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69 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Continued solid storytelling., March 31, 2009
This review is from: Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
Ilona Andrews has done a wonderful job of walking that fine line between tough, sassy heroine and ridiculous, overly powerful superwoman. Kate Daniels is a unique character in a genre that is largely populated with carbon copies of the same woman. Kudos to Andrews, who has once again managed to balance the qualities of power and vulnerability to perfection.
Magic Strikes doesn't pick right up where Magic Burns left off. Time has passed for Kate and Andrews didn't feel compelled to fill in every little detail that happened off-screen. But, events have again conspired to lure Kate into situations where her loyalty to friends and fears of her past come into conflict. That tension is part of what makes these books worth reading.
An underground gladiatorial games of sorts provides the backdrop for the story as new villains emerge and looming threats from previous novels begin to actually take shape. The reader is not required to have perfect recall of the previous books, but minimal familiarity will help.
What Andrews does best is to create tension. Whether it's between Kate and her value system or Kate and Curran, the local lycanthrope leader, it's intense. But there's enough humorous dialogue to relieve the tension and actually make you chuckle a bit. I particularly like that Kate remains vulnerable. Whether it's her feelings, or actual physical attacks, she knows that there are some fights she can't win and there are some fights that she is willing to lose. That sense of possible death is what separates Ilona Andrews from most of the other urban fantasists.
That, and the fact that she doesn't put Kate to bed with every gorgeous creature who enters the story. Another wonderful installment.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Damn the Torpedoes, Kate Steps Out, May 23, 2009
This review is from: Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is currently my favorite Urban Fantasy series, having displaced Kim Harrsion's Hollows books after the lackluster last outing in that series. To some extent Andrews has followed Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden formula -- introduce the character, have a few introductory adventures to build the supporting cast and get a feel for the lead's capabilities and issues and then start to open up the series "meta plot" as the character faces wider issues.
Kate is a very appealing, snarky character who lives in an intriguing world where magic rises and falls in tides which have greatly disrupted (but not destroyed -- people cope) our civilization. Were-hyenas and vampires may roam Atlanta, but people still eat grits and cornbread. For reasons that are finally becoming more clear in this book, Kate has long been a loner, a mercenary who solves magical problems, but in the first book she started to come out of her shell, and that has continued over the next two books and into this one as she gains friends and allies.
In my opinion, the love interest is well handled as well. It's been obvious from book one what's going to happen, but Andrews is in no hurry, and has been content to keep Curran as (a very effective) supporting character rather than letting him drive out all the other supporting characters. This lets Kate have satisfying emotional connections apart from her supposed love interest (her final scene with Bran in the previous book for instance) and differentiates the series from "Supernatural Romance".
The ending of this book pretty much tears the veil off Kate's self-imposed low profile and sets things up for a major confrontation in the coming books.
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58 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magic Strikes. Again, March 31, 2009
This review is from: Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
It's no surprise that I'm writing a review for this book. I've reviewed Ilona's books before and have always had good things to say about the writing and the plots. This time, I'll say it again... fantastic writing and a great plot.
What I like about book three is that we're seeing more of Kate and her relationships. Yes, there is action and intrigue but more importantly, there's a sense of Kate becoming more open to being entangled with the people around her. She fights for her place in others' lives here. People are important and she's as much a guardian of the people she's taken into her life as she is the nameless faces that she protects.
I prefer character-driven stories and Ilona Andrews delivers this type of story with a generous helping of cohesive plotline. Add into the mix, a conflicted world of magic and tech and you've got the recipe for a fantastical world that Kate Daniels lives in.
I'm not going to give out spoilers. I dislike reading reviews where the person spews out every last detail of the story but suffice it to say; Kate decides who is important to her in her life... and really, goes into action without much thought to her own safety. I enjoyed the tension in this story and the tightness of the writing was a delight to read. I could envision what was happening from the descriptions on the page and there are scenes that I could swear I could smell and taste the surroundings.
Brilliant writing and a fantastic step towards the main character's development.
Good book. I've gotten multiple copies just so I can give them to people I think would enjoy it. Pick it up. Spend an evening with Kate Daniels and submerge yourself into Ilona Andrews' Atlanta.
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