Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, #2)

by Ilona Andrews

Mercenary Kate Daniels tries to save her city from divine intervention in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series.

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.

When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack—Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shape shifters—she quickly realizes much more is at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug of war between two gods hoping for rebirth, and if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, Atlanta may not survive...

• ISBN10: 1436208149
• ISBN13: 9781436208147
• Publish Date: 1 April 2008
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Ace Books
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

I have been an Ilona Andrews fangirl from the moment I picked up Magic Bites. Despite this, I have never written a review for most of the series. While I cannot recapture my original thoughts on this series, I can write down how I currently feel about it.

Magic Burns is the second novel in the Kate Daniels series. In other words, the world and the characters have been established, so now it's time to start really pushing things! It's time to meet secondary characters and face new challenges.

Magic and technology tend to ebb and flow in this world. Unfortunately, we're heading into a larger wave of magic known as a flare. These don't come as often, which is good, given the sheer amount of chaos they bring.

Kate has been tasked with tracking down the Pack's stolen maps. Coincidentally, this assignment works well with the mission she's currently working on. Who would have thought? Unfortunately, these events crossing paths just makes the work more complicated – and dangerous – for Kate.

I fell in love with Kate Daniels' world during Magic Bites. During Magic Burns, I became addicted to it. I love this world, the characters, the magical system, everything. This novel made me want to learn everything about everything, you know?

Magic Burns carries the story forward, all while introducing new characters and plots (including the romantic subplot!). It's perfect. I feel like this is the novel that made all the danger and stakes feel real. But that might just be a recency bias.

Highlights:
Urban Fantasy Series
Expansive Worldbuilding
Sarcastic Characters/Heroine
Kick Ass Heroine
Shapeshifters/Vampires/Gods

Graphic Audio Review

Magic Burns is the second novel in Kate Daniels' world. As it also happens to be my favorite urban fantasy series (of all time), of course, I'm going to check out the Graphic Audio version. I believe, as of when I'm writing this review, Graphic Audio is still working its way through the series, but I'm excited to hear all the different voices.

I said it in my review of Magic Bites, but the Graphic Audio version of Magic Burns is EVERYTHING. No, really, it's perfect. I love the voices they've cast for Kate and Curran. Anything else is bonus points, as far as I'm concerned. Oh! And Bran! His voice was a bit of a surprise – but also so SO perfect.

Magic Burns included one of the Curran POV stories set during this time. I'm pretty sure there's at least one more (unless that was a fever dream), so the greedy part of me wishes that it had been included as well. Still, I probably don't have any right to complain, as what I got was pretty awesome.

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[booksandcats]

Well I've fallen down the hole of listening to all available Ilona Andrews audiobook in a row I think. This is the second book in the Kate Daniels series and I absolutely love it. It has the same things that I enjoyed about the first installement and then some. The plot is more epic now, with a big battle at the end, so yay for that. The great characters from the first book all appear again and are equally as great. I love how the romance between Kate and Curran is slowly developing, we all know it's going to happen but it's definitely not "instant love", which often annoys me, but a friendship, partnership and relationship that is very slowly, but very naturally developing.

I absolutely adore Kate as a lead Charakter. She is witty, snarky, really smart, she doesn't tend to be stupid but she isn't perfect and without fault either and she knows it. She is strong and kickass, but not overpowered, she can't just easily defeat everyone. She gets injured and almost killed several times, but she fights for what is right and overcomes her obstacles. She has a very strong moral core and she will not compromise it. She won't go the easy route, knowing it is wrong and then having to deal with the consequences (again, something that annoys me tons in other books, that moment when you want to scream at the Characters "don't do it, it will turn out wrong!", not happening in this series so far). She will go the hard route and even die for doing what she thinks is right and morally necessary.

So, definite recommend, but seriously, read the first book. Read it in the right order. You can read it as a standalone, you won't be too confused but it's just so much better, the Character development, the relationships etc. Great book and I am very happy to have discovered a new favorite author for me.

The first time I read Magic Bites I didn't get why there were so many rave reviews. I mean it seemed pretty average. The world building was cool and Kate seemed alright but a bit standoffish. The romance between Kate and Crest was mediocre - it seemed like she didn't like him at all and it felt forced and awkward. The romance between her and Curran wasn't any better. It didn't make sense why he followed her home while he was on his date. I liked Derek and Ghastek was creepy. There was lots of snappy, witty dialogue and I had a few laughs - but I was just confused. It was good but it wasn't great.

Yeah - read the rest of the series. It gets SO MUCH BETTER. Kate stops being standoffish and starts letting people in. Derek becomes a total badass. Ghastek - well he's still pretty creepy. But also funny and kind and sweet when he wants to be. And Curran - I love him now. He is an absolute ass in this first book. But I forgot. He becomes everything you want in a love interest. There's a ton of new loveable characters; Julie, Andrea, Aunt Bea, Raphael, Barbaras. Some new evil ones; Hugh, Roland. So much action and adventure and intensity and laughs.

So do yourself a favour. Keep reading.

