Marvel includes the bestselling Dark Wolverine series, NYX: No Way Home, X-23, and Black Widow: The Name of the Rose. She received national media attention for Astonishing X-Men, which featured the gay wedding of X-Man Northstar and was subsequently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding media images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Ms. Liu also wrote the story for the animated film, Avengers Confidential: Black Widow and Punisher, which was produced by Marvel, Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) Inc., and Madhouse Inc.
Her newest work is MONSTRESS, an original, creator-owned comic book series with Japanese artist (and X-23 collaborator) Sana Takeda. Published by Image in Fall 2015, MONSTRESS is set in an alternate, matriarchal 1920’s Asia and follows a girl’s struggle to survive the trauma of war. With a cast of girls and monsters and set against a richly imagined aesthetic of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS #1 debuted to critical praise. The Hollywood Reporter remarked that the longer than typical first issue was “world-building on a scale rare in mainstream comics.”
Ms. Liu is also the author of more than 19 novels, most notably the urban fantasy series, Hunter Kiss, and the paranormal romance series, Dirk & Steele. Her novels have also been bestsellers on USA Today, which described Liu “as imaginative as she is prolific.” Her critically praised fiction has twice received the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, for THE MORTAL BONE (Hunter Kiss #6), and TIGER EYE (Dirk & Steele #1). TIGER EYE was the basis for a bestselling paranormal romance video game called Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box.
Liu has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, MTV, and been profiled in the Wall Street Journal.com, Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. She is a frequent lecturer and guest speaker, appearing on panels at San Diego Comic Con, the Tokyo Literary Festival, the New York Times Public Lecture series, Geeks Out; and the Asian American Writers Workshop. Her work has been published internationally, including Germany, France, Japan, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
Ms. Liu was born in Philadelphia, and has lived in numerous cities in the Midwest and Beijing. Prior to writing full-time, she was a lawyer. She currently resides in Boston.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 29, 2012
Armor of Roses, which forms the bulk of the material here was reviously published in the Inked anthology. I always forget how much I love Lui's writing, she brings such depth and detail to her settings and emotion to her characters and Maxine's 'boys' are always a fun side note.
Armor of Roses" finds Liu's Hunter Kiss heroine Maxine going back in time when she receives a note from the past asking her help. - The novella length Armor of Roses was a nice little carve out from the Hunter Kiss series and gives just a bit of insight into the reason Maxine's demons are so enigmatic when Maxine time travels back to WWII China and meets up with her then eighteen-year old Grandmother. It also has a nice amount of emotion as Maxine, forms an instant connection with a refuge boy who she knows is doomed in the future. I enjoyed this one just as much reading it the second time around.
The Silver Voice - Maxine's husband Grant finds the courage to look for the secrets of his past. - Silver Voice was really short but enough of a taste of Grant's past to make it worthwhile if you are already a fan of the series and missed Armor of Roses when it came out - if not, it's a hard decision because several of the other stories in Inked were really good too, and getting Armor of Roses with those stories is probably a better deal.
One thing that struck me about both stories is that I love the solid relationship that Maxine has with Grant, and Lui has made him pretty easy for the reader to love as well. Whether or not you pass on this ebook, if you are looking for just a smidge more of Grant, on Lui's website she has a letter from Grant to his yet-to-be daughter that is really quite sweet.
Armor of Roses" finds Liu's Hunter Kiss heroine Maxine going back in time when she receives a note from the past asking her help. - The novella length Armor of Roses was a nice little carve out from the Hunter Kiss series and gives just a bit of insight into the reason Maxine's demons are so enigmatic when Maxine time travels back to WWII China and meets up with her then eighteen-year old Grandmother. It also has a nice amount of emotion as Maxine, forms an instant connection with a refuge boy who she knows is doomed in the future. I enjoyed this one just as much reading it the second time around.
The Silver Voice - Maxine's husband Grant finds the courage to look for the secrets of his past. - Silver Voice was really short but enough of a taste of Grant's past to make it worthwhile if you are already a fan of the series and missed Armor of Roses when it came out - if not, it's a hard decision because several of the other stories in Inked were really good too, and getting Armor of Roses with those stories is probably a better deal.
One thing that struck me about both stories is that I love the solid relationship that Maxine has with Grant, and Lui has made him pretty easy for the reader to love as well. Whether or not you pass on this ebook, if you are looking for just a smidge more of Grant, on Lui's website she has a letter from Grant to his yet-to-be daughter that is really quite sweet.
