{"id":386,"date":"2007-05-31T19:08:49","date_gmt":"2007-06-01T02:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=386"},"modified":"2021-12-16T09:16:13","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T14:16:13","slug":"magic-bites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/386","title":{"rendered":"Magic Bites"},"content":{"rendered":"

Magic Bites<\/a><\/em> (2007) Ilona Andrews<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Kate Daniels works as a mercenary in a world that used to be ours, where technology is losing out to magic. Vampires are not romantic creatures (think the older vampires on Buffy<\/em>) the vampire faction is held at bay by the shape shifters–neither group can take control, which is probably good for the humans. After discovering that her guardian has been killed, she volunteers to hunt for his killer–knowing that whatever managed to kill Greg–a trained knight-diviner–would almost certainly be more than a match for her.<\/p>\n

I thoroughly enjoyed Magic Bites<\/em>. Although Kate is quite powerful, it is made quite clear that much of her power has come through hard work and training, and that power doesn’t necessarily keep her unscathed. She also makes mistakes–real mistakes with real consequences.<\/p>\n

The writing was also good. I managed to devour the entire book in several hours, without every being thrown out of the story, even when I stopped to consider some of the differences between Kate’s world and our own. The dialog was good, with plenty of sarcasm (my favorite), and the characters were distinctive<\/p>\n

I was also fascinated by the world that Ilona Andrews created. Our present is the past in Kate’s world, and the technology and science that we take for granted is slowly succumbing to magic–when magic flares up, technology ceases to work. I found it interesting to consider the idea that science and magic could not coexist in peace–that the suppression of one was required for the other to work. I also was fascinated by the idea that in Kate’s world, much of modern architecture falls under the auspices of technology, and so the fall of magic would lead to the destruction of skyscrapers and other architecture that only came with the modern age.<\/p>\n

Although lots of awful things happen, and the world Kate lives in is built upon the ashes and bones of our world, this book was not nearly as dark as one would expect. Although battling monsters and knowing that evil is real in the world, Kate still somehow manages to remain optimistic to a degree. Not that she’s sunshine and flowers, but that despite the world around her, she has a basic attitude that the world and humanity will continue–despite everything.<\/p>\n

Although the story arc–discovering who killed Greg and why–is completed, there are plenty of threads left uncompleted for the series to be continued. However, this was done very well, so there is a definite sense of closure to the ending. Which is something that I particularly like in a story. (And why I’m finding it harder and harder to read epic fantasy that goes on for thousands of pages.)<\/p>\n

If you like supernatural fantasy, then you should enjoy Magic Bites<\/em>. Strong herione, lots of danger and magic, and consequences for actions.
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Magic Bites (2007) Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels works as a mercenary in a world that used to be ours, where technology is losing out to magic. Vampires are not romantic creatures (think the older vampires on Buffy) the vampire faction is held at bay by the shape shifters–neither group can take control, which is probably […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,2,291,16],"tags":[87,173,313],"class_list":["post-386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-fantasy","category-paper","category-supernatural","tag-ilona-andrews","tag-kate-daniels","tag-vampires"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-6e","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8931,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/8931","url_meta":{"origin":386,"position":0},"title":"Magic Bites","author":"Michelle","date":"March 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Magic Bites (2007) Ilona Andrews This is another series that I've fallen behind reading. Unlike Carrie Vaughn's Kitty series, these books are still coming, but I'm two books behind on my reading, and I've forgotten some major points, so I figure it's time to re-read. Magic returned to the world,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/magic-bites.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":547,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/547","url_meta":{"origin":386,"position":1},"title":"Magic Burns","author":"Michelle","date":"April 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Magic Burns (2008) Ilona Andrews The sequel to Magic Bites, Magic Burns continues the story of Kate Daniels, magic user, fighter, and no longer mercenary, but instead member of the Order, a group that helps keep the peace in a dangerous and uncertain world. While taking a case as a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/magic-burns.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8947,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/8947","url_meta":{"origin":386,"position":2},"title":"Magic Gifts","author":"Michelle","date":"March 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Magic Gifts (2011) Ilona Andrews This story takes place at the same time as Gunmetal Magic and are Kate's events (and the same events as seen through Kate's eyes). Andrea is working for Cutting Edge Investigations--Kate's company. They also have two interns: Ascanio--the troublesome teen bouda, and Derek, the werewolf\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Magic-Gifts.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1321,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1321","url_meta":{"origin":386,"position":3},"title":"Must Love Hellhounds","author":"Michelle","date":"September 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Must Love Hellhounds (2009) Charlaine Harris, Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook I picked up this anthology solely because I saw Ilona Andrews had a story in it. Charlaine Harris also usually writes decent short stories, but not always. But I figured, I like everything I've read by Ilona Andrews,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/mustlovehellhounds.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8934,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/8934","url_meta":{"origin":386,"position":4},"title":"Magic Burns","author":"Michelle","date":"March 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/magic-burns.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4399,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4399","url_meta":{"origin":386,"position":5},"title":"Magic Bites","author":"Michelle","date":"February 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Magic Bites (2008) Ilona Andrews After finishing off the Inspector Salvo Montalbano series, I've been picking up books, trying to figure out what I was in the mood to read. There were several new releases that I quite liked, but they didn't help me fall into what I wanted to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"magic-bites","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/magic-bites.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}