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Ode to Kate Daniels – Nerd Book Post

March 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Last night, I spent some time digging through my Kindle, trying to remember the Kate Daniels (by Ilona Andrews) book order.  Unfortunately the books don’t line up by number in my Kindle so I always have to dig through the beginning of each book to see which one it is. I wish I could manually notate it on the table of contents so it’d make my life easier.

Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews (book 6)

Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews (book 6)

A sixth Kate Daniels book is scheduled for July this year, and while I’m way ahead of my 50-in-2013 goal, I thought I’d do some reminiscing. I dug through passages from each of the books in the series, looking for the parts where Kate and Curran had conversations. I have some of them highlighted and bookmarked – yay Kindle. The last interaction between Kate and Curran in the first book, Magic Bites, is priceless. When I read it the first time, I laughed. Such a perfect ending and a small surprise to me when it didn’t end with a typical “HEA” or “HFN.” Their relationship builds and builds over the arc of the series, and I love this. In addition to building up this tension, funny and romantic, over the course of the series, it keeps binding you to their story as well as the universe.

If Kate were real, I’d want her to be my bestie. (That would make me Andrea! Yeah!) Andrews has written Kate as a strong, smart, clever, and funny person. She’s got a few hangups about her parentage and her secrets add to the fuel to battle it out against Big Bads. Curran is also smart and clever. Kate knocks him down, calling him arrogant and self-centered, which he is. The books are written in the first person, and as the reader, you get to hear what Kate is thinking. She’s funny. There’s a passage in book 4 where she’s in a hot tub after a battle. The passage reads in real-time as she stops her thoughts mid-thought when she sees Curran naked with an “… oh my.” That made me laugh.

The world building is pretty fantastic – in book 1, you have a good understanding of the Daniels world works. As the books go on, the cast of characters expands, and for me, I grow to like them more. Dr. Doolittle (yes, that’s his name!) and Kate’s exchanges are not only funny but moves the story(ies) along. Derek turned out to be a winner. Andrea..well you know my love for Andrea! I only have one thorn in my side – I’m not a fan of kid characters in books. I have zero desire to read about Julie in these books, but I know she’ll be in the rest of them because of Kate’s relationship with her. Bleh.

The universal rule with book publishers of fantasy novels must be – “We must create the ugly covers to sell these books.” (As you know, I don’t believe you need to be so literal in book covers and you also don’t need to commission ugly art to sell great books.)

Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews

Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews

I think it’s obvious after the first book that Curran is a big part. No need to be that literal. I’m here to read about and for Kate, not Curran. Also why are they so dark? Turn the brightness back on. I can barely see anything but whooshes of color. I checked Goodreads for the latest cover for book 6, Magic Rises. I’m so confused. When did Kate become Asian-ish? Once again, publishers are pushing out crappy covers on good books.

Regardless of the covers, I would recommend this series to anyone who likes adventure, urban fantasy. I think it’s rare to find a hero who’s a woman and is matched well with her companions and against her enemies. Moreover, if Kate was “Ken,” the story would still work. And therein lies what is most refreshing – not depending on engendered stereotypes written in these books to debilitate or characterize the hero. (Am I making sense?)

I also think I am a hopeless romantic, in spite of my well-formed reputation of being a hard ass. (Don’t tell anyone.) I _want_ my heroes to live HEA or HFN. This series isn’t a romance series, and I’m glad. It’d make it too easy on all of us.

If you are inclined to read these, feel free to shoot me an email – I’ll lend them to you on Kindle. Or find them at your local library and download the audiobook or ebook to your reader!

 

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Mental CrayCrays Abound: Mind Games by Carolyn Crane

February 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment

It’s been a super long time since I’ve reviewed a book. That said, I’m also 9 books ahead of schedule in my 50 in 2013 goal. I take that with a grain of salt because the YA trilogies I’ve read recently seem like they should have been squished into two books or even one epic book. I think we all know when a trilogy shouldn’t be a trilogy. Peter Jackson, I’m also looking at you, sir.

It’s been a ‘meh’ start to the year of new books. I’ve devoured stories to entertain myself, but let’s not kid ourselves. I’m just waiting for the next Mercy Thompson installment by Patricia Briggs to come out as well as a new Kate Daniels book by Ilona Andrews. Everything else has a high standard to meet.

