I mentioned on Twitter a few weeks ago that I was highly anticipating the final book in the Kate Daniels outstanding Urban Fantasy series, which will be published in August, and wondered if there would be any more books about the characters or a spin-off. Happily the author tweeted back that one of the characters, Hugh D’Ambray (a kind of bad guy in the Kate Daniels series) would be getting his own trilogy! Iron and Magic just came out last week and I devoured it over the weekend. It doesn’t end on a huge cliffhanger, which I always appreciate, but there is plenty of room for more story, especially finding out what kind of magical being is Elara, the other main character!
In their long-running Kate Daniels series, the husband and wife writing team known as Ilona Andrews has created a truly unique world – an alternate Atlanta unlike anything we’ve seen before. In this world, magic existed for millennia, but the rise of technology caused an imbalance in the world and magic disappeared for a long time. When magic returned to the world, it did so with a vengeance, destroying buildings and releasing all kinds of creatures and dead gods back into the world.
Kate Daniels is a mysterious character with a magic sword who works as a bounty hunter of sorts, and responds to requests to capture dangerous creatures in order to keep the citizens of this Atlanta safe. In this world, the magic and technology shift back in forth without rhyme or reason, and when the magic ascends, all technology, including guns, phones, lights, and cars ceases to work.
It’s a great world, filled with the Pack, shapeshifters who hang on to their human sides very carefully, the People, who are Masters of the Dead and control vampires created by an immortal being named Roland, as well as witches and all sorts of other magical beings, including old mythological gods. Kate and other characters in the novels have many action-packed adventures, some light romance, and their share of triumphs and tragedies.
In Iron and Magic, Hugh D'Ambray, one of the minor characters from the Kate Daniels series, used to be a Warlord for Roland, and was in command of a large contingent of soldiers called The Iron Dogs. For some reason, Roland cut Hugh off from his protection and power. Hugh spends his days being drunk and disorderly, waiting to die, his Iron Dogs forgotten. When some of his close cohorts finally get his attention, he finds out that the Iron Dogs are being picked off by the People and there are not very many left. He is ultimately convinced that he needs to help his friends find a secure base in which to defend themselves. To do so, he enters into a “marriage of convenience” with Elara, a witch of sorts, who has a castle and land in Kentucky, and needs help defending her people from outsiders. That’s the basics of the plot for Iron and Magic.
It’s a very entertaining read. Hugh and Elara hate each other, because they need each other, and they spend a lot of time verbally sparring in the book. Fun! Of course, there are bad guys coming to destroy them all, and Hugh and Elara will need to work together to keep their people safe – if they can stop fighting long enough to do so.
I really enjoyed this book a lot, other than a quite graphic and rather unexpected sex scene that seems to belong in an erotic romance rather than in an Urban Fantasy novel. It feels like the authors just decided to throw that in there to….I’m not sure exactly why they did! There is romance in the Kate Daniels series, but not on that level. I’m not a prude, but the scene just didn’t seem to fit the rest of the type of story the authors’ were trying to write. That’s my only criticism of this excellent continuation of the wonderfully unique world created by two very imaginative and talented writers.
Happy Reading!
Magic Triumphs will be published on August 28th, and I'll be first in line to read it!
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