Magic Burns

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Magic Burns by Ilona AndrewsMagic Burns by Ilona Andrews
Kate Daniels # 2
Publisher: Ace Books
Number of pages: 260
My copy: paperback, bought from PowerBooks

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic goes 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 is 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…

* * *

I wasn’t planning to read Magic Burns immediately after I finished Magic Bites because I didn’t want to go through the entire series too fast, plus I always rest in between reading a series so I can read other books from my TBR pile. But after I finished the first book, I was reeling so much from Kate and the magical Atlanta that I had to read what happens next.

Some time has passed after the events of Magic Bites happened, and Kate wakes up to a phone call from her former partner and shapeshifter Jim who offers her a gig. Together, they disarm an arsonist successfully, but not before the culprit is killed by an unknown assassin. As Kate sets to investigate this, she finds a bigger concern not just for her but for everyone: a magical flare is coming up, and when magic runs rampant, things are destined to go wrong.

Magic Burns further immerses us into the world of Ilona Andrews’ characters, where magic and technology rises and falls every now and then. This is further expounded here with the occurence of a magical flare that comes once every seven years. More creatures are introduced, including the existence of gods and goddesses, that even Kate wasn’t really buying despite all the magic that she knows. I like how more things seemed to be explained here, including how magic can make people, more insight on the Pack dynamics and the interesting new addition, the witches. The world building here is as solid as the first, and despite the amount of extraordinary things in Kate’s world, it was easy to accept the fact that these things exist.

What makes Magic Burns (and Magic Bites) so readable is how it’s not just serious fantasy. I love the little funny quips and things that happens in the novel, and I find myself shaking my head as I chuckle at a seemingly ridiculous scene but still very fitting. I think “deadpan” is the right term to describe it. For example, there was a scene in the book where Kate was talking to Gasthek, a necromancer, through a vampire host he sent to her office:

“What’s in it for me?”

“Monetary compensation.”

The day I took the People’s money would be the day I give up on being a human. “Not interested. Any other offers?”

The vampire stared at me, his mouth slack as Gasthek assessed his options. I took a couple of forms from my desk, put them in the vamp’s mouth, and pulled them up by their edges.

“What are you doing?” Gasthek asked.

“My hole puncher broke.” (p. 117)

See what I mean? I can only imagine what that scene looked like. :P

As always, Kate was very awesome here. In Magic Bites we get to see a bit of Kate and how tough she was. In Magic Burns, we see a bit of Kate’s soft side as she forms a relationship with Julie, the kid she “adopts” early in the book. We see her fierceness in protecting the person entrusted to her and what lengths she would go to just to keep her safe. Despite Kate’s strong personality and her need to be private, she’s not one without friends. She knows and keeps the value of friendship, going as far as provoking even the Beast Lord just to protect her friend. I like this side of her because it makes her more human. Further into the novel, though, we see a bit of how powerful Kate can be, and we learn a bit of her past, which I believe will be expounded on the latter novels.

And speaking of the Beast Lord. Ah Curran. :) I think I am starting to understand why the girls I know who like the series sigh with a mention of Curran. :) And that final scene? I wouldn’t have gotten The Princess Bride reference if I didn’t read this Goodreads review. I immediately re-read the last part and gave a tiny squeal (just tiny because I was in the office when I finished this) — “As you wish!” Squeeee! ♥ They tell me it gets better in the next books, so I can’t wait to read them.

Magic Burns is a solid follow-up to Magic Bites, if not better. :) I am about to start Magic Strikes, and I can’t wait to read more Kate and of course, whatever there is between her and Curran. :)

Rating: [rating=4]

Other reviews:
Chachic’s Book Nook
Angieville
Artseblis
Janicu’s Book Blog
Book Harbinger
The Book Smugglers

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Magic Bites

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Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
Kate Daniels # 1
Publisher: Ace Books
Number of pages: 260
My copy: paperback, bought from PowerBooks

When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.

The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t have it any other way…

* * *

When I first started reading fantasy by choice, I know I wouldn’t be really interested in any hardcore fantasy novels, like Tolkien or anything similar. I remember saying that my brain can’t possibly process and visualize all the foreign worlds and creatures and such. When I came across Cassandra Clare‘s The Mortal Instruments series, I knew I liked that kind of fantasy — the one still set in the real world yet has fantastical elements. Hello urban fantasy.

I was all set to read more urban fantasy after that, but alas, I fell into YA paranormal and eventually dystopia. I never really thought of actively looking for urban fantasy because of the plethora of books in my TBR pile, plus I wasn’t really sure where to start.

