Magic Bleeds

Magic Bleeds - book 4 of the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews - explored Kate's relationships with various people and groups in the different aspects of her life. 

For familial relationships, Kate meets her crazy aunt Erra - and has to stop her from killing everyone Kate has ever loved.  Going against every lesson taught her by Voron, Kate has finally accepted others in to her life and in order to save her friends, Kate is willing to sacrifice herself.  Even disposing of her aunt could draw unwanted attention from her father and Kate doesn't believe herself strong enough for that confrontation yet (and really, Ilona Andrews is contracted until book 7 so it can't end now!).

Regarding romantic relationships, Kate and Curran have finally hooked up.  However, due to their stubborn personalities - plus the shapeshifter politics - has caused huge headaches and huge compromises for both parties.  Kate has officially chosen Curran, and his Pack, over The Order, and as Curran's mate, she is now the alpha of all alphas.  Changing her status within the Pack caused a huge upheaval, especially when Curran was in the coma; however, Kate was determined to prove herself worthy - against the better judgement of her advisors!

Kate's friendship with her best friend Andrea is now strained, since Kate was free to quit The Order when the Pack needed her.  As an estranged beastkin who could have been killed in her youth by other shapeshifters, Andrea feels more loyal to The Order.  Even the prejudices of Moynohan aren't enough to dissuade Andrea's faith in the core belief of The Order.

There was an interesting take on biblical stories as well, keeping with the author's theme of mythology.  The author chose to use the story of Esau and Jacob, with Esau being the first vampire created by Roland.  Another take was on Samson; in this version Samson being one of Erra's crazy offspring - who was growing out his hair because he was balding.

This book was a good read.  It wasn't as action packed as the others and Kate's heartache coloured her decisions; however, it was nice to see Kate act more human for a change - it's hard to relate to a character who feels no fear and doesn't have the same emotions as everyone else.  I definitely think it's a shame that I'm going to have to wait 8-9 months before I can read the next book.  I also do look forward to reading more about Kate's world, her friends and even her family.

Magic Strikes

Be still my heart!

I am absolutely in love with this series.  In book 3, Magic Strikes, Ilona Andrews returns us to Kate Daniels' alternate Atlanta, and she has done a remarkable job of including many more styles of mythical creatures from other cultures, such as Viking, Hindu, Japanese and Chinese.

When Derek returns on the verge of death from a secret mission involving a fighting group called The Reapers, Kate takes a personal affront to it and demands vengence.  In order to get her revenge, she must fight in an underground tournament called The Midnight Games - a pasttime which Curran has strictly forbidden all shapeshifters from becoming involved in.  When Kate and Jim investigate The Reapers, they discover that they are rakshasas - born warriors who are masters of illusion and have no problem eating human flesh.  The rakshasa have also teamed up with Roland to destroy The Pack, with the aid of Hugh d'Ambray, past apprentice of Kate's dad.

Now Kate has the double worry of keeping her friends alive in the ring as well as keeping her identity a secret from Hugh - and by extension, Roland.

Kate is remarkable.  She cares so much about her friends that she is willing to impale herself on a sword to save her friends and destroy her enemies.  When Derek finally pulls through, Kate is so emotional that she dry heaves with relief.  She is also willing to step in to a ring and potentially face discovery, just so her friends don't have to fight short-handed.

Kate is reckless, impulsive and has authority issues; but she is also funny, protective and willing to put on airs so her ward will no longer be alienated at school.  She also has a cool head - when she stops to use it.  Despite the electricity flowing between her and Curran, she refuses to give, since she is convinced that Curran only wants her because she refused him.  And I love that aspect.  Eventually she'll give in, but she's making him work hard for it and it's fun to see her deny any sort of mutual attraction - even to herself.

I can't wait to read Magic Bleeds, and see what sort of fun Ilona will come up with next! 

Magic Burns

I've decided to catch up on this series (I have books 1-4) before reading any new ones.  If I don't catch up, I may never get around to finishing it.  Plus you lose the flow of the story and characters and then you start to wonder which name belongs to which person.  And I'm especially glad I continued since the second book was laden with mythology, both Greek and Celtic, a subject that I absolutely adore.  If I thought it would be a viable job option, I would study mythology for a living.  Honestly.

Magic Burns is book 2 in the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews.

