[Andorion]

Will be starting this soon

[Andorion]

Finished the book.

Woah.

What an ending. That finale kept me guessing. There were so many darker possibilities.

Spoiler

Curran's godhood and the way it saddened Kate really scared me. It was the biggest threat she had ever faced, one that she could not fight after all.

I enjoyed every scene with baby Conlan. Especially when he used blood claws to rip Razr open. I felt a bit sorry for the assassin.

Kate's makeup scene with Hugh was very well done. They truly are siblings. I will have to reread Iron and Magic soon.

[Abyss]

Spoiler

Conlan

pretty much steals every scene he’s in.
Except that wholly utterly insane awesome

Spoiler

fight against the gathered assassins because that was allllll Kate.

[Andorion]

Abyss, on 08 September 2018 - 02:40 AM, said:

Spoiler

Conlan

pretty much steals every scene he's in.
Except that wholly utterly insane awesome

Spoiler

fight against the gathered assassins because that was allllll Kate.

Yesss
Probably the best Kate combat scene in the entire series.

Spoiler

She was pissed off. They were trying to kill her kid. And she had a show to put on.You know, if Neig had tried to fight her as a human, she would probably have killed him quite fast.

[Abyss]

Andorion, on 08 September 2018 - 03:13 AM, said:

Abyss, on 08 September 2018 - 02:40 AM, said:

Spoiler

Conlan

pretty much steals every scene he's in.
Except that wholly utterly insane awesome

Spoiler

fight against the gathered assassins because that was allllll Kate.

Yesss
Probably the best Kate combat scene in the entire series.

Spoiler

She was pissed off. They were trying to kill her kid. And she had a show to put on.You know, if Neig had tried to fight her as a human, she would probably have killed him quite fast.

I would have liked to have seen

Spoiler

what kind of threat, if any, Neig would have been in human form. He sort of fell into all kinds of evil overlord tropes so they didn’t do much to develop him.

That worked for the story but was one of my few negatives, along with

Spoiler

the near complete lack of actual casualties to the massive cast. Simone was the only one that mattered and that was offscreen. Adora just wasn’t all that significant.

[Abyss]

I think we would really enjoy them doing a book about the characters in the epilogue.

Spoiler

Era and Julie on the road in a master/apprentice relationship just seems very right for both characters.

[JPK]

We're getting a Julie book! Apparently it's called Blood Heir and is getting a January 2021 release.

Synopsis:

Spoiler

*Atlanta was always a dangerous city. Now, as waves of magic and technology compete for supremacy, it’s a place caught in a slow apocalypse, where monsters spawn among the crumbling skyscrapers and supernatural factions struggle for power and survival.

Eight years ago, Julie Lennart left Atlanta to find out who she was. Now she’s back with a new face, a new magic, and a new name—Aurelia Ryder—drawn by the urgent need to protect the family she left behind. An ancient power is stalking her adopted mother, Kate Daniels, an enemy unlike any other, and a string of horrifying murders is its opening gambit.

If Aurelia’s true identity is discovered, those closest to her will die. So her plan is simple: get in, solve the murders, prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled, and get out without being recognized. She expected danger, but she never anticipated that the only man she'd ever loved could threaten everything.

One small misstep could lead to disaster. But for Aurelia, facing disaster is easy; it’s relationships that are hard.*

Can it be January yet?

This post has been edited by JPK: 23 July 2020 - 07:31 AM

[amphibian]

Magic Triumphs was an uneven and not God ending to the main series.

The big combat scenes were kinda terrible and the relationships other than Hugh and Kate then Erra and Curran were pbbtthh.

Really felt like the authors just didn't want to be writing this with heavy thought anymore.

[Abyss]

FYI both sequel series earbooks... BLOOD HEIR, Aurelia (Julie!) Ryder bk 1, and IRON AND MAGIC, Blood Covenant (Hugh D'stabby!) bk 1, are $5usd each on Audible.com.
If you're a fan of the Kateamine this is utterly worthwhile.

[Abyss]

Did you know there was a Kateamine book 11? Because i didn't know there was a book 11.

Did you know there was a book 12?????


Apparently combo earbook coming out in July too.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 19 June 2023 - 05:05 AM, said:

Did you know there was a Kateamine book 11? Because i didn't know there was a book 11.

Did you know there was a book 12?????


Apparently combo earbook coming out in July too.

You sonofabitch this means I have to finally read the last book in the main series which I've never been able to do as I didn't want it to end....feck.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 19 June 2023 - 12:06 PM, said:

Abyss, on 19 June 2023 - 05:05 AM, said:

Did you know there was a Kateamine book 11? Because i didn't know there was a book 11.

Did you know there was a book 12?????


Apparently combo earbook coming out in July too.

You sonofabitch this means I have to finally read the last book in the main series which I've never been able to do as I didn't want it to end....feck.

Your love makes me strong.
Your hate makes me unstoppable.

[amphibian]

I dunno if I pick this back up again. Magic Triumphs was really not good.

[Abyss]

Just Finished MAGIC TIDES and into MAGIC CLAIMS.

