Adventure, Magic, Comedy... and a little Romance

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	• Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1) Ilona Andrews Ace, 2007 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 120 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

excellent new series

This is not erotica like so many paranormal KATEGORIE|/book" class="textlinks">books being released; it is science fiction with a bit of sex appeal (not sex) thrown in. 'Magic Bites' sets up a unique futuristic world with magic (which comes and goes) and vampires (which aren't sexy) and alpha male characters (which are sexy, but who don't control the heroine or spend pages in her bed). Ilona Andrews's characters have depth and wit that will have you holding your breath, tearing up, laughing out loud, and cheering for Kate.
If you like Patricia Briggs, read Ilona Andrews.

Adventure, Magic, Comedy... and a little Romance - who could ask for more?

I love our protagonist, Kate Daniels - she's a six foot tall, none too delicate, kick butt magical powerhouse. Unfortunately for her (but much more interestingly for us), she will endanger herself and those she loves if she uses her magic to its full extent. (Why? Because every time she uses her specific brand of magic, she runs the risk of revealing her unique heritage. But what is that heritage? Whatever it is, the hints Ms. Andrews leaves us with promise a fascinating future for Kate.) Every time Kate is forced to use magic, she runs the risk of using too much and revealing herself, or using too little and endangering her life and those of the people around her.

Trained to fight and to use magic, and possessing a deliciously self-deprecating and wry sense of humor, Kate also has problems with authority figures (no wonder I love her!) which is why she's a freelance mercenary when we meet her. Don't let the fact that she's a mercenary fool you - Kate is intensely moral, with a strong sense of right and wrong.

The book contains a good bit of fun sexual tension with the local Pride leader, but (thank goodness) this novel has none of the constant jumping into the sack so many authors revert to when they run out of plot ideas. This is a story with an extremely unique but exciting and realistic take on magic and the paranormal - vampires are decided unsexy in this book, for example, and are "piloted" by necromancers. I also enjoyed the fact that the book is set in Georgia, primarily Atlanta... in fact, I work in one of the high rise buildings she frequently describes as crumbling!

This paranormal universe may be my favorite world to date (at least since I read Lord of the Rings as a 12 year old), and Kate Daniels is my second favorite character after Harry Dresden from Jim Butcher's "Dresden Series." Ms. Andrews, I very much want you to continue writing about Kate and her world. RECOMMENDED.

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Unique, gory urban fantasy

_Magic Bites_ is an exciting urban fantasy with a unique premise and detailed world-building, somewhat marred by an unsatisfying twist in the story's central mystery.

I give Andrews a lot of points for creativity here. In _Magic Bites_'s near-future setting, magic and technology come and go a bit like the weather; when magic is working, tech isn't, and vice versa. The shifts are unpredictable, but it can be assumed there will be several per day. Andrews does a great job of exploring all the aspects of this situation and the ways people find to cope with it (magic-powered light bulbs to back up electric ones, horseback travel, etc.). I loved the well-thought-out explanation for why telephones occasionally work during a magic phase. Especially haunting was the image of downtown Atlanta, its skyscrapers crumbling away with every onslaught of magic.

Also laudable is Andrews's use of mythological creatures. As a fan of urban fantasy, a trend that saddens me in many recent novels is the fixation on vampires and werewolves to the exclusion of everything else. World folklore gives us a lot of "things that go bump in the night" to play with. In _Magic Bites_, there are vampires and werewolves (of course) but also other beasties, and the central villain is a horrific creature that exists in folklore but that I've never seen used before in a novel.

The heroine, Kate, is part of the novel's uniqueness as well. At first, I didn't like her. She seemed to be yet another of those urban fantasy heroines who constantly make fools of themselves to prove they're tough, and somehow everyone loves them anyway. It turns out, though, that while Kate wisecracks constantly, there are consequences to her abrasive style. Andrews allows other characters to be offended by her heroine, and that's something that's all too rare.

Where _Magic Bites_ lost me was in a brief series of scenes late in the story. There are two characters who might have done something awful; we'll call them A and B. For reasons I never quite understood, everyone becomes convinced that A did the deed. Beats me why they think this. There aren't really any clues pointing toward A. B, on the other hand, might as well have "Guilty" tattooed on his or her forehead. B has been telegraphing guilt throughout the book. Yet somehow no one thinks of him/her until A is exonerated. Then, to confuse me more, the character who was the ringleader in accusing A gets mad at Kate over the whole fiasco, even though it was his idea. I was lost, to say the least. If A was going to be a red herring, there should have been more clues leading in that direction, and B's guilt should have been more subtle.

It picks back up after that, though, and there's a suspenseful showdown with the baddie, and an ending that ties up the story nicely but leaves room for sequels, the first of which is already out.

I should mention that Magic Bites contains a lot of gory violence.

I would recommend Magic Bites to anyone who enjoyed early Laurell K. Hamilton; its blend of mystery, horror, and a tough heroine gives it some of the same "feel."

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Great new series

Before I was done the first KATEGORIE|/book" class="textlinks">book I orderd the second in the series.
Kate Daniels is the lead in this new series. A quick paced urban fantasy with some mystery thrown in. Great list of characters too.

Very nicely written with fairly fully-fleshed characters.

I liked this first KATEGORIE|/book" class="textlinks">book, and plan on reading the rest. The author's characters are more "real" than many others in the genre. My only quibble is how she has distorted the vampire legend, making vampires little more than animals who are "ridden' by necromancers, but that imagination works well elsewhere.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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