Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
Paperback, 272 Pages
2007, Ace
ISBN: 0441014895
Series: Book 1 of Kate Daniels
Synopsis
Mercenary Kate Daniels cleans up urban problems of a paranormal kind. But her latest prey, a pack of undead warriors, presents her greatest challenge.
Review
The Kate Daniels series has all the makings of a spectacular series, but this first book, Magic Bites, crams way too much information into a short book.
The vampires and weres in Magic Bites were different than any I've ever read before. Every aspect of their characterization was unique to the series and it took a while to grasp even the basics. The vampires weren't just unsexy, but completely without will of their own. Left to their own devices they seemed to be more closely related to zombies than the common idea of vampires. They're controlled by a Master of the Dead, and seemed comparable (at least to me) to those unmanned Predator drones used by the military. I respect the creativity here, but the vampires didn't really appeal to me. The weres in Magic Bites were much more my speed, which is something I don't get to say very often about shifters. Instead of being separated into groups according to species, they're all ruled by Curran - The Beast Lord, making it appear that their very shifter-ness is more important to the story than the huge variety of species that could come into play.
Magic Bites features a very good mystery, but it was occasionally hard to follow the fight scenes - especially when magic was being used. Magic seems to play a large role in the world this series takes place in, but I couldn't fully grasp the how and they why of things.
I'm not quite sold on Kate either. She's tougher than many urban fantasy heroines, occasionally to the point of annoyance. She's obviously a magic user, but to what extent is anyone's guess at this point. The source of her power and the magnitude of her abilities is often hinted at in Magic Bites, but nothing is even vaguely explained. Equally hard, but in an obviously less self-destructive way, is Curran, The Beast Lord. His character made me smile even while Kate continued to rub me the wrong way.
I can't say I loved Magic Bites, but I can clearly see the potential in this series. I like Curran and get the feeling I could like Kate if we get past her rough exterior. The magic in Kate and in the world itself needs more explanation and I was honestly exasperated through much of the book. But strangely, I feel almost compelled to continue the series. Magic Bites was a decent start and I'll definitely be checking out the next book.
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