In Kate's world, technology and magic are at war for complete supremacy, with magic slowly winning.  According to Kate, "[t]heory said that magic and tech used to coexist in a balance.  Like the pendulum of a grandfather clock that barely moved, if at all.  But then came the Age of Man, and men are made of progress.  They overdeveloped magic, pushing the pendulum farther and farther to one side until it came crashing down and started swinging back and forth, bringing with it tech waves.  And then in turn, technology oversaturated the world, helped once again by pesky Man, and the pendulum swung again, to the side of magic this time" (p 16).  Every seven years a magical flare arrives, where magic and tech shift more frequently, with the magic building up each time, and never truly going away.  And right now they're leading up to a flare.

This book you learn more about Kate's magic: Julie, an orphan that Kate takes under her wing is a human m-scanner: a sensate.  She can determine the magic used by its colour.  She is also able to blend into the magic so it doesn't sense her; however, when under attack, Julie finds Kate's magic too alien to blend with.  It is also impossible for Kate to ever be infected with the Lyc-V (lycanthrope virus) or the vampire bacterium. 

The story explains how Kate's mom sacrificed herself so that Kate and her father may survive.  And how Kate's father (who is actually not her birth father) was a warlord by the name of Voron (meaning 'raven') and how he left it behind for Kate.

Mostly, the story focuses on mythology: first Greek, with the sightings of the Stymphalian birds and then on to Celtic myths; more specifically on Morrigan, her son Morfran and their battles with the Fomorian.  Since, y'know, every deity needs a foe to fight.  There's even an triumvirate Oracle to consult, which lives in the belly of a giant tortoise. 

This book was extra fun because of the mythology.  It has made me want to read up on Celtic myths, as well as Merlin and King Arthur, since Morrigan and Morfran are part of the stories.  Due to the magic waxing on and becoming more powerful, I expect the next book to contain even more mythos!  I also do expect something to happen between Kate and Curran.  My favourite part of the story was right at the end when he leaned in for a kiss, then said "psych" and walked off.

I find Kate and her many boys interesting.  Normally it annoys me when all the guys want to get into the pants of the main female; however, I think Kate's attitude towards it is refreshing.  She knows that Saiman only wants her because she said "no" and that Bran is only doing it because she's female.  And she doesn't think of them that way.  The way she looks at Curran now makes me laugh because she is convinced that the only reason why she finds him sexy is because she needs to get laid; however, to listen to her talk to Julie about sex, it makes me think that there's more to Kate than she lets on.  While she definitely isn't waiting for marriage before having sex, I think that she does place more importance on it than just a one-night stand.  And I find it refreshing.

Magic Bites

Magic Bites is book 1 in the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews.

In this urban fantasy series, magic is contantly competing with technology for supremacy in the world.  As it fluctuates back and forth, the people of the world have adapted to both by having access to both magical and nonmagical items: for example, feylanterns when magic is in control and electrical lights when tech is in.  However, it seems like magic is currently in the lead, since Kate comments on how "[f]ew people owned cars that ran during tech.  There was no need to invest in them, since it was plain that magic was gaining the upper hand" (page 90).

Magic also brought back the creatures of legends: vampires and shapeshifters.  Part of a group called The People, the vampires were piloted by necromancers - or necronavigators - who would use them to spy on others from the safety of their office.  The necronavigators would keep the vampire like a pet, feeding and raising them, but the mindlink between them would prevent the vampire from mindlessly destroying everything in its path during bloodlust.

The Pack, the faction of shapeshifters, were led by Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, who ruled over all the different alphas and their small groups.  He was, of course, a lion.  Most of these creatures were were-something (ie, werewolf, werecat, etc) which were creatures born human who could turn into an animal.  However, there were also some creatures who were born animal and could shift into a human.  Corwin was one such animal, a cat-were.

Another major player in this world is The Order: known as The Order of Knights of Merciful Aid.  These people were trained and devoted to the destruction of harmful beings to humanity; unfortunately, they were also a form of justice unto their own.  If enlisted, they would destroy anything that threatened humanity - even if it was your elderly aunt who would turn in to a harpy and sit in your tree. 

Due to the fanatical nature of The Order, Kate dropped out before she became a full-fledged member.  It was her failure to follow in the footsteps of her guardian that caused the rift between her and Greg.  Armed with her magical saber, Slayer, she is determined to find out who killed Greg, even if it means going back to The Order.

During the investigation, many interesting clues come out as to what Kate actually is.  Her connection with the undead and being able to cross a blood ward to destroy a powerful vampire hint that she has blood ties with Roland - the legendary father of the undead.  However, a standoff with a necromancer at the end of the book suggests that her actual father was much more powerful than Roland.  And much older.  It explains why she destroys any traces of her blood left behind with fire and why she never allows Nataraja (the vampire leader) to force her to show her full power.  Unfortunately, the nature of Kate's ancestry isn't explored any further in this book.

