The Iron Hunt

Hunter Kiss #1

by Marjorie M. Liu

Silver smoke winds around my torso, peeling away from my ribs and back, stealing the dark mist covering my hands and lower extremities...tattoos dissolving into demon flesh, coalescing into small dark bodies. My boys. The only friends I have in this world. Demons.

I am a demon hunter. I am a demon. I am Hunter Kiss.

By day, her tattoos are her armor. By night, they unwind from her body to take on forms of their own--demons of the flesh, turned into flesh. This is the only family demon hunter Maxine Kiss has ever known. It's the only way to live, and the very way she'll die. For one day her demons will abandon her for her daughter to assure their own survival--leaving Maxine helpless against her enemies.

But such is the way of Earth's last protector--the only one standing between humanity and the demons breaking out from behind the prison veil. It is a life lacking in love, reveling in death, until one moment--and one man-- changes everything...

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Demons, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Fiction

305 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 24, 2008

About the author

New 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.

Reviews

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stilted writing. Writes without all words, expects you'll understand. Frequently, subjects not in sentences, verbs missing, commas instead of conjunctions, articles optional. Strange clauses strung together as one sentence, all in one, as one. Words. Phrases. Without grammar. Just a period. Sentence structure awkward, reading exhausting, what's happening unclear. Excerpt in book summary is an example. Not too bad, but whole book like that. But worse. Very confusing beginning, can't read more, too tedious. Others say writing good, I say trying too hard.

[Literary Ames · Rating 1 out of 5]

I HATE this book! Everything about it is terrible. I feel cheated of my time and robbed of my money.

The plot is a simple one. In fact this would've served better as a novella because 300 pages was too many for what little was in them. And grammar nazis will have a fit, running out of red ink before they turn the last page.

For a supposedly lethal hunter and fierce protector of the world against monsters and demons imprisoned behind a veil, Maxine Kiss was a pansy-assed pussy. I'm sorry for my crass language but I'm so Mad. She asked everyone questions and whether they be friend or foe she never received a straight answer. Meaningless riddles are not an answer. She threatened but never followed through. ("You try anything, you even think about standing up, and I will have you shitting out of your dick so fast you'll beg me to rip it off." ~ Best threat) She just accepted these non-answers and moved on. To my frustrated consternation this happened repeatedly all the way through the book:

Maxine encountered someone, they talk some shit and do a lot of implying, she'd question them, they'd deflect or give some vague and incomprehensible response. Kick some ass, woman! Where's this fierce warrior that's supposed to "save the world"? Because frankly if you're our saviour, then kill me now. Pathetic.

And what the hell was she doing with someone like Grant? They live by such fundamentally different philosophies. Maxine kills the things that go bump in the night and Grant "saves" them. Slightly naive of him, if you ask me. Also, I'm not discriminating against the disabled here but if Maxine was going to settle down with anyone, shouldn't it be with someone who has the ability to run for his life? Otherwise, they're just cannon fodder. There's no way for him to keep up with her or effectively fight by her side. His flute would be no match for angry demon hordes.

I found none of the characters likeable, unless you count homeless teen Byron who was turned into a pitiable creature. Maxine was unkillable. It was absurdly cartoon-ish the way she was run over by a bus and got right back up again, completely unharmed. I wonder if she's hardy against poison and disease. Please, someone try it.

For someone slapped with a violently pro-active personna she did absolutely fuck all. All growl and no bite. The original premise was a good one but unfortunately it was poorly executed. By the end I still didn't fully understand what had changed from the beginning. It's taken me four excrutingly long months to finish this and that's with skimming.

On the 12th April I said:

"Iron Hunt sucks! I will congratulate anyone who managed to finish it. Those who gave this book 5 stars is not my friend. I've just offended 181 people but I don't care. I hate every character so far except maybe this homeless teenager who's probably just a flash in the pan. It's frustratingly slow and sparse on the background details. Good bits are few and far between. It's a challenge read so I have to finish. Stupid challenges."

I stick by this statement but to any future friends who may have rated this 5 stars, I'm sorry but we may just have to go our separate ways.

[Julie (jjmachshev) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew...OK. I just finished "The Iron Hunt" by Marjorie M. Liu and it's very different from her 'Dirk & Steele' series. This is truly an urban fantasy, and a damn good one. The mysteries and the mystical pull you in and you can't stop reading until you find the answers to all the questions.

Maxine is a Hunter. She hunts the demons that possess the bodies of humans. By day her demons are her protection--tattoos that cover her body and render her invulnerable. By night, her demons peel from her skin, leaving her with only her fighting skills and their proximity as her shields. This is her life and her lineage, the demons passed from mother to daughter through ages uncounted. But now 'the veil' is thinning...and Maxine may be the last Hunter...the only thing standing between humanity and hell.

If you like dark paranormals and urban fantasy, don't miss this new series.

[Monica Hills · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars- This had a lot of promise but was slow going. I love a good urban fantasy novel and Maxine was an interesting character. I mean she has tattoos that come to life. However I found it confusing how she was hunting demons yet they were also her friends and her love interest. This book was honestly confusing. There was some time travel and I enjoyed the moments about her family. I am committed to read in the next two books so I am really hoping it picks up.

[Denisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Fun read!


I liked the idea of this book, and I absolutely loved her 'demons'. It's always fun to find something new because, after a while, UFs tend to repeat themselves.

So, yup, fun, fast-paced plot, with a lot of potential. And I like this author, I'll keep an eye out for more of her things.

Worth reading? Worth a try
Must-read? Not really, but fun nonetheless.

[Brownbetty · Rating 2 out of 5]

At once a reasonably good book and somewhat disappointing. Maxine Kiss, (oh dear) is the latest in a long, lonely line of female demon hunters. Protected by a pact with a group of demons who live on her skin as tattoos, Maxine knows that one day she, like her mother, will be abandoned by the demons who protect her, in favour of her daughter. On that day she will inevitably die, suddenly and violently, when the demons she hunt get their retribution.

