Book 96, 2017
Nov. 24th, 2017 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chez_jaeBetween last night and this evening, I read Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews. It's part of the authors' "Kate Daniels" urban fantasy series.
Kate has her hands full, what with rebuilding the Guild with Curran, dealing with her father's provocation, and oh yeah, trying to plan her wedding. When her father kidnaps one of Kate's associates, it seems that the final confrontation between them is now imminent. Kate knows she's not powerful enough to defeat her father, and the Witch Oracle has foretold only dire things: battle, Atlanta burning, and the death of either Curran, or Kate's yet-to-be-conceived son.
In addition to these headaches, Kate is worried that her own power is beginning to consume her. She is afraid of turning into a megalomaniac like her father...of losing herself. Most of all, Kate is afraid of losing Curran. However, Kate has never backed down from a fight. When presented with two unacceptable options, Kate decides to create her own option. Too bad the only person who can help her is dead...and that Kate, herself, killed her.
All I can say is, 'Wow!' What an amazing story. Kate's struggles with her inner demons were painful to watch, but they make her human. Battle scenes were tense and exciting. Even her interactions with her father were fantastic. For his part, Roland loves Kate, but he feels compelled to prod her into a war. Secondary characters are just as magnificent.
Favorite lines:
♦ When the Witch Oracle had something to tell me, it was never anything good, like You'll live long, grow fat, and be happy. It was always, The world is ending. Fix it!
♦ I would offer to help, but she was armed at all times and could shoot the dots out of dominoes, and I didn't want to get murdered.
♦ The man could hear the oven door opening all the way in the pasture, especially if he was waiting for a pie.
♦ "Old ladies come in two flavors: sweet or mean."
♦ "It has flowers on it." // "Did you want gore, swords, and severed heads?"
♦ "It's not that I'm that evil, really. I'm just beloved by evil things."
♦ So far I had the god of evil and the god of terror on my side. My good-guy image was taking a serious beating. Maybe I should recruit some unicorns or kittens with rainbow powers to even us out.
♦ Just another night in Atlanta. Sitting on my porch between a Greek god who was really a human and an angel of death who was having an existential crisis.
♦ Life had tried to kill me in all sorts of ways lately, but falling off of a flying horse was a new and unwelcome development.
♦ "It's occurred to me that this would all be much easier if I were evil. I would have serenity of purpose and none of these pesky problems."
♦ "Don't you want to eat some delicious cake before you die a horrible death?"
Honestly, I could have quoted half the book, it was that good (and funny!).
Outstanding! Five stars:
*****
Banner by BFJay
Kate has her hands full, what with rebuilding the Guild with Curran, dealing with her father's provocation, and oh yeah, trying to plan her wedding. When her father kidnaps one of Kate's associates, it seems that the final confrontation between them is now imminent. Kate knows she's not powerful enough to defeat her father, and the Witch Oracle has foretold only dire things: battle, Atlanta burning, and the death of either Curran, or Kate's yet-to-be-conceived son.
In addition to these headaches, Kate is worried that her own power is beginning to consume her. She is afraid of turning into a megalomaniac like her father...of losing herself. Most of all, Kate is afraid of losing Curran. However, Kate has never backed down from a fight. When presented with two unacceptable options, Kate decides to create her own option. Too bad the only person who can help her is dead...and that Kate, herself, killed her.
All I can say is, 'Wow!' What an amazing story. Kate's struggles with her inner demons were painful to watch, but they make her human. Battle scenes were tense and exciting. Even her interactions with her father were fantastic. For his part, Roland loves Kate, but he feels compelled to prod her into a war. Secondary characters are just as magnificent.
Favorite lines:
♦ When the Witch Oracle had something to tell me, it was never anything good, like You'll live long, grow fat, and be happy. It was always, The world is ending. Fix it!
♦ I would offer to help, but she was armed at all times and could shoot the dots out of dominoes, and I didn't want to get murdered.
♦ The man could hear the oven door opening all the way in the pasture, especially if he was waiting for a pie.
♦ "Old ladies come in two flavors: sweet or mean."
♦ "It has flowers on it." // "Did you want gore, swords, and severed heads?"
♦ "It's not that I'm that evil, really. I'm just beloved by evil things."
♦ So far I had the god of evil and the god of terror on my side. My good-guy image was taking a serious beating. Maybe I should recruit some unicorns or kittens with rainbow powers to even us out.
♦ Just another night in Atlanta. Sitting on my porch between a Greek god who was really a human and an angel of death who was having an existential crisis.
♦ Life had tried to kill me in all sorts of ways lately, but falling off of a flying horse was a new and unwelcome development.
♦ "It's occurred to me that this would all be much easier if I were evil. I would have serenity of purpose and none of these pesky problems."
♦ "Don't you want to eat some delicious cake before you die a horrible death?"
Honestly, I could have quoted half the book, it was that good (and funny!).
Outstanding! Five stars:
*****
Banner by BFJay
