Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1)
by Ilona Andrews
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Book Reviews of Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1)
Book Review: Glad I got around to reading this one, because I've been missing all the fun
Summary: 4 Stars
Plot Summary: Magic is slowly taking over our world. The technological marvels of the 21st century are worthless during a magic surge, and even the mighty skyscrapers are crumbling under these new powers. Kate Daniels is a lowly, unruly, and surly mercenary-for-hire living outside of Atlanta. She carries a mystical sword called Saber, which glows and smokes when vampires are near. When her guardian is slaughtered, Kate is granted unofficial permission to investigate his death by the powers that be. Kate could care less what other people think, and she has a perverse compulsion to rub everyone the wrong way, even when she's staring death in the face. She's rude and mouthy, and strangely, she feels like a long lost friend.
Man oh man, this book is wicked good. So why is this one step down from a top rating? Well, because there's no romance to speak of within these pages. Interestingly, Kate does try dating someone in this story, but it's more of a cautionary tale, rather than an ideal romance. Since I am a romance fan first and foremost, I have to say that I enjoyed it immensely, but until Kate can hook up with a real honey, I'm holding back on giving an absolute five-star rave.
That said, I think any fan of paranormal romance or especially urban fantasy, will love this book. It's a strange world that Kate lives in, and Andrews provided the perfect amount of detail to keep her hooks sunk into my imagination. I loved how Kate's sword, called Saber, could come to life glowing and dripping with fluorescence. This inanimate object almost felt like a character with its own personality. The other characters in the book, both the living and the undead, had the same vitality, which I attribute to Andrew's superb descriptive powers.
Kate is very much a "Rebel Without A Cause" type heroine. I'm afraid that this genre is going to get old before its time with soooooo many books out there cloning this woman ad nauseam. I guess the diamonds will endure for all time, and the weak clones will crumble into dust. Kate is definitely a treasure, and I feel compelled to buy book two, "Magic Burns," right now. Book three, "Magic Strikes," was recently released on March 31st. There goes my book budget for this month.
Book Review: sink your teeth into MAGIC BITES
Summary: 4 Stars
Ilona Andrews has picked up a lot of elements from other popular paranormal series and combined them in MAGIC BITES to make something fresh and exciting. Andrews has set her book in an unrecognizable future, in the city of Atlanta - we learn that magic is an atmospheric effect, like sunshine or rain, arriving and departing in waves. When the magic is on, the very air will fuel magical appliances but machines won't work. As time goes on, magic holds sway more and more often.
Vampires make an appearance, but they are subsumed under a larger category of magic: necromancy. Andrews' vampires are mindless and ugly, controlled by power-hungry living humans. Shapeshifters have their own kind of magic, but so do humans: it's in the blood. And the protagonist of MAGIC BITES, Kate Daniels, has incredibly powerful blood.
As the book opens, Kate's guardian has been killed. The authorities will seek out his murderer, but that's not enough for Kate. She wants vengeance. Her guardian was an incredibly powerful mage, so Kate knows from the get-go that she's picking a fight with a dangerous opponent.
It quickly becomes clear that in order to find out what she wants to know, she'll have to court the attention of the movers and shakers of the magical world. But Kate has spent a lifetime trying to avoid that attention - if word gets out about her power, she'll be neck-deep in enemies. From the moment she was born, Kate was told she had to protect her blood above all else. Throughout the novel, she struggles not only to find her guardian's killer, but to keep her own secrets while doing so.
I absolutely loved MAGIC BITES. Once I got into the book, it pulled me through and I couldn't put it down. The writing is great, with a wonderful sharp, dark voice. Kate is likable, and a believable badass. The worldbuilding is great, and Andrews introduces us to a huge variety of characters while focusing in on a select few for us to get to know well.
On the whole, I found the story very good but there were elements of the plot that struck me as clumsy. Nothing that would prevent me from picking up the next book - I'm already tapping my heels for another installment.
Book Review: Not Moving to Atlanta
Summary: 5 Stars
I picked this novel up the old-fashioned way--I saw it in the book store. Then Amazon paired it with my novel as a special buy, and I figured I better move it to the top of the reading pile to see what it was about! While our content is miles apart, I enjoyed the story and the style. Here's why I recommend it to others:
When Kate Daniels learns that her guardian Greg Feldman is dead, she sets off on a wrath-filled quest to find his murderer(s). Given the description of Greg and his "mournful" eyes, I was sorry that we didn't get to meet him. But there are plenty of other characters to meet as Kate forms uneasy alliances with shapechangers and members of the Order who may or may not prove helpful in finding the force behind Greg's death. From vampires to necromancers to humans who know how to use traces of magic left when it "falls" periodically in post-modern Atlanta, Kate walks alone in a world where it sure would be good to belong to a group.