No spoilers here, just an initial reaction: This is like coming back to friends you haven't seen in a while and just picking up where you left off.
TIDES is fairly tight, just Kate, Curran, and Conlan from the original cast, and the plot itself is a fairly low key rescue/revenge thing that moves nicely and gives us back the characters we remember for those three, just a little bit past the end of TRIUMPHS. The supporting cast is smaller and less involved (except for one who steals every scene he's in) but they lay down a lot of interesting groundwork for the future.

[Chance]

Abyss, on 21 July 2023 - 05:22 PM, said:

Just Finished MAGIC TIDES and into MAGIC CLAIMS.

Liked them both, Magic Claims was interesting in several good ways.

They probably needed to shed a bit of side characters to make a new setup and Magic Claims really puts in some ground work for such a shift.

[Abyss]

Chance, on 21 July 2023 - 06:45 PM, said:

Abyss, on 21 July 2023 - 05:22 PM, said:

Just Finished MAGIC TIDES and into MAGIC CLAIMS.

Liked them both, Magic Claims was interesting in several good ways.

They probably needed to shed a bit of side characters to make a new setup and Magic Claims really puts in some ground work for such a shift.

It's a new setup that kind of picks up where the original series swerved away...

Spoiler

The big shift in the original series comes when Curran and Kate bail out of the Pack and try to play house. Naturally they end up resentfully rallying massive forces to oppose Roland, and that ends how it ends, but - a point made clear and repeatedly in CLAIMS - both characters denied their more dominating impulses to make the other more comfortable in the relationship. It's cute and clever, because now, a few years later, their son big enough to fight for himself, their relationship stable enough to trust the other one not to die (most of the time), they're going for it, and i love that. Jim's fucking up the Pack... k we're setting up a whole new were-inclusive-society (i think), screw the Pack. Kate needs a power base to resists future challenges, k we've got two keeps an office and a few thousand acres of forest, let's do this. Conlan wants friends and challenges and to learn how to be a werelion and a wizard and a prince, no problem get his besties out here and start training this kid... someone tell the People we need a few vampires. Old School Sheinarans need someone to follow, fuck that but they can come work with us not for us. And oh, hey, pet mastodons!

They even manage to ack the side stories, Hugh and Elena, and Julie, with just slight updates but no real spoilers, and leave the door wide open for those characters to come back into the story.

Hera and Roland were both great in their bit parts. Roland especially, his one scene with Kate and Conlan is a treat. I love how thoroughly he manipulated Kate, and how she called him on it and appreciated the guidance... that is one seriously fucked up and glorious parent-child relationship. In the same vein, nice touch that rather than keeping Conlan away from Roland, they actively encourage the visits (and the magic tutoring) and just 'sort that out' when Roland goes all uber-wizard preachy.

Conland gets some nice beats in both stories... of course he was going to end up in a fight in Tides, but the pov and action are well handled... in TIDES he's a kid with huge power but out of his depth, determined to do the right thing even if that means fighting two way bigger meaner wereboars, and in CLAIMS he's scared out of his mind thrown - by his parents no less - into a full fucking battle and when he pulls it together and brings in the seige magic it's a fun moment. Blunt, obvious, but it works, as doa lot of the other moments in the series... of course Curran is going to beat the other First, but it's a cool fight. Of course Kate is going to outpower the Fae Queen, but she can't save everyone and she almost dies doing it.

The wider cast... Connor the werewolf is great fun, Owen the werebison steals every scene he's in... the run at the rhino was awesome... Isaac has a lot of potential as a Knight who isn't an asshole, i liked the two ninja mage Sheinar and how Kate forces them to deal with her being a different sort of ruler from Roland, even the really annoying townspeople had their moments and the sending the archers with the weres was a nice touch. Amazed they all lived through it.

Overall the challenges are well set up even if the core and wider cast aren't ever in 'real' jeopardy.

In effect, TIDES is a nice reintro to the three key characters and just a bit of the new supporting cast. CLAIMS is the big status reset, wider cast, and path foward.

It's fun and engaging and well done, and readers who liked the series but didn't love TRIUMPHS might still want to try this because it rolls the series onwards with a nod back, and i think we'll get some solid Kaetamine going fwd.

[Abyss]

everyone's favorite death god high priest Roman solo novella SANCTUARY out, listed as part of THE ROMAN CHRONICLES.

Blurb: "It’s not easy serving Chernobog, the God of Destruction, Darkness and Death…especially during the holidays; and especially when you’re out of eggnog and one of your pesky, freeloading mythic creatures has eaten your last cookie.<br style="box-sizing: inherit; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-color: rgb(57 155 213 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-gradient-from-position: ; --tw-gradient-to-position: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; color: rgb(6, 22, 36); font-family: "Audible Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Roman would like nothing more than to be left alone, but when a wounded boy stumbles into his yard and begs for sanctuary, Roman takes him in. Now elite mercenaries are camped out on his property, combat mages are dousing the house with fire, and strange priests are unleashing arcane magic. They thought Roman was easy pickings, just a hermit in the woods, but they chose the wrong dark priest to annoy. For while Roman might be patient, he is the Black Volhv, filled with the love of his terrible god. For his adversaries, it's a fight to the death, but for him, it's just another day in the neighborhood."