July 12, 2015
I have read and love all the Hunter Kiss novels. Great, unique tales of a woman who is the last of her kind - a guardian against the fall of the veil between our world and those who would destroy us. Maxine, Grant and 'the boys' protect those us while trying to stay alive themselves.
September 16, 2016
Buy Inked Instead
I read Armor of Roses in Inked. It was a great addition to The Hunter Kiss series. The Silver Voice should have been worked into a chapter in another book in the series.
I read Armor of Roses in Inked. It was a great addition to The Hunter Kiss series. The Silver Voice should have been worked into a chapter in another book in the series.
February 5, 2014
As a short Novella this is an amazing story. But I could seriously read a whole series about Hunters in different times.
September 19, 2015
Great little addition to an awesome series!
October 22, 2017
Interested in reading more of the series!
Read
April 8, 2020JUST READ ARMOR OF ROSES, LOVE THIS SERIES AND THIS AUTHOR
May 15, 2025
I'm seriously enjoying these stories. Very well written. Great story telling. It's engrossing. Thank you. Now, on to the next one.
January 30, 2019
Contains a novella and a short story. Armor of Roses is a novella that takes place before book three (and likely after book 2) in the series. The Silver Voice is a short story that takes place after book 3 and before book 4.
Armor of Roses
74 points/100 (3.75 stars/5).
When an old man shows up knowing Maxine and asking for help because of something her grandmother did before dying before her, Maxine knows she has to do something to help.
This is a very decently sized novella that is about 1/3 the length of a typical novel in this series. It is well done, even if what it contains doesn't really have any bearing on the rest of the series. It covers some of the down time between books two and three. We get to see more of Maxine's grandmother, we get a lot of the boys, and we get a reasonably good story. I was kind of bored with it, but that is because it just had so little to do with the series really.
The Silver Voice
68 points/100 (3.5 stars/5).
Grant uses the seed ring to see what the memories left to him were about.
Short little short story from Grant's perspective. It doesn't add much to the series, but ties off that little plot thread that never goes anywhere in the series. There isn't much here to talk about.
Armor of Roses
74 points/100 (3.75 stars/5).
When an old man shows up knowing Maxine and asking for help because of something her grandmother did before dying before her, Maxine knows she has to do something to help.
This is a very decently sized novella that is about 1/3 the length of a typical novel in this series. It is well done, even if what it contains doesn't really have any bearing on the rest of the series. It covers some of the down time between books two and three. We get to see more of Maxine's grandmother, we get a lot of the boys, and we get a reasonably good story. I was kind of bored with it, but that is because it just had so little to do with the series really.
The Silver Voice
68 points/100 (3.5 stars/5).
Grant uses the seed ring to see what the memories left to him were about.
Short little short story from Grant's perspective. It doesn't add much to the series, but ties off that little plot thread that never goes anywhere in the series. There isn't much here to talk about.
Read
April 21, 2021read only armor of roses from the anthology "inked"
her tattoos are demons who disappear into her skin during the daytime, and exit it at night.
"raw had picked up the nail gun and was shooting nails down his brothers throat. aaz giggled and swallowed each one." (raw and aaz are two of the demons)
her tattoos are demons who disappear into her skin during the daytime, and exit it at night.
"raw had picked up the nail gun and was shooting nails down his brothers throat. aaz giggled and swallowed each one." (raw and aaz are two of the demons)
September 18, 2021
Light
This is an exceptional author, with a flare for intrigue, strength in characters that flount convention, while she creates wonder. I simply love the entire series. Truly good reads!
This is an exceptional author, with a flare for intrigue, strength in characters that flount convention, while she creates wonder. I simply love the entire series. Truly good reads!
August 9, 2016
excellent,
June 28, 2016
5 stars
Good story. This is the first story I have read in the Hunter's Kiss series. Need to read more. Liked the characters.
Can't wait to read more Hunter's Kiss books!!!!
Good story. This is the first story I have read in the Hunter's Kiss series. Need to read more. Liked the characters.
Can't wait to read more Hunter's Kiss books!!!!
August 4, 2019
I *love* this series. I'm now reading the next book (which is next to last in the series) VERY slowly...because I don't want the series to end.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews