[Andorion]

amphibian, on 21 October 2016 - 05:11 PM, said:

The Pack doesn't actually need a magic user. Giving them Dali is right there to making the Pack a Mary Sue of groups. The whole point of the early books was that the Pack would contract out for what they needed, if they needed to - or work with other Atlanta residents.

If they have everything in-house, then the Atlanta dynamic becomes kinda peripheral for them. They could pick up and move anywhere. It's bad for the overall dynamics to do that.

amphibian, on 21 October 2016 - 05:53 PM, said:

Every member of the Pack is a magic user. They have to be in order to shift. What sets Dali apart and to some degree, the messages too, is that they have magic beyond that.

Animals move when threatened by things they can't fight like forest fires, floods etc. Nimrod is that.

The Pack is a band of hundreds of super strong and fast shapeshifting people, many with high end military training and tools, all are rich, all are secure, and even magic threats aren't a big deal to them bc they have Dali and the medmages. What threatens a group like that? Very little beyond things on the level of Erra/Nimrod.

So it makes the dramatic tension less for anything not Erra/Nimrod level.

This is called power creep and once it's firmly into place, it's hard to care much about threats that are not world ending. It's why Butcher hard reset Harry Dresden in Changes and Ghost Story. Things have to change and there have to be weaknesses. Otherwise, you get the dullest of Superman stories.

A few points:

Spoiler

1. Dali may in fact be a magic user, but she is nowhere near the most powerful or reliable. The Witch Oracle, the Slavic mages - all of them would laugh at her. Having her lets the Pack get small things done in-house.

2. I think you are overestimating the Atlanta dynamic of the Pack here. The Pack is extremely closed off, they don't work very well with outsiders at all, that was made very clear in book 1 with the hostile reception Kate received. Atlanta is more of a place of business for people like Raphael. All the interaction with Atlanta power groups we do see are because of Kate and the network of contacts she has built up.

3. Every member of the pack is not a magic user. Shapeshifting, healing happens through Lyc V - a virus. Its not magic that can be repurposed to other ends.

4. The Pack really can't move that easily. There ae thousands of them. They have jobs, homes, investments, sources of income,. They have a stronghold they have laboured to build. Moving would entail uprooting all of that and even then, where would they go? Moving a power group of that magnitude would mean destabilising the power balance of any area they shift to. They would probably have to fight a couple of wars to get theiw own territory again, and given Roland's power they would have to go very far. And remember as per Magic Rises, transoceanic voayages are very very dangerous, and suitable ships are rare and expensive.

5. The members of the Pack we commonly interact with are all Alphas or betas, Of course they are rich and qualified, they are the best the Pack has to offer.

6. Regarding dramatic tension, power creep, I am just going to chart the villains of the series.

a. Magic Bites: A Master of the Dead capable of controlling dozens of vampires, and a psychotic creature of great combat power and skill who raised a dragon

b. Magic Burns: A bunch of immortal demons and a literal God

c. Magic Strikes: As if the Rakhasas were not bad enough, they were given actual godmode one-shot-one-kill weapons by Hugh, not to mention that stone which was shapeshifter poison. If not for Kate, Curran and Co. would be dead.

d. Magic Bleeds: Erra and her four weapons. For the pack an almost extinction level event

e. Magic Slays: The negating weapon that kills all shapeshifters and magic users. An actual extinction level event that took all the resources of Atlanta united to destroy.

f. Magic Rises: The trap set by Hibla and Hugh that killed Aunt B, crippled Doolittle, and totally disabled Kate and Curran. I think Kate broke both legs. It also came close to destroying their relationship

g. Magic Breaks: Hugh - Kate almost dies, I think this is the most danger she has been in through the entire series. Roland enters the game, and Kate is pushed to doing something she doesn't understand to stop him

h. Magic Shifts - Kate faces possible her toughest adversary who was not Roland, she almost dies again, that brain injury was very very serious.

i. Magic Binds - Roland himself. and Kate has to fight Kate. The struggle not to become Roland is very serious. Plus on a more subtle level, Kate thinks she is losing Julie.

So it would seem that the villains have been OP from the beginnning. Victories have come due to some extraordinary acts by Kate and Curran which is compatible with their natures. But Curran almost went loup in Magic Bleeds, Kate almost dies multiple times.

Oh and about Dali and screentime - she hasn't really had a lot of screen time since Magic Strikes, until Magic Breaks, when she becomes the Pack Alpha and gets screentime by default.

Where I do agree with you Amph, Dali should have died in Binds.

This post has been edited by Andorion: 22 October 2016 - 02:22 AM

[Abyss]

MAGIC TESTS - short Julie story circa book 6. Cute, no t particularly important. Notable for one supporting character who might be important down the road.