It sounds promising, and in so far as it goes, it delivers, but the book is so clogged with backstory, suppressed memories, mysterious visitors, and romantic interests with magical powers that I thought I was reading book two. (I checked the author's webpage: I'm not.) The reader is simultaneously introduced to Maxine's heritage, and the reveal about how much of her heritage has been concealed from her, with the result that two potentially interesting stories become one confusing and dull one-- we need to learn what Maxine believes to be true before we can care that it's false, but when you already know it's false, there's not much point in learning about it.

If this author is taken severely in hand by a merciless editor, she will produce pretty good books.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When I was eight, my mother lost me to zombies in a one-card draw."

That's the first sentence of Marjorie M. Liu's The Iron Hunt, and it's just about perfect as opening lines go. It's the primary reason I bought the book. Not only does it draw the reader in, eager to find out how and why this happened, but I'm also pretty darn sure it's an Angela Carter reference. I love Angela Carter.

It would be misleading to suggest, though, that Marjorie M. Liu sounds like Angela Carter throughout The Iron Hunt. Liu has a different style, one all her own. I loved it. Liu's style is unusual and won't be to everyone's taste. However, I found it visceral and poetic at the same time, and especially good when describing violence and magical visions. A couple of examples:

"I tried to hold her to me, but she slipped away, and zombies took her place. So many. Shoulders broad as mountains. Packed tight. Breath hot. Stinking with sweat and winter wool. I could not see faces for shadows, but the zombie in the suit leaned close. Crooked his finger like a hook."

"Waking dreams. Walking dreams. Swift dreams, black and white like old scratchy movies tinted and blurred with age. I dreamed in sparks and moments, and saw women in moonlight, pale as snow, hair as black as a raven's wing--steel in their hands, always, sword bound, hair bound, in sunlight, tattoo bound--and I flew with them, I ran, and their bodies merged into one, a woman large as thunder, with eyes like the starry night, and wolves at her back."

Another aspect of The Iron Hunt that worked well for me was the mythos. Liu blends the myths of many cultures into her story, mixing Sumerian, Asian, Celtic, and Greek in a way that never feels forced or awkward; instead it gives the reader the sense that all of these cosmologies are valuable but incomplete shards of one vast long-forgotten whole.

Liu's Seattle is painted in--I'd say vivid color, but this is Seattle, so it might be more accurate to say rainy grays. There is a real sense of place in The Iron Hunt.

A small gripe, and this may be a case where the cover-blurb writer sold the novel writer short: there isn't really a romantic subplot. The blurb gives the impression that this is a major focus of the story when, in fact, the heroine and the love interest are already involved and their relationship is written more as background than as plot. I gather that this romantic subplot was actually resolved in a previous short story by Liu. It's not so much that the novel *needs* a major romantic plot; it's just that it was weird to find the plot quite different from the blurb. The real plot has more to do with Maxine's discovery of new and frightening powers and her growing awareness of her mother and grandmother's history.

I highly recommend The Iron Hunt to anyone who likes urban fantasy, tough female characters, and unique prose. I will definitely be looking up more of Liu's work while I await further installments in the HUNTER KISS series.

Read this review in context at FantasyLiterature.net!

[Linda (un)Conventional Bookworms · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite different from what I expected based on the summary, The Iron Hunt is a story in which all kinds of secrets are being kept very close to the vest by most characters, and thus, the whole storyline and plot became a little dis-jointed to me.

This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews

[Meredith Morgenstern · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book gets major points for originality. I love the demon tattoos. I like that the romantic interest is disabled - so rare to find people of various physical abilities in books. As others have mentioned, I love the opening line: "When I was eight, my mother lost me to zombies in a one-card draw." And I love the whole scene leading up to the sword.

What I couldn't really get comfortable with was the writing style. Lots of choppy sentences, which have a place in action scenes, but for the whole book gets annoying. Maybe because of this, the plot gets hard to follow: the actual villain is identified as such about halfway through, characters are introduced with little or no explanation (ever), and much of what happens is told through sensory impressions. As a writer I understand the concept of "show, don't tell," but at times it was hard to follow what was metaphorical versus what was actually happening. Maybe it was just me, but based on other reviews, I don't think so.

Still, I can see why this book will appeal very strongly to some readers. As urban fantasy goes, it's a creative, new, and fun addition to the cannon. Maxine Kiss is a heroine worthy of her predecessors Anita Blake, Mercy Thompson, and Kate Daniels. She kicks butt and has a heart of gold. She rises to the challenges presented to her and respects her long and honored heritage.

That said, Maxine is also a lot of urban fantasy heroine tropes: she's a reluctant alpha heroine, cynical and world-weary, hungry for human connection but reluctant to let her guard down. Nothing new here.

Liu has created a well-built, well-thought out fantasy world that I very much looked forward to diving into and exploring. And, while I'm glad I did, I thought this novel was a bit rough. The writing style is exhausting, the MC tropes are overdone, and I wish the rules of this world had been clearer. Yes, "info dumps" are bad, but we the readers need some explanations. I'll see if the next books in the series grow and mature with Liu as a writer. I really hope they do.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Iron Hunt is a strange book. It took a while for me to get into it, but halfway through I was completely engrossed. However, by the time I got to the end, I was also completely confused.

I love good worldbuilding, and Liu has built an intriguing mythology with this series. I don't like books with infodumps that introduce you to the world all in four paragraphs at the beginning, and luckily, The Iron Hunt isn't one of those books. My problem, though, is that Liu never really gives a clear picture of the world through the showing (as opposed to the infodump telling). She tosses hints through riddles and visions, but I had trouble putting everything together and buildling a clear mental map of the different planes of existence.

The only consolation I take from this is that Maxine Kiss, the protagonist, seems just as confused as I am. I'm hoping this means that in future books in the series, as Maxine's understanding of the world grows, the reader's will as well. I see that as the sign of a great writer, and I know that I love Liu's writing style and incredible imagination. I suppose I'll have to read the second book to see if that's where she's heading.

