Book Review – Magic Burns

Author: Ilona Andrews
Publisher: ACE
Binding: Paperback
Publication Date: April 2008

Magic Burns is the second in a new series from Ilona Andrews. In the first book, Magic Bites, we are introduced to Kate Daniels a magical mercenary whose heritage and experience has given her the ability to handle herself in difficult situations. Living in Atlanta after a magical cataclysm that renders technology unreliable on a regular basis, the magical pulses that are echoes of this magical upheaval occur in an unfixed pattern except for the large ‘flare’ that happens every seven years. That Flare is coming soon and apparently some magical beings are out to utilize that Flare to escape their prison and make Atlanta their new base of operations. Since these destructive demons intend to use the human race as fodder, Kate must work to stop their plan. Kate discovered all of this while searching for the mother of an orphaned waif who seems to have a great deal of innate magic herself.

This was a very fitting sequel to the first book, taking up nearly at the same time that the first closed. As a character, Kate seems a bit more fragile mentally than your average magic wielding heroine. Her past, including a dangerously powerful father and a murdered partner keep her from exuding the usual invulnerability. Her relationship with the Beast Lord is both convincing and compelling while being a touch out of the ordinary. Kate still kicks demon butt though when needed and typically gets herself in trouble with her smart mouth. While parts of the timeline for the magical catastrophe and certain areas of logic that Andrews used to constrain and explain her world seemed a bit sketchy to me; her characters, plot, magic and adventure carry the story along nicely so that this will not be a deterrent to any but the most pedantic.

I found this to be a satisfying, if short, urban fantasy adventure in the line of Patricia Briggs and Jim Butcher. Like their characters, Andrews’ heroine is a bit of an outsider who does not fit comfortably in one category and thus is able to cross differing cultures without undue difficulties. In my opinion, this book was definitely enjoyable enough for me to keep an eye out for the next in the series

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