RETRIBUTION CLAUSE - Simone's cousin and partner are sent to klll a guy. Magic stuff happens. Not badly written for a short action piece, but wholly irrelevant to the Kateamine story.

MAGIC STARS GREY WOLF - short Derek pov w Julie. Fun short story with some solid action. Updates both characters nicely. A few interesting developments I suspect will arise again.

On to MAGIC BINDS....

[Andorion]

Abyss, on 11 November 2016 - 03:37 AM, said:

MAGIC TESTS - short Julie story circa book 6. Cute, no t particularly important. Notable for one supporting character who might be important down the road.

RETRIBUTION CLAUSE - Simone's cousin and partner are sent to klll a guy. Magic stuff happens. Not badly written for a short action piece, but wholly irrelevant to the Kateamine story.

MAGIC STARS GREY WOLF - short Derek pov w Julie. Fun short story with some solid action. Updates both characters nicely. A few interesting developments I suspect will arise again.

On to MAGIC BINDS....

Yeah those 'developments' in Grey Wolf? Keep them in mind

[Abyss]

Noted.
Question: barely into BINDS and Kate mentions some uber suicide mission that Curran took a crew of mercs, including Eduardo and Ella, on and utterly rocked it.Anyone know if that story has been written and where?

[Andorion]

Abyss, on 13 November 2016 - 12:57 AM, said:

Noted.
Question: barely into BINDS and Kate mentions some uber suicide mission that Curran took a crew of mercs, including Eduardo and Ella, on and utterly rocked it.Anyone know if that story has been written and where?

Yeah I could not place this either. This may be the subject of a future novella or short story from a Curran PoV, but as of now it all happened off screen

[Abyss]

Andorion, on 13 November 2016 - 04:10 AM, said:

Abyss, on 13 November 2016 - 12:57 AM, said:

Noted.
Question: barely into BINDS and Kate mentions some uber suicide mission that Curran took a crew of mercs, including Eduardo and Ella, on and utterly rocked it.Anyone know if that story has been written and where?

Yeah I could not place this either. This may be the subject of a future novella or short story from a Curran PoV, but as of now it all happened off screen

That's what I thought.Ok I think that leaves the Viking story MAGIC GIFTS the only one I still have to track down.

[Andorion]

Abyss, on 13 November 2016 - 05:20 AM, said:

Andorion, on 13 November 2016 - 04:10 AM, said:

Abyss, on 13 November 2016 - 12:57 AM, said:

Noted.
Question: barely into BINDS and Kate mentions some uber suicide mission that Curran took a crew of mercs, including Eduardo and Ella, on and utterly rocked it.Anyone know if that story has been written and where?

Yeah I could not place this either. This may be the subject of a future novella or short story from a Curran PoV, but as of now it all happened off screen

That's what I thought.Ok I think that leaves the Viking story MAGIC GIFTS the only one I still have to track down.

If that is the one I think it is, it will be great fun! Have you read Kate's opening short story, that takes place before book 1?

[Abyss]

Andorion, on 14 November 2016 - 06:08 PM, said:

Abyss, on 13 November 2016 - 05:20 AM, said:

Andorion, on 13 November 2016 - 04:10 AM, said:

Abyss, on 13 November 2016 - 12:57 AM, said:

Noted.
Question: barely into BINDS and Kate mentions some uber suicide mission that Curran took a crew of mercs, including Eduardo and Ella, on and utterly rocked it.Anyone know if that story has been written and where?

Yeah I could not place this either. This may be the subject of a future novella or short story from a Curran PoV, but as of now it all happened off screen

That's what I thought.Ok I think that leaves the Viking story MAGIC GIFTS the only one I still have to track down.

If that is the one I think it is, it will be great fun! Have you read Kate's opening short story, that takes place before book 1?

Yes, years ago, thinly remembered.

[Abyss]

Aaaand that's MAGICAL BINDS done. All caught up, minus a short story or novella or two.
Rough proxima Ion OF my reactions while reading the sbooks come half of the book from the bridge fight on...
Oh crap.Holy crap. Oh hell, that's a problem....Hee, Era.Dammit Jim.WOW.HOLY FUCKSTARSING FUCK THAT WAS AWESOME.awww.

So yeah, I enjoyed it. A lot.
Couple of notes n thoughts....

SPOILERSPOILERS MAGIC BINDS MASSIVE WH0LE PLOT SPOILERS

FOR BK 9 AND THE NOVELLAS AND OTHER STUFF

ALLL SPOILerssssssesssSSSSSSSSS

AND SPOILED SOME MORE
BECAUSE SPOILERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

So Curran seems to have gotten a power up from eating the sabretooth tiger thing, but for some reason it's never explicitly stated.
Christopher... I was expecting an angel. This was better.OooKate's fight not to become _her father is nicely handled by the authors.ro'Roman was hysterical this book.

More to come....



