Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1)
by Ilona Andrews
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Book Reviews of Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1)
Book Review: Excellent premise, but the execution's not so great . . . .
Summary: 3 Stars
First, the things I LOVED about _Magic Bites_: the originality of the setting and how well the author filled in the details.
The setting is the Atlanta, Georgia area of the southeastern U.S., in a time only a few decades after today. Magic has come back to the world (for reasons unexplained in the book) and overcomes technology in waves. If there is a magic wave coming in, then internal combustion engines, light bulbs, and electricity don't work. But engines can run off of holy water, ley lines can have ferries attached to them for public transit, and there are things like light bulbs which run on magic. Telephones still work, but that's probably because most people don't know how they work anyway and consider them almost magical, so that collective belief keeps them working (sometimes) during magic waves.
And then a tech wave will come through, and most magic fails while the things we are used to (electricity, light bulbs, city buses, cars that run on gas) all come back to life.
That premise alone is really unique, and Andrews' interpretation of vampires and werewolves is great too. The process of becoming a vampire changes the body and brain of the vampire such that they are more like a ravenous insect than a human; in this state, vampires become tools for a group of necromancers who call themselves the People. Were-creatures become were-whatevers after being infected by the Lyc-V virus. If a lycanthrope eats human flesh, they become a creature running entirely on testosterone, adrenalin, appetite, and nastiness; therefore, all lycanthropes have banded into the Pack, which has very strict codes and hierarchies to help members maintain their self-discipline.
The civil authorities are still around, but have split into three groups: the police, the military, and a private religious order based on the old knightly orders of the Catholic church.
It makes for a book worth reading just to see the world the author has created, and the successive magic and tech waves keep things interesting and unpredictable.
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Now we get to the thing I disliked about _Magic Bites_: the main character, Kate Daniels.
Kate has an interesting and somewhat mysterious backstory (my guess is her biological father is Roland, but that's just a shot in the dark). We don't get to know much about her past history, except that she was raised by a nice couple and started training even as a child; her father is not her biological father; she can't let anyone get a sample of her blood (why she became a mercenary when she knew she had that concern is something I don't understand); and she enrolled in an academy run by the knightly order mentioned above and was judged to have an enormous amount of potential, but she quit because she has a problem with authority. As a way to make ends meet, she joined the mercenary guild and does all the stuff honorable mercenaries do -- get hired to be part of a crew chasing down a feral werewolf pack, bodyguard and protect who she is assigned to, etc.
There's an old family friend who continues to mentor her, and the story starts with her finding out he has been murdered. As Kate tries to find out how his murder is related to his work as a Knight-Diviner in the above-mentioned protective knightly order, it becomes very clear someone is trying to start a war between the necromancers and lycanthropes, and may have even larger plans beyond that. It's a bit formulaic, but at the same time it's fairly well done.
Throughout the story it's obvious Kate has a lot of talent and training in physical fighting (especially swords) and magic, and generally has a good head on her shoulders. Unfortunately, she has the chutzpah and mouth of an obnoxious teenager. Being a "born fighter" means someone is good at fighting and maybe enjoys it more than most people; it does NOT mean they feel compelled to mouth off and pick pointless and time-consuming fights with every possibly ally and enemy they run across. Seriously, how did she get to be this old and this experienced without SOMEONE teaching her how to keep her mouth shut??
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Lastly, I utterly loathed the incredible amount of detail spent on violence, gore and sadism. During the course of the book, we get to read about:
- Kate's memories of her third assignment as a mercenary, where she watched a blinded mother call for her child, while the child was swinging from a noose in the tree right above the mother.
- The bad guy describing to one of his rivals IN DETAIL how the bad guy kidnapped and violently raped a woman the rival had dinner with, just to show the rival how powerless he is to protect those he cares about.
- The bad guy telling Kate all about how many women he's raped in the hopes of siring a powerful son, and how he's looking forward to raping Kate because her bloodline is exactly what he's looking for.
- And there's LOTS more where that came from. You can read about the fundamentalist father who brought home the Lyc-V virus from a tent gathering, became a feral werewolf, and after his wife committed suicide he abused his three daughters so badly two of them died and only one of his sons stayed sane enough to find and join the Pack. Or you can read about whoever's head it was that got staked in Kate's yard. Or read about Kate meeting the oldest son of the bad guy, who is just animal enough he'll never be the heir his father wants him to be, just human enough to understand the unending tragedy of his existence, and just enough his father's son to really enjoy the torture his old man directs him to do. Or you can read about . . . never mind, you get the idea. Even for dark fantasy, this is really freaking DARK.
