Ilona Andrews Archives - Page 3 of 3

Why I listened to it: I’m a fan of the series and downloaded it as soon as I could. My print copy arrived in the mail just yesterday as well.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Atlanta is a city plagued by magical problems. Kate Daniels will fight to solve them—no matter the cost.

Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shapeshifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta.

Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shapeshifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute—and they’ll pay him in medicine. With the young people’s survival and the Pack’s future at stake, Kate and Curran know they must accept the offer—but they have little doubt that they’re heading straight into a trap…

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Magic Rises changes things up a bit by taking Kate, Curran and some other prominent pack members to Europe and out of their comfort zones, with the end goal being to get “panacea” for the Pack – the medication that significantly limits loupism in shapeshifters. I enjoyed how the book showed Kate’s emerging acceptance in the Pack – she is not and never will be a shapeshifter but she belongs and by the end of the book this becomes even more clear. I mean, I already knew that but there are some slowpokes in the Pack that need more time to come to grips with it.

Kate is challenged by the interest Curran shows in a young beautiful shapeshifter from the Alaskan pack (aptly named Lorelei), who has ambition and thinks Curran belongs with one of his own kind. In the meantime, Kate and company have to find out who is responsible for the attacks on the pregnant lady they are in Georgia (the European one) to protect and Hugh D’Ambray makes a surprise appearance. Also there’s a gnome. There’s more “fantasy” than “urban” in this one and it was a lot of fun. It’s not the sort of thing you can do in Atlanta but it fit very well with the almost medieval-type European setting. There were some drastic consequences for some of the characters which was sad but on the other hand, it makes sense that not everyone of the “good guys” is going to survive or come out unscathed.