ETA the above is what happens when I marathon the end of a book then fall asleep six times trying to post. Would edit, but this is funnier.

This post has been edited by Abyss: 18 November 2016 - 05:58 PM

[amphibian]

That is the most incoherent I've ever seen you type, Abyss. "authors.ro'Roman"? You musta been really enjoying yourself last night.

[Abyss]

Semi drunk tired end of book marathon and 1am attempt to post. Hee...
Let's try that again a little more coherent...
SPOILERS FOR MAGIC BINDS AND ENTIRE SERIES....


SPOILERS

SPOILERS
The Bridge fight was nuts. The way Kate describes each person she kills as she fights her way to Curran only to have to detour to save Alora... gripping.

Alora turned out to be fairly interesting. She made the tired 'dedicated fanatic magic assassin' trope nicely human, yet badass. The samirhuu were good bad guys.

So Curran ate a sabretooth tiger god and got a power up. That may be the most badass thing in the history of fantasy lit.

Erra... best teacher ever. Sort of. She was amazingly funny considering.

Julie had some interesting development. It really built on MAGIC STARS (tho she didn't use any power words this time). Readers who didn't read that story may have had a head scratch or two.

Sienna's visions of Curran and their son dying were viscerally disturbing. In a good way. Solid writing there.

Another nod to the novellas... without reading DREAMS or STEALS, Doli would have really come out of nowhere a couple of times in this book.

Liking how the mercs are shaping up under Curran. Nice touch that they're still utter mercs and only seven came to the final battle, not the whole guild.

Barrabas is such a great supporting character. I see why the writers acknowledged his popularity in the foreword back in BREAKS.

AH Jezebel... we hardly knew ye. Which was kind of a problem for the depth of her betrayal, but her confession levelled that out nicely.

Mahon... still an asshole. A badass asshole tho. That last charge... damn.

The battle at the end was pretty awesome. It could have used a few more moments for some of the characters... Derek was absent, I would have liked to see Desandra kill that mammoth, Andrea was mentioned once with some cannons we had never seen before... still, what we got, Ghastek acknowledging Kate as Queen, Teddy Joe swooping in, Christopher shattering the Iron Dog vanguard, Roman on a dragon, Mahon's charge, Julie playing herald.... those were solid moments in an insane action sequence I had to listen to twice.

Roland was in good form in this book, as mad tyrant and caring father and everything else. It took a bunch of books, but he really is a great big bad.

So Hugh was purged and exiled, his s-i-c is free and wandering, and Roland purging the fuck out of the Iron Dogs. Seems to me thats a spare army available if Kate wants it.

All in all, great fun book and great nam utterly in for whatever's next in the series.

[QuickTidal]

Erra; AKA Magic Knife Hologram Ghost Aunt Erra Crazybones is easily my FAVOURITE side character now.

The scene where she first pops out with Derek and Curran in the room is HILARIOUS. The two of them jump at her and clang into each other like a cartoon accident had me howling. Beyond that, her sass to Curran is well placed and funny.

But I also love the idea of Kate FINALLY having an Obi-Wan who is knowledgeable DIRECTLY about Roland. That's a nice add.

Mahon's charge was worthy of any of the really good legendary charges in fiction. Just really solid. You FEEL that emotion.

[Andorion]

QuickTidal, on 18 November 2016 - 07:22 PM, said:

Erra; AKA Magic Knife Hologram Ghost Aunt Erra Crazybones is easily my FAVOURITE side character now.

The scene where she first pops out with Derek and Curran in the room is HILARIOUS. The two of them jump at her and clang into each other like a cartoon accident had me howling. Beyond that, her sass to Curran is well placed and funny.

But I also love the idea of Kate FINALLY having an Obi-Wan who is knowledgeable DIRECTLY about Roland. That's a nice add.

Mahon's charge was worthy of any of the really good legendary charges in fiction. Just really solid. You FEEL that emotion.

This is the development I like best.

Throughout the books we see Kate's idea of family being broken down and built up again.

Her foster-father was a psychopath. Her mother was cold and manipulative. Her actual father is a megalomaniac. Kate in the initial books is always one action away from bolting. Intimacy and trust are things she has to learn.

She gets Curran and I love watching them work the kinks out of their relationship, but in this book she gets blood family. It felt really nice to see that her aunt and grandmother would trust her against Roland. It gave Kate some firm grounding when she desperately needed it, what with the power going to her head.

[Andorion]

Abyss, on 18 November 2016 - 05:57 PM, said:

Semi drunk tired end of book marathon and 1am attempt to post. Hee...
Let's try that again a little more coherent...
SPOILERS FOR MAGIC BINDS AND ENTIRE SERIES....


SPOILERS

SPOILERS
The Bridge fight was nuts. The way Kate describes each person she kills as she fights her way to Curran only to have to detour to save Alora... gripping.

