Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews

This is book 2 in a series of, I think, 6 books, so far. I don’t know if this is an ongoing series or whether there are a planned number of books. Book 2 was pretty well encapsulated as its own adventure but still makes some nice advances on the overarching story of Kate’s heritage and develops her relationships with the other characters.

One thing that bugs me. The author of this book uses the pseudonym of Ilona Andrews. The author is the husband and wife writing team of Ilona and Gordon. So am I missing something or isn’t the pseudonym just the wife’s name? Ilona Andrews… that’s her name… how is that a pseudonym? Isn’t she really just saying “I wrote these books but I guess hubby helped a bit, too”?

Book 2 feels much more episodic. Like we’re settling into a groove and a pattern, which is cool. There’s 6 of these things so I like that there’s a clear delineation to each one, rather than one just blending into the next and being essentially just one really long story.

This adventure was good. I especially enjoyed the Celtic mythology used. It was also the first time we heard about witches being a part of this world, even using the maiden, mother and crone archetype. I don’t recall that there was any mention of witches in the first book. I’d like to know a bit more about the witches. The other ‘species’ that inhabit this universe, namely vampires and werewolves, vary enough from the traditional stereotypes that I’d be interested to see what the author has done with witches to make them unique to their books.

We learn a few more tidbits about Kate’s heritage. It feels like details are being rationed out to us according to a carefully planned out schedule. In book 1 we are told A, B and C. In book 2 we get facts-about-Kate D though G. Book 3 H-M. You get the idea. Until eventually we are fed the last piece only to find out that Kate is something we never expected completely undermining our perception of her and probably also something horrific that means we question our trust in her. Then something happens and we love her again. Cue the last book where Kate comes to grips with her destiny.

I got quiet infuriated at the way Kate kept calling Julie “my kid”. She’s not her kid. Kate may have accepted responsibility for Julie, but she is not her kid. It came across as a writer’s trick to establish a bond between Kate and Julie that the rest of the narrative wasn’t strong enough to convey on its own.

The tension between Kate and Curran continued. I’m sure they’ll get together eventually. Once they do one of the most compelling aspects of the story will be gone. Once they’re together it will be as it if was ‘meant to be’ and they’ll laugh fondly about how antagonistic they used to be to each other. Oh, they’ll fight all the time, but they’ll make up. There’ll probably be a whole book down the line about when something drives a wedge between them and they almost break up. The tension before they get together is the good bit and Andrews has written it really well. As long as that lasts there’ll be a reason to keep reading.

I’ll read book 3, since I’ve already bought it, but if it’s going to have to be darn good to make me shell out more cash for book 4. Magic Burns was a fun little adventure, but I think this series might have given me just about all the entertainment it can.

3.5 out of 5 cute bows on your panties.