Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age Group: Adult
Source: Library (Then Purchased)
Published - April 2007
Paperback - 260pgs
Add it // Buy it
Rating: 4/5
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 arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.
Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.
The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t have it any other way…
Well! It turns out I was WOEFULLY unprepared for how much I was going to like this book, and I am currently scrambling to get my hands on book two. This series sets an interesting scene in a futuristic society where magic and technology collide and wreck havoc on one another. It literally feels like magic and technology are fighting each other for dominance in this world and I completely loved it. The story hits the ground running and I had to do a bit of catch up, but overall I really enjoyed it.
Kate is not only
kickass and tough as nails, but she has a great inner monologue. I listened to
this on audiobook so the inner workings of her mind were easy to distinguish
from her dialogue. I liked how this dynamic also showed Kate's fear and her
ability to overcome them. She isn't fearless, but she is brave and refuses to
let her fears get in the way of her work. This story also blends a variety of
different mythologies and belief systems to provide even more fearsome
creatures that could attack Kate and her friends.
There were so many
things that I liked, but I also ran across a few things that bothered me. While
the writing style is quite info-dumpy, especially about the world, there is
still a lot about the world that feels hidden. We get these weird info dumps about
the story, specific characters and specific devices, but the world itself is
still quite foreign to me. For example, at the end of book one I am still
confused about how magic came to be in this world and how the transition from
magic-free society to magic-infused society happened. This feels like a major
plot point to skip, but much of the past especially Kate's seems to be
intentionally hidden so I'm sure we will see more of this later. She feels completely closed off from the audience at times. There is
obviously a lot more to Kate and I cannot wait to see her unleash it.
I also expect the
sexual tension between two characters to explode later on in this series and
I'm already completely on board with that ship.
A lot of this book
is groundwork for the series, which though slows this book down, is needed and
actually made me quite anxious to continue on with this series. I will be
picking up the physical books to continue though. The narrator's accents were
quite annoying to me and I had a hard time distinguishing the characters while
I was listening to her.
Last Week's Review: Wonder Women by Sam Maggs
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