Review: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

You may notice that Book Love Affair has a new layout. The change is long past due, since I felt that the last layout was rather cramped and I like this much more. Even the BLA logo has even changed! However, I did keep the same orange/red color scheme--as I rather like it (and isn't it fitting to have red for a passionate love affair?). Similarly, you'll see several changes with how reviews are formatted--as well as with the rating system. The previously rating system was running into many problems trying to be so objective, when in reality it's impossible to compare one genre to another. I think all changes are for the better, but if you have any thoughts or in-put, I'd love to hear it.

Author: Ilona Andrews Format: Mass Market Available Formats: Audio CD, Audio Download, Kindle, Sony eBook Page Count: 260 Genre: Urban/Dark Fantasy Publisher: ACE Pub. Date: March 27, 2007 ISBN-13: 9780441014897

Despite misgivings about any book titled Magic Strikes, I picked up the ARC from work without knowing a thing about the book. Of course, it didn't take me long to realize that Magic Strikes was the third in a series...and I was without the first two. Despite being frustrated, I decided to give Andrews a shot (though, to be honest, this decision was helped along by the blurb that Patricia Briggs has on the cover of the Andrews series). After a few weeks of procrastination, I shelled out a few dollars to get the first book, Magic Bites. Things turned out with very nice timing, though, considering that Magic Strikes will be released on the 31st of March.

Kate Daniels is a penniless mercenary who specializes in neutralizing magical "problems". In Kate's world, there are tide-like periods of "magic" and "tech" that ebb and flow. When the magic "is up", human technology fails: cars, phones, guns... When the tech comes back up, the magic has left a string of problems. The plot of Magic Bites does not, however, revolve around one of these everyday (for Kate) occurrences. Instead, the death of her guardian puts Kate both on the path of solving the mystery and revenge.

Andrews drops the reader into Kate's world with a pace that requires the reader to either hit the ground running or fall to the ground due to the momentum. I took pretty well to this approach, though I felt that a little more explanation wouldn't have hurt the reader (or the size of the book, because the poor volume feels sadly thin at 260 pages). Regardless, I found Kate's world immediately intriguing. Though the world is filled with the usual suspects (vampires, werewolves and the like), each has a very original twist. How can one put any originality into vampires--outside of something silly like making them sparkle? Well, in Andrews' world, vampires are undead and mindless, but also generally used as vessels to be "driven" by the minds of necromancers. As for the "were"-creatures, they come in many forms. Not only werewolves, but were-lions, were-rats and... Kate, herself, is a human who wields magic and a magic-sword, but seems to have more to her than is divulged within this first book. I'm very much hoping for a secret worth waiting for.

Like all books in the urban fantasy genre, I have parts I love and hate respectively. I do adore a strong female protagonist--and Kate definitely has some traits in common with Patricia Briggs' amazing Mercedes Thompson. Alternately, Kate was interesting on her own, but if she seems to run along the danger of being too much this tough persona. Sure, Magic Bites covered weaknesses Kate supposedly has, but none really felt real. For one, her grief over her lose of Greg--whether or not their relationship was complex--was not nearly covered well enough.

Additionally, I have to wonder why every urban fantasy starring a female protagonist follows the "everyone must lust after the protagonist" formula. Testosterone driven males everywhere! I won't even bother to explain how unrealistic it is that all these males are so driven to find a hard-headed, "tom-boyish" female that is prone to threats and posturing. Nearly worse is that you can almost always spot the love-interest-to-be by (a) how much he and the protagonist butt heads to begin with and (b) by the fact he is usually the "dominant" male of the story. (Honestly, the near-romance with the unassuming Crest was nearly a relief.)

The only other real bone I have to pick with Magic Bites is that the antagonists' motivations were quite weak and seemed to be compensated for with carnage. Murders and rapes do not an antagonist make, Andrews. Instead, a darkly-motivated, understandable antagonist is what will make the readers wish to see him/her defeated.

Quick and Dirty: Let’s just be friends.
Although I'm not sold on Andrews series yet, I'm willing to give the second installment a shot. Considering a mass market is a pretty cheap investment, I encourage those interested in urban fantasy or strong female protagonists to give this one a try. If it doesn't suit your taste, you may prefer Patricia Briggs' Moon Called.