Speaking of the writing style, I do have to admit that it took a while for me to get used to the very choppy first-person narration. Maxine seems to think in short sentences and fragments, and that's hard for me to read. It's not fluid, and my brain stumbles over it. After I got used to it, though, I realized that it works for Maxine. It suits her aloof personality, and when her narration shifts into longer, more descriptive sentences, I could really feel her character changing.

I'm left with kind of a conundrum here. I did enjoy the book, but at the same time, I feel like the book didn't give me enough. I'm hoping that the rest of the series will shed more light on the incredibly intricate world and Maxine's complicated place in it.

[Literary Lusts · Rating 2 out of 5]

I seem to be going through quite a few books that I DNF (do not finish). I just don't have the patience or desire to continue reading something if it feels like a chore. The blurb for The Iron Hunt caught my eye and I've liked other works by Marjorie M. Liu but the writing was sort of choppy and confusing to go through.

[Felicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my fave, interesting prose, but the world didn't hook me like other books.

[Kristin (MyBookishWays Reviews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2011/11/...

I read a Maxine Kiss short story quite a while back in an anthology and remember really enjoying it,so I wasn’t surprised at how engrossing The Iron Hunt is. Maxine is a Hunter,from a long line of Hunters,tasked with keeping demons in check. She’s settled into tenuous comfort with her boyfriend Grant,former priest and so much more,and enjoys helping out at the soup kitchen and shelter that he runs. He veneer of normality that Maxine has cloaked herself in is shattered when she is accused of the murder of a private investigator. Her name is on a piece of paper found in the dead man’s pocket,and Maxine has no idea who else could know of her identity. Her investigation will lead her to a man who may have much to do with her past and creatures that hint at the possibility of a coming apocalypse.

The Iron Hunt opens with this line “When I was eight,my mother lost me to zombies in a one-card draw.” Sucks you right in,yes? It certainly caught my attention,and I ended up staying glued to the pages. There’s trouble brewing beyond the veil,and things not of this world are pushing through to this reality. What begins with the murder of a private investigator turns into a search into Maxine’s soul,and her past. Maxine is a tough girl,make no mistake,and her tattoos are,um,unusual. During the day,they are her armor. When I say armor,Maxine can get hit by a car and she’ll be right as rain. That’s some serious armor. At night,the tattoos come off and coalesce into five seriously rough and tumble little demons. Zee seems like the alpha guy of the group,and the only one that Maxine actually speaks with. They’re a charming lot,and I found myself falling in love with them as the book goes on. I mean,these little guys can devour a baddie in seconds,like to cuddle teddy bears (well,pieces of teddy bears),eat tools and other various non-edibles (somehow the author makes this charming,seriously),and will do anything to keep Maxine safe. Ms. Liu’s writing is sharp and immediate,and the action hardly lets up. I also like her concept of zombies. We’re not talking the shambling undead here. “Zombie” is used to describe humans inhabited by demons. Maxine is convinced the lot of them are up to no good,but Grant is convinced they can change,and he just might have the ability to make that happen. In fact,there’s way more to Grant than meets the eye. This is just another one of the stunning discoveries Maxine will make during the story. She knew Grant had some magic,but just how much remains to be seen. Her devotion to him is unshakeable,however,and her strength,tempered with an aching vulnerability are part of what make Maxine a heroine to root for. The author has a wonderful way with words,and has created a world rich in mythology,ghosts,demons,and plenty of darkness (although there is light at the end.) Her imagery is immediate and the twists and turns don’t stop! I highly recommend this series to any urban fantasy fan,and can’t believe I had it sitting on my shelf for so long!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cryptic. Not only does everyone speak cryptically to the main character, not really answering her questions about the important elements of her world and what's happening in it, but this is a first-person narration in an uncommonly elliptical style, not unlike the speaking style of several strong, silent types I know. I didn't mind all the sentence fragments because I simply imagined her speaking to me, and the style reflects both her personality and her confusion about who she is and what she is to do. There is a gripping plot here, and it kept me glued to the narrative, but because of the endlessly cryptic interchanges it still isn't clear enough in my mind for me to say what it's all about.

I'll try though. The main character is Maxine Kiss (but she only uses that name privately; all her papers, accounts, etc. have aliases); her mother was Jolene Kiss, and her grandmother was Jean Kiss. No mention of the fact that Kiss is a rather common Hungarian surname, the counterpart of Klein in German, so it may seem hokey to readers who aren't familiar with it (and it's pronounced like quiche, the pie). She is both a Hunter and a Warden (I think I have that right), and there's only one such at a time--yes, it passes from mother to daughter.

The Hunter's mission is to protect humanity from demons that escaped the transdimensional prison behind the Veil (never clear on that) and infected vulnerable humans, "turned them into puppets, living tools." Five little demons, named Zee, Aaz, Raw, Dek, and Mal, who have been alive for ten thousand years, are dedicated to protect and fight for each Hunter in turn; every night the first three teleport through shadows and have gruesomely weaponized body parts, while Dek and Mal are more serpentine and stay on the Hunter. When the sun rises, all five turn into tattoos covering the Hunter's whole body except for face and hands, in a different pattern each time. The tattoos still have the full weight of the little demons, and their extreme density makes her invulnerable during the daytime. Needless to say, she is stronger than most men, and she usually wears outfits that cover all the tattoos.

With all the confusion in Maxine's mind (and therefore in the reader's too), peeling off bits of the puzzle without ever fully solving it, it's the splendid originality of the author's ideas--Maxine and "the boys" and the way they function--that brings my rating up to three stars. The action is intense and the danger is high...this is a hard book to put down, but at the end of it where are we?
The answer is still cryptic.

