| |
 |
|
Editor’s World Review
by Reece Notley
|
| |
|
 |
| |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
Ilona
Andrews’ Kate Daniels (Magic Series)
|
|
Anyone
who knows me will tell you I’m a fierce supporter of Ilona
Andrews. Truth is, I didn’t start off that way. I picked up
the first book, Magic Bites, and thought; Ah, another strong
woman who beats the crap out of the people around her, falls
in love with an unobtainable guy and has a heart of
gold…just like everyone else out there. How… original. Oh
look! Alton Brown is on Food Network doing pancakes. Bonus!
|
|
 |
|
|
Okay, so
possibly the Alton Brown thing didn’t happen but the first
part of that conversation did. The book was purchased and
brought into the house by my sister. I picked it up and read
the back and said, meh. MEH! |
|
|
Then… I
don’t know… I picked up Magic Bites on a whim and said;
Okay, I’ll give it a whirl. And fell in love with the world
and its people.
This
isn’t a piece about the books or about plots. You can get
that reading Amazon or even sometimes the back of a book
(although some of those could be tightened up a bit). Ilona
also provides a bit of each book on her site. You can find
the first one here: http://www.ilonaland.com/kate1.html.
The side bar will lead you to the others.
Because
THAT’S what I want in a book.
No
really, I do. I want a view of a fantastic world, one that’s
rough around the edges with a hint of the fey or magic and
grit. Then, populate it out with people who are just a
little bit larger than life but have shady morals or cracked
ethics. I want to see people who have to wrestle sometimes
with doing the right thing. Sure, there are people around
who automatically choose the right path. We all know them.
In real life, usually those are the people who end up with
Kick Me signs on their backs.
Nope,
Ilona Andrews has given us that dirty, gritty and magical
world and brilliantly delivers action and emotion with a
skillful wit.
Her main
character, Kate Daniels, is a strong woman with flaws. Yes,
flaws. Her initial foray across the pages shows a lack of
her relationship skills. There are reasons for it, some are
explained and others are hinted at, but reasons just the
same. Over the story arc, Kate does change and the reader
sees her relationships both grow and tarnish. There are
disagreements between friends and sometimes, fallout occurs,
just as it does in real life.
In a
world filled with darkness and uncertain times (totally a
shout-out to Don Lafontaine), Kate doesn’t struggle to be a
beam of guiding light or save the universe but instead wants
to provide stability in the world that she can affect. Yes,
she’s a larger part of something huge but it’s not something
she’s seeking out. She has her own agenda and her own needs,
needs that sometimes are in conflict with the people she
works for and sometimes even her friends. But Ilona writes a
delicate balance between what needs to move the plot of the
book forward and also feed the evolution of both the
character and the forces that drive her.
|
|
Now, I
can’t write about the Kate Daniels’ books without mention
Curran, Kate’s sometimes stalker, mostly bossy and always
masculine counterpart. A werelion. No, really. A werelion.
And one that is done very well.
Too
often I read books and weres are cookie cutter stamped out
furry zealots of either a pack mentality or the lone wolf
that must suffer their disease or creation in solitude,
leaving the female main character to coax them out of their
shell and into the light of their friendship or love. I’m
not one for weres. Never have been.
Ilona,
damn her, made me like weres.
I adore
Curran and the rest of the weres that make up the sects.
They grumble and make mistakes. More importantly, they are
people with personalities. They provide a familial
background for the loner Kate. In accepting her into their
fold, they do so at first reluctantly because she’s not one
of them. She’s not a were. She’s got some funky magic things
happening that could make a sane person wary and she
obviously has a few things hidden in her background that
she’s not sharing.
And I
digress.
Curran.
You’ll see their relationship spiral down and ramp up. It’s
not a fall into bed, love you forever soulmate relationship.
They argue…really argue. Their arguments include spitting
and flinging insults. Their attraction is there. Sure,
that’s obvious but the world does seep into their
personalities. Things are messy and sometimes there’s
something that’s stuck on the bottom of your shoe. That’s
what love is. Or at least lust with a healthy bit of “I
could probably wake up next to this guy and not puke”. |
|
A factor
that is HIGHLY underrated in relationships but is oh, so
important.
Please
note, Kate and Curran are not currently in a relationship,
much to the bemoaning of quite a few of Ilona’s readers. But
they do circle one another. A very nice dance to watch.
The base
of Kate’s world are waves of magic where technology is
rendered impotent, making the world dependent on a cobbled
together society. The characters are dependent on two forms
of living, one of science and one of magic. The waves are
unpredictable, important to the story because it allows for
the characters to depend on physical skills, not just
arcane. In doing this, the people Ilona writes need to be
well-rounded, providing for both circumstances.
I think
this is what I like the most about the books. While Kate
isn’t great at everything she does, she has evolved to be
competent and is shown working at her skills. There are
experts in fields around her, people she can “tap” for their
knowledge but Kate has enough of her own talent and cred to
survive a situation. And Kate needs cred. The world she
inhabits depends on both reputation and a need to kick ass.
Sure, it also depends on Kate having to sometimes be gentle
and handle things with a delicate touch…two traits that Kate
doesn’t have a great supply of but she tries. |
|
That’s
what hits the buttons for me. That Kate tries. The reader
sees her trying and hoping that she doesn’t fail. She does
sometimes, creating situations for herself that she has to
get out of emotionally but that’s real. We all do things
that hurt others or just isn’t quite enough. Life is like
that. It’s good to see that in a book.
I’m
going to wrap this up with a request that you grab the books
and read them. Really. Get them. Preorder Magic Strikes and
wait for March to come with bated breath. And curse with me
that Book Four is a ways off.
You
won’t regret it.
Totally stolen from Wikipedia
Ilona
Andrews is an
urban fantasy novelist. She was born in Russia (English is
her second language) and came to the United States as a
teenager. She attended Western Carolina University, where
she majored in biochemistry and met her husband Gordon, who
helped her write and submit her first novel, Magic Bites.
Its sequel, Magic Burns, reached #32 on the New
York Times extended bestseller list in April 2008. Ilona
and Gordon currently live in Georgia.
Ilona’s
LiveJournal
Ilona Land Website
More
importantly, Ilona’s books can be found at
Amazon.com and
other online stores. If possible, head over to your nearest
independent bookstore or visit
Mysterious Galaxy. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
