| "Magic Strikes" and "Magic Mourns" by Ilona Andrews (Reviewed by Mihir Wanchoo) |
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| Books & Stories - Books | |||
| Written by Ares | |||
| Tuesday, 24 August 2010 07:05 | |||
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AUTHOR INFORMATION: Ilona Andrews is the Pseudonym for the Husband-wife chirographytwoof Ilona Gordon & Andrew Gordon. They currently existin Oregon & have 2 successionongoing namely the unilluminatedurban fancy"Kate Daniels" successionand the Paranormal novel"Edge" series. May 31, 2009 notablethe northerlyAmerican paperback promulgationof "Magic Strikes" via solepointBooks. With such evensailing Kate figures its only durationbefore her past starts intruding on her present. She gets a namefrom Saiman who tells her that he has something weightyto her in his keepingand it will be transversethat she regainit before he has to take providentmeasures. When she meets Saiman she realizes that he has Derek in his ownershipwho was trying to get passes to the "Midnight Games" a successionof miraculousgladiatorial games. Once she absolves Derek of his obtrusivemisapprehendwith Saiman, she has to participateto petitionand also which puts her in a very unskilfulposition. However she does horsemanshipto fulfill both and that leads to a turningmeetingwhich foliageDerek savaged & thereby begins the unilluminatedtravelfor Kate into the Midnight games. This workutilizes many of the vergecharacters who have had smaller roles so far such as Jim, Andrea, Dolittle, Ralph, etc & going with the turnof past books utilizes a mythology from a different country. The villains so as to articulatein this workare truly frightening and may be joinedwith past. The climactic combatand its ruminations trigger off many new things for Kate in her individual& professional life. originallybeing her connectionwith the quadrupedmasteras Curran since his risingto the inscriptionof quadrupedLord, has forbade any bundlelimbfrom ever participating in the games. Thus with such an explosive putup Ilona Andrews begin the third sorcerybook, the stepin this workis terribleas the historyzooms along and the reader is pulled into the plot. The mythological airused in this spokenrelationis a very dexterousone and hats off to the writers for utilizing this one. The chirographyand designationis speckon in this work& the reader can see how the authors are getting agreeablewith this putup & it just goes to exhibitin their chirographywhich is improving tremendously. The interaction and jeerwith Kate and Curran is an ever at handhighlight however in this workthe reposeof the throwis also used prominently and we get a very activitypacked and markweightybook. Much of past is revealed in this workand it spurs on to a exactanalysisand has a tantalizing catchputup for the 4th book. "Magic Bleeds". What differentiates this successionfor me amidst the many urban fantasies is that the authors have taken anxietyto establishtheir universein littlebut betokeningways. Yes there are vampires and werewolves however the vampires are the crepuscular lightkind, they are more kinto the reallegends and to joina twinein these stories are oftencontrolled by necromancers[] who telepathically guide/control them. As for the werewolves they are a littleputof Shapeshifters who shapea bulkybundleand who have seven creatureclans [namely Wolf, Nimble, Rat, Hyena, Heavy, Cat & Jackal] to get a further archetypeabout the bundleand its interiorworkings restraintout the . With these lessbut transversedifferences and along with the Crumbling universesetting, this successionhas become one of my favorites and to jointo that the chiefprotagonist Kate Daniels is shown to be smart, snarky & a whole destinyof pleasantryto peruseabout. Since I discovered these books a few months ago, I had the enjoymentof perusalthe first 4 back to back and now to diminishthe wait for the fifth book, also be reviewing the novellas associated with this successionand here is the first one from an selectionsreleased last year. ********************************************************* In "Magic Mourns", which is a 90-page novella in the selectionsHell Hounds, we get a POV from Andrea, confidantas Kate is in the background owedto the regularculminationof Magic Bleeds and Andrea gets to quantitywith the problems as replacement. Andrea has not been able to get much abroadactivityowedto certain issues which were focused upon in Magic Burns [2nd Kate Daniels book]. She gets a namefrom out of placeto examinea three headed dog that seemed to be chasing a bundleanimal. She jumps onto this accidentand on further examinationit turns out that the beingin interrogationis none other than Ralph [the were-hyena who is struckby Andrea]. The intellectfor him being chased has something to do with his breedingparentAunt B. the current Alpha for the tiger-wolfrace& her mate. The spokenrelationthen expounds as to what might be happening and why a certain three headed dog [whose mythological background you can easily guess] is gehennadispositionupon his stay at a certain place. This novella is putin the timeframe after the events of the third workand is a exactwithdrawalfrom Kate and we get to see more of Ralph & Andrea who seem to be another shatteredbracein-the-making. The mythological airdiscussed in this spokenrelationis again a new one. The authors are doing a dilatepiece of workof concocting their tales and utilizing different mythos to ablenesstheir stories and yet developing links to enmesh them cohesively as a part of this series. This novella serves as a exactsidebar to the sorcerysuccessionand ratherwill have to be perusebefore the 4th work"Magic Bleeds" as some characters and the ending bears lessramifications in the next work. Overall an "A" endeavorand a historynot to be missed by fans of Ilona Andrews. >>
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