[Melissa Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great beginning to a unique series idea. This book introduces you to all the characters and given what you need to love them, along with the fast pacing to keep you going. The book is VERY well written to make me love and hate the characters with Maxine as we go through the story. I loved how there are many different demons and creatures. By the end of the book, I felt I knew the characters well, but had many curiosities of them. My curiosities were not from a lack in the story, but more of my thinking on the characters afterward. Where they are from and what they could truely be capable of.

There are things here that Marjorie lays out for you to foresee in the story, but there are so many unpredictable happenings, and appearances as well. You get pieces of the plot to puzzle together as the story goes and it keeps you wanting more. I didn't want to put the book down. Another great book where I tried to make stopping points but just could NOT find one, I had to keep reading to find out what happens and what creature am I going to meet next.

I do have to mention the '80s references ~ on the radio and tv reruns. The references are in no way over done. I enjoyed the subtlety of them, since I too am an '80s lover.

One of my favorite characters in the book were the tattoos. I loved the WHOLE idea with/of them. The way they live, protecting Maxine both day and night in different ways. The way they help guide Maxine even when they are sleeping. This is an amazing creation that I look forward to reading more of.

The only thing with this story was I felt, in the first fifty pages or so, I had missed some information. Maybe I missed a story that preceded this book or maybe this is information that is left open to be discussed in future books. Either way it did not hinder the book in any way and keeps a little mystery in the book and future installments for me.

In the end, I loved this books' plot and the characters. I would recommend this book to anyone loving paranormal books.

[Michelle Gilmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

As suggested, I read the prequel to Iron Hunt in the anthology Wicked Things. The short story was good, held my interest, and had me looking forward to Iron Hunt. However, when I trying to read this novel, I found myself struggling to stay interested. There were also moments where I found myself confused as well. During the first 2/3 of the book, I kept going back and re-reading just to be sure I didn't miss anything. Also, new characters seem to be added at every turn, and when your already confused, just gets really frustrating. I do have to say that I liked the world that the author had built with demons,demon slayers, and other realms etc... I do look forward to reading book #2 in this series at some point.

[Esra · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was the coolest story I've ever read =)) what is grant FGS :D I've to read the second one too .can't wait.

[AliciaJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this, just not as much as I had hoped for. I think I got a bit tired of trying to figure out all the secrets, and then all the weird jumps in time/place that were never explained. I felt like I was constantly struggling to understand a lot of what the hell was happening when scenes would jump from one place to another, or somebody would suddenly appear in a different time or place than they were before, but there wouldn't be any real explanation as to how that happened. I'm not gonna lie, it was frustrating. But... I *really* liked the characters, and the whole idea of Maxine being a Hunter, with little demons who helped protect her. I think the little demon dudes were really my favorites, and kept me wanting to read the story just to see what they would get up to next. I'm interested in reading the rest of the series, but not for a while. I need to recover from this one first.

[Ang -PNR Book Lover Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second paragraph of the jacket copy (I've included the complete copy at the bottom of this post for reference) is too vague and describes a very different type of plot. It's not inaccurate, but it's misleading. From its wording, I expected it to be a romance. It's not. It took quite a while before I could shake off the disconnect between the copy and the text, which meant I didn't get to enjoy this book as much as I could have.

***

By day, her tattoos are her armor. By night, they unwind from her body to take on forms of their own--demons of the flesh, turned into flesh. This is the only family demon hunter Maxine Kiss has ever known. It's the only way to live, and the very way she'll die. For one day her demons will abandon her for her daughter to assure their own survival--leaving Maxine helpless against her enemies.

But such is the way of Earth's last protector--the only one standing between humanity and the demons breaking out form behind the prison veil. It is a life lacking in love, reveling in death, until one moment--and one man--changes everything...

***

[Jessa Slade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jessa's pithy reviews:
Demon tats that peel off the heroine's skin -- How. Cool. I would so not be a good guy if I had this ability.

[Cindy (BKind2Books) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am torn on this one, but really couldn't give it more.

What I liked:
✅ Good world-building
✅ Interesting characters

What didn't work:
✅ Everything else

Maxine is a demon hunter with a remarkable resilience due to her tattoos. The tats are her "boys" - they are five demons who sleep during the day on her body and shield her from any number of bad things (like getting hit by a bus), but at sunset peel away and become separate entities, although they stay close and still protect her. A man is murdered and, while she does not know him, it appears he was looking for her. As the story unfolds, it appears that this world is endangered by the thinning of the veil that holds back any number of baddies and Maxine is the only one who can stand against it.

That sounds promising and I liked many of the characters (Grant, her main squeeze, was especially intriguing, as was Byron, a teen Max rescues, who may be more than he appears). The beginning was promising. But about a third of the way in, the story bogs down. There are too many unknowns. Too many things that are just dropped into the story and then just go nowhere. It was confusing and filled with choppy descriptions of fantastic sensory experiences with little else to go on. The writing style is more suited to graphic novels (and I think the author *does* them as well) and does the reader no favors. The time Max spends in the Labyrinth is a confusing mess - pages upon pages of nearly nothing. The ending is as ambiguous as the rest and I doubt I'll be reading further. There were teasers of things to come but I can't continue this series. The biggest one was that Grant was called "Lightbringer" - and if you know your names, that is the translation of Lucifer. So is Grant, a former priest actually The Devil? Or is something else going on here? I may never know...

[Mieke Moontiger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I held on til 66%...
I like the idea and the worldbuilding, but I can't deal with the writing style.
Way too many questions upon questions, but no definite answers, only more questions.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing in the prologue was SO irritating because it was comprised of sentence fragments, almost all of it. The ones that managed to be full sentences were almost always short. It made the whole thing feel really choppy and disjointed. It drove me crazy.

A few pages into the first chapter we had a guy, Grant, and there was some touching and he kissed her face and said he loved her. Now that is what I like in a novel. That’s all it takes to get me interested. Very promising.

I liked the reactions of the others. Rex, the zombie, looked sick and she knew her mom and ancestors would have been turning in their graves and would have killed Grant. She was being questioned about the death of a private investigator who was looking for her and showed up dead, and she said she was with Grant last night and they were naked.

The demons were not only as weird as I feared; they were way weirder. I couldn't even stand to picture them in my head and tried not to. She keeps a bag of nuts and bolts in her car for them to eat. They have silver colored skin, razor scaled spines, hyena heads, and claws in place of fingers and toes. The have hyena heads. Two of them have no legs, just arms, and like to eat bears so she had these tiny little ones on a keychain or something for them to eat. Not really sure what that looked like..So bizarre. She was feeding them cell phones and glass bottles and all kinds of things. Jack offered them a toolbox if they were hungry. They slept on different parts of her body. She woke up to Zee sleeping on her bare breast. And this was when she was in bed with Grant. Okayy...
I can handle some things but this was too weird for me.

They left her at sunset and she was vulnerable and could be killed. From what I gathered, during the day they are asleep on her body. Because it was only pointed out a thousand times that “the boys were stirring in their sleep” so I just put together that they sleep all day, until they leave her body at sunset. When they’re on her body she’s impervious to any kind of attack, getting punched, shot, etc. She can’t feel any of it and they protect her from everything.

The queen of the zombies is called Blood Mama. That’s such a stupid name. Maxine had crossed the veil to face her to save Grant when she had tried to possess him. I wanted to know so much more about that, but it went unexplained. They apparently met outside of a restaurant or something but that was all I got. I had to check that this was the first in the series because I felt like I was missing something. We know Grant has great power and Blood Mama wants him, and Ahsen was afraid of him.

She came back from meeting Jack, her possible grandpa. She told him all about the world ending, the demon who said she summoned him, her possible grandpa, and his relationship with Brian Badelt's ex-wife. Grant replied that all he had was gas. Ew. Mentioning that you're gassy is one of the most unattractive and gross things you could say.

Zee. Raw. Aaz. Dek. Mal. Jack Meddle. Byron. Rex the demon. Sarai, Brian's ex-wife. Edik, Blood Mama's demon. Blood Mama. Oturu. Ahsen. Tracker. That is 14 characters who refused to answer a direct question. That's a lot of people dodging questions. They all had the same exactly personality: vague, confusing, riddle-tellers, truth-dodges, speaking in circles…That works for maybe one character in a book. It does not work if you are going to give every single side character the same trait. Beings who speak in riddles and don't come out and answer questions are annoying because it's a device to put the plot on hold, and that's extremely frustrating.

She got out of the shower that night and Grant was naked, told her he would make it better. "And he did." Are you kidding me?! You set up a relationship and then cut off the sex? I wanted to scream.

She visited Jack and Sarai at the gallery, to get answers. She was there for a brief time, running around in circles, trying different variations of questions that all went unanswered--I freaking hate vague, riddle-like talk. And then they were attacked and Sarai was killed and Jack was missing. I was annoyed, because a character who had answers was killed before she shared anything. To make it worse, the child Maxine lookalike appeared. And Ahsen grabbed up the stone that Maxine had sat down. The only reason she didn't take it was because she couldn't stand to touch it and had to drop it. I was like way to go, screwup Maxine.

A man pushed her in front of a bus just because, who turned out to be Tracker and Oturu put him in charge of watching Maxine. She thought his looks were close to handsome. I’m always afraid of that when a woman starts out with a man. It never takes long to introduce a new man that the heroine likes. I dreaded where it was going.

Grant and Tracker were squaring off at the hospital, and when Maxine stopped Grant and told him that Tracker wasn't worth it, Tracker looked hurt. Once she woke up after the memory of her mom that the stone gave her, she was alone at the apartment with Tracker and he asked who her man was. She told him she'd kill him if he did anything to Grant and he looked sad. There was definitely something going on there. She started to remember a past with him, fighting with him. I could not fathom how she could forget this. She’s only 26 so when could this have happened??

She didn't really do anything until almost 75% in when Tracker challenged her to go save earthquake victims in Iran. It took him to goad her into helping others for her to think of doing something useful. Thus far she had only been the victim of demon attacks and only managed to arrive on the scenes after something bad had already happened. I was excited for the change in scenery and the sense of action, but I was miffed that she knew Grant was on the way and she took off with another man. That’s going to cause problems. At least she called Grant to tell him first though. But the whole thing was over so quickly. She saved like 2 people and “the boys” pitched in, until, you guessed it! Another demon attack!

The cover shows her holding a sword but that sword didn't come into the story until pg. 245. I couldn’t believe it. The book was almost over! And she got it from one of her ancestors, this skeleton at the bottom of this weird river..That whole thing was confusing and so bizarre. At one point she had no face—no nose, mouth, eyes, just skin. Wth?!

After she came back from the Labyrinth, she was lying in bed and Tracker touched her cheek and she had the feeling she'd been waiting a long time for him to touch her. She wanted to touch him back and hold his hand. WTH?

She left the room when she found out Jack had known Mary, and gotten her out of the Labyrinth and left her on earth. Oturu showed up and told her not to use the stone because Ahsen can locate her when she does, so what does she do? Take it out immediately and she got transported to the past, because the sword--that now took the shape as a ring--can take her to any time. I was so irritated that she got to meet her grandma for the first time, who she never knew, and her mom as a young teenager. It was too much, too perfect that that could happen. It was enough for me that the stone allowed her to see her mom's memories. Actually meeting her family and having them be able to see her, talk to her, and touch her was just so easy and perfect.

She got back and Tracker held her up against the wall and told her Edik had come for Byron. He started at her as if memorizing her face, like they would be saying goodbye soon and she felt an ache. Too many moments between them.

She killed Ahsen and I thought that was beyond her capabilities, that she shouldn't be killing anyone on that level when she hadn't managed to win any fight throughout the whole novel. I couldn't believe she took down such a major player who was apparently so fearsome and bad.

