Soul Song

As always, Marjorie M. Liu delivers with a raw, emotional story. If you have not read her previous books, it's not necessary to do so to enjoy SOUL SONG, but I'd highly recommend it. You'll love them. The heroine of SOUL SONG is Kitala Bell. If you remember her from her very brief cameo in TIGER EYE, she was the professional fiddler. Kit's a bit of a 'classical' music rock-star, and my mind likened her to Vanessa-Mae. Kit is half-black, half-white, and she's part-witch and part-cursed to see people's murders before they happen. Heavy caseload for the poor girl, if you ask me. But I like that Liu never gives us a cookie-cutter heroine. She likes to mix up the romance standards. M'cal (the hero) is a merman, an ancient race called the Krackeni. Liu mentions that he's a man-hooker. Do what? You can't do that in romance! But I kept reading. Turns out that M'cal is the magically-bonded slave of a witch who sucks down the souls of others to survive, and M'cal is the one that retrieves the souls for her. He hates it (with good reason) but he can't escape her or disobey her. Things take a turn for the worse when she directs him to steal Kit's soul next. From there, the story runs away with itself, and took me along for the usual grand ride. Liu has plot in spades, and I usually can't guess where she's going next with it, and so I'm forced to read read read readreadread until I find out what happens next. The rest of D & S make a few appearances, but not enough to be obnoxious, and Kit and M'cal fall in love, beat the bad guys, and make sweet lurv together. It's a romance. You know these sorts of things happen. Of course, it's also a very different kind of romance. In addition to playing with character 'standards', Liu writes a very convincing action story that's almost eclipsed by her evocative writing. Those that haven't read paranormal romance before would do well to start with Liu.

In SOUL SONG, Marjorie M. Liu returns readers to the magical, fascinating world of Dirk & Steele a bit indirectly. M'Cal is a merman who is enslaved to a witch (much as Charlie was enslaved in "A Dream of Stone and Shadow" in the DARK DREAMERS anthology), who forces him to use his extraordinary vocal powers to steal souls with which to augment her power. His new target is renowned fiddler Kitala Bell. But instead of stealing her soul, he saves her life - and she saves his right back. Kitala has more talent than her music, but it's not something she welcomes - she can see how people are going to die. Her grandmother, a powerful voodoo priestess, tried to teach her how to handle her powers, but Kitala wanted to live in denial, and when her grandmother died, she lost her chance to learn. Despite the fact that she does know she can't do anything to save the people she sees, when she sees a young woman with a knife in her eye in the audience of her Vancouver concert, she tries to warn her. For her pains she gets tangled up in a web of human trafficking with two corrupt cops on her tail. The only thing standing between her and them is the man who saved her, the man who fascinates her...the man who is under compulsion to kill her. There's something absolutely heady about this love story - on the run together, knowing that at any moment, the compulsion on M'Cal might kick in and he'll end up killing the woman he's falling in love with, but Kitala trusting him all the same, a testament to the core of his honor that the witch could never touch. It's love on a knife edge, as you see often in romantic suspense, but M'Cal and Kitala connect so deeply through the music in their souls that you know once the knife edge is gone, they'll still be together. M'Cal's situation helps Kitala connect with the full source of her powers, and Kitala's trust in M'Cal enables him to wake up to his situation, to the fact that his resistance to the witch was almost gone, and gives him the courage to fight anew. Together they're stronger than they ever were alone. They trust each other, they redeem each other, and it's simply beautiful. This series just gets better and better with each book. Though M'Cal and Kitala are not core Dirk & Steele players, I would still advise new readers to start with TIGER EYE and read the series in order -- even with having read the prior books, I had to remind myself of some of the backstory. That way you can keep up with the tightly complex world Ms. Liu is building, plus you get to read several more wonderful books - it's a win-win.

SOUL SONG starts out with a bang and moves with a fast pace in the book and to a startling conclusion. Neither Kitala Bell nor M'cal are normal members of their species. Kitala's father was a white man and her mother was a black woman from Lousianna. Kit's grandma, Jazz, was and is a powerful voodoo priestess. Death has only strengthened her powers to protect her beloved granddaughter. Kit has her own unique powers she can see the murders that will take place and how they are committed on the faces of the living. She is a concert violinist and travels not only to play but escape the knowledge she has of the deaths that are to come. M'cal's father is a Merman and his mother was human. His father is one of the few who possess the ability to soul sing, either to help or to destroy. Even tho he is of mixed heritage M'cal has inherited this ability. He is also enslaved by a witch, one that he thought he was in love with. She has stolen his powers and forces him to steal souls and bring them to her in order for her to retain her youth. Now she wants Kit and sends him to procure her soul. Kit sees a woman at her concert who is to be murdered and even knowing that she will not be able to save the woman, she tries to warn her. Suddenly she and the woman and her uncle are attacked and kiddnapped. M'cal sees the attack and ultimately saves Kit. She touchs him in a soul deep way with her music and her face. He manages to free her and send her away with the warning that if he sees her again the witch will force him to take her soul. The rest of the book is a wonderful ride and of course Dirk and Steele, the agency come to the rescue. Kit is a friend of Del who married Hari, the shapechanger from TIGER EYE. I enjoyed this book very much and as with all her books you never know where they will lead. Do not miss it.

Although the Dirk and Steele agency play only a small part in the novel, we do get to reconnect with a few old friends. The novel itself follows M'cal a merman, with the power to destroy, or give life with his voice, who is enslaved by a witch, and Kitala Bell, a world renown fiddler, who has also inherited many of her Grandmother Jazz Marie's powers (namely seeing people who are going to die violently). Together Kitala and M'cal work to free a young woman who has been kidnapped from her evil captors, and to free M'cal from his enslavement to the witch who holds his soul. The book is well written. The first couple of chapters are a bit slow, but the pace picks up quickly after that. And while I would have liked to have reconnected with more of the Dirk & Steele crew, I was pleased to see Koni had a larger part that usual. A definite must have for anyone who likes Marjorie's books. This one will be going on my keeper shelf.Soul Song (Dirk & Steele, Book 6)

As a long-time fan of Marjorie M. Liu, I was truly excited to read Soul Song. I was expecting the elements I've always been provided by the Dirk & Steele books: a strong, capable heroine; an exotic hero who combines human frailties and strengths with fantastic abilities, and enough fast-paced strife to allow both to shine. Once again, Ms. Liu has come through. Those familiar with the Dirk & Steele novels will recognize Kitala Bell and enjoy reuniting with old friends. That, I think, is what most draws me to Ms. Liu's work again and again. Her ability to paint characters that draw you in and create bonds that lasts long after the last page.