Friday, February 01, 2008

The Last Twilight by Marjorie M. Liu


Title: The Last Twilight
Author: Marjorie M. Liu

Publisher: Dorchester
Type: Paranormal Romance
Series: Yes, Dirk and Steele

Why: Liu is an auto-buy for me—although in this case, I read the ARC.

Comments: A few Liu reviews back, I likened Red Heart Of Jade to a tangle of painful knots and complained of weariness after running for my life, afraid and in the dark, no wiser than the primary characters. Well, I get it now. With any Liu title, it’s all about trust. Trust that comes both from experience and the proverbial leap of faith.

Liu’s prose is unmatched. No other can elicit the same breath-hitching, heart-aching, weighted-limb sensation that she does, through words and imagery as dense and laden as the African jungle she transports us to in her latest installment of the Dirk and Steele series.

Like Red Heart of Jade, I suffered doubt early on in The Last Twilight—thinking I had missed something somewhere back at the story’s beginning. However, I was so overcome by the pain and unease permeating every scene that I could do no more than just feel, page after page. I experienced this book, carried along on Liu’s words, pulled under, until I just let go. A much more enjoyable read because I stopped searching for that jumping on point, stopped wondering if I had missed a critical piece of information. Instead, I simply let go and trusted Liu to deliver me safely unto the magical and fated HEA.

It is a requirement Liu places on Rikki and Amiri in The Last Twilight as well. Their trust in one another is earned throughout their experience on the run, right up until that moment it becomes necessary to leap the last bit of distance. It is such a poignant moment, trembling with fear and honesty rarely found in mortals. It almost sounds silly or amateur to say that Liu is skilled at characterization. She redefined characterization, putting us in the hearts of men and women—whatever their form—consumed by powerful emotion, gripped in terror and most often, reduced entirely to survival mode. My own ability to withstand the sensory overload is as questionable as that of the characters. We really do not know where Liu will take them, what they will endure and who or what will be left to go on. Trust. You have to have it.

And oh is it worth it. You might be wrung out by the end, but there will always be that blanket of peace at the book’s close. As well as the promise of more of the unknown.


What’s Next: I’ve missed two anthologies from Liu—Holidays Are Hell and My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon. I’ll catch up on those two before her next release, The Iron Hunt, book one in her new Hunter Kiss series and another new anthology—paranormal erotica—titled Minotaur In Stone.

5 comments:

  1. I really enjoy her books and this one was tres bon!

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  2. Do we have Lori reading Liu yet Rosie? LOL She needs to, don't ya think?

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  3. Sigh. No, you don't have me reading her books yet. I've been drug kicking and screaming into the paranormal world, and I'm still as resistant as they come.

    You always mak them sound so great, but then a contemp or an historical that just seems so good comes along. I have so little time, I'd rather go with a sure thing. How lazy of me, I know!

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  4. but it is Liu!
    How can you not want to read her?

    I am so glad I stumbled across this review, and found someone who is affected by her work like I am.

    Still waiting for this one to arrive from the US, but I think it will be going to the top of the pile.

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  5. Hi Anon! Thanks for commenting and welcome! You'll find quite a few Liu fans in this blogging community. I think everyone agrees that she is in a class by herself.

    And Lori, some day, when you're ready....no pressure. LOL

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