Customer Reviews

Snake Agent: A Detective Inspector Chen Novel (Detective Inspector Chen Novels)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Is it horror? Is it mystery? Is it science fiction?

Yes.

Most of the fiction I read that features demons and the spawn of hell are usually blown apart my Space Marines or the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 SF series. That having been noted, once I started Liz Williams' Snake Agent, it was "put off the chores" until I was done.

She effectively melds an interesting mystery story with a backdrop that includes an alternate super-high-tech Earth and the regions of Hell. The Publisher's Weekly review notes there is a hint of Charlie Chan. Nope. More like Peter Lorre's interpretation of Mr. Moto. Inspector Wei Chen doesn't just stand in a room and detect clues, he is action oriented and goes where he needs to be to get the job done - whether that might be a sewer line or the Ministry of Diseases in Hell.

Williams also weaves in interesting background that leaves you wanting more, and rosters a cost of supporting characters that rivals the best in series fiction.

I can't wait for the sequel - and I'm not a fantasy fan!

This seems a bit of a change of pace from Liz Williams's well-received earlier novels, such as The Poison Master and Banner of Souls. The tone is a bit lighter, the setup simply more playful -- which isn't to say that the book is comic or without darker moments. And it isn't to say that Snake Agent isn't enjoyable -- indeed, it is a fine, clever, absorbing novel.

It is subtitled "A Zhu Irzh & Inspector Chen Novel", suggesting the possibility of a series. And I have seen a couple of short stories set in the same milieu, including one ("Adventures in the Ghost Trade", Interzone, April 2000) from which the current novel is expanded. The setting is a curious combination of near future SF with Chinese-based fantasy. It might be called an "Alternate History Fantasy set in the Future", by which I mean that it takes for granted a world much resembling ours in which certain fantastical aspects are true, extrapolated into the near future. The location is a new city called Singapore Three, somewhere in South China. Inspector Chen is a policeman assigned to cases involving Hell -- cases where demons have intruded into our world, or the dead have ended up in the wrong place, or humans are engaged in illegal transactions with the underworld. He is uniquely suited to this duty: he has been granted the protection of a goddess, Kuan Yin, for his occasional trips to Hell, and he also has a domestic secret: his wife is a demon.

The story opens with an investigation into a recently deceased young woman, the daughter of a rich man, who seems to have gone to Hell by mistake. Or so her mother says. But before long Chen's investigation bumps into some political roadblocks. It seems highly place interests, in both worlds, are involved in something unsavory. And indeed, down in Hell, Seneschal Zhu Irzh is investigating a case of the souls of virtuous young human girls being taken to Hell for use as prostitutes. Before long, he and Chen meet and realize that their cases are connected. But Irzh, too, finds that political interests in Hell are impeding his investigation. And, finally, Inspector Chen's wife, Inari, is being chased, presumably by the vindictive family of the demon she had refused to marry before escaping to Earth.

This central mystery develops quite satisfyingly, leading to a resolution that is effective enough, if perhaps just slightly too rapid and too pat. Both Inspector Chen and his infernal counterpart, Irzh, are engaging characters, reflecting their different origins nicely. Irzh in particular is an amusing creation, for the most part a conventional demon but with urges toward compassion and other virtues that he tries to suppress. Williams's description of Hell is also fun and nicely cynical -- especially its rival Ministries: Wealth, War, Epidemics, etc.

This isn't a major work, but it is an enjoyable novel with interesting protagonists. I would be delighted to see further stories about the same pair of detectives: I think the setup quite fruitful, and the lead pair interesting enough to follow for some time.

In "Snake Agent," the ever-clever Liz Williams concocts a tongue in cheek brew combining the police procedural, the horror tale, fantasy, and science fiction. Set in an alternate Earth that seems to be a few years beyond our present, it features Singapore 3's (don't ask what happened to Singapore 1 and 2) Detective Inspector Chen, the police inspector involved with the supernatural--the snake agent of the title. (This is the first of a series, but it's complete in itself.)

His current case leads him to hell, where he teams up with Hell's Seneschal Zhu Irzh in order to thwart a vast conspiracy involving one of Hell's many bureaus. Ms. Williams has serious issues with bureaus and the 'crats who run them (she's shown this before in an earlier novel, "Empire of Bones"), a fact that figures prominently in this novel's clever plot.

Wittily written (the characters often speak in phrases that evoke Jack Vance's--hardly a bad thing), cleverly plotted, the book's a total delight.

Take a healthy dose of mythology and eastern religion, mix in the humor of Big Trouble in Little China and the buddy-cop banter of Lethal Weapon and adorn with a fantastic Jon Foster cover and what do you get? Well, you get the beginnings of an entertaining new mystery series by author Liz Williams.