Mind Games (The Disillusionists #1) by Carolyn Crane

Mind Games (The Disillusionists #1) by Carolyn Crane

Cut to Mind Games by Carolyn Crane. This is not your typical PN story. It is and it isn’t. The world is present-day UF/PN; it reminds me of a cross section between Kate Daniels’ and Gin Blanco’s worlds. There are humans and then ‘super’ humans with mental ‘powers.’ They call ‘em highcaps. There are no weres, shifters, vamps, witches, etc. Just humans and ‘super’ humans.

Crane sets up our protagonist, Justine, as a super hypochondriac. THAT is her superpower. Hehe! She runs into a gang of vigilantes who use their phobias, fears, losing streaks and they fling that energy to their victims, disillusioning them. (They’re Disillusionists.) I enjoyed reading about the supporting characters and their respective schticks. Packard, their leader, is the puppetmaster, sending them off on assignments, basically disillusioning criminals, breaking them, and mentally these criminals turn over a new leaf.

The world-building is pretty neat and thorough. Of course there’s a love interest. After reading so many insta-love YA books, this back and forth is refreshing. There are some things you have to overlook, like Justine’s instant trust of Packard and his gang. WTH? You don’t just go into a place and say “YES, cure me!” to a bunch of strangers. I’d do some vetting first. Therein lies another issue for Justine to deal with near the middle of the book and the rest of the series, I’m sure.

Honestly I’m not sure I’d put Justine in the Varsity team as Kate, Mercy, Sabina or Elena, but she’s up there on the JV team. Gin was on the Varsity team until the author decided to copy and paste passages in every book. Sheesh.

I’m interested to see what else happens in this series and how the characters are going to play out. I’d like to see a happy ending, but it would pretty awesome (and devastating) if the author turned it on its head.

Grade: A

Buy or Borrow: I bought it, so I say buy! (Or email me and I’ll lend it to you via my Kindle.)

 

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Book Reviews: Stray series by Rachel Vincent

November 26, 2012 by

The blog title is kind of a misnomer. I didn’t read the whole series. I am not sure I will. I guess that tells you already what I think about the books I have read.

stray_rachel_vincent

Stray by Rachel Vincent (Shifters book #1) http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/793399.Stray

rogue_rachel_vincent

Rogue by Rachel Vincent (Shifters book #2) http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314315.Rogue

pride-rachel-vincent

Pride by Rachel Vincent (Shifters book #3) http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4583888-pride

I bought these three Rachel Vincent books on Kindle recently. My BFF Bosco and his wife gifted me an Amazon GC and I decided to spend some of it on these ebooks.

Stray, Rogue, and Pride are part of the Shifters series by Rachel Vincent. In the beginning, Stray roped me in. I thought, “Hey werecats? I’m there.” Then I got to know Faythe, the protagonist and the first-person narrator. I felt she was pig-headed and immature and totally fit the grad school kid stereotype, aka. a Grade-A Butthead. Long story short, she left her Pride for 5 years while she went to college (alright) and now it was time for her to come back. She kicks, screams, scratches her way, trying to not be there. Then there’s the drama of what it’s like to be the only female (besides her mother) in a Pride of cats. Stray didn’t pick up until about 3/4 of the way. (Note: I felt that the other two books didn’t pick up until then either.)

With most UF novels, there’s got to be a love interest or two or three. My favorite is Jace in this series. He’s been vying for Faythe’s attention when really the story just wants Faythe and Marc to be together. Marc is ok. He’s the lead enforcer of this Pride and does all the dirty work (like killing), which kind of troubles me. Why do male characters (love interests) in UF novels always have to be killers, hitmen, assassins, etc.? But I digress. There are several male characters that the book introduces (most are a part of Faythe’s Pride), and they all seem to be fun characters. I’d love to be friends with them.

I think what the author would like us to like Faythe the Feminist. It’s just hard to side with her when a lot of what she does is complain, whine, have outbursts (when her life is in danger), and “do things her way.” That definition of feminism is counterproductive to what feminism is. At least to me. There are rules within the were community, in this community. I can’t believe I’m writing a defense for a fictional universe. Faythe’s one-track mind on her ‘freedom’ costs everyone else’s theirs. It takes a final crazy outburst near the end of book 3 (Pride) for her to realize it… and then she blows it off. So – what. the. fuck? Why WOULD I like Faythe? She’s a total dick.

