Review: The Wild Road by Marjorie M. Liu

The Wild Road I know I’ve said in the past that the Dirk & Steele series is best read in order, but if you’re looking to jump into the middle of it, this is the book to do it with. It fits in with the overall world easily, but it doesn’t focus much on the actual Dirk & Steele members. The only ones we see are Koni and Rictor—my favorites! Instead, this book introduces us to a secretive race of gargoyles. They were first tied into the Dirk & Steele world in a novella called A Dream of Stone & Shadow. I have not personally read it, but I know that it showed a period of captivity that haunts Lannes to this day. I never felt like I was missing out by not reading it, though. Liu does an excellent job of providing backstory and motivation to explain Lannes’s fears.

Lannes is hands down the sweetest guy in the whole series. He is frickin’ adorable! I found it so cute that in a situation with a frightened woman who didn’t know who she was or whether he saved her for nefarious purposes or not, he was the more nervous of the two. He’d get antsy and flinch back if she got too close and avoided her touching him. He had a good reason for it, but it was more than just that. He was painfully eager to help her, to save her, but he was equally frightened of making another mistake by trusting the wrong person again.

I found it interesting how different the gargoyles are from the other creatures we’ve seen in the series so far. They’re not able to hide their differences under their skin the way that the others are. Their skin and features are different and they have to wear a glamour when out among humans. Lannes has always been the bookish, nerdy sort, but after being held captive he has become even more reclusive. He has to hide what he is to protect his people, but he also hides to protect himself from further harm. Opening himself up to the woman he finds–Lethe, as she is later called–terrifies him, but he can’t help himself.

Lethe is quite a fascinating character. For a long time we know her only as “the woman.” She wakes up in the beginning of the book to find dead men in a room with her and a note pinned to her clothes that says ”Run.” She has no memory of who she is or what she’s done, but she can feel that she needs to run. She has to stay away from “them.” So she does. One thing leads to another and she ends up with Lannes, but it takes a while for them to trust each other. Once Lannes gets a peek into her mind, he is horrified by what he finds. Her memories are not suppressed or hidden, they are gone. Someone has ripped them from her mind.

The relationship in the book was so sweet, but that was more because of Lannes than Lethe. I didn’t dislike her character at all, but it’s hard to really sink into a character that doesn’t have a good sense of self. That’s completely understandable, since the whole book revolves around her not knowing who she is, but it did impact my connection to her. I found her very interesting and her struggle with the person she used to be was great. Was she good? Was she bad? Was it better to just let it go and start over fresh? But Lannes was the one that carried the book for me. Watching him slowly heal and become more comfortable in his own skin was wonderful. He was such a wonderful man. Kind and selfless and vulnerable. How can you not love a guy that says something like:

”If we do this,” he whispered. “You’re mine. And I mean that, Lethe.”

“Promise?” she breathed, beginning to tremble.

Lannes inhaled sharply. “Just like I’ll be yours.”

Lethe leaned in, pressing her lips to his ear. “Is this a gargoyle thing?”

“No,” he murmured. “I just love you, that’s all.”

The pace of the book was just as gripping as it usually is in this series. Liu always manages to grab me by the throat and keep me glued to the pages. The suspense of not knowing what was going on, who was after them, or even who Lethe was, was fabulous. I was surprised when I found out what had actually happened to her, but I shouldn’t have been. Liu is a master of twists and complications. Nothing is ever what is first appears in this series. When paired with getting more of Koni and Rictor, there’s no way I wouldn’t enjoy this book. And getting to finally see what Rictor is? Bonus! I can’t wait to see more develop with that. I was mighty intrigued by what we learned. I guess that just means that I’m going to have to dive into the next one soon.

Favorite Quote: