Review: Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews

Silver Shark
~Ilona Andrews

Format: Kindle Edition 
File Size: 242 KB 
Publisher: NYLA  
Publish Date: September 14, 2001 
ASIN: B005N9FPOO

From the author's website:
Claire Shannon is a Kinsman, a woman gifted with enhanced mental capabilities. Her skills and her life were taken over by the military to fight in war that has raged on her home planet for decades. But as the war ends, she is forced to hide her abilities in order to make a new life for herself as a civilian. It’s a new persona, a new planet and new job that has her crossing paths with the powerful and alluring Venturo Escana. Is she strong enough to hide her true nature from her perceptive new boss? And as they grow closer, will she even still want to try?

Claire Shannon was born in a country at war. Brodwyn has been at war with Melko since before she was born; her entire life has been one of service and sacrifice - hot water, food, happiness, her life - all given up for the war cause.  Claire is a soldier; she has been since the age of 14 when she was taken from her sick mother's bedside. She's a member of an elite team of "psychers", or soldiers who fight with their minds instead of their hands.  Claire can disarm or kill any threat in a matter of seconds.

Claire's team is on a mission when she finds out the war is over and her side lost. They're killing all the psychers, so she's forced to hide her identity and manages to get deported to the planet of Rada, where she must learn to assimilate and hide her abilities or be killed immediately, no questions asked.

When she gets a job with Guardian Inc. as an assistant to the handsome and powerful Venturo Escana, she thinks all she has to do is hide her "talent" and blend in.  Then, one of her countrymen gets into some trouble and Claire is the only one who can help, but by helping will she destroy everything she has done to survive?

My thoughts:
Silver Shark is the second book in Ilona Andrew's Kinsman series, but it can absolutely be read as a stand-alone.  I read the first book, Silent Blade, because I have Book OCD and couldn't read out of order - with Silver Shark it really wasn't necessary.

I consider myself a "light" sci-fi reader, and Silver Shark was a nice fit for me - not too complicated as far as world building, and a bit of romance to keep me happy.  The world building was very good: I loved the contrast between Claire's home planet - grey, drab, depressing - and her new home, the planet Rada - colorful, friendly, vibrant.  You would think she would be thrilled to be there, but the mindset she was raised with is difficult to shake off, as when another refugee meets her on the street and tells her she stands out, which is a bad thing on her home planet.  She's scared but determined to adapt to her new life.

Silver Shark actually had two different types of world buiding - the physical world and the world Claire enters when she hooks into the system to use her psycher abilities:  This world is lush and full, as if Claire could escape her physical surroundings when she went to work.  I love that her "mental" world also changes after her deportation to reflect her new surroundings.

Claire is a great heroine - smart and resourceful, ruthless yet at times compassionate in her psycher mode.  Her attraction to her boss is achingly wonderful - she cannot reveal herself but yearns for him nonetheless.  I liked Venturo but feel like I would have benefited from knowing more about him; he was a good match for Claire though.

My main issue is with the ending - we're rolling along and the story is moving nicely and then BAM!  It's over.    Don't get me wrong - I'm happy with the outcome, but it was fast.

Silver Shark is a captivating short story, wonderfully descriptive and with a nice romance that doesn't overpower the plot.  I would absolutely recommend Silver Shark for readers who aren't sure if they'd like sci-fi and are looking for something to try, or for seasoned sci-fi readers who are looking for a quick, entertaining read.

My Rating:

This book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews

Magic Slays
~Ilona Andrews

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Ace
Publish Date: May 31, 2011
ISBN-10: 0441020429
ISBN-13: 978-0441020423
ASIN: B004LRPJ72

From the author's website:
Plagued by a war between magic and technology, Atlanta has never been so deadly. Good thing Kate Daniels is on the job.

Kate Daniels may have quit the Order of Merciful Aid, but she’s still knee-deep in paranormal problems. Or she would be if she could get someone to hire her. Starting her own business has been more challenging than she thought it would be—now that the Order is disparaging her good name, and many potential clients are afraid of getting on the bad side of the Beast Lord, who just happens to be Kate’s mate.

So when Atlanta’s premier Master of the Dead calls to ask for help with a vampire on the loose, Kate leaps at the chance of some paying work. Turns out this is not an isolated incident, and Kate needs to get to the bottom of it—fast, or the city and everyone dear to her might pay the ultimate price . . .