I found this book to be an easy read and I liked how the author left some things to the imagination (like Kate's history) and is gradually doling it out in small doses.  Since I read a lot, there are times that I'm able to guess the storyline before it happens - which can ruin surprise endings if I have it figured out well in advance.  I did like how Crest was painted poorly and ended up innocent in the end; I had him pegged as suspicious from the moment he met Kate, so I was surprised that I was wrong.

I love new angles to old stories, so I'm excited to see how this pans out.  The next book in the series is Magic Burns, but I'm not sure if I'll read that one next or another one.  I downloaded some cool new books on to my Kobo that I'm really excited about, so right now it's a case of not being able to choose which story to read.  For the sake of continuity, I may read the next one, but we'll see.

New Moon

New Moon is the second book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. This book starts out with Bella's birthday, in which she will officially be older than Edward - and she melodramatically argues with him about it. At the party she cuts herself and Edward has to protect her from the teeth of his brother. To protect her from himself and his family, Edward breaks up with her and moves away.

Time passes and Bella survives. Barely.

She discovers that by doing things that Edward would disapprove of, she is able to hear his voice. As such, she starts to engage in reckless activities (ie, talking to strange boys outside a bar, learning to ride a motorcycle, walking in forests that are known to have bear attacks and cliff diving). It is the cliff diving that, ironically, brings the vampires back to Bella. Alice witnesses Bella jumping off a cliff and drowning. After mentioning it to her sister and before checking on Bella herself, Edward hears about it and sets off to die.

When Alice learns of his behaviour, she takes Bella to Italy to prevent it, thus meeting the Volturi family. Alice promises to turn Bella in the future to spare her life, much to Edward's dismay. They return to Forks and Bella is convinced that Edward is still a dream. After talking it out for a while, Bella goes to the Cullens for a vote on her mortality; the majority votes for her to turn. Back at Bella's house, Jacob (Bella's rock while Edward was gone; he's also a werewolf) tells Edward that if any one in his family so much as bites a human, the treaty is over and war will break out between the werewolves and vampires. Bella is horrified at the implication that her becoming a vampire will start a fight between the pride and the Cullens.

I had a discussion at work about this series: I really didn't care for the first book and I heard that this one would be worse. And at first it was, especially post-breakup. However, once Bella started to get on with her life, with the help of Jacob, I started liking her more. And I found that if the author had substituted Edward's voice with her own common sense, I would've liked it a lot more. I definitely liked Bella more when she was around Jacob; the only exceptions being when she started referring to herself as broken and how she could never love again.

I adored Jacob. Not so much when he first turned, but after they hashed that out, I liked him again. I thought it was kind of sad when he was willing for a relationship with Bella where she had no emotional input, but given time (and no Edward), she probably would've been able to love him for real.

Edward still pissed me off and once he and Bella got back together, they both reverted back to their previous behaviours. After Bella talked to him rationally about how she was certain he would leave again, I assumed that she had grown up, but she lost all of her own strength when she realized that he was there to stay. I really really don't like how they parallel their relationship with Romeo & Juliet's - everyone knows how that one ends.

Like I said, I did like this one better (probably because there was less Edward) and so I am a little excited about the next one (Eclipse) since everyone says that it is better than New Moon. Maybe I ended up jumping on the bandwagon, but I won't be sure until the end of the series.

Twilight

Twilight is the first book in a young adult series of the same name about a teenaged girl, Bella Swan, and the creatures she encounters in her small town in Washington state.

Bella insisted on moving to her father's home in Forks after her mom got re-married (the new husband is a basketball player so they would've been gone most of the time travelling). Coming from her sunny home in Phoenix, Forks is dreary and way too green. Luckily, the folks are friendly and Bella quickly makes new friends, despite her miserable attitude to the contrary. At lunch she has an across-the-room encounter with Edward Cullen and is confused by his continual glaring. Biology is even worse when she has a class with him and the only empty seat is at his bench. The whole class consisted of him glowering in her general direction and leaning as far away as possible. At the end of the day she sees him again in the office, trying to switch into a new class. Miserable, she goes home and can't stop thinking about him.

