So I
have to tell you about this amazing series that I am reading.
It's
not YA, and not a trilogy, so I'm WAY out of my comfort zone! Also, I've been
burned before with series that start out amazing, but the
author takes 5-year breaks, or you're afraid they're going to die before they
finish what they started (yes, George R. R., I'm talking about you).
I
belong to a reading group/ book club called Vaginal Fantasy that I discovered
through Felicia
Day. She started it on www.goodreads.com and once a month she and some
friends host a Google+
hangout to discuss the book of the month
while drinking alcohol and getting horribly off-topic. It's great. The books
usually consist of a strong heroine in a sci-fi and/or fantasy setting.
Some of the books are just pure smut (which is fine), and then you get some
gems like KATE DANIELS.
Magic Bites (Kate Daniels #1)
By: Ilona Andrews
Published: 2007
Movie: NO, but there should be!
[Against all odds I actually figured out how to link the book cover to it's page on goodreads.com if you would like to know more/ find out where to get a copy...]
"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. " (goodreads.com)
Ok, so
that's the synopsis. Already pretty cool, right? You have urban-fantasy crossed
with a post-apocalyptic world. Not only that, but the heroine
is, simply put: a bad-ass. The authors - "Ilona Andrews" is a husband
and wife writing team - don't constantly describe how
beautiful Kate is, or her perfect body, etc. They describe how she picks
out clothes to fit her weapons and for flexibility if she comes upon
something fightable. They write fight scenes with such specific,
bone-cracking realism you are all-at-once hooked but anxious at the same time.
Not to mention Kate spits out some great one-liners throughout.
If that
weren't enough, all I have to say, is SEXY WERE-LION. Any time I'm reading a
Kate Daniels book, I just tell people it's the "sexy
were-lion book" and they look at me a little funny. But SO TRUE. Some
great sexual tension,with a slow build-up.
So not
only has Ilona Andrews built this original magical world, but with the waves of
magic comes all kinds of crazy monsters, mostly taken out of mythology
from around the world. AND to top it off, there's a mystery surrounding
our heroine herself, which the authors expertly draw out throughout the
first 3-4 books. I also like how each book is not just a "monster-of-the-week" problem, and
then everything goes back to normal. The building of characters and relationships,
and the outstanding enemies keeps you coming back for more!! (Wow, I actually
just wrote that. I can’t help it: it’s true!)
Right
now I'm reading Magic Slays (#5) and for the life of me I can't seem to
put down these books! Every time I finish one and
go back to what I was reading, the library (a.k.a. my dealer) has an email for
me saying that my next Kate Daniels is available. I immediately drop
ANYTHING I'm doing, and sit down for a read.
This
August (2015) Magic Shifts (#8) was released. I am confident that my
obsessive-compulsiveness towards this series will get me there all too
quickly.
Don't
get me wrong: I know that all good things come to an end. And I'm ready for it.
I'm just enjoying the ride, man. (I just
hope that in 10 years I'm not reading Magic Burps (Kate Daniels #24) or
something. But hey, considering this writing team, they might
just make that work!!)
As I
re-read this entry, it sounds a bit like I'm working for the publishers of the
series or something. Rest assured, this is completely all my own craziness
for this series.
Just
read the first one. I dare you. And then tell me how on-the-nose this blog
entry was!!
Have
you read the Kate Daniels books? Do you agree with my fanaticism? Let me know
in the comments below.
Sincerely,
Spinning
"I LOVE YOU CURRAN!" Jenny
No comments:
Post a Comment