Ilona Andrews' urban fantasy series starring Kate Daniels is one of my three favorites. It ranks for me after the Dresden Files but above Deacon Chalk. On Tuesday, as if by magic, the book will appear on my Nook (assuming the tech is up), and I probably won't sleep, eat, or blink until I've read it.
What's THE AWESOME in this series? It's set in a world where magic returned, and now magic and technology work in alternating waves. Creatures from myth and legend walk the streets, but the most numerous of the supernaturals are vampires and shapeshifters.
Ilona Andrews' vampires aren't like any you've ever seen before. They are mindless corpses expunged of fat, so their bodies are all wiry muscles, and they are psychically piloted by the mysterious group known as the People. The motives and plans of the People are unknown, but their leader is an enigmatic, powerful immortal called Roland.
The series usually stars Kate Daniels, a young woman who has been a mercenary and an employee of the Order. Roland is her father, and she has spent her life preparing to fight him, hopefully to kill him. Armed with a sword named Slayer, which gives off smoke when she's angry, Kate negotiates her boundaries, cultivates her power and her allies, pursuing love and friendship in a completely compelling manner.
Gunmetal Magic is not her story.
Say what?
That's right. This novel is an excursion into the life and voice of Kate's friend Andrea Nash, a were-hyena with a gift for sharpshooting. I've read the beginning and it's a tense, intense opening, with Ilona Andrews' characteristically brisk and witty prose, as if Robert Parker had written an action fantasy.
And I can't wait to read it.
TRANSNATIONAL GEEKERY: The Kate Daniels series has featured a Chinese Daoshi burning a paper talisman, a Malaysian Harimau Akuan (were-tiger) appropriately named Dali Harimau, a Japanese jorogumo or spider woman, and others.
Transnational Geek gives Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels 10/10 for THE AWESOME, and 8/10 for Transnational Geekdom.