_Magic Bites_ would have been just as good with the blood and gore and sadism turned down to half or a third of what's in there now.
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So, I'd like to give the book five stars for the excellent premise, the work done filling in the backstory and details of characters, the excellent secondary characters, and the excellent observations about human nature that pop up. However, the excessive gore and violence and the immaturity of the main character drag it down to three stars.
Book Review: Not my kind of urban fantasy
Summary: 2 Stars
I've read enough urban fantasy to know that the genre is extremely formulaic, just like, let's say, the genre of historical romance. Basically, you are aware of what exactly you are going to get from the get-go. The difficulty here is to find a series whose standard mix of ass-kicking heroine/amusing cast of secondary characters/lore/mystery/paranormal hunk that suits your personal preferences. Unfortunately, I will have to put "Magic Bites" into the pile of urban fantasy I doubt I will ever get back to, along with Richelle Mead's "Storm Born" and Patricia Briggs' "Moon Called."
The weakest part of the book is definitely the writing, which is rather poor even for the genre. I can see how Ilona Andrews might have lost numerous readers within just the first couple of chapters. She throws us in the middle of her world without explaining anything at all. Only pages later do we get enough information to understand previous events. A perfect example is the opening scene of "Magic Bites" where Kate throws a knife into a vampire's throat and then this vampire starts talking to her in a voice of some other character. Finally two chapters later you find out that in Andrews' world vampires are basically brainless zombies who are operated by necronavigators. This kind of thing happens repeatedly. Some readers might enjoy such cryptic type of writing based on extensive withholding of information. I personally don't find it enjoyable, unless it's written by Margaret Atwood or Megan Whalen Turner. However in this case I don't think the effect is intentional, it seems to be more indicative of poor writing skills. I might have overlooked the bad writing (after all, you do eventually get a better understanding of the world and start keeping up with the events), if only I felt attached to the world or the characters. No luck here unfortunately.
Patricia Briggs calls "Magic Bites" "an edgy, dark fantasy, touched with just the right amount of humor" in her blurb on the book cover. The novel is not particularly (or at all) humorous, but it is dark indeed. In fact, "Magic Bites" is probably the darkest and goriest urban fantasy I've come across so far. Andrews doesn't shy away from incorporating split open chests, exposed colons, dead flesh eating monsters, etc. in her novel. So if you are not into this kind of thing, you might want to reconsider reading this book.
I appreciate the author's attempt to reshape traditional werewolf/vampire lore with a touch of Slavic mythology added in. Sometimes it works (I liked the shapechanger concept), sometimes it seems ridiculous ("feeding" your sword a mixture of wheat with some iron bits). I personally find this world ugly and very vaguely defined. For instance, I still have no understanding of what exactly "magic" is. Is it some kind of energy force? Who can be in posession of magic? How is it used? I've seen it operate cars, I've seen applied telepathically, through incantation, via a sword, with the help of herbs in this book. I still have no idea what it is. I would love to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the human and magic world. Do they co-exist? How much are they aware of each other? What is humans' attitude towards the magical creatures and vice versa? Or I would love to know what exactly the Guild and its diviners and protectors do. Or what Kate does as a mercenary.
And finally, the main character. Kate Daniels will appeal to you if you like your heroines tough, almost man-like, very gloomy, with no sense of humor and irresistibly appealing to all the males in the vicinity (this is the common theme in urban fantasy). I would have liked her more if Andrews didn't write her so ever defiant and in constant need to get confrontational with every person (man) of power around her. She softens up a little bit by the end of the book, but unfortunately too late in the game for me to change my opinion about her.
Overall, "Magic Bites" didn't quite work for me. The mystery kept me turning pages, but I finished the book without a desire to continue on with the series. It doesn't mean, however, that this novel will not work for you. It might, especially if you like your urban fantasy dark and gory and your sword-wielding heroines tough and perpetually defiant.
Book Review: One of the best Urban Fantasy series out there!
Summary: 5 Stars
The beginning of the novel might be daunting a bit at first, since the story starts deus ex machina: we are in the middle of events without any explanation or footnotes to understand the strange world and creatures Ilona Andrews has created. However, if you overcome your feeling lost and carry on, soon the story will reveal itself and will transport you to that magical Atlanta where magic is common and an everyday occurrence. (Check out Ilona Andrews official site, there is a Kate Daniels section where lots of interesting and very useful information can be found, among others the glossary to the different factions and creatures, presentation of some of the main characters and some general answers regarding the Kate Daniels universe or the M-Scans. I would advise you to check out the above links as the Kate Daniels universe is quite different from the usual UF universes and it can be a bit disorienting finding your feet at first.)