The Snake Agent is a difficult book to categorize. A blurb from the publisher's website reads:

John Constantine meets Chow Yun-Fat in this near-future occult thriller. Detective Inspector Chen is the Singapore Three police department's snake agent, in charge of supernatural and mystical investigations.

Chen has several problems: In addition to colleagues who don't trust him and his mystical ways, a patron goddess whom he has offended, and a demonic wife who's tired of staying home alone, he's been paired with one of Hell's own vice officers, Seneschal Zhu Irzh, to investigate the illegal trade in souls.

Political pressures both earthly and otherworldly seem to block their investigation at every turn. As a plot involving Singapore Three's industrial elite and Hell's own Ministry of Epidemics is revealed, it becomes apparent that the stakes are higher than anyone had previously suspected.

"Constantine meets Chow Yun-Fat" is a tremendously accurate description of Liz Williams' protagonist, Detective Inspector Wei Chen. I recently re-watched The Replacement Killers and I could not help picturing Chow Yun-Fat as Wei Chen's adventures unfolded before me. If ever filmed he would be the perfect choice.

I said that William's novel is hard to classify and it is. The story abounds with magic as does a typical fantasy novel. It is a mystery, set in a near future science fiction universe replete with technology that would be at home in a story by Phillip K. Dick. It is also a primer for eastern mysticism and a view of earth, heaven, and hell steeped in ancient mythology. In addition there are elements of horror reminiscient of the aforementioned John Constantine and a wry humor similar to that in the very best cult classic comedies.

Having so many varied influences in the wrong hands could result in a mess of a story. Fortunately Liz Williams crafts her tale with deft hands making The Snake Agent a fun introduction to this series of detective novels. It is easy to see why she has been twice nominated for Phillip K. Dick awards. The Snake Agent unfolds at just the right pace to keep one engaged in the story without ever overwhelming the reader. There is a lot going on with the genre-mixing plot but the reader never feels lost.

At its core The Snake Agent is just pure fun. The best thing about the novel is the characters and their relationships. Wei Chen is a mortal man married to Inari, an denizen of the Underworld whom he rescued from an unwanted marriage. Inari has a protective animal companion that masquerades as a tea pot in earthly realms. On earth Chen has a law enforcement partner who is a perfect combination of Reginald VelJohnson's character in Die Hard and Danny Glover's in Lethal Weapon. Of course the nether realms have their own enforcement agencies and so Chen's counterpart, Seneschal Zhu Irzh, figures prominently in the tale as well. There is nothing better than a science fiction/fantasy tale flavored with chivalrous romance and solid friendships.

If you are a fan of any of the above mentioned films I would venture to say that you will enjoy Liz William's debut novel in the Detective Inspector Chen series. As of this writing the second novel in the series, The Demon and the City, is nearing release and I really look forward to rejoining Wei Chen in his investigative adventures. Funny, adventurous, scary and magical, The Snake Agent is a great opportunity to try something a little different in your reading. I tip my hat to you Ms. Williams. Well done.

This is the first Liz Williams book I read, after buying it direct from Night Shade books (the publisher). I disagree with one of the other reviews in comparing this to Gaiman's Neverwhere. In some ways it's closer to Simon Green's "Nightside" series crossed with Barry Hughart's Master Li novels.

In a future, very high-tech Earth, Inspector Chen of the supernatural affairs specialist of the Singapore 3 police department. But in addition to high-tech, this is very much a world of the supernatural as well where heaven and hell are in the mode of the Chinese Celestial Bureaucracy. When he gets involved in a case of a little girl's soul not ending up in Heaven where it was supposed to, but ending up in Hell instead, things began to get complicated. "Ghost smuggling", real-world politics, a wife who isn't what she seems, a demonic partner, and bureaucratic strife among Hell's Ministry of Disease and Ministry of Taxation all combine to generate a fascinating story.

I can't recommend this book enough, and the upcoming sequel looks very interesting as well.

I loved this book. Å rich and unique blend of Chinese myth, contemporary fantasy, science fiction, and police procedural with complex, interesting characters and a good pace as well as a dash of quirky humor.

Detective Inspector Chen has a strained relationship with his Goddess, loves his wife, and isn't entirely thrilled with his job as investigator of cases that lie between Earth, Heaven, and Hell when he's faced with the matter of a dead young girl whose soul hasn't made it to Heaven. Soon he is sucked into a plot that goes beyond the mere white-slavery of dead girls and into the tangled, demonic ambitions of Hell's most evil bueraucrats whose machinations may be played out on the unsuspecting populations of the living on Earth.

A brilliant read and fun every step of the way--I couldn't put it down. My only complaints: too short and the ending was a bit slap-dash-bang-you're-done! Interestingly, although many of the themes are complex and adult, there is very little "bad" language and no actual sex--though prostitution and sexual deviance are important elements in the plot development.

I'm looking forward to the next one and I'll be recommending it to everyone I can think of.