Alora turned out to be fairly interesting. She made the tired 'dedicated fanatic magic assassin' trope nicely human, yet badass. The samirhuu were good bad guys.

So Curran ate a sabretooth tiger god and got a power up. That may be the most badass thing in the history of fantasy lit.

Erra... best teacher ever. Sort of. She was amazingly funny considering.

Julie had some interesting development. It really built on MAGIC STARS (tho she didn't use any power words this time). Readers who didn't read that story may have had a head scratch or two.

Sienna's visions of Curran and their son dying were viscerally disturbing. In a good way. Solid writing there.

Another nod to the novellas... without reading DREAMS or STEALS, Doli would have really come out of nowhere a couple of times in this book.

Liking how the mercs are shaping up under Curran. Nice touch that they're still utter mercs and only seven came to the final battle, not the whole guild.

Barrabas is such a great supporting character. I see why the writers acknowledged his popularity in the foreword back in BREAKS.

AH Jezebel... we hardly knew ye. Which was kind of a problem for the depth of her betrayal, but her confession levelled that out nicely.

Mahon... still an asshole. A badass asshole tho. That last charge... damn.

The battle at the end was pretty awesome. It could have used a few more moments for some of the characters... Derek was absent, I would have liked to see Desandra kill that mammoth, Andrea was mentioned once with some cannons we had never seen before... still, what we got, Ghastek acknowledging Kate as Queen, Teddy Joe swooping in, Christopher shattering the Iron Dog vanguard, Roman on a dragon, Mahon's charge, Julie playing herald.... those were solid moments in an insane action sequence I had to listen to twice.

Roland was in good form in this book, as mad tyrant and caring father and everything else. It took a bunch of books, but he really is a great big bad.

So Hugh was purged and exiled, his s-i-c is free and wandering, and Roland purging the fuck out of the Iron Dogs. Seems to me thats a spare army available if Kate wants it.

All in all, great fun book and great nam utterly in for whatever's next in the series.

I am just picturing the tiger scene like this -

Curran and his group encounters the tiger.

"Boss, what do we do? What's the plan?"

Curran stretches his arms out. "Stand back people. This one is mine"

He bares his teeth " I am going to eat it"


Incidentally I wonder if there is any actual difference left between Curran and a god now that he has that powerup

[Abyss]

That makes two Curran stories we haven't seen. The merc suicide mission and the rescue. Three if we count the ghoul hunting in SHIFTS. The John Hopkins trip re Christopher is also missing.

[Lady Bliss]

Just finished the series. I found it fairly satisfying if not epic. I loved Barabas, smart ass Ascanio, and the Christopher transformation at the end was perfect. I loved that he finally remembered how to fly. Kate was a bit TOO godlike imo and the Kate/Curran romance was so sugary that I kept hoping they would break up. Otherwise, lots of good snarky humor and downright fantasy.

[Abyss]

Lady Bliss, on 30 January 2017 - 05:35 PM, said:

Just finished the series. I found it fairly satisfying if not epic. I loved Barabas, smart ass Ascanio, and the Christopher transformation at the end was perfect. I loved that he finally remembered how to fly.

The supporting cast are one of the strongest parts of this series.
Sure, Kate n Curran are fun to read about and can kick all kinds of baddie but, but little things like virtually everything Barabas says, Ascanio saving Julie and gradually becoming less of a pain in the ass, and yes that Christopher transformation are just such a treat.

Quote

Kate was a bit TOO godlike imo

Is she really tho?
She screws up and leaves herself injured, she's lost a bunch of fights and had to sit around waiting for Curran to save her far too often, and they've set it up that it's far from clear whether/how she can beat her dad, heavily hinted at djinn box aside.

Quote

and the Kate/Curran romance was so sugary that I kept hoping they would break up.

With you there. At least they eventually moved away from the wholly pointless will they/wont they and had some semi-valid relationship issue. Little things like lying about how much magic will make her head explode or Curran taking the kids ghoul-hunting.

Quote

Otherwise, lots of good snarky humor and downright fantasy.

Yep. Turned out to be my fave new series find from 2016.

[Abyss]

Two things of note from the authors' blog...

Quote

MAY 12 2017




An FYI
Magic Triumphs, Kate 10, will not be released until 2018.


...you are getting 4 books from us this year ...


One Fell Sweep, which was pretty much a January release.
White Hot.
Wildfire.
Iron and Magic. (<—Hugh’s book.)


Even if we physically could do stuff Kate 10 into the end of the year – and can’t because we also have two book tours – we would cut into our sales.
You would be sick of us.

Goodreads puts the street date for IRON at October.

[QuickTidal]

Ooooooo. I'm excited about a Hugh-Focused book!

[Andorion]

There is going to be a Hugh book?