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anana11's review against another edition
5.0
Loved the world depicted in this book. I know a little about Chinese mythology, but the imaginativeness of this world was delightful. And the characters were so fun and different. I have to admit I imagined the demon "officer" as a sort of Regency fop - too much Georgette Heyer, I think. All in all, a fun book and I will definitely read the rest of the series.
arlliharbbs's review against another edition
4.0
More like 3 and a half stars. It is a fun book, but not spectacular. I'm probably going to read the next one, so I definitely didn't hate it. just felt like it kind of lost me at the end.
egglescake's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable urban fantasy series set in Singapore (and Hell). It was great to read something not based on Western mythology. Will have to check out the rest of the series.
violentlyagitated's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
arce's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Dysphoria
lisabee's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I feel like I got suckered in. I quite enjoy fantasy stories from or about other cultures. For example: Ruth Ozeki's "A Tale for the Time Being", or Aliette de Bodard's "The Tea-Master and the Detective" - both fine, interesting books in which you learn new ways of looking and thinking about the world along with your story which doesn't fit neatly into your western categories.
So I had high hopes for this book. The author is educated, has at least been nominated for various awards, etc, etc. The book is set in the Chinese mythological space of souls that need to travel, be judged, and be reincarnated.
But. I felt all the way through that this was second and third hand Chinese culture, belief and thought, filtered through Western expectations.
So I had high hopes for this book. The author is educated, has at least been nominated for various awards, etc, etc. The book is set in the Chinese mythological space of souls that need to travel, be judged, and be reincarnated.
But. I felt all the way through that this was second and third hand Chinese culture, belief and thought, filtered through Western expectations.
besha's review against another edition
2.0
I loved the setting and the idea of Heaven and Hell as bureaucracies, but the prose was a little clunky, the plot was impossible to follow, and the proofreading was distractingly terrible. I'll still read the next in the series, in hopes that those things will improve; there's a lot to like here.
abookishtype's review against another edition
4.0
In Snake Agent, Inspector Chan is a detective who handles supernatural cases. So far so good, but then we learn that he has a demon for a wife, he’s on the outs with his patron goddess, Kuan Yin, and Hell is up to something more sinister than usual. And, he’s got a demon hunter from Beijing after his wife. I am totally hooked. I’m not done with this yet, but there are so many loose plot threads that I am very interested to see how this all turns out...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type
coolcurrybooks's review against another edition
3.0
For whatever reason, I never connected to Snake Agent. Even when there was something about it that I normally would have found interesting, it just never drew me in.
Snake Agent is an urban fantasy, science fiction, mystery mash up set in an alternate universe where Singapore’s started franchising. Detective Inspector Chen handles supernatural cases for the Singapore Three police. He regularly deals with Heaven, Hell, and the spirits of the deceased. He soon becomes unwittingly embroiled in an investigation involving the trafficked souls of young girls and a conspiracy within Hell’s Ministry of Epidemics.
The part that I would normally find interesting was the world building. Even from the brief description I gave above, it’s clear that there’s a lot going on within the world of Snake Agent. Probably my favorite detail was that modern technology has speed up the bureaucratic processes within Heaven and Hell. I could imagine the settings clearly, and Hell was inventively disgusting. However, none of this really got me engaged with the book. And unfortunately, I never connected well enough to the characters or cared enough about the plot for those aspects to make the book worthwhile for me.
Chen was the normally by the books detective who was becoming conflicted due to associations with those who would normally be his opponents. In this case, it was primarily Seneschal Zhu Irzh, his counter part in Hell who he winds up working with as a partner, and his demonic wife Inari. Zhu and Inari both had POV sections in addition to Chen, as well as even some more minor characters like Sergeant Ma. I don’t think all of these POV characters were necessary to the book. In particular, I don’t know what Inari’s POV sections added as they didn’t tie strongly to the plot and Inari herself was not a very active character. In the end, I’m not sure what Inari contributed, besides having her existence be a conflict for Chen.
The plot has many different threads to it, and it did end up coming together as I predicted. However, I was hoping that the book would become more exciting or that I would care more once it drew closer to the climax. Neither occurred. I also wasn’t fond of the device where the author shows a snippet of the climax right at the beginning to try and get the reader immediately involved. It feels like clumsy manipulation. Obviously, a book should be manipulating a reader’s emotions (or else what is the point?), but in this case I found it blatant and ineffective.
I don’t think Snake Agent was bad exactly; I just didn’t find it very interesting. It’s unlikely to be a book I recommend in the future, and I’m not planning on continuing with the series.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
Snake Agent is an urban fantasy, science fiction, mystery mash up set in an alternate universe where Singapore’s started franchising. Detective Inspector Chen handles supernatural cases for the Singapore Three police. He regularly deals with Heaven, Hell, and the spirits of the deceased. He soon becomes unwittingly embroiled in an investigation involving the trafficked souls of young girls and a conspiracy within Hell’s Ministry of Epidemics.
The part that I would normally find interesting was the world building. Even from the brief description I gave above, it’s clear that there’s a lot going on within the world of Snake Agent. Probably my favorite detail was that modern technology has speed up the bureaucratic processes within Heaven and Hell. I could imagine the settings clearly, and Hell was inventively disgusting. However, none of this really got me engaged with the book. And unfortunately, I never connected well enough to the characters or cared enough about the plot for those aspects to make the book worthwhile for me.
Chen was the normally by the books detective who was becoming conflicted due to associations with those who would normally be his opponents. In this case, it was primarily Seneschal Zhu Irzh, his counter part in Hell who he winds up working with as a partner, and his demonic wife Inari. Zhu and Inari both had POV sections in addition to Chen, as well as even some more minor characters like Sergeant Ma. I don’t think all of these POV characters were necessary to the book. In particular, I don’t know what Inari’s POV sections added as they didn’t tie strongly to the plot and Inari herself was not a very active character. In the end, I’m not sure what Inari contributed, besides having her existence be a conflict for Chen.
The plot has many different threads to it, and it did end up coming together as I predicted. However, I was hoping that the book would become more exciting or that I would care more once it drew closer to the climax. Neither occurred. I also wasn’t fond of the device where the author shows a snippet of the climax right at the beginning to try and get the reader immediately involved. It feels like clumsy manipulation. Obviously, a book should be manipulating a reader’s emotions (or else what is the point?), but in this case I found it blatant and ineffective.
I don’t think Snake Agent was bad exactly; I just didn’t find it very interesting. It’s unlikely to be a book I recommend in the future, and I’m not planning on continuing with the series.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
ariereads's review against another edition
3.0
I have to confess - this is my first ever e-book (due to the fact that the entire Auckland library system doesn't seem to have one physical copy of this first book in the series, despite having multiples of all the sequels)...
I give in. It's really not as awful a reading experience as I expected. Maybe it's time to end my e-boycott for good - only for when no actual book copies are available, of course!
Anyway, the actual book itself is fantastic, I can't wait to read more of the series.
Yes - even on an e-reader!
I give in. It's really not as awful a reading experience as I expected. Maybe it's time to end my e-boycott for good - only for when no actual book copies are available, of course!
Anyway, the actual book itself is fantastic, I can't wait to read more of the series.
Yes - even on an e-reader!