Sunday, November 9, 2008

Series Sunday - Dirk & Steele



This Sunday, I am going to focus on Marjorie M. Liu's Dirk and Steele series. Ms. Liu has created a very interesting series that revolves around a team of agents all with superpowers. Think x-men if you will. Good vs. Evil. These agents all possess a special power. Some can shift-change, others can manipulate electric impulses. Some can read an objects history, others can communicate with animals. Each agent is unique in their ability that they bring to the team.

This series has been extremely well written, in that she takes impossible situations and seemingly makes them sympathetic. The characters themselves might possess super powers, but they are human just the same. I find them very personable and I can relate to them. I have enjoyed all her stories, with Shadow Touch being my personal favorite. Here is the series order and I personally recommend reading them in order. Throughout the series there are connecting story arcs that run through several books. (Although, I did start with the second book first. It thoroughly hooked me!) Each book stands alone in that it has a self contained romance.

1. Tiger Eye (Dela and Hari)
2. Shadow Touch (Elena and Artur)
3. The Red Heart of Jade (Dean and Mirabelle)
4. A Dream of Stone and Shadows (story in Anthology: Dark Dreamers) (Charlie and Aggie)
5. Eye of Heaven (Blue and Iris)
6. Soul Song (M'Cal and Kitala)
7. Where the Heart Lives (story in Anthology: My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon
8. The Last Twilight (Amiri and Rikki)
9. The Wild Road (Lannes and Jane Doe)

5 comments:

Lana said...

Paranormals aren't really my thing, but I definitely got into the Dirk & Steele series when I read the first two of them. I loved the idea behind Artur's powers, and I'm really excited to read about Blue and Dean both!

nath said...

I still haven't read the last two books, but your comparison with X-men is very accurate.

I enjoyed the first few books, but then, I got annoyed at how many shifters they found or simply showed up. I mean, they were supposed to be rare right... and suddenly, they show up right and left :(

I'm looking forward to see other stories though.

Jill D. said...

Lana, I am glad you are enjoying the series. They rest of the series continues with just as high quality. I hope you like them.

Nath, There are a couple that I still haven't read. Soul Song and The Wild Road. I don't know how I feel about a gargoyle for a hero. I just can't picture it, which is why I have been holding off on reading it.

little alys said...

Have you ever watched the Gargoyles cartoon? That's kinda how I imagined them to be.

I actually liked the short novella that introduced the Gargoyles better than The Wild Road. Maybe you can try that?

P.S. This is one of my favs of this authors. :)

Jill D. said...

Hi Little Alys! Thanks for stopping by! I don't think I have ever seen the gargoyles cartoon. You aren't refering to the Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame are you? I have seen that movie and that is one of the reasons why I can't picture a gargoyle as a sexy hero. I haven't read the anthology. Maybe I should try that first. I really like Liu too. Have you read The Iron Hunt? If so, what did you think of it? I haven't gotten to it yet.