And now I take this time to thank Chachic and Michelle for pushing me in the right direction with Ilona Andrews‘ Kate Daniels series. I’ve told the story of how I got the books here, but if you’re too lazy to click over and come back, here’s the gist: we were book shopping, Chachic showed us the first book, told us all four books were available. I looked at them, listened to the two girls tell me how awesome the series was, and quickly folded, buying all four books in the series at once and starting Magic Bites that night.

And friends, I got hooked.

If you’re planning to read this book, I suggest you read and try to understand the description at the back as much as you can because there are no explanations offered at the start. I was immediately dropped into Kate’s world like that. There were no careful explanations or introductions; I found myself reading about Kate was sitting at her kitchen when magic “fell” and there was suddenly a vampire. All that happened before I could say “What?” and so I had to slow down with reading to really get what was happening. It was kind of disorienting at first, so if you’re not too used to fantasy this may present a little problem.

But don’t give up on it! You will get used to it, and like me, you’ll marvel at the world building that the authors* did in this book. Kate’s world is very believable despite all the magical tendencies, and after some time, I got used to how their world works. As always, there were the vampires and shapeshifters, but they’re not the sparkly vampires or the imprinting shapeshifters that is popular right now. I am very, very relieved to know that these creatures in Kate’s world are not like them, especially the vampires. The book may not have Dracula-like vampires, but they’re written as terrifying creatures. Finally something that made sense! I am overjoyed. :P

I can’t really decide what made this book awesome, but since I have three more books to review for this series, I can discuss the others in their reviews. :P For the first book, I am all praises for the protagonist, Kate. Kate is just…kick-ass. She’s snarky, sassy, tough yet underneath all that, still very feminine. It’s hard not to like her from the very start and love her as the story goes on. There’s an air of mystery around her, too, that made me want to continue reading just to know her past…but in the end, I still don’t know who (or what) she was. Even so, her personality wasn’t hidden so much that I didn’t get to know who she was and the lengths she would go to get what she wants as the story happens. Kate reminds me of one of my favorite heroines of all time, Thursday Next: they’re both very smart and strong female characters, ones that I would love to be if I were made into a book character. :)

Of course I know I haven’t really said much about this book after all that I’ve written in this review. This is a very solid debut from Ilona Andrews. It’s dark, with lots of mystery and action (oh yes, a bit of gore, too), but still with enough snark and sass that I chuckled every now and then. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great start for a series that I immediately grabbed the second book just to be immersed in Kate Daniels’ world.

Once again, thanks to Chachic and Michelle for pushing this one! I can’t wait to find out more about Kate (and Curran! :P) in the next books. :)

* Ilona Andrews is actually the pen name of the husband-wife writer tandem of Ilona and Andrew Gordon. Awesome, yes?

Rating: [rating=4]

Other reviews:
Chachic’s Book Nook
Angieville
Artseblis
Janicu’s Book Blog
Book Harbinger

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Red Riding Hood strikes back

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Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
Hachette Book Group, 336 pages

Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris– the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She’s determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts fiercely alongside her. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax– but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they’ve worked for.

Twenty-five-year-old Jackson Pearce delivers a dark, taut fairy tale with heart-pounding action, fierce sisterly love, and a romance that will leave readers breathless.

There is something about a re-telling of an old, popular story that fascinates me. It started when a friend recommended Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, a re-telling of the book of Hosea from the Bible, and I’ve read a lot of contemporary young adult (YA) stories based on fairy tales–but not all re-tellings work. Some authors simply retell the story with different names and twists that have little impact on the story. However, for those that manage to infuse an old tale with originality, the result can be a clever and creative read. Such is the case with Jackson Pearce’s second book, Sisters Red.

The cover is very pretty, but don’t be mislead by it (and the fact that Pearce’s first novel was light and romantic): Sisters Red is not your ordinary fairy tale retelling. Pearce goes in an entirely different direction from her debut by writing a modern version of Little Red Riding Hood that is dark, dangerous, and quite violent. The novel starts with Scarlett and Rosie March as kids, when they first encounter a Fenris – a wolf who assumes the form of a handsome man, and who feeds on beautiful women. Scarlett kills the wolf to save her sister, but not without the Fenris killing their grandmother and leaving Scarlett scarred and blind in her right eye. Seven years later, the sisters, together with their childhood friend Silas, have devoted their lives to hunting these soulless beasts who continue to prey on other women. When the three of them realize that Fenris from different packs have started to hunt together, they know something was up: the Fenris are looking for the Potential, a possible new werewolf recruit. Scarlett, Rosie and Silas head out to the city to find the Potential before the wolves do. Scarlett is thrilled that she’ll be able to kill more Fenris; Rosie, on the other hand, is excited for an entirely different reason: she longs to spend more time with Silas, who has started to point her in the direction of jobs besides hunting, and toward a life resembling normalcy.