The whole time I kept waiting for the title to become clear. What does "The Iron Hunt" mean? Well I still don't know. Yes, the Wild Hunt and hunts were mentioned, but I don't know what an iron hunt was because no one was seeking for anything made of iron. I just don't know what to say. I was also disappointed that the Wild Hunt was in here because I’ve come across it so many times. I expected something more original.

So many things were confusing. Things were talked about but buried underneath a confusing spiel of nonsense and meaningless phrasing.

The writing isn’t great or anything special. You can read quickly because there’s nothing challenging about it. It’s just so easy and simple. In fact, most of it drove me crazy. I can’t stand writing with sentence fragments and short, choppy sentences. It makes the writing so stop and start and jerky. Also, it’s really lazy to me when an author can’t take the time to fully express a thought.

"He was bald. He was a zombie."
"My face was wet. Rain."
It sounded like a 5 year old writing. I expect adults to step it up and give readers something that is worth their time.

There were some gross things in here, that just made me question the judgment and taste level. This homeless, street girl spat on her. It was described as a “big, fat goober.” Jack held a tissue to her nose after she was crying and told her to blow. Snot went on his hand. Grant mentioned he had gas. Come on.

She felt a connection to Oturu, went against him and let him wrap his cloak around her. His hair weirdly touched people and stuff…I didn’t really know what was happening with that.

I didn’t like that he used to be a priest, and lived over a homeless shelter. The book started with them in an old woman’s apartment, a woman he was helping. She was cooking up weed and I hated that, because drugs disgust me. Also the fact that Grant wanted Maxine to help with the law enforcement that was coming over, so Maxine decided to hide the weed down the drain. The woman should have gone to jail, not been protected.
He still gives sermons and a priest just isn’t a hot occupation for me. In fact, it’s the exact opposite.

The demons sense that she’s like one of her ancestors, the strongest one there’s ever been. They both have a little darkness in them. Maxine herself felt this hungry being in her body trying to unleash itself.

I hate the concept of all the women in her line having to get pregnant with a girl child and the demons moving to protect that child, leaving the mom exposed to attack. Her death will be ordered by the demons and she’ll be killed. It’s just what happens. I can’t even articulate how badly that sucks. And how sexist it is that people are telling her to have a baby!
Some Hunters tried to stay celibate to avoid their fatal fate. “But children were how Zee and the others survived. Celibacy was the same as their murder. And if a Hunter would not willingly procreate…the boys, so I had been told, would force the issue.”
My mind conjured up images of them forcing the women to be raped and I was horrified. Wth does that mean?? I’m so looking forward to learning more about that…

Characters would call each other names and I would have no idea what they meant because they weren’t explained, like “cutter.” The world and titles and beings wasn’t defined and I wasn’t sure if the author knew what she was talking about or where she was going with it. So much went unexplained that I felt like the weirdest things were being thrown out just for weirdness’ sake.

Maxine wasn't exactly likable. She’s really judgmental, constantly condemning people for what they were or what she thought they were. She treated everyone horribly because she believed demons were evil and deserved to die, even though people were asking “What are you?” and pointing out that she was like them. She threatened Rex that she would let the demons eat him alive and drain him, because she wanted information, and she thinks all demons are unworthy of Grant’s help and need to be killed. What a psycho!

When others addressed side characters with titles she had never heard of, she started using them like she'd always known them. So eager to judge and condemn and punish that she used phrases she didn't even know the meaning of. She called Jack "Old Wolf" and "Meddling Man." It got on my nerves and I wanted her to start learning about people and accepting them instead of damning them with no evidence.

All she could do was bemoan her ineptitude and how she'd grown lazy and complacent with "the boys." Twice she said she’d been lazy. She hadn’t trained, hadn’t fought, wasn’t strong enough, had gotten out of shape. Not really a character I can get behind, who was dependent on the demons to do all of the work while she did…whatever she did.

I liked Grant. He was really interesting with his cane and limp, I like a hero with a disadvantage. And I really like his power of playing the flute and having his music influence people. Track was also cool with his past with Maxine. I resented that there was another interesting man. Why must every genre of book have a love triangle? I dread what’s coming ahead for Grant and don’t want him to be hurt. Love triangles always ruin books.

I’ll be reading the second because I actually got that first without realizing it was the 2nd in a series. Luckily, my library had this so I could read them in order. And I do have some interest in what will happen. I want to know more about Grant, and what her past is with Tracker though I dread a love triangle and her breaking up with Grant and that will piss me off.

[Melliane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mon avis complet

My english review

C'est toujours terrible d'avoir ce genre de quatrième de couverture. Ça dévoile si peu du livre et de l'histoire et en même temps ça ne fait qu'aiguiser notre curiosité.

Je pense comprendre les avis mitigés au sujet de ce premier tome. J'ai trouvé que l'auteur avait un style très particulier. Peut-être que ça ne marche que pour moi mais j'ai trouvé que c'était plein de philosophie (oui oui c'est possible !). Maxine se pose beaucoup de questions sur elle même, sur ce qu'elle est, ce qu'elle peut devenir, ce qu'il y a en elle. Beaucoup de questions qui n'ont en elle-même pas de réponses mais qui font réfléchir le lecteur. De même il en ressort de grandes vérités, comme par exemple qu'il n'y a pas toujours de réponses, quoi que l'on fasse ou que l'on veuille. On ne peut qu'apprendre de petits bouts de vérité, ou que chaque personne cache en elle des secrets ou encore qu'on ne peut évoluer sans être entouré de personnes qui nous aiment bien que parfois ça serait plus simple. Je pense que ce sont des évidences qui nous sont mises bien en avant dans ce premier opus. Après il est vrai que ça donne un sentiment étrange, on ne peut qu'adhérer ou pas. J'ai trouvé ce concept très intéressant et en même temps j'ai eu aussi un sentiment de détachement par rapport à tout cela. Je ne sais pas si c'est très clair c'est assez difficile à exprimer.