*SPOILERS FROM BOOKS 1-4*

When Book 4, Magic Bleeds, ends, the sh!t has hit the proverbial fan. Kate has left The Order of Knights of Merciful Aid, her best friend Andrea is gone, she's killed her Aunt, and feels responsible for almost killing her mate.

When Magic Slays opens, Kate has opened up her own mercinary business, with the financial assistance of the Pack. Things are slow going though, until she gets a call that a runaway vampire is headed in her general direction. One thing leads to another and suddenly she's got a new employee (or two) and their first big case: she's got to find a man who has disappeared. Not just any man, but a man who invented a "magic doomsday machine" - when the machine is turned on, it removes all magic in the vicinity, and kills anyone who has magic. In her search for the missing man and machine, they discover a super-secret cult of anti-magic fanatics.  If Kate doesn't find him before the anti-magic zealots do, the aftermath will be devastating.


My thoughts:
When I have a favorite series, I'm always cautiously optimistic about the next book - will it disappoint me? Will the story go in the direction I hope it does? Have I built it up in my head to be more than it really is? By now I should know better than to have these fears, at least in respect to this writing team.  Ilona Andrews consistently delivers unputdownable books, and Magic Slays is no exception. I have to be honest - I sat on this review for days. Why? Because I didn't feel like I could adequately express what an amazing book this is. Fans of the series will not be disappointed.

My personal highlights:

If I was worried at all that Kate and Curran would lose their "spark" after they got together, they don't. Kate and Curran after the mating are just as good as before - he tells her what to do and she ignores him.  Can I tell you how much I love his possessiveness towards Kate?  They joke about it, but he is and she knows it:

     I threw a bread roll at him.  Curran snapped it out of the air.
     "Would you like me to carry a foot-long stick?  I can just poke people with it when they get too close."
     "That's a good idea."  He held his arm out.  "If you can extend your arm and touch them with the stick, they are too close."
     "You're insane."
     "If I'm insane, what does it make you?"
     "A terrible judge of character."
     I went back to the couch.  I could've fallen for someone steady.  Dependable.  Well-grounded.  But nooo, I had to lose my head over this idiot.
~Magic Slays page 275

Kate still as ballsy as ever - she goes through this book kicking ass and taking names.  She's involved in Pack life and managing well.  But there's also a personal side of Kate that we're slowly seeing more of as the series progresses:  I was thrilled that we learn more about her childhood in Magic Slays; a lot of the things she thought were truths about the people she loved were not necessarily so.  My heart breaks for her as she struggles with her inner demons:  does Curran love her for herself or for who and what she is?  What's going to happen when she inevitably meets her father?


Curran continues to be wonderously and terribly Alpha.  The Beast Lord has not gotten soft being mated to Kate:

     "Will you acquiese to our terms?" the man asked.  "Your answer?"

     "No," Curran said.  "Here are our terms:  you line up in front of the Capitol, beg forgiveness for murdering hundreds of people, and blow your brains out.  You can hang yourselves or fall on your swords.  You can set yourselves on fire.  I guarantee that any method of suicide you choose will be pleasant compared to what we will do to you.  You have until the end of tech."

     The disconnect signal sounded like the toll of a funeral bell.
 ~Magic Slays pg. 261

Julie, Kate's teenage ward, hasn't had a huge part in the books up until now, but in Magic Slays, all that changes.  I don't know what's going to happen in future books with Julie, but I'm sure it's going to be interesting.  All I will say is that Kate has some serious ethical challenges ahead.

Andrea is back and I love her! She had a rough time between Magic Bleeds and Magic Slays, but she's back in true Andrea form and she and Kate are great together. I was surprised we didn't see Raphael in Magic Slays.

One of the best parts of the book, for me, was seeing all the different magical factions band together to fight the anti-magic fanatics: The Pack, The People, the Natives, the Mercinary Guild, the Norse Heritage group, The Mages (including witches, volhuvs, druids, and others), and the Red Guard.  I loved seeing them all unite to grudgingly work as a team as they attempt to defeat their common enemy. 

Magic Slays is my favorite book in the series to date.  You can't tell from my review, but the authors manage to inject a lot of humor into an action-packed story.  I wouldn't recommend reading it without reading the previous books, there is too much going on at this point to fully understand the world and the players or their motives without having all the back-story.  (Trust me, it won't be a hardship to read the series - it's that good.)

I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series - the way Magic Slays ended, while not a cliff hanger, blatantly hints at much more to come.