The characters are all well developed and the actions are decribed in such a vivid and detailed way, you feel as if you were right there in the middle of the story.
The novel is narrated in the first person by the protagonist, Kate Daniels, a young twenty-something brave woman, who is alone in the world, having lost her father not too long ago, her mother when she was still a child, and now her only remaining family her guardian, good friend of her father was murdered. Kate works as a mercenery cleaning up magical problems. She is a strong yet very real character with flaws and insecurities. It is very refreshing to see a heroine who isn't perfect but human.
Kate's humour is bitingly sarcastic, she has bravado and a big mouth and tells off people who try to intimidate her. My favourite parts were her interactions with Curran, the Lord Beast, king of all weres. He, who is used to obedience and respect gets none of these from Kate. The first time they meet she calls him "Kitty, kitty", while he is a huge impressive golden lion! Just a small glimpse and you can understand why this novel made me chuckle so many times, which surprised me, usually urban fantasy novels aren't that funny. Well, Ilona Andrews series is an exception!
Ilona Andrews finds the perfect balance between packing the novel full of fast paced action and still developing details and spending time on deeper feelings, and she tops it all with fantastically humourous dialogues!
Curran is one of the main characters, the impressive and ruggedly handsome Lord Beast, king of all weres. He is extremely arrogant, frustrating the hell out of Kate, but responsible, brave and protective at the same time. He is a true leader figure and an irresisitible hero. His banter and cocky lines to Kate makes this novel so entertaining.
The plot is complex with a few small twists and turns keeping you interested and at the edge of your seat until the very end. (Be warned though that some mysteries will remain unsolved and you can only hope they will be revealed in the following books.)
Verdict: This is a wonderful start to a fantastic new series! The story is fast paced, never dull due to the twists and turns, the characterisation is wonderful and another trait which makes Ilona Andrews and the Kate Daniels series outstanding is the humour! A truly enjoyable read, if you haven't read any Ilona Andrews books yet, don't tarry, go and procure yourself either Magic Bites (the 1st in the Kate Daniels series) or On the Edge (the 1st in The Edge series), you will thank me! ;-) Fans of Kelley Armstrong, urban fantasy lovers, this series is for you!
Plot: 8/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 9/10
Writing: 10/10
Cover: 9/10 (I love the mysterious green light and billowing mist, they give such a powerful athmosphere to the cover. The lion is also fantastic as well as the glowing sword, my only problem is the girl on the cover: it's not the way I imagined Kate, I wouldn't picture her to have such a potato nose.)
Book Review: More Like 3 1/2 Stars
Summary: 4 Stars
I was torn between three and fours for this book. On one hand I thought it was kind of awkward, but on the other hand it kept me entertained. I finally decided on four because it was interesting enough that I only reflected on the things it was lacking once I was done reading it.
In a lot of ways my reaction to this book is just like my reaction to Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton. I can see the potential for a great series and I enjoyed my time reading it, but it was also awkward and the pacing felt off.
I never really felt that I got to know any of the characters, even Kate. There was a lot going on so it wasn't as noticeable until the end. When I stopped and reflected I realized that all I got was a surface look at the life of Kate Daniels. I hope that as the series goes on I get to know her and the secondary characters better.
I liked Kate's attitude. I can see that it has the potential to grate on me, but right now I like it. When she gets scared she just gets more confrontational. She knows that she's not the biggest, baddest chick in town, but she tries her best anyway. However, even though I like her attitude, I still think she needs to tone it down. You don't need to mouth off to every single person you meet. I know Kate admits she's not subtle (definitely not) but a little tact would be nice once in a while.
The description of the vampires were pretty unique. Comparing them to insects was a very good way to make sure I thought they were creepy and disgusting! I got the willies thinking about having a conversation with someone who was speaking through someone else's mouth.
Curran seems like he's going to end up stepping up to the plate with Kate. Either that or he'll kill her. It will be interesting to watch their dominance games one way or another. I wonder if Kate truly can do to Curran what she did to Derrek. Bet that would earn her an enemy for life. What was up with his attitude? Even after Kate showed that she could hold her own he kept thinking of her as a glory hound and willing to make stuff up to keep herself in the spotlight. Doesn't he ever talk to Jim? Maybe do a little research... Nah, that would make sense. I found him interesting and powerful but also really cocky and a pretty big jerk. Nick was right, he does have tunnel vision. Hopefully he doesn't continue like this.