Pour ce qui est de l'histoire on découvre Maxine une héroïne à l'apparence si forte et pourtant si vulnérable. Vulnérable par l'amour qu'elle porte aux gens qui l'entourent, à son besoin d'aider, aux questions qu'elle se pose. C'est intéressant de la voir évoluer tout au long de l'histoire, de comprendre que parfois il faut aussi être intransigeant. J'ai eu un peu de mal à visualiser Grant, je n'arrive pas à le voir physiquement, peut-être est-ce du à la traduction française ? Je ne sais pas vraiment... Tous les autres personnages sont vraiment intéressants, ils apparaissent petit à petit et on apprend à les connaître au fil des pages. On reste cependant en retrait, et malgré nos questions, celles de Maxine, on en apprend que très peu. C'est une situation assez frustrante. Durant tout le livre on ne se pose que de plus en plus de questions pour finalement n'en avoir que très peu de résolues. Et quand finalement tout s'amorce, la fin arrive nous laissant plein d'interrogations. Je pense qu'on comprend tout en même temps que notre héroïne, le soucis c'est qu'elle ne sait pas grand chose du coup il en va de même pour nous. Je crois que le personnage dont j'espère en apprendre plus est Oturu, il est mystérieux, différent, tout sauf humain de par même son apparence physique si atypique. J'espère connaître plus de choses sur les origines de chacun, sur Jack, les démons... J'ai vraiment beaucoup aimé ces petits démons, il font partie de Maxine et en même temps ont leur propre volonté. L'idée même des tatouage prenant vie était vraiment originale et j'ai beaucoup aimé le concept.

J'ai donc bien aimé ce livre dont j'attends de lire la suite avec grande curiosité. Malgré tout il est vrai que quelque chose m'a un peu dérangé sans savoir quoi exactement. Peut-être toute cette recherche sur elle même qui nous met un petit peu mal à l'aise.

[Gwen Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it's been quite some time since I read this one, so bear with me. Initially, the premise put forth in that first little blip was enough to snag me. And then, of course - hello? - cover awesomeness. Tattoos that become demons . . . sweet. Then there was the fact that I read Ms. Liu's novella 'Minotaur in Stone' in the Hotter Than Hell anthology and was severely impressed. And I'm hard to impress. So, on to the Iron Hunt.

Unlike a few other reviewers I've read, I haven't read the Dirk and Steel series, so I didn't really have any expectations other than for the writing to stand out as it did in the anthology. From that aspect, Ms. Liu does not disappoint. What can I say? I'm a sucker for good writing and she is simply masterful with prose in a way that galls me to the bone with envy. I simply get lost in her words, her imaginative metaphors and the way she can evoke images and emotions like she's plucking heart strings if you let her. This was one of those rare books where I did not skip a word - not a single one, because I had never, ever read anything like it.

Add to this hypnotic prose a story rooted in deep ancient myth, with references that - I'll admit - made me feel under-educated, but left me no less captivated, as well as a crew of characters that were refreshingly UNIQUE and I was a gonner for the day and a half it took me to devour it.

As far as the story goes, it followed no conventions, and that in and of itself is what I value. Much of that is due to the characters. Maxine is a reluctant but tough hero, determined to get some happiness of her gritty life, which she already pretty much knows is scrapped. Her journey takes her into the past (literally) and into other dimensions, where she hits rock-bottom (again, literally) and finds out what she's really made of. Her boyfriend Grant is softspoken and gentle, with a fascinating gift, able to charm those unfortunate souls being fed upon by demon parasites and in some cases even rehabilitate them by playing his pipe. And the boys . . . well, let me just say that I wish I had some of my own. Even though they barely spoke, they were ever-present, and well-loved by the time the story was through.

Even Maxine's mother and grandmother managed to capture my attention and curiosity, simply through memories. Not to mention a demon with blades for feet, who you're not sure is good or bad, but he makes the hair on your arm stand up either way; and an intriguing, reluctant immortal protector (with a backstory I simply must find out more about) who makes his first appearance by pushing Maxine in front of a bus. (I know - you'll just have read it to get what I'm saying.)

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maxine Kiss is the last of her kind, a tattooed Warden protecting the world from demons who pass through the Veil from their prison and take over human hosts to become zombies. Her tattoos are her protection – during the day they form her armour against all threats, while at night they slip away from her and become ‘the boys’, small demons who are inextricably linked with the female line of Wardens.

In The Iron Hunt, Maxine discovers that the Veil is falling as she investigates the death of someone trying to trace her – someone who knew her real name, and not the many pseudonyms that she gives. The threat of demons and worse coming through the Veil forces Maxine to use awesome powers that she has little understanding of or control over, and the whole world is at stake.

Marjorie M. Liu has created a disturbing, compelling and unique vision of a world spiralling into darkness. The tattooed Wardens are mysterious, and the manner in which their demonic protection hides in the form of tattoos during the day was genuinely fascinating to me. I adored the five demons who protect Maxine – they are terrifying effective as they eat the souls of demons, all spikes and attitude, but are also enormously cute as they purr like dangerous cats when Maxine offers them Snickers bars!

Liu’s prose is also hypnotic and lyrical, with poetically beautiful passages such as the following: “The demon tilted his head, just so, and his body twisted, flowing like the skim of a shark through water. He danced when he moved; on the city street, wrapped in shadows: a kiss on the eyes, a devil’s ballet, and only his feet moved, only his cloak had arms; and his hair, rising and flowing as though lost in a storm.”

Unfortunately, for me, the excellent premise of the novel and the delicious prose were ill-matched by a plot that stumbled and lurched from one incident to another. Half the characters were introduced with absolutely no discernable reason – those that did have a reason for joining the party were sketched so briefly that I didn’t care about them.

The plot was confusing – I know some writers who effectively carry their readers through moments of confusion, but Liu was not able to achieve this. I found myself more frustrated than thrilled, which is a great shame to me since I did feel that there was the bones of an excellent urban fantasy tale here. Perhaps now the scene is set, Liu will push on in the second novel of the trilogy (Darkness Calls) and ensure the plot moves more smoothly. I am tentatively willing to pick it up and give it a go, but it is most certainly not going to be at the top of my reading list.