My Rating:

 

This book was received by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

(Spoiler Free) Review: Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews

From the Author's website:
Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.

But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life . William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.

When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive.

______________________________

It's official: Bayou Moon is one of my favorite reads this year!

I have a confession to make. Sometimes when I read UF, I'm not always able to follow along with all the plot specifics. I get characters or their motivation confused, especially if there are similar names or the plot is too complicated. This book was beautifully penned - I feel like Bayou Moon was written specifically for me. The characters and settings were wonderfully and descriptively composed, I could see each character in my mind's eye as I read the book. The plot moved along at a quick pace, but I was able to follow and understand what they were doing and why. I liked the way one thing led to another but it made sense and didn't jump all over the place.

Cerise is a fabulous heroine - she's strong and compassionate. Family oriented. Smart. All the things I look for in a heroine. While I liked her from the get-go, it was near the end that I just sat back and thought, "Thank you, Ms. Andrews, for writing such an amazing heroine." Let's just say she's a woman of her word and doesn't run from anything.

William, *sighs* oh William, I heart you so much! I really liked William in The Edge (my review here), and was glad he was getting his own book. He's definitely a broken hero: he's feeling sorry for himself since Rose left with Declan, combine that with his horrible childhood and he has a very low perception of himself, except where his fighting skills are concerned. He's attracted to Cerise, not exactly at first sight, but when it happens - BAM!

The wild in him lost its head, clawing at his insides.
Want. Want the woman.
"Lord Bill? She asked.
His thoughts tumbled in a feverish cascade. Want. So beautiful...Standing so close and so beautiful. Want the woman.
"Earth to William?"
She was looking at him with those beautiful dark eyes. All he had to do was reach for her and he could touch her.
No. Wrong.
She hadn't given him permission. If he touched, he would take her. Taking women without permission was wrong.
William pulled himself back, regaining control. The wild buckled and snarled and screamed, but he reeled it in, forcing it deeper and deeper. Remember the whip? Right, everybody remembered the whip. Everybody remembered being punished for kissing a girl without permission. The scars on his back itched, reminding him. Humans had rules. He had to follow the rules.

Page 82, Bayou Moon


Strangely enough, the thing that did it for me regarding William was not related to Cerise at all. I'm not giving away spoilers, but it was his actions on pages 247-249 that did me in. Of course, when you add that to the overall hotness of his character and the way he understands and interacts with Cerise....book boyfriend status was inevitable. The back and forth between Cerise and William was riveting (and humerous) - especially when Cerise's family stepped in to "help".

I know I'm gushing about the awesomeness of the hero/heroine, which is important, but the secondary characters were great too - I liked Cerise's family. They were a very eclectic group and had their own weird ways of showing their love and support for Cerise.

Now, on to the bad guys - they're bad ass. They're pretty gross, actually. They've got all this extra "stuff" that makes them almost impossible to defeat. Luckily William has a history that involves knowledge of their "extras" and how to deal with them.

Bayou Moon is the second book in the series, but can be read as a stand-alone. I think Ms. Andrews gives enough background at the beginning of the story that you would have no trouble jumping right in. Bayou Moon should go straight from your bookstore to "Now Reading", let it skip the TBR pile, you won't be sorry!

Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Ace; Original edition (September 28, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0441019455
ISBN-13: 978-0441019458

My rating:

This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Friday 56: Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews

The Friday 56 is hosted by Storytime with Tanya and Friends:

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

I'm currently reading Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews:

William spun the pole and rammed it into the nightmarish mouth. Jaws locked on the wood, ripping it out of his hands. Round fish eyes fixed on him, expressionless and stupid.



I have to say, I'm quite a bit farther than page 56; I think this is going to be one of my favorite reads of this year, AND, I may have a new book boyfriend!

Blogiversary Day 3: Win a SIGNED copy of Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

From the author's website:
Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic. When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it rose.

Kate Daniels works for the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle—especially if they involve Atlanta’s shapeshifting community.

When she’s called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar midway between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers there’s a new player in town. One who’s been around for thousands of years—and rode to war at the side of Kate’s father.

This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family…

_______________________________________

*Spoilery Spoilers Ahead*

Oh. Mah. Gawd. Loved it, loved it, loved it! I had such high expectations for this book and it was everything I thought it would be and more. I have seen a ton of reviews for this book already, so I'm just going to go into my thoughts...

Ilona and Gordon are brilliant! I was afraid this would end up being a book I had waited and waited for only to be met with disappointment because I had built it up so much in anticipation. I really should have known better.