I’m meshing all three books together now, and I apologize, reader, on the mixing of storylines. In Rogue, the antagonist is so predictable. I kept trudging through it because there were reviews on Goodreads that said that the third book kicked in and made series so much better. I disagree.

The third book Pride disappointed me. It felt slower than the last, which felt slow already. They all seemed too long. Teh whole Andrew storyline was so abrupt. The action didn’t really do anything. They were all still stuck in the area for those days. There was a lot of talking. Faythe just kept getting in trouble. At 23, I’m not as lenient as I would be if the character was 16.

I won’t be buying any more of these books. I wish the books had more punch. I’m just tired of Faythe and her antics.

Mini spoiler for the third book: WTF. Now there’s a “teenage” tabby in the mix. You know what that reminds me of? Cousin Oliver. 

Here’s the other kicker. While reading reviews on the first book, folks felt this was basically a copycat of Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten (Elena and Clay). I say yes and no. There are a lot of similarities, and there is one distinct characteristic that is different. And that is Elena. She’s likable. She’s got issues, she’s working on them. Faythe? She’s just butthead who thinks about herself and how awesome she is.

 

Grade: B for Stray, C for Rogue and Pride

Buy or Borrow: Borrow. 

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So Good I’m Reading It Again: Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

September 4, 2012 by
gunmetal_magic_ilona_andrews

Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews.

You read that right. I’m literally re-reading this book. Again. I just finished it, and I’m reading it again. I’m so sad that there are no other Kate Daniels books or Andrea Nash books and this one is so fantastic that I’m rewinding my Kindle.

I bought my Kindle copy of Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews recently. I tried to hold off until, well I’m not sure why I held off. That was dumb. I read it in three days. I would’ve read it faster but I’ve been battling my GERD again.

This book is all about Andrea Nash, the (former) Knight of the Order of Merciful Aid. She’s a ‘minor’ character in the Kate Daniels series and gets bigger pieces as the KA series progresses. If you’ve read the Daniels series, you’ll know Andrea disappeared after an epic battle for the world and then comes back. This book details why she left, her childhood, her relationship with Raphael, and her point of view of Kate and Curran’s relationship. That’s probably the best part – she’s as snarky as Kate. It also takes her on her own adventure with Ascanio, Raphael and Roman in tow.

Andrews continues to expand the Kate Daniels/Andrea Nash universe – explaining certain histories of Atlanta and the world of magic vs tech. They’re very skillful in describing ‘present-day’ Daniels-world without being overbearing and boring. Each character gets fleshed out. I could do without the same old Derek description about his face, though. We know already. If there are any new readers who are reading the series out of order, you are terrible and you are the reason why Andrews is re-hashing Derek’s face. Gahhhhhhhhhhh.

Bottom line: I loved it. I am so glad Andrea got her own book. I’m happy to see that the husband/wife team of Ilona Andrews didn’t make her into a weak minor character as many authors would do. (You know, authors seem to only want to have ONE female major character; every other woman has to be evil or weak or minor.) You get to know Andrea and her terrible childhood and abuse she endured as a child. I like Raphael more here as well as Ascanio. (I can’t believe it.) I love that Andrea’s POV of Kate and Curran is exactly what other people would think of Kate and Curran. I loved being in her head while struggling with her anger and heart break. Andrea is frakking awesome.

One thing I wish authors and editors would consider is to have more female Scoobies. TV shows seem to have the same problem. There tends to be only one major female character and her Scooby Gang only consists of mostly males. (See: Buffy, Veronica Mars, Wonder Falls…) Dear universe, it is OK and so much more appealing if every Kate had more Andreas by her side. And every Andrea had a few more female Romans around.

And if I spoiled the whole thing about Kate and Curran, whatev. You should’ve guessed it by the first Kate Daniels book.

Kate Daniels, Mercy Thompson, Sabina Kane are probably my favorite UF characters and their respective authors are super writers. Fair or not, I gauge other UF novels on whether they are as well-written as these three series.

Grade: A

Buy or Borrow: BUY! (Especially if you’ve read the Kate Daniels series.)

What are you waiting for?

 

The fine print: I bought this book. Duh.

 

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