[Cherry Mischievous · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading this book at about the same time as Dead Witch Walking (DWW) by Kim Harrison. I was reading The Iron Hunt at home and Dead Witch Walking in work. By the end of the week I had to think for a moment to figure out which character belonged to which world! The two books are quite similar :) This book is pacier than DWW though. DWW was a very slow starter. This one draws you right into Maxine's world. One thing I regretted doing at the start, was reading the prologue. That took a bit out of the reading enjoyment because the prologue throws the reader right into the middle of the fracas before the world building so it was slightly confusing. So if you haven't read this book yet, don't read the prologue before reading the story. Read it at the end. The story telling quality while good is not quite a masterpiece, a 3.5 out of 5. There were parts where the author dragged the drama out in a drawn out overkill which was annoying. It was so overdrawn that it almost presented the main protagonist as "stupid" that she just couldn't "get it", bordering on irritating, instead of the intellegent and kick-ass chick that she is portrayed to be in the book!

The story itself while not original, I still find it quite good and enjoyable. Ms. Liu puts a nice spin to a well-used tale. I'd give it a 4 out of 5. However... the thing about the story is... if Maxine Kiss (heroine) is a one-woman defender of the human race team, why is she travelling only around the US? this begs the question of:
a.) Does that mean that the US has the highest concentration of demons, enough to warrant ignoring the rest of the world?
b.) The rest of the world is not considered human enough to be saved?
c.) It wasn't really a well thought-out plot, and here the snags are showing...

There are also two main "central issues" or, "central dilemma" if you will, to the story. One, is Maxine's journey to self-discovery and burgeoning powers and, second, is the first "demon from the veil" encounter in Maxine's lifetime. The second "central dilemma" was satisfactorily closed with the ending with a bang. While the first "central issue" seems to be an ongoing process. The ending therefore closed the book but also left it hanging. This took the steam off the climax of the story. I would give the ending a 3.5 out of 5.

Overall, I think this is still a wonderful start to what is looking like a worderful series! I enjoyed this book and would read another Marjorie Liu work again. I'd give this book a 3.5 out of 5.

Cherry
www.cherrymischievous.com

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maxine Kiss was raised by her mother to be a loner and a nomad, moving place to place, keeping to herself, having no friends outside of the boys. The boys are her living tattoos that she wears on her body by day, they peel away at night to become her personal, demon protectors that she lovingly calls "my boys". Maxine is from a warrior race of demons created long ago to guard the humans from the demons and zombies. She is the last of her line and they call her The Hunter.

Going against family tradition, Maxine has put down some roots with Grant Cooperon, who has a few special gifts of his own, in Seattle, Washington at the Coop, a homeless shelter owned by Grant. Grant is also a former priest. Maxine has some trepidations about about living with Grant but she loves him and can't keep herself from not staying with him. In Maxine's own words:

"Grant Cooperon, my magic bullet. And it was going to kill me one day."

Maxine senses that the veil, a prison created ten thousands years ago to imprison the most dangerous of demons, has opened and something evil has slipped through the cracks to earth's realm. Maxine has to find out what slipped through, before it finds her.

I love the way Marjorie M. Liu writes, her words are like poetry, the way they flow off the page. It was a treat to read The Iron Hunt coupled with Ms. Liu's writing style and an introduction into world of demons that is a rare one with many dimensions to explore. I enjoyed the closeness and companionship that Maxine shares with her boys. The romance in this story is very subtle, the love shared between Grant and Maxine is unquestionable from the very the start. Which I think is refreshing to see the protagonist in a solid relationship throughout the story. Maxine Kiss is a strong, warrior through and through but she is also kind, she has a softer side.

This is a read that requires your full attention because there is so much going on every page. At times the story can be dark and bleak. The Iron Hunt is an engrossing, solid story with action throughout it's pages. The end ties up the major plot point of this story but leaves a lot questions needing answers. Most of those questions are answered in Darkness Calls.

The Iron Hunt has a prequel Hunter Kiss, a novella in the Wild Thing anthology. I did not read the prequel and feel it didn't hinder the story in any way.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maxine Kiss lives in a world where being alone is not only the best but expected of her. As the last of the mortal demon hunters she has trained her entire life to destroy the evil that threatens the world. Her only friends the demons that protect her. By day the demons, or "the boys", cover her body as intricate tattoos that they form to cover her as if being encased in steel. By night, they are her personal body guards, doing everything in their power to help her fight the ones that threaten her and her world.

After losing her mother Maxine decides she wants more than the lonely existence her heritage has bestowed on her. Grant, the only person who knows her for her true self, is the person Maxine does not want to give up. Grant has a few tricks himself, like the ability to use music as a tool that can shape and mold the emotions and desires of those around him. What Maxine sees in him is an amazing person who wants to change the lives around him for the best.

Now Maxine has come up against a situation that leaves her looking for answers in unsuspecting places. The veil, or the layers and boundaries that have been in place for centuries to keep the demons out and the humans safe, is weakening. With the help of Grant, "the boys" and a few bizarre alliances Maxine is on a mission to carry on her legacy and fight the battles as they come.

Marjorie M. Liu has a unique style of writing that unfolds the plot in a way that has you wanting more but keeps dangling just enough in front of you at a time so that it isn't an overwhelming amount of information at once. The plot for THE IRON HUNT is filled with twists and turns and the world is nothing like anything else I have read thus far. I am looking forward to picking up the next in The Hunter Kiss series, DARKNESS CALLS, and the upcoming release of the third book, A WILD LIGHT, coming out in July 2010. I truly enjoyed the main character, Maxine, in seeing both her strengths and her vulnerabilities. Her story is one that makes you want to cheer her on I know I will definitely be moving on to more of the series.