This book was heavy on the mythology and had not just one bad guy but 7 (or really, 8). Kate went through the ringer physically and emotionally in this book; she saw a lot of her friends/acquantainces die and learned more than she ever wanted to know about her family. Ilona Andrews did not pull any punches in this book.

For some warped reason I loved the scene with the head in the fridge and her conversation with Ghastek (although Magic Bleeds was light on the vamps they were still there).

Also love how the dog adopted Kate :)

Of course, I cannot forget the sexin'. Seriously, the sexin'. I loved when Kate decided to take the plunge and show Curran she was interested. Not only did it show emotional growth on her part by taking the risk, but it also showed how the other characters feel about her by giving her assistance. As they say down South, "she's good people". (And the "slut hut", OMG - I spit diet coke all over my desk at lunch!)

We got some great peeks into Kate's head in this book, from Kate talking to Andrea about her first friendship and first relationship to Kate's revelation to Curran about her father. I love how her character has developed over the course of the series so far.

I could not have asked for a better ending. This book definitely gets 5/5 stars!

And while some storylines were (very) nicely wrapped up, there are some questions I have: Is Andrea still her friend? Will Curran let her interact with Siaman in the future? What was up with the writing on her skin when she said the power word? Why did Hugo set a bodyguard on Kate? Is Roland melancholy because he wants her back or because he wants to kill her? When is the next book coming out - I need these answers!!!

Oh, just wondering: Does Ilona Andrews pick her power words from Blogger w/v?

___________________________________________

The Giveaway:

I purchased a signed copy of Magic Bleeds from Powell's Books

to give away to one lucky follower.

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Answer this question:

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In Which My Nerdiness Shows Again....

Remember when you were a teenager and you'd have "a song"? That song that just totally got how you are as a couple?

Well, I'm way past teenager (although hubs and I do have a song) so now I listen to songs and think "that song is perfect for -insert character names here-". Yes, lame, I know. Keeping in mind I don't really watch TV and definitely don't watch music videos (cuts into my reading time!!), so I don't know if the videos are weirdly inappropriate for my couples.

Here's a few:

Cat and Bones (Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress Series):






Richard from Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series (in her later books):







Charlaine Harris' Eric and Sookie (after the blood bond):






Jace from Rachel Vincent's Shifter series:






Moira Rogers' Derek and Nick (Crossroads - right before Nick goes to NY):






Megan Hart's Dan and Emme from Dirty:






And Ilona Andrews' Kate and Curran (in this song I see Kate talking and Curran imagining Kate dancing around his Bimbo Room to the music):



So anyway, that's my short list; hope you liked it!

On the Edge by Ilona Andrews - Quickie Review

I follow Ilona Andrews' blog religiously (see sidebar at right). I'm a huge fangirl of her Kate Daniels series and am anxiously awaiting book 4. I wasn't sure what to expect from this new series, but it was getting such great reviews I decided to give it a go. I liked it!

Rose Drayton is kind of like a magical hilbilly. She lives in the Edge with her two younger brothers and grandmother. The Edge is where a magical magical reality (The Weird) overlaps with our normal reality (the Broken). There is some magic in the Edge, but not much. Magic users and "bluebloods" (royalty) live in the Weird, and regular, non-magic people live in the Broken. All magic ceases to work in the Broken. People who live in the Edge can travel to the Weird or the Broken with just a small amount of pain involved, but people from the Broken can't travel into the Edge and people from the Weird can travel into the Broken but it is very painful.

Rose has a special power that makes her very attractive to other magical people and is very protective of herself and her brothers. When a stranger from the Weird shows up on her doorstep (Declan), she tells him she will not marry him. He offers to perform three challenges of her selection to win her. While this is going on, Rose is having some other issues: There's a stranger in the Broken who's taken an interst in her as well (William), and some pretty creepy monsterdogthings are starting to kill her fellow Edge dwellers.

This book had a lot going on - I'm impressed at how Ms. Andrews managed to tie it all up. I liked Rose and Declan. I also liked her brothers; usually kids in stories annoy me but these two were different. And Grandpa - I don't know what to say about him! Yuck?

While the Kate series is still my favorite, I did enjoy this book very much and am watching her progress on Book 2 (William's story). Now, in addition to tapping my fingers impatiently waiting for the next Kate Daniels installment, I'll be tapping the fingers of my other hand waiting for the next Edge story!