Magic Bites

I think I'm very glad that my introduction to Ilona Andrews started with their more recent "Hidden Legacy" series. After going back to the earliest part of their bibliography with Magic Bites, it really feels like this was a practice run for Nevada Baylor and Mad Rogan's story, and ultimately I liked Hidden Legacy better.

Kate and Curran's details feel very similar to Nevada and Rogan: a tough lady with a dry sense of humor who knows how to hold her own in a fight and secretly has high-level magical powers? An overly masculine, emotionally unavailable, borderline feral brawler with an insatiable attraction to the female lead? A relationship between the two that begins with some uncomfortably violent and problematic interactions? Yeah, show more I've read this before. Their voices are similar as well. Perhaps this is just the Ilona Andrews style, but if someone handed me a scene of Kate and Curran's antagonistic, crass "flirting" and told me it was an excerpt from a Hidden Legacy book, I wouldn't question it. None of this is really a complaint: the Kate Daniels series was a huge success for Ilona Andrews, and over the ~10 years that they wrote the series I'm sure that they honed their skills for writing these character archetypes to perfection. The characters might not have hit the mark yet for me in this first volume, but I know the series probably only gets better from here.

Another similarity to Hidden Legacy: the worldbuilding here is AWESOME. IA are great at coming up with very cool worlds for their characters to play in, and the rules and details of them never fail to draw me in. In this case, Kate and company live in a universe where magic is commonplace: law enforcement has departments dedicated to dealing with magic users and their goings-on, shapeshifters are all around living in packs with very organized hierarchies, vampires are... some sort of weird zombie-golem abominations that you don't want to come across. And coolest of all: magic and regular, modern technology are both part of day-to-day life, but there are specific times of day where one or the other straight up don't work. You can cast a spell, but if you need to travel anywhere you better find a bike or a horse because your car will not run for the next three hours. It's such a random limitation to put on this world, but it really ensures that there are unlimited opportunities for conflict that characters will have to face because of it. I really enjoyed that aspect of the story.

Overall, is this my favorite urban fantasy of all time? No, it didn't exactly grab me as much as other books, even others from the same author. But I think it has a lot of potential and I'm interested to see where Kate and Curran go from here. Also, Renee Raudman is the audiobook reader for this series, and I absolutely adored her reading the Hidden Legacy series, so at least there's that. show less

Once upon a time, technology managed to prevail over magic and our world developed the way it did. Some time in the future, magic is coming back causing all kinds of issues - depending on what takes precedence, either technology (all technology) or magic does not work. So if one wants to be prepared, they need to have the ability to use both.

Kate Daniels is born in that world - with the magic and technology constantly shifting and with the world getting crazier by the day with the constant shifts. She is a mercenary - she is hired to solve problems when paranormal entities or actions are involved and she is very good at her job. She is also a bit of an outsider - she does not want to get close to the authorities because she has her own show more secrets. Until her guardian is killed -- and she needs to find what had happened. Which requires getting involved into what she had spent a lot of time not being involved in.

The story is set in Atlanta, an Atlanta that looks very similar to ours. The way the universe is built allows both our myths and our history to exist into Kate's world - the shift into technology made the myths impossible but once upon a time they were the reality and then our history was the era of technology. Using that as a base means that the series does not need to invent any history or locations - it is a close future to where we are so the locations and the world sounds familiar... mostly.

This first novel was a great introduction both to the universe and the heroine. While investigating, we get to see the factions of the supernatural powers in the city (the vampires controlled by necromancers on one side and the shapeshifters on the other) and because of who her guardian was and what he did for a living, we get a deep look into the conflict between them and the authorities trying to control them. The fact that that this murder seems to be connected to an seemingly escalating chain of other murders gives enough energy to the story to carry the novel despite what could have been too much world building.

And then there is Kate - independent, resourceful, sassy, not exactly what you expect her to be and someone you really want to know (well, maybe not on a bad day). The novel even managed to throw a red herring or 3 - making sure you think you figured out what is going on before pulling the rug out from under your feet and laughing at you for falling for the misdirection.

The bonus story covers some of the same ground as the novel - it is a scene from the novel from the perspective of the other participant - the shapeshifter Lord Curran (who from the looks of it will be Kate's main romantic interest... or at least one of them). It was an interesting way to see the same from someone else's eyes but it probably would work even better if you had not read the same scene in the novel 4 hours earlier.

