The Fire King: A Dirk & Steele Novel

Written by Marjorie Liu

Narrated by Emma Lysy

“Readers of early Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, and the best thrillers out there should try Liu now.”—Publishers Weekly

In the realm of paranormal romance, no author burns hotter than New York Times bestselling author Marjorie M. Liu! The Fire King is yet another blazing example of her originality, sensuality, and breathtaking storytelling prowess. Her passionate tales centered around the mysterious Dirk and Steele Detective Agency—with its roster of enigmatic psychics, telepaths, shapeshifters, and extraordinary beings—have set a high standard for this popular romance subgenre. In The Fire King, her tormented shape-shifting hero—once almost a god, now much more than a man—freed against his will from an eternal darkness, must overcome his rage and the pain of his tragic past by accepting the love of a remarkable woman with an extraordinary gift. A Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award winner and multiple RITA Award nominee, Lui is not to be missed if your taste is for love stories from the supernatural side. In fact, Christina Feehan, arguably the Queen of paranormal romantic fiction, says, “Anyone who loves my work should love hers.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Jun 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9780062980519

Marjorie Liu

Marjorie Liu is the New York Times bestselling author of the Monstress series, illustrated by Sana Takeda. She also writes for Marvel Comics, including Black Widow, X-23, and Astonishing X-Men. Marjorie teaches comic book writing at MIT and divides her time between Boston, Massachusetts, and Tokyo, Japan.

Reviews for The Fire King

[reneebooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Karr is a 3000 year old chimera who was just dug out of a cave somewhere in China. A chimera is a creature whose parents are both different types of shapeshifters. Chimeras had been hunted to extinction because they were greatly feared. Karr is tied up and held prisoner and no one can understand him because his language is now extinct. Soria has a gift for languages, in fact she can understand any language in the world by using some kind of psychic connection. Soria's past involves a horrific major trauma from a betrayal and she is still somewhat fragile. She has separated herself from all her friends and family but D&S needs her help with Karr to translate his extinct language and discover why he survived for 3000 years. Karr and Soria are two incredible well-formed characters and Liu makes you feel their isolation and loneliness. Soria was especially well done. I really felt her sense of betrayal, pain, and fear. Yet I marveled at how tough she was and appreciated her sharp tongue. I think she is probably one of my favorite heroines of the year.Another plus was the unusual setting of China and Mongolia. Can't say I have ever read any book with this setting. And the characters were all fantastic from the tribe of nomads (and a foreign exchange student) to some shapeshifters that have appeared in previous books in the series. The sexual tension was marvelous and this is where Karr really shines with how he falls for Soria and doesn't see her "flaws". There was only one short (but warm) sex scene which had me wishing for more. But Liu never puts many sex scenes in her books unfortunately.All in all an enjoyable read. TFK kept my interest from first page to last and I think it's the best one in the series.GRADE: B+

[capnrandm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love that in a book with three thousand year old shape shifters and psychic translators, the only moment that broke my suspension of disbelief was "Oh, sure, he cuffed her at wrist and upper arm? On the same arm?! The amazing redundant serial killer!". The old dragon is really getting on my nerves, though things turn out better in this book than expected. Also didn't expect Roland to turn up as an ex boyfriend. I wonder if he will ever get a HEA?

[dudara_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Fire King is part of theDirk & Steele romance series from American author Marjorie Liu. This was my first venture into this series, but I have to admit at the start of this review that romantic novels are not my thing. For a littl bit of background, Dirk & Steele are a detective agency who employ 'gifted' or 'supernatural' people. Soria is a 'universal translator' who is recovering from a horrific incident where she lost one of her arms. She is sent by her former boss and lover to China/Mongolia where an amazing discovery has been made in a recently unearthed tomb. Little do they know that this discovery will reawaken an ancient feud.The discovery in the tomb turns out to be Karr, a tall, handsome man who is surprisingly alive, despite having been buried in the dark for over 3,000 years. Karr is a chimera, one of the forbidden offspring when two different shapeshifters breed. In Karr's case, he is half-lion and half-dragon, but now he has reawoken in a completely different world, where his kind are very few. He has to battle his basic urges and present a human face.Ultimately, this is a romantic novel, but somehow it failed to engage me. I found the characters a bit dull, and even all the action and mythology failed to bring much excitement to the proceedings. It's definitely a book for a niche market, but judging by other positive reviews online, it does appear that Liu has her market.

[sunnysd_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Soria is a universal translator - if she hears a native speaker, she absorbs their tongue and can speak it fluently. But she's tired, damaged, and retired from the saving business. Retired, that is, until she's collected by some quasi-allies and delivered to her former lover and boss. He has a job for her - sound out a captive who speaks a language over three thousand years dead, and find out if he's sane and safe.When Soria meets Karr something clicks. He may be centuries old, but she trusts him, even if Dirk and Steele are less than sure. But Karr is something far from normal, even for a company made up of magic workers, psychics, and shapeshifters, and what he is may mean both their deaths.Not Liu's best. This felt like a poorly fleshed out short story. While both Karr and Soria are intriguing characters, rather than getting their due, Liu seems to be using the book as a vehicle to introduce more fantastical creatures and a few new twists in the ongoing Dirk & Steele vs. the evil plotline. While familiar faces reappear, nothing really moves forward.

[dulcibelle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An inoffensive piece of fluff, I was entertained, but not blown away. I wouldn't turn down any others in the series, but wouldn't actively search them out either. One thing surprised me - the cover makes this look like a steamy romance. It's really more of a romantic thriller. There's only one, pretty tame, sex scene. I'm not complaining, just mentioning that the cover is a little misleading.

[jjmachshev_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A 3000-year-old, hunky shifter and a special woman wounded physically and emotionally make for an engrossing read. "The Fire King" is Marjorie M. Liu's latest in her 'Dirk & Steele' series and I loved it. Each of her books, at least those in this series, dig down behind the differences in her characters whether they're shifter or human and draw on the feelings and emotions that are present in each of them. Soria is a human with something extra--the ability to understand and speak any language, as long as she is in the presence of a native speaker of that language. One year ago she suffered a horrible betrayal and lost her right arm. Since then she has barricaded herself in her apartment...until a strange pair bring her a new mission from Dirk & Steele. Imagine her surprise when her new mission turns out to be a 3000-year-old fairy tale...a chimera. The product of two different shifters, something that is supposed to be impossible. Now she and the chimera are on the run and Soria isn't sure who is friend and who is enemy.Karr was the warlord of the shifters from a time when Egyptians and Hittites ruled. He sacrificed himself to save his people, so what is he doing alive now? And who is this woman who appears to be the only one who can understand and speak with him? Is she enemy? A spy? Again and again she appears to help him during their escape and flight...but the more Karr learns, the more unsure he becomes of who is or should be an enemy.Liu does a wonderful job of making her paranormal characters human. She brings out their hopes, fears, happiness, and disappointments and I, for one, can't get enough of it. Each of these books can be read as a stand-alone, but each also furthers an overarching storyline that continues to evolve with each novel."The Fire King" has action, romance, hot sex, mystery, and magic. The story rolls out as smoothly as my favorite chocolate and the characters become people I want to know more about and want to see happy. My only real beef is that she doesn't write fast enough!