2.7.2017 | Tuesday

Magic Bites

category: Book Reviews
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Magic Bitestitle: Magic Bites
author: Ilona Andrews
series: Kate Daniels #1
published: 1 April 2007
publisher: Ace
genre(s): fantasy, postapocalypse
pages: 260
source: bought
format: paperback
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | BookBub | Goodreads

rating: five-stars | series rating: five-stars

the blurb

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic…

When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.

The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t have it any other way…


my review

I don’t read a lot of urban fantasy, but I loved Magic Bites!  The action is fantastic and it features a badass heroine.  Mix that with a ton of paranormal lore and mythology, and it is a truly engrossing read.

The world of Kate Daniels is a post-apocalyptic one, but different from most in fiction.  The apocalypse wasn’t the fallout of war, famine, or strife.  It was the downfall of technology.  A wave of magic came over the world and changed everything.  Now it comes and goes, leaving technology sketchy at best.  But more than that, it has left the world teeming with new creatures and new battles.

The paranormal aspects of this world are fantastic.  There are a lot of the usual suspects of the paranormal world, but they are given a new spin.  Vampires are not sparkly, but piloted by necromancers.  And the world of shapeshifters is expanded and fascinating.

Kate is a mercenary in Georgia and it is her job to fix these magical problems, whether it be something dangerous, or just something messy and inconvenient.  It’s a thankless job, but it’s one she’s very good at.  And it lets her be what she wants…. alone.

She is a fantastic main character.  She’s strong and badass, but smart and witty, too.  For a book with so much action, there is a lot of humor.  Her one-liners and her inner dialogue had me laughing more than once.

This is a book with a smart, kickass female lead and I definitely recommend it!  Tons of action and an amazing world!

About Ilona Andrews

Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team.

Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)

Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Oregon with their two children, three dogs and a cat. They have co-authored two series, the bestselling urban fantasy of Kate Daniels and romantic urban fantasy of The Edge.

Rating Report
plot
five-stars
characters
five-stars
writing
five-stars
pacing
five-stars
Overall: five-stars

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