Discussion:
"Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years) by Ilona Andrews
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Lynn McGuire
2024-06-05 23:40:11 UTC
Permalink
"Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years) by Ilona Andrews

https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Claims-Kate-Daniels-Wilmington/dp/B0C4ZJSJTL/

Book number two of a two book paranormal romance dark fantasy series.
There are predecessor books, short stories, and successor books to the
series also that is over twenty books long. I read the well printed and
well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published by NYLA
Publishing in 2023 that I bought new on Amazon recently. Note that
“Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team. I
will purchase successor books if they become available (hopefully).

Kate Daniels is a mercenary in Wilmington, North Carolina and married to
the former Beast Lord with an eight year old half beast half magic son.
As the former owner of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, she is in hiding
from her fame and just wants to live a quiet life with her family. But,
people are seeking Kate and Curren out because of the need for heroes in
a horribly fallen world.

All of her life, Kate has been running from her father, a 5,000+ year
old all powerful mage currently known as Roland. In the Bible, he is
known by another name. Now her father visits with his grandson
constantly and trying to installing his family values, to rule the world
ruthlessly.

Kate Daniels's universe sucks. Fifty years ago, the tech world crashed
over the entire Earth and was replaced by the magic world in the form of
a magic flare. Guns don't work, cars don't work, electricity and phones
do not work. But magic works. Good magic and bad magic. After a week,
the tech world came back to a drastically changed world. And radically
fewer humans. And the magic world came back after a while. And the
tech world came back after that. And so on and so forth. Each world
can last a few weeks or a few hours.

I liked everything about the story. I especially liked the very clear
distinction between the tech time and the magic time. I had never
thought about it that way. The series may be inspired by "Ariel" by
Steven Boyett and "Dies The Fire" by S. M. Stirling except those never
interchange the tech time and the magic time, they just transitioned to
the magic time.

BTW, I would recommend that you read the ten book Kate Daniels series
before reading this series.
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Bites-Ilona-Andrews/dp/0441014895/

The authors have a website at:
https://www.ilona-andrews.com

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars (9,801 reviews)

Lynn
Scott Dorsey
2024-09-13 22:48:32 UTC
Permalink
Post by Lynn McGuire
"Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years) by Ilona Andrews
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Claims-Kate-Daniels-Wilmington/dp/B0C4ZJSJTL/
Book number two of a two book paranormal romance dark fantasy series.
There are predecessor books, short stories, and successor books to the
series also that is over twenty books long. I read the well printed and
well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published by NYLA
Publishing in 2023 that I bought new on Amazon recently. Note that
“Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team. I
will purchase successor books if they become available (hopefully).
Given the recommendations in this newsgroup, I bought a copy of Andrews'
_Diamond Fire_ and it feels like it just doesn't work. It's trying to be
a fantasy novel in a magical world, a classic romance story, and a mystery
all at the same time. Then all of a sudden it's trying to be a YA story to
appeal to teens. As a mystery it is a total bust since the reader is
never presented with the information needed to figure out who did it until
it is announced. So the concept didn't work well for me.

Also... the print quality was really bad even by MMPB standards. The print
was grey, and the printing actually had jaggies. How long has it been since
anyone has seen visible jaggies in printing? Someone needs a copy of Metafont.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
Lynn McGuire
2024-09-14 02:01:22 UTC
Permalink
Post by Scott Dorsey
Post by Lynn McGuire
"Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years) by Ilona Andrews
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Claims-Kate-Daniels-Wilmington/dp/B0C4ZJSJTL/
Book number two of a two book paranormal romance dark fantasy series.
There are predecessor books, short stories, and successor books to the
series also that is over twenty books long. I read the well printed and
well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published by NYLA
Publishing in 2023 that I bought new on Amazon recently. Note that
“Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team. I
will purchase successor books if they become available (hopefully).
Given the recommendations in this newsgroup, I bought a copy of Andrews'
_Diamond Fire_ and it feels like it just doesn't work. It's trying to be
a fantasy novel in a magical world, a classic romance story, and a mystery
all at the same time. Then all of a sudden it's trying to be a YA story to
appeal to teens. As a mystery it is a total bust since the reader is
never presented with the information needed to figure out who did it until
it is announced. So the concept didn't work well for me.
Also... the print quality was really bad even by MMPB standards. The print
was grey, and the printing actually had jaggies. How long has it been since
anyone has seen visible jaggies in printing? Someone needs a copy of Metafont.
--scott
Sorry to hear that. Is this your first Kate Daniels book ?

If so, back up and start with "Magic Bites (Kate Daniels)" by Ilona Andrews:
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Bites-Ilona-Andrews/dp/0441014895/

Or not, your choice.

I would complain to Ace about the lack of quality in the dead tree.
They should replace it. Baen has replaced two books for me in the last
five years.