After about a week, he finally comes back to school and is friendly, much to her surprise. After he saves her from being crushed by an oncoming vehicle, they become friends and start hanging out more. An outing with her friends in a nearby town causes Bella to become lost and harassed by some locals; Edward saves her and she discloses that she knows his secret: that he's a vampire. With that out of the way, they admit to being in love with each other and are ready to meet each other's families. However, while watching the Cullen family play baseball in the rain, some strange vampires show up and notice that Bella is human. When Edward comes to her defense, the vampire James takes it upon himself to personally kill her. Running away to Phoenix doesn't help and Bella surrenders herself to save her mother. Fortunately for her, Edward shows up in time to save her life, yet again. The story ends with Edward taking Bella to prom, much to her horror and dismay.

I had put off reading Twilight since Christmas, mainly because I wasn't sure what to expect. I've heard reviews that ranged from terrific to terrible; however, when a friend of mine rented the movie the other day, and liked it, I decided that I would read the series.

Unfortunately, I found it to be mediocre.

I found that it took too long to finally get into the story. Bella is moody and depressing to have as a lead character - especially since it is read in the first person. She is constantly shooting herself down and putting Edward on a pedestal. Everything she has to say about his looks are filled with dismay, and is always followed by an "I'm not good enough" sentiment. She is clingy, and if I knew someone who was that obsessed with their partner, I'd be afraid that a breakup would drive them to be suicidal.

Edward really isn't that much better: he moods are very mercurial and it doesn't take much to set him off. As much as Bella torments herself with her own insecurity, Edward hounds himself about potentially hurting her - physically - if he gets carried away.

The worst part of the storyline are probably the two main characters. I didn't like how much both Bella and Edward beat themselves up over hurting the other (Bella couldn't stand it if one of his family members were hurt helping her and Edward couldn't stand it if she were hurt simply because she knew him). One of my main pet peeves was found in Bella: how every guy she came across was drawn to her and wanted to go out with her.

However, I did like Stephenie Meyer's take on vampires and how some vampire myths stayed as such (ie, burning to ash in the sunlight). I also liked how she made the Cullen family into "vegetarians," how some traits found in humans are magnified as vampires and I especially loved the baseball scene.

I think that if I were a romantic teenager wanting to read about the star-crossed lovers (which is a stupid term for them since both families support the relationship), I would really love this series. I don't think I could've identified with it since Bella isn't a typical teenager: her mother refers to her as 17-going-on-35 (I would disagree about her relative maturity).

Like I said, overall I found it mediocre. It could be that I went in with high expectations and therefore didn't enjoy the book as well as I could've. I will keep reading the series, just to see how it ends, but I don't think I'll raise my expectations for the next book, New Moon. Especially if Bella is going to continue brooding.

Bone Crossed

Bone Crossed is the 4th book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.

Mercedes (Mercy) is a VW mechanic who can also turn herself into a coyote at will. Unlike werewolves, Mercy's transformation is painless, instantaneous & she is not influenced by the moon. She is the acknowledged mate of the local werewolf pack's Alpha, Adam Hauptman, as well as a good friend of a powerful vampire, Stefan.

This is the first time that I've reviewed a book that is part of a series without doing the previous books first, so I'm not sure how this will go. Since this book is a continuation of the others, it might be difficult to review this book without going into the others.

I really like this series. Despite its similarities to the Anita Blake series from Laurell K. Hamilton (ie, creature of magic dating a werewolf and friends with vampires), Mercy has a more level head and though tough, she is not untouchable to relate to. She also doesn't sleep with every guy she encounters.

In this book in particular, Mercy leaves the Tri-Cities area at the request of a college friend, Amber, to look into Amber's haunted house in Spokane. Mercy's abilities as a skinwalker include an affinity for ghosts, which has been hinted at in previous books. This book explores, and explains, more about the ghosts that she can see. Another reason Mercy leaves town is so that she can escape Marsilia (local vampire queen) for a few days. After killing one of Marsilia's favourite henchmen, Andre (because he was crazy), Mercy gets a traitor's mark on the door of her garage.

While in Spokane, Mercy runs into the master vampire of Spokane at Amber's house. After finding the hauntings at Amber's to be real, she flees back to the Tri-Cities and ends up getting stuck in the middle of vampire politics.

This book really tied up a few loose ends from previous ones, and each book explains more and more of Mercy's abilities. There was also a traumatizing event at the end of the previous book; however, this book didn't dwell too much on it and there was healing and closure for Mercy.

I find Mercy to be a likable character: she's strong, funny and does what she will. She's frustrating to everyone that knows her and wishes her to obey, but I think that's part of the reason why I like her. She has a good heart, and will bleed herself dry for those she loves. Her new - yet not quite so new - relationship with Adam is endearing and her desire to fit in with everyone around her makes her someone that you can relate to.

Another book will be coming out in April 2010 called Silver Borne and I will definitely be buying it!