Review: Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews *Spoilers*

 

 

Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews

*SPOILERS*

 

I want to be Ilona Andrews when I grow up. 

She—well, they—are the one of my favorite writers.  Their novels mesmerize, make me laugh, leave me in awe and inspire me.  The last book of hers I reviewed was the first in the series—Magic Bites.  Well, that was because I’ve been so busy reading every novel and novella the husband/wife team has published.

The Kate Daniels world is amazing and so original.  And there is no heroine in all of literature that is as kick-ass as Kate.

Each new novel goes farther, digs deeper and makes the reader’s eye bug out.  And yet she keeps it all fast and funny.

Her newest novel, Magic Rises is no exception.  I loved this novel from page one.  And even though it leaves the familiar environ of post shift Atlanta Georgia and sails off (literally) to Europe, and deceit and mayhem, murder and betrayal, it is still Kate doing what she does best: sticking to her guns (well, swords, since she’s a suck shot) and fighting for those she loves.

I have to give Ilona credit, she really had me going this time.  She had me on the edge of my seat, dismayed and depressed that Curran was actually going to leave Kate.

I’ve never skipped to the last page of a novel before, but by halfway through I did.  I just couldn’t deal with how the thought of him breaking up with her was affecting me.

Man can she write.

By the end all the questions are answered, Kate and Co. almost die, and she finds out that her powers are far more vast and deadly than she had imagined.

I was so sad to see Aunt B die.  She was a one in a million character and went down with such savage honor.  She will be missed.

I can’t rate this one high enough.  Spectacular!

Review of Trapped by Kevin Hearne

Review of Trapped by Kevin Hearne

 

 

As always, I adore Mr. Hearne’s work.  His Urban Fantasy series, The Iron Druid Chronicles, is #3 on my favorites list.  And Trapped is no disappointment.  The plot is fast, the characters—new and old—crackle with life… even if they’re dead.

Olympian gods abound, vampires conspire, and the Dark Elves play clown assassins.  All of them wanting Atticus and company dead. 

And all the Iron Druid wants is to do is bind his apprentice to the earth.

Fun, fast paced and brilliant.

Oh, and Oberon, as always, rules!  

Review of Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

 

 

My Review of Frost Burned, a Mercy Thompson novel by Patricia Briggs.

 

Favorite Quote:  I was going to fight vampires, and my name wasn’t Buffy—I was so screwed.

 

In the newest book in Patricia Briggs wildly popular Urban fantasy series, Mercy Thompson , VW mechanic, shape shifting walker, and wife of the city’s alpha werewolf is out at midnight on Black Friday with her stepdaughter when she’s involved in a car accident.  Soon after she finds that not only can’t she get a hold of anyone from the pack on her cell phone, but her mate bond with her husband is being blocked as well.

She tries to get her stepdaughter to safety and then to go find her mate and their pack, but finds instead rogue government agents and hired mercenaries have taken her husband and the pack by force, knocking them out with a secret drug that only the werewolves know about.

Mercy must be smart, deadly and ruthless as she tries to keep her stepdaughter and others out of these killers’ hands.  But that is only the tip of the ice-burg, and she finds herself in the middle of the lethal politics of a vampire territorial battle, and in the cross hairs of fae assassins.

All in all, the usual for one of my favorite heroines, and Ms. Briggs doesn’t disappoint.  Her characters are ever evolving, entertaining and can change allegiances in the blink of an eye.   Her plot is sharp and quick, and the world she has written pulls you in and doesn’t let you go.

I lost a lot of sleep reading this book into the wee hours of the night.

Fantastic!