Ilona Andrews has an intriguing writing style, describing dark scenes, dark places, dark people, and dark times. Death, blood, and gore vividly stain the pages as her female lead moves--and it seems quite purposefully--away from human relationships to bond with dual-natured creatures. Maybe humans can't be trusted. From the police to the empath Anna to the doctor Crest (who, I have to admit, I wanted to kill when he complemented Kate on "behaving correctly" on their evening date), Kate rejects humans. Maybe it's in her blood.
The story reads at a good pace with plenty of cultural and literary allusions to help set mood and tone. Readers will enjoy Andrews' sense of humor, which most often is displayed in Kate's sarcastic inner monologue. The concept of magic rising, falling, affecting modern technology, and contributing to the decay of infrastructure is clever and provides an alluring backdrop for the story. Readers who are familiar with fantasy will glide easily into the world Andrews has created. Not for the squeamish, the novel offers a paranormal mystery that ties up all the loose ends nicely and leaves you satisfied with the ending.
From Sandy Lender, "Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Book Review: Excellent in every way!
Summary: 5 Stars
First let me say that I read about 400 books a year. I am fussy but a loyal fan, if I like an author I buy everything he or she writes and support them to keep those books coming. For me the transition from the crime dramas by authors like Kathy Reichs and Patricia Cornwell began with the Harry Potter series. For years I had scorned the fantasy/magic/vampire type novels in favor of the modern day real life-like murder and death drama. After the first couple of Harry Potter books I went looking for something to read in between the next release, and for something more suitable to adults. I quickly discovered The Hobbit, and then the Lord of the Rings series, even plowing my way through the Silmarillion and most recently, The Children of Hurin. I worked into the Golden Compass, and the 2 following novels in the "His Dark MAterials" series, and I was ready for something new. I can not really remember which one of the previosuly mentioned novels came with the suggestion "if you like this, you will love Magic Bites", but I purchased the first book in the Kate Daniels series without even reading what it was about just to meet the $25 minumum for Amazon and get the free shipping.
I started the book months ago, and put it down after 3 pages. I hadn't read a vampire novel since "the Feast of All Saints" years ago. I am kind of glad I did wait so long to actually give the story my full attention. This morning I had a trip to make, 6 hours on a boat and I took this novel along to pass the time. I finished it in one day. And now I am ordering the second book in the series; I am so glad I waited to read the first because I will not suffer the fate of those people who read it last spring and had to wait a whole year for book 2.
I am not going to try to describe why I love this book. I am only going to say that for those of you who thought the world of magic was finished when Harry Potter killed Voldemort, well you have a big surprise in store. Harry Potter grew up, and he is a woman who kicks butt. And the Dementors are pesky flies compared to the soul suckers in this book.
I look forward to many more books by Ms. Andrews. She got my attention!!!
Book Review: A mite too hard-boiled
Summary: 3 Stars
Magic Bites is a decent, quick fantasy read. It is a sort of hardboiled urban fantasy with blood and guts and a light whodunit mystery that relies more on the particular version of supernatural creatures that this author created, and less on any traditional mystery concepts. What I mean is that the bad guy in this is a magical creature, who wants magical creature things and who kills in magical creature ways, rather than, say, a jealous lover who kills and blackmails before running off to Mexico. I like these kinds of books when the magical creatures are unusual or interesting in some way, when the main character is sympathetic, and/or when the writing is fun.
This one had good magic, so-so writing, and a fairly irritating main character. She was intriguing, but way too over the top with her [...]-kicking image. A lot like John Taylor of Simon Green's Nightside books, who also annoys me in the way he is always implying how incredibly dangerous he is to mess with, and never takes his armor off, even for a second, because he has to keep his myriad of enemies in check with the neverending bluff that is his reputation. It is annoying for me to read because the authors, both in Green's case and in this book, act as if the reader is another person who can never be allowed to see the main character's weakness, and that's just silly. They drop hints of humanity, imply vulnerability, but never pursue it for long: Kate tries to date in this one, and regrets it when it blows up in her face, but she doesn't regret it that much -- because she still has [...] to kick.
But I did like the version of vampires in this, and some things about the shapechangers. I like the Order of knights, though not much was said about them, and I really liked the villain -- though the actual character of the villain was not so good. The only scary thing about him was his power, and his personality and non-magical abilities should match his power for scariness -- see the Denarians in Jim Butcher's Dresden series for the way to make the bad guy scary.
All in all, it wasn't bad, and I'll be reading the sequel.