This series is intense. There's so much going on. Kate's got a new ward - Julie - who stays with her while Kate looks for her mum. I love Julie. Julie becomes one of my favourite characters in this series - but man, I'd forgotten how bloody difficult she is at the start. All teenage angst and smartass-y. And I love Derek. Andrea is funny and badass. And Aunt Bea. Hot damn, she's awesome. And Curran have a sweet side. Even though he can be such an ass. And Kate. Kate is beyond words. I love her so much. She's such a badass when she fights.

[Melanie]

4.5 stars

Review originally posted at BooksOfMyHeart.net.

Kate Daniels is a favorite series of mine. It has been a long time since I revisited this series. I started off reading this series, but once I listened for the first time, I was hooked on the audiobooks. If you’ve never listened to Renée Raudman read this series (or anything really and she narrates all of Ilona Andrews books), I can’t recommend it enough. She really adds to an already amazing story.

So there is a magical flare coming to Atlanta. It has everyone on edge. The Knights of the Order are all out doing their thing to keep Atlanta safe. The People and The Pack are circling the wagons. So Kate is trying her best to do what she does.

We learn more about Kate and her past. We meet more characters that will become indispensable to the series going forward, namely Andrea and Julie, but others too. Derek, Jim, Curran and Ghastek all make appearance. We also get to meet the coven witches and the oracle.

This series is full of so many great snippets. I have to include a few, because how can I not?

The man spread his arms. I didn’t like the way he moved, either, light on his feet.

“What’s with the cute shoelace on your head?”

“What this?” He flicked the end of the cord with his finger.

“Yeah. Rambo called, he wants his bandana back.”

“This Rambo, he a friend of yours?”

“Who’s Rambo?” Julie asked.

If a cultural reference flies over a man’s head, does it make a sound if nobody else gets it? I had never managed to watch the whole movie—magic always interfered, but I had read the book. Maybe after the flare cut out and tech reasserted its dominance for a few weeks, I’d dig the minidisc out and watch the darn thing from start to finish.

Her face fell. “You’re not my mom. You can’t tell me what to do,” she said finally, but her tone signaled the end of the argument.

“I’m a substitute mom,” I told her.

“You’re more like a crazy aunt who only gets called when somebody needs bailing out of jail,” Derek said.

I pointed my finger at him. He grinned.

“Julie, until I find your real mom, I’m in charge of your safety. She loves you and she’s a good person. She deserves to be found and to have you be alright. If I found her, but something happened to you, I don’t know what I would do.” And if I can’t find your mom, she would’ve wanted you to be safe.

“Derek couldn’t pick up Julie’s scent at the scene?” A slight growl of disapproval crept into his voice.

I shook my head. “The shaman used too much wolfsbane. I’ll find her. I just don’t know how yet.”

“If there is anything I can do, I’ll help. Don’t get excited. It’s not because of you. For the child. If it wasn’t for her and the flare, I’d throw your dumb ass out of this window.”

“What does the flare have to do with it?”

“I don’t want it to be attributed to a loss of control on my part. When I throw you out of the window, I want there to be no doubt the act was deliberate.”

Wow, he was pissed.

[Chelsea]

This series got loads better. I struggled with the first one but now that we're used to this world and characters it's a lot easier to read. Excited for the next one!

[Kim Deister]

Magic Burns Magic Burns is the second book in the Kate Daniels series and I loved it just about as much as I did the first. Magic comes and goes unpredictably in the world of Kate Daniels, but every seven years there is a magic flare. During those times, the magic runs wild and brings with it even bigger magical issues.
 
Because of the flare, the stakes are higher for Kate. The flare is the one time that ancient gods and goddesses can manifest on earth and they take advantage of that. Once on earth, it is a battle for power and Kate is stuck right in the middle of it.
 
I love the characters in these books. Kate is smart and fierce and surprisingly funny. Her love-hate relationship with Curran, the Beast Lord, is equal parts hilarious and sexy as sin. We learn a bit more about Kate and her past in this book, although I still have more questions than answers. That just makes me even more ready for the next book.
 
I think Curran might almost be my favorite part of this book. He has no idea what to think about Kate. She's stubborn and unyielding and he has no idea how to handle. As the Beast Lord, he is used to subservience, but he doesn't get that with Kate. She has zero problem mouthing off to him and as much as that frustrates him, he loves it, too.
 
Overall: This is a great series and I feel like it is just getting better!

[mitabird]

New rating: 8/18 - 3 stars

Original rating: 12/14 - 2.5 stars

[nitzan_schwarz]

Re-read time!

Really enjoyed this one, as I did in the first time. At this point though, I got to ask how come no one is looking into Kate and who the fuck is she. I know pack doesn't really involve itself in this kind of stuff, but she showed some crazy powers in this one and no one is too surprised or anything.

I am recalling first-read frustration of Kate and Curran not being together. The closing scene of this novel was so otp it was crazy.

[Silvara]

Check out my other reviews, discussions and link ups at Fantasy of the Silver Dragon.

“You don't cause problems. You cause catastrophes.”


I really do love snarky characters. Kate has a lot of really funny lines in this book, and I like that a bit of mythology was also included. The book was fast paced, without it being so fast that you miss anything important, or feel like it needed to slow down.

I liked Curran a lot better in this book than in the first one. There were quite a few scenes with him and Kate trading snark, and flirting to embarrass her. I also like how it