Lynn
Ted Nolan <tednolan>
2024-09-14 04:41:51 UTC
Permalink
Post by Scott Dorsey
Post by Lynn McGuire
"Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years) by Ilona Andrews
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Claims-Kate-Daniels-Wilmington/dp/B0C4ZJSJTL/
Book number two of a two book paranormal romance dark fantasy series.
There are predecessor books, short stories, and successor books to the
series also that is over twenty books long. I read the well printed and
well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published by NYLA
Publishing in 2023 that I bought new on Amazon recently. Note that
“Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team. I
will purchase successor books if they become available (hopefully).
Given the recommendations in this newsgroup, I bought a copy of Andrews'
_Diamond Fire_ and it feels like it just doesn't work. It's trying to be
a fantasy novel in a magical world, a classic romance story, and a mystery
all at the same time. Then all of a sudden it's trying to be a YA story to
appeal to teens. As a mystery it is a total bust since the reader is
never presented with the information needed to figure out who did it until
it is announced. So the concept didn't work well for me.
Also... the print quality was really bad even by MMPB standards. The print
was grey, and the printing actually had jaggies. How long has it been since
anyone has seen visible jaggies in printing? Someone needs a copy of Metafont.
--scott
Hmm, I probably wouldn't start with a side-novella. Also, Hidden Legacy
is a bit more romancey than Kate Daniels, so if you want a bit less of
that, start there.

But of course if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't. I've bounced hard
off a number of books recommended here.
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..
Tony Nance
2024-09-14 12:35:23 UTC
Permalink
Post by Scott Dorsey
Post by Lynn McGuire
"Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years) by Ilona Andrews
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Claims-Kate-Daniels-Wilmington/dp/B0C4ZJSJTL/
Book number two of a two book paranormal romance dark fantasy series.
There are predecessor books, short stories, and successor books to the
series also that is over twenty books long. I read the well printed and
well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published by NYLA
Publishing in 2023 that I bought new on Amazon recently. Note that
“Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team. I
will purchase successor books if they become available (hopefully).
Given the recommendations in this newsgroup, I bought a copy of Andrews'
_Diamond Fire_ and it feels like it just doesn't work. It's trying to be
a fantasy novel in a magical world, a classic romance story, and a mystery
all at the same time. Then all of a sudden it's trying to be a YA story to
appeal to teens. As a mystery it is a total bust since the reader is
never presented with the information needed to figure out who did it until
it is announced. So the concept didn't work well for me.
Also... the print quality was really bad even by MMPB standards. The print
was grey, and the printing actually had jaggies. How long has it been since
anyone has seen visible jaggies in printing? Someone needs a copy of Metafont.
--scott
Bummer it didn't work for you - here's one more opinion that falls in
line with Lynn & Ted:
Much as I love what I've read of their stuff[1], I'm not sure if or when
I'll read the Hidden Legacy series - by all reports it is more heavily
romance oriented. Also, as Ted nodded at, isfdb says Diamond Fire is
entry 3.5 in that series.

Of course, if they're not for you, then they're not for you. If you end
up trying again, I would recommend starting with Kate Daniels #1(Magic
Bites).

Tony
[1] Kate Daniels and Innkeeper series.
Michael Ikeda
2024-09-14 12:52:20 UTC
Permalink
Post by Tony Nance
Post by Scott Dorsey
Post by Lynn McGuire
"Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years) by Ilona
Andrews
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Claims-Kate-Daniels-Wilmington/dp/
B0C4ZJSJTL/
Book number two of a two book paranormal romance dark fantasy
series. There are predecessor books, short stories, and
successor books to the series also that is over twenty books
long. I read the well printed and well bound POD (print on
demand) trade paperback published by NYLA Publishing in 2023
that I bought new on Amazon recently. Note that “Ilona
Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband and wife writing
team. I will purchase successor books if they become
available (hopefully).
Given the recommendations in this newsgroup, I bought a copy of
Andrews' _Diamond Fire_ and it feels like it just doesn't work.
It's trying to be a fantasy novel in a magical world, a
classic romance story, and a mystery all at the same time.
Then all of a sudden it's trying to be a YA story to appeal to
teens. As a mystery it is a total bust since the reader is
never presented with the information needed to figure out who
did it until it is announced. So the concept didn't work well
for me.
Also... the print quality was really bad even by MMPB
standards. The print was grey, and the printing actually had
jaggies. How long has it been since anyone has seen visible
jaggies in printing? Someone needs a copy of Metafont. --scott
Bummer it didn't work for you - here's one more opinion that
Much as I love what I've read of their stuff[1], I'm not sure if
or when I'll read the Hidden Legacy series - by all reports it
is more heavily romance oriented. Also, as Ted nodded at, isfdb
says Diamond Fire is entry 3.5 in that series.
And, per the author's blog, it's specifically a bridge novella
between Nevada's trilogy (books 1-3) and Catalina's trilogy (books
4-6).

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