Book: Magic Strikes
ISBN-13: 978-0441017027
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels Series
Publisher: Ace
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release: March 31, 2009
Length: 320 pages (Paperback)
Verdict
Andrews introduces a number of very innovative plot devices to the urban fantasy genre, and her storyline is a rapidfire rollarcoaster that doesn’t leave an idle moment in which a reader might grow bored. However, the tough-girl heroine pursued by a romantic interest she can’t possibly allow herself to indulge is becoming a very, very tired cliche in the urban fantasy genre and Andrews fails to develop her characters into three-dimensional people. As such, while this book is a fine way to spend some spare time, it’s never going to make any top ten list.
Borrow it, don’t buy it. This book is about on par with the entertainment value of an episode of any genre television series you’d care to name.
Synopsis
Official: Drafted into working for the Order of Merciful Aid, mercenary Kate Daniels has more paranormal problems than she knows what to do with. And in Atlanta, where magic comes and goes like the tide, that’s saying a lot. But when Kate’s werewolf friend Derek is discovered nearly dead, she must confront her greatest challenge yet. As her investigation leads her to the Midnight Games—an invitation only, no holds barred, ultimate preternatural fighting tournament—she and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, uncover a dark plot that may forever alter the face of Atlanta’s shapeshifting community…
Review
While the Kate Daniels Series provides a lot of chuckles, it fails to engage readers with its characters, magic system, and setting, creating an experience more on par with a novel of the sword and sorcery genre than with other urban fantasy novels.
The book’s shortcomings begin with the plot, which, though fast-paced, completely lacks any convincing motivations. The story movies through all of the requisite forms of the genre, but the characters are never given any compelling purposes. As such, they move through their story like a theater troupe giving a half-hearted performance. Scene changes come without any reason except that the last scene ended. The effect is partly due to the under-developed nature of Andrews’ characters and partly due to the pacing, which seems deliberately rushed in order to fit the whole story into three hundred pages.
To the positive, Andrews has invented some intriguing plot devices for her world that may make the series worth riding out. Her vampires, for instance, are mindless undead that are “piloted” remotely by specially-trained magic users who must suppress the vampire’s own homicidal desires at all times, lest it break free and run amok. Her were-creatures, which include wolves, lions, and hyenas, must struggle at all times to keep the beast within them from overcoming their human consciousness. And, best of all, the magic of her world comes and goes in chaotic waves, alternatively canceling out, then surrendering to the technology of the every day world at random, with often amusing effects.
The overall effect is that, while Magic Strikes fails to live up to the high expectations that authors like Jim Butcher have established for the urban fantasy genre, it’s still urban fantasy, and even at its worst (which this isn’t), the genre still beat out most others. So, pencil Magic Strike into your reading list for some time when you need some light, if thoughtless fantasy.
Similar Books
If you enjoy The Kate Daniels Series, you may also enjoy these similar series:
- Alpha and Omega Series by Patricia Briggs
- The Greywalker Series by Kat Richardson
- The Mercedes Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs
- Merry Gentry by Laurell K. Hamilton
- The Rachel Morgan Series by Kim Harrison
Further Information
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