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Title: Soul Song (Dirk & Steele | Book 6) Author: Marjorie M. Liu Rating: Not available Avg. Score: 5 Submit Comment Hits: 26

Review of Soul Song (Dirk & Steele, Book 6)

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Comments for Soul Song (Dirk & Steele | Book 6)

• Posted on 2008-06-16
  just plain awful
  
  I found this book to be a let down after the others in the series I have read. The characters, when not just plain boring, seem to make endlessly stupid decisions to run headlong into to danger. Nobody has any lasting emotional damage though torture and rape run amok though out the book. The ending was ridiculously upbeat for such a dark story, as it seems no one had any hard feelings about said torture and rape. This book was so bad that I no longer read anything by this author.
  Score: 1
• Posted on 2008-06-16
  What a great read
  
  I absolutely loved this book! The story was well rounded, fast paced, and interesting. The hero and heroine had a chemistry that practically jumped off the page right from the beginning. I also loved the fact that it was interracial love between a mixed heroine and a white hero. I found it to be sooooooo beautiful and wish there were many more romances that were color blind!!! M'cal is a strong sensitive hero with a huge heart and Kitala is such a unique and brave heroine. At the end of the book I found myself not wanting to leave them behind. This book is most certainly going to join the rest of my 'keepers'. All I can say is that Ms. Liu is one amazingly talented author who's work I will be buying more of from now on!
  Score: 5
• Posted on 2008-04-03
  Action-packed supernatural romance
  
  M'cal is a Krackeni (merman, able to transform to human, and half-human through his mother) who is enslaved by a witch he had fallen in love with. She wishes to utterly control him, and does, forcing him to do her bidding: stealing souls (and lives) to give to the witch. She sends him on such a mission to find Kitala Bell, a musician--who seems to have the power to counteract some of the witch's power over M'cal... and who instantly captures his heart. But M'cal and the witch aren't the only folks after Kit, who can foresee some people's death and who has involved herself unwisely in the plight of another woman who has a squad of kidnappers and murderers after her--and now after Kit. Many rather horrific adventures ensue--and love and sex, too...
  
  I enjoyed reading this tale. True, the events were nasty, but there's the hope of a happy ending for Kit and M'cal to see us through. I liked that it seemed they had little in common other than love at first sight... but it's discovered that they are perfect for each other, of course, and they both have a love of music--he through his singing (source of his magical powers) and she through her fiddling and music-making. There are many interesting details to add to the basic adventure and romance, such as bits from both of their backgrounds: her magical heritage from her grandmother that she has tried to deny, and M'cal's background--his people and his father and his past actions, that he has also tried to run from. There is also the problems with the witch and the girl who is kidnapped. And there is Kit's call to a friend for help which involves (somewhat peripherally) the Dirk and Steel Agency, bringing four shape-shifters on the scene.
  
  I found it all made for a non-stop action plus romance adventure that was distinctive and memorable.
  Score: 4
• Posted on 2008-02-16
  The series is taking an extremely dark turn...
  
  I've read all of Marjorie M. Liu's Dirk & Steele books. I LOVED Tiger Eye, liked the next couple, but Soul Song was VERY DARK. Torture, rape, increasing amounts of violence...I could barely make it through to the end. The new characters had very little substance, and even the ones from previous books were two-dimensional here. If this is the direction the series is going, I'm afraid I won't be sticking with it.
  Score: 2
• Posted on 2008-01-17
  not as good as the early ones
  
  I am a loyal Dirk & Steele fan and have read all six of the books in the series. I have to say comparing to previous 5 books, this one is a bit disappointing. I bought this book when it first came out in July 2007 and was expecting to finish it within days. Unfortunately the book felt so flat and unattractive that I had to put it down for months. It's now January of 2008 and I finally just finished reading it. I think the idea of mermen is very interesting and creative but the story line just never took off for me. The hero and heroine were flat and one dimensional. They did not draw my interests at all and I skipped quite a few pages about them. In fact, the kidnapped woman, Alice, seemed more intriguing to me than the main couple. The only reason I even finished this book is because I wanted to find out more about the magic creatures Dirk & Steele kept discovering. I did not care about the main couple's love story at all. The two of them were also repeatedly captured, tortured, hurt, dragged, beaten, slapped,... It was over the top and I did not care for it at all. Ms. Liu also used music and singing as the hero and heroine's supernatural talents and she unfortunately did not do a good job conveying the magic of their voices, music, and instruments. However, as disappointed as I am about this book, I am not giving up on Dirk & Steele series yet. I will be the first in line to buy the next installment and hope Ms. Liu will bring back the magic that was so refreshing and intriguing when I first discovered this series.
  Score: 2