Overall a good start of the series. Onto the next one. show less

An absolute struggle to read. None of the characters were interesting, especially the main character, Kate. Kate is a complete caricature of a leading, strong woman with no payoff whatsoever. Her gruffness seems forced and unnatural and like too many other fantasy females, her powers are used in the battle between males with her taking no real authority. The introduction to this new future magic world was incredibly forced and it felt like everything is dumped on you at once without explanation (also the magic world building is completely uninteresting). The forced innuendo into Kate and Curran's feelings about each other was painful and completely unbelievable.

Overall, this book was an absolute mess and I consider myself a saint for show more getting through it.

I don't know if things get better further into the series, and I have less than zero desire to find out. show less

If you're an Urban Fantasy fan and you don't already own this book, buy it now. It's everything the first book in an Urban Fantasy series should be and more.

This is not one of those "Maybe the second book will be better" novels where you sense that the author is finding their way and you feel like you're in episode one, season one of a show that SyFy may take off the air. This is a book that feels like it starts in the middle of something complex with a thought through back-story and a clear sense of direction.

Kate Daniels, the kick-ass, leather-clad, sword-wielding, does-not-play-well-with-others, heroine who has a problem with authority, is saved from being a cliché by an awareness of how much of her own image is for show; a very show more human experience of fear and an acknowledgement that bravado such as making first contact with the feared were-cat leader of the shape-shifters by saying "Here kitty kitty..." while it may be witty, is also stupid and counter-productive.

I was excited by the possibilities of the future world that Ilona Andrews imagines, where magic literally bites. Waves of magic wash across the world, eroding technology with the relentless energy of a tide undermining a cliff-face, then ebbing and letting technology stand proud for a while. This creates a hybrid environment where people swap between using technology or magic to take care of business as routinely as if they were moving from gas to electricity to cook with.

In this context, Ilona Andrews re-invents vampires to be revenants piloted by necromancers and has shape-shifters enabled by a virus that can sweep away their humanity unless they live by a code of discipline.

There is a bad guy. A REALLY, stomach-churningly-awful bad guy. There are murders and abductions and political rivalry between powerful supernatural factions. There are fights and then more fights. Fights were you can taste the sweat and smell the blood and feel the fear.

There is, of course, unresolved sexual tension between our heroine and the uber-alpha male. Perhaps more interestingly there is a lack of sexual tension between Kate and a nice guy who, in any normal world, might be a future husband. These two experiences combine to show Kate as more than a smart-mouthed bravo with healthy physical appetites. She is someone who has a secret to hide. Someone with integrity to protect. Someone who is only slowly realizing that she is more alone than she would choose to be. In other words, she is someone ripe for change. What more could you ask for in a heroine?

The only thing I would change about this book is the cover art. I'm glad I was listening to this as an audiobook. This is not a cover I'd want to be seen with in public. The design looks like it was slapped together by someone using a Simcity avatar for Kate and an Aslan rip-off for Curran. Kate has the wrong colouring, her sword is the wrong shape, and the lion looks less dangerous than the average house cat. This kind of sloppiness is insulting to the author and to the readers.

I'm kicking myself for being eight years late discovering this series. The upside is that there are six more books in print, waiting to fill my imagination with strong characters working through conflicts and challenges in this complex future world show less

I read this book the first time years ago upon its initial release and was immediately hooked. I’ve reread it so many times and have recommended it to a number of people who also fell in love with it.

Kate Daniels is a sword wielding mercenary who tries to keep her abilities low key so others don’t make the connection to who she really is and what she can do. Magic waves have knocked out most technology, which now only works when the magic waves die for a period of time. When magic began building in the world, so did a number of monsters and her job is to take them out when normal folk can’t. Atlanta, GA is home to humans—some with magical abilities—shapeshifters under the leadership of the Beast Lord, and The People; show more necromancers who pilot vampires.

When her guardian, Greg is killed while investigating disappearances of women, Kate takes over the investigation and has to meet with both the Beast Lord as well as the local head of The People as they’ve both lost people.

We get an interesting mix of characters, situations, mythology, political maneuvering, humor and action. Kate’s response to being afraid is to open her mouth and sound tough. She won’t back down unless it’s in the best political interest to do so, and she’s quite capable.

There’s plenty of world building and we get explanations from Kate as to why she’s doing or not doing something when it comes to politics, fighting and magic, often with a humorous bent to it. I love the world that was created as well as the characters, especially the shapeshifters. I like Kate who’d always been taught that she’s better off not getting close to anyone. Even casual relationships are fairly new to her and part of the enjoyment of the series comes from watching her grow into them. show less

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

Between Ilona Andrews’ killer writing style and Renée Raudman’s outstanding performance I never stood a chance at standing up against the awesomeness that is Magic Bites. I wasted no time in writing my review for this one because Magic Burns is already calling my name and I didn’t want to get the books mixed up. First-rate world building, unique spins on the usual paranormal suspects (i.e. vamps and shapeshifters) and a heroine who’s as skilled with a sword as she is with her smart mouth are only a few of the things that this novel has going for it. I don’t really need a new series to obsess over but I think I found one all the same!

