Magic Burns

Magic Burns (2008) Ilona Andrews

A magic flare is coming, and everyone from the lowliest witch to gods is looking to take advantage of the increased magic.

Kate, as an associate of The Order, is being run ragged, but when she comes upon a lost girl in search of her mother, she takes the young teen with her, promising to keep her safe.

Thus we meet Julie.

“Why did you save me?”

He shrugged. “I picked up the phone and there was a hysterical child on the other end, crying that you were dying, and she was all alone, and the undead were coming. I thought it might be an interesting conclusion to a boring evening.”

Bullshit. He came because of Julie. Shapeshifters suffered from devastating child mortality, with half their children being born dead and another quarter being killed because they went loup at puberty. Like all shapeshifters, Curran cherished children and he also hated vampires. He probably figured he would kill two birds with one stone: save Julie and stick it to the People.

One of my favorite characters from this book is Bran.

“She always has a hound with her.” I frowned.

“A dog?”

“No. A man. A scoundrel. A thief and a brigand.”

I almost snapped my fingers. “Tall, dark, carries a bow, disappears into mist, can’t keep his hands to himself?”

The mother nodded to me with a smile. “Yes.”

“I’ve seen him.”

She smiled wider. “I gathered.”

But then I’m fond of tricksters, which is why I like Samain so much.

And we finally meet Aunt B, head of the Boudas and mother of Raphael. I also like both of them very much.

Not that I don’t appreciate Kate. After all, we have the same frame of ethics.

“For me, evil is striving to an end without regard for the means.”

The world building has settled down a bit in this book, and we slowly learn more about Kate.

And HATE this cover. As noted previously, Ace does a miserable job with these covers.
Rating: 7.5/10

Published by Ace

• Browse the archives:
  
• Magic Strikes » »
• « « Magic Bites