Review: The Kate Daniel Series by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Bites (Kate Daniels series, Book #1)

Author: Ilona Andrews, author website

My Rating: 2 1/2 stars
Format: Ebook, 205 pages

Genre: Urban Fantacy

Source: Library

Published: Ace Books, 2007

Buy It: From Amazon

From author's website: Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for magic… One moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters. Here skyscrapers topple under onslaught of magic; werebears and werehyenas prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds. In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing and remain safe or to pursue his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy…

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Title: Magic Burns (Kate Daniels series, Book #2)

Author: Ilona Andrews

My Rating: 3 stars
Format: Ebook, 270 pages

Source: Library

Published: Ace Books, 2008

Buy It: From Amazon

From author's website: Down in Atlanta, tempers – and temperatures – are about to flare…As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one. When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shapeshifters, she quickly realizes much more at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest – and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug-of-war between two gods hoping for rebirth. And if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive…

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Title: Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels series, Book #3)

Author: Ilona Andrews

My Rating: 4 stars
Format: Ebook, 268 pages

Source: Library

Published: Ace Books, 2009

Buy It: From Amazon

From author's website:

Drafted into working for the Order of Merciful Aid, mercenary Kate Daniels has more paranormal problems than she knows what to do with these days. And in Atlanta, where magic comes and goes like the tide, that’s saying a lot. But when Kate’s werewolf friend Derek is discovered nearly dead, she must confront her greatest challenge yet. As her investigation leads her to the Midnight Games – an invitation only, no holds barred, ultimate preternatural fighting tournament – she and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, uncover a dark plot that may forever alter the face of Atlanta’s shapeshifting community…

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 My Review:

Since starting a book blog, I have seen these book around and read some good things about this series, so I thought I would give them a try.

Kate Daniels is a magic-touting mercenary that lives in Atlanta, in a world that fluctuates between magic and technology. This world is a hard one to explain, it took me well into book two to get an understanding of how things work or don't work.  When in a magic wave all the modern technology stops working, everything from the phones to cars. If you don't own a magic fueled vehicle you ride a horse or walk, and you better know how to use a sword because the guns don't fire either. Most everyone in this world uses some kind of magic, and when the magic is high it puts more power behind whatever is done. This is when the paranormal happens. If you like to read about vampires, I will warn you that they are very different in this world. Here they are seen as good fighters but ugly mindless creatures that only have a lust for blood. They lose their human features with age and they are controlled/piloted by another person.           

 

Each book consists of a different job Kate is working on for either the Mercenary Guild or the Order. With each case she finds herself having to work with Curran, the Beast Lord of all the Shapshifters in Atlanta. They both annoy each other and there is humor in their back and forth banter. Each time Kate and Curran meet there are always threats and Kate wonders at times if she could really beat him in a fight.  With each book their relationship develops and new people start to enter Kate's life. I will say that I expected more romance, I understand that in a series  you have to keep your readers coming back and these authors give you just enough. I would have like to have seen more in each book.

I really like Kate, she is one tough chick. She is a good fighter and uses magic but bleeds and gets hurt like anyone else. I like it that even through she is one of the best out there, she still gets hurt and it does not make her seem weak just more real. The authors do a good job at developing her character, and with each book you learn more about who she is. She's had a rough past and she's the only one left in her family, that she cares to claim anyway. She hides the secret of who she really is and the magic that she is capable of. Kate is easily becoming one of my favorite female characters.

Magic Bites, book #1 starts out slow, I was well into 80 pages before I started really getting into it. They spend so much time building the fantasy world, I found myself skimming at times. Each book gets better and better and of the three, Magic Strikes is my favorite. The authors give you enough in each book that you might be able to start anywhere in the series, but each book builds on the other and refers back to her previous cases. If you want to follow Kate and Curran's relationship and see how she meets the other characters, you will want to start at the beginning with Magic Bites. If you are an urban fantasy fan then give this series a try.

   Contains adult language