From the moment I first set foot inside Kate Daniels’ universe I show more knew that I was a goner. Andrews blends paranormal and fantasy elements together to create a world that’s all her own. It’s clear that before she started writing this series, Ilona put a lot of thought into the mechanics of her fictional reality by establishing set rules that govern the tech and magic waves. The learning curve was pretty steep in the beginning and I have to admit that I did struggle with the large number of terms that are introduced early on. Having listened to the audio version of this story I can’t help but wonder if I missed out on the hardcopy’s glossary. That being said, her world building alone makes this book a 5 star read.

I can’t come up with enough glowing adjectives to do Renée Raudman’s performance justice as the narrator of this story. She stepped into Kate Daniels’ shoes as though they were her own and seamlessly adopted the heroine’s personality quirks. All of her character voices are distinctive yet consistent and she even goes that extra mile by playing with her pitch whenever someone is mumbling or shouting. Raudman does an impressive job of conveying the darkness of this story and succeeds in being truly creepy when the plot demands it.

After reading this first installment I can now understand why Kate is at the top of many readers’ favourite heroine lists. Her problems with authority, sarcastic inner monologues and motto of “stab first, ask questions later” make her my ideal female protagonist. When I wasn’t laughing at her snarky one-liners I was marveling at her impressive fighting skills.

Magic Bites was everything that my fellow book reviewers told me that it would be. Once again I find myself stuck eating a piece of humble pie for having doubted them. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to start Magic Burns. show less

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
0🌶

* Note: I was feeling a tad loquacious while writing this so be ready for a ramble *

Kate Daniels is a merc living in an Atlanta of the future where magical tides rise and fall, wiping out all technical function. Monsters are the norm in this new world order and sometimes you just need to carry a sword.

We meet Kate after her guardian is murdered and she takes on the case. She crosses paths with the Pack of (animal) shapeshifters, the People (a deadly mix of necromancers and their controlled vampires), and the Order (a peace keeping force of sorts, highly skilled in magic and sworn to a code of their own. Kate's late guardian was a member). This is definitely the world building book for the series, so we show more meet a lot of characters (there's a helpful who's who in the back of the book) while learning a lot of details about the chaos of the magic x tech system.

As a start, the overall premise intrigues me and made me want to read the next book. We have a mystery to solve and a lot of twists on the road to solve it. Unfortunately that road includes a lot of bloodshed, so if you're not a fan of blood, gore, or fights, this one won't be for you. There is a rawness to this world that is both very intriguing and at times off-putting. Where a lot of modern fantasy romanticizes vampires and werewolves and the like, this is a darker take. There are necromancers and vampires who are mindless killing machines and beings willing to gut someone else without a second thought.

This is a gritty urban fantasy that feels like a darker, bloodier, magical version of Veronica Mars if she had a penchant for swords instead of tasers. Kate is not a perfect character. She is flawed and deeply human, and has a lot of secrets that we are not privy to yet. She's the type to keep herself apart or sacrifice herself instead of getting close to people because it's more dangerous for them. She has layers that make a reader want to learn more about her: her origins, her motivations, her endless supply of sass.

Add in an interesting (if deadly) set of friends and enemies and this looks to be an interesting series.

I don't know quite how to describe it, but the world being built in this series is one I'm not sure yet if I want to visit for a whole series. It is a dark one with seemingly very few patches of light, and those patches are elusive for someone like Kate. She may be human, but she exists in a world of shadows and monsters. Magic is so often described as wonderful and well... magical. But in this world, even the magic is inherently destructive and dangerous. It tears apart entire buildings and re-creates landscapes. It's as dark world, but sometimes the most interesting things live in the shadows. It's a world that makes you want to peer deeper, even if it means leaving the light behind while you do.

I'll give the authors this, while this wasn't a "5-star, I loved it for giving me the warm and fuzzies" read, it did something harder. It made me think and question the truths we are slowly learning about this world and it's characters. It's a challenge worth continuing, let's see what book 2 has in store.

Novellas to read after this:
- Curran's POVs in Small Magics: Unicorn Lane & Fernando's
- Prequel: A Questionable Client (Found in both Small Magics & at the end of the updated version of the Magic Bites ebook, how Kate met Saiman) show less