Monstress, Vol. 3: Haven by Marjorie M. Liu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Volume 3 reveals more about the monstrum who lives within Maika, Zinn. He’s the Cthulu like deity who is slowly waking up and revealing what his objective is and whether he is going to aid Maika or not. Zinn reveals in flashbacks that he is not the only deity of his kind. In fact, Maika and Zinn learn that Zinn betrayed on of his kind and may have been the one to bring down the reign of these ancient gods. We also learn that Zinn was an ally of the Shaman Empress. It is through his memories of his work with the Shaman Empress that Maika is lead to the Shaman Empress’s workshop in order to learn more about this figure that her mother, Moriko, was determined to track down. We learn more about the mask and why so many different characters are bent on beating Maika to completing the mask.
What’s interesting about what we learn of Zinn is that the rise and fall of his kind is similar to that of the Titans in Greco-Roman mythology. The ancient gods like Zinn were wild and dangerous. Then the ancient ones came along and defeated them (or so they thought) and now we are seeing the fruits of that conflict. This is the part I like about fantasy. I like learning about a new worlds codes and history. It continues to intrigue me how Ms. Liu takes small pieces of other mythologies and crafts her own. I think it shows how important it is to be well-read otherwise you’d miss the references or foundations upon which contemporary authors are building their stories.