It’s brave of Jackson Pearce to put a dark twist to this fairy tale (although it must be pointed out that the original versions of Little Red Riding Hood were dark indeed). Click here to read the rest of the review.

Rating: [rating=4]

2010 Challenge Status:
* Book # 57 out of 100 for 2010

My copy: ebook, $9.99 from Amazon Kindle Store

Cover and Blurb: Goodreads

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Three Wishes

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As You Wish by Jackson PearceAs You Wish by Jackson Pearce

Ever since Viola’s boyfriend broke up with her, she has spent her days silently wishing—to have someone love her again and, more importantly, to belong again—until one day she inadvertently summons a young genie out of his world and into her own. He will remain until she makes three wishes.

Jinn is anxious to return home, but Viola is terrified of wishing, afraid she will not wish for the right thing, the thing that will make her truly happy. As the two spend time together, the lines between master and servant begin to blur, and soon Jinn can’t deny that he’s falling for Viola. But it’s only after Viola makes her first wish that she realizes she’s in love with Jinn as well . . . and that if she wishes twice more, he will disappear from her life—and her world—forever.

I was one of those kids who believed in wishing on stars. My earliest memory of making a wish was when my brother told me about the North Star, and I wished that I’d dream about Cinderella that night (I was pretty young then). Years later, my friends and I would wait for the first star to appear so we could make a wish before going home, but as time went by, I found it harder and harder to make a simple wish. I’d end up using my wishes (even birthday wishes) for some beauty pageant greater good, you know, like world peace. It’s a part of growing up I guess, or a fear that I’d wish for the wrong thing and then it would come true. I needed to be sure that if my wish did come true, it would be one I wouldn’t regret.

Sixteen-year-old Viola faces the same problem in Jackson Pearce’s novel, As You Wish. Viola has been feeling invisible ever since her best friend and boyfriend, Lawrence, broke up with her after confessing he was gay. His coming out of the closet catapulted him to popularity, and Viola’s heartbreak pushed her to the sidelines. For the next seven months, she spends most of her days observing the people around her, trying to figure out how they belong to their own groups and wishing that she could simply belong, like they did. Viola’s desperate wish summons a young and handsome genie with no name, bearing (what else?) three wishes. The genie is anxious to return to his home world (he ages in the human world) but the only way for him to go back is for his master to use up her wishes. However, Viola is terrified of making the wrong wish, so she asks for time, much to the genie’s chagrin. Refusing to treat the genie as a slave, Viola gives him a name, Jinn, and forces him to call her by her name instead of Master. And that’s when things get complicated…Click here to read the rest of the review.

Rating: [rating=5]

My copy: Kindle edition

2010 Challenge Status:
* Book # 42 out of 100 for 2010

→ Jackson Pearce’s website

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Waiting on Wednesday: Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers

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And it’s time to post another entry about a book that I will be waiting and lusting over until it gets released. “Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating. I use the term “lusting” because it may just fit in this week’s WoW pick:

Personal Demons by Lisa DesrochersPersonal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
Release date: September 14, 2010

Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She’s spent years keeping everyone at a distance—even her closest friends—and it seems her senior year will be more of the same…until Luc Cain enrolls in her class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can’t seem to stay away from him. What she doesn’t know is that Luc works in Acquisitions—for Hell—and she possesses a unique skill set that has the King of Hell tingling with anticipation. All Luc has to do is get her to sin, and he’s as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn’t stand a chance.

Unfortunately for Luc, Heaven has other plans, and the angel, Gabe, is going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Luc doesn’t get what he came for. And it isn’t long before they find themselves fighting for more than just her soul.

But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay…for all of them.

This book sounds absolutely yummy. :) I love the cover, and I love the blurb, and it seems like people who got ARCs for this seemed to like it very, very much, too! It also seems like it will be a series, so I hope it holds up. :)

Lisa Desrochers has previews of this novel on her blog, and fun — Luc and Frannie are narrating! :) But what about Gabe?

Wish list, wish list! I can’t wait for this book to be out. :)

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

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