Liz Williams latest novel, her best so far, invites comparison to Neil Gaiman's 'Neverwhere'. Detective Inspector Chen, working for the police department in the Singapore of a parallel Earth, fights a Hellish scheme to introduce a new plague. With the help of demon allies, he ultimately succeeds. The action is non-stop from beginning to end. I loved it. I think you will too.

The Snake Agent by Liz Williams is an entertaining political mystery set in a futuristic mystic-China city called Singapore Three. Due to the illegal schemes of a certain Ministry department of Hell, the balance of order between the worlds of the celestial Heavens, Earth, and Hell is about to explode into mass chaos.

The title refers to the undercover role Detective Inspector Chen must assume when he travels to Hell to find the missing ghost of an innocent girl whose soul never reported for processing. An unusual supporting cast includes a demon member of Hell's vice squad ; a pompous, kill-happy, samurai-style demon-slayer ; and the goddess Kuan Yin... not to mention Chen's mysterious and beautiful wife who carries around and talks to a teapot that is not just a teapot.

What I really enjoyed about this tale was all the fun the writer pours into exploring elements of Chinese sorcery and mysticism. Nothing is what it seems, including the depth of each character -there are no flat layers of good and evil on earth, in Hell, or even among the residents of the Celestial Heavens.

I really wish the publisher would drop the Charlie Chan reference in the review, because it is not only inaccurate, it's outdated. It's also bigoted. I would never have thought of describing the main character of the book in that way. He is a police detective who apparently also knows a thing or two about magic and feng shui, and has -- literally -- traveled to Hell and back on more than one occasion. He also talks to goddesses.

I thought Williams did a good job of describing the characters and the settings. One character, a demon hunter, appeared midway into the book and I expected his role to be that of a typical upstart, given the main character's thoughts about him. While Williams kept him from being too predictable, I don't think he impacted the story much except for being a guide to another policeman, so that the reader could learn some background to the story.

I gave the book only 4 stars because I would have liked to gotten a little deeper into the character's motivations. I see that there are other books which follow this, so perhaps the characters grow in depth.

Although the book is classified as science fiction, there is actually little science in the story, although what is there is intriguing. But, it's mostly a prop. I would probably say the book is more of a fantasy. There is some mystery, although the story isn't a classical who-dunnit. There is also a bit of humor. I wasn't disappointed with the outcome of the story, and I'm ready to read the next book in the series.

I greatly enjoyed Liz Williams' "Snake Agent", partially for the excellent characterization but also for the unique setting. Williams captures the Chinese atmosphere perfectly, and I've heard from other sources that she does it pretty accurately. I'm not that familiar with the details of Chinese culture, but it certainly seems accurate to my limited knowledge. Most importantly, it *feels* right. She gets the mood down perfectly, an oppressed city, stifling heat (it's unclear whether that's due to global warming or the proximity to Hell, or if that's just Singapore's climate) and a mix of high-end neighborhoods and downtrodden slums. Her version of Hell is wonderfully portrayed too, massively bureaucratic and structured, with various ministries in charge of doing things to keep evil in the real world. However, there are certain rules they have to follow, and they can't step on each others' toes. Zhu Irzh is on the Vice Squad not to prevent and control Vice, but to make sure that everything's being done properly. We don't see Heaven in the novel, but we do see how it interacts with the real world and with Hell, as Hell's minions do have to watch their step so Heaven's bureaucracy doesn't get involved. Williams' description of everything makes you feel like you're there, sweltering in the heat or down in Hell when Chen has to go there to finish his mission.

Chen is an extremely interesting character. He's married to a demon who has escape from Hell because of an attempted forced marriage (all of this happened in a previous unpublished adventure). He's world-weary, but he's definitely good at what he does. He's on the outs with his goddess right now, which will make visiting Hell a bit tougher because he won't have her protection. Zhu Irzh is a wonderful creation, a demon with a few ethics; he's not a "good" demon, but he wants to make sure everything runs smoothly and correctly. Chen and he form an interesting relationship of respect but distrust, and their interplay is a lot of fun to read. In fact, sometimes Zhu is a more interesting character then Chen, especially with little details such as how he keeps on getting his favorite coat messed up and how annoying he finds that. The ending of the book promises that in subsequent novels, we will be seeing more of Zhu, which made me very happy. I wasn't quite as impressed with Chen's wife, but she started to hold her own as her storyline moved forward. Williams also has a handle on her minor characters, making them distinctive even if they aren't a major part of the plot.

I really did enjoy Snake Agent, and would recommend it highly to any fantasy or science fiction fan looking for something just a little different. The book can be slow going at times, but that's usually because you're spending more time immersed in the setting and Williams' wonderful prose. I'm usually a quick read, and I was a bit annoyed at first that this book was taking me so long. Then I realized that I was enjoying my stay in it and it was all right. It's an interesting setting and a wonderful book.

David Roy