A couple things bothered me though. There wasn't enough information on the Order and the Guild. I didn't feel any connection between Kate and her old mentor, so her determination to be involved in the case didn't really make sense. What is magic in this world? I want to know why there are surges of magic and why tech stuff only works sometimes. Explain your world for the love of God! Where are the straight humans? What do they think of the magic, People, weres, etc.?
I was also bothered by the situation that came up with Crest. He seemed like someone who could deal with Kate's life. He fell asleep against her door after waiting hours for her. He brought her food and let her sleep on his chest. He was nothing but nice to her! I felt no connection to him and didn't care about him one way or another, but the way Kate acted toward him pissed me off. ***SPOILER***Out of no where Curran goes off on some half-baked theory about Crest being a bad guy. There didn't seem like a lot of supporting evidence to me. Why was she suddenly on board with Curran's stupid idea. Don't go guns blazing with your posse to the poor guy's house. No wonder he dumped you. You acted like an ass.***END SPOILERS***
Throughout the book there's hints about how special Kate is and how she has to hide it. As soon as I read about Kate's dad keeping notes on that guy I figured it out. Now, we weren't out and out told, so I suppose I don't know for sure if I'm right... but I think I am. So, if I'm right, how exactly did that work out? Guess I'll have to read the next one to find out.
Book Review: Not sold yet, but going to give the second installment a chance.
Summary: 3 Stars
Despite misgivings about any book titled MAGIC STRIKES, I picked up the ARC from work without knowing a thing about the book. Of course, it didn't take me long to realize that MAGIC STRIKES was the third in a series...and I was without the first two. Despite being frustrated, I decided to give Andrews a shot (though, to be honest, this decision was helped along by the blurb that Patricia Briggs has on the cover of the Andrews series). After a few weeks of procrastination, I shelled out a few dollars to get the first book, MAGIC BITES. Things turned out with very nice timing, though, considering that MAGIC STRIKES will be released on the 31st of March.
Kate Daniels is a penniless mercenary who specializes in neutralizing magical "problems". In Kate's world, there are tide-like periods of "magic" and "tech" that ebb and flow. When the magic "is up", human technology fails: cars, phones, guns... When the tech comes back up, the magic has left a string of problems. The plot of MAGIC BITES does not, however, revolve around one of these everyday (for Kate) occurrences. Instead, the death of her guardian puts Kate both on the path of solving the mystery and revenge.
Andrews drops the reader into Kate's world with a pace that requires the reader to either hit the ground running or fall to the ground due to the momentum. I took pretty well to this approach, though I felt that a little more explanation wouldn't have hurt the reader (or the size of the book, because the poor volume feels sadly thin at 260 pages). Regardless, I found Kate's world immediately intriguing. Though the world is filled with the usual suspects (vampires, werewolves and the like), each has a very original twist. How can one put any originality into vampires--outside of something silly like making them sparkle? Well, in Andrews' world, vampires are undead and mindless, but also generally used as vessels to be "driven" by the minds of necromancers. As for the "were"-creatures, they come in many forms. Not only werewolves, but were-lions, were-rats and... Kate, herself, is a human who wields magic and a magic-sword, but seems to have more to her than is divulged within this first book. I'm very much hoping for a secret worth waiting for.
Like all books in the urban fantasy genre, I have parts I love and hate respectively. I do adore a strong female protagonist--and Kate definitely has some traits in common with Patricia Briggs' amazing Mercedes Thompson. Alternately, Kate was interesting on her own, but if she seems to run along the danger of being too much this tough persona. Sure, MAGIC BITES covered weaknesses Kate supposedly has, but none really felt real. For one, her grief over her lose of Greg--whether or not their relationship was complex--was not nearly covered well enough.
Additionally, I have to wonder why every urban fantasy starring a female protagonist follows the "everyone must lust after the protagonist" formula. Testosterone driven males everywhere! I won't even bother to explain how unrealistic it is that all these males are so driven to find a hard-headed, "tom-boyish" female that is prone to threats and posturing. Nearly worse is that you can almost always spot the love-interest-to-be by (a) how much he and the protagonist butt heads to begin with and (b) by the fact he is usually the "dominant" male of the story. (Honestly, the near-romance with the unassuming Crest was nearly a relief.)
The only other real bone I have to pick with MAGIC BITES is that the antagonists' motivations were quite weak and seemed to be compensated for with carnage. Murders and rapes do not an antagonist make, Andrews. Instead, a darkly-motivated, understandable antagonist is what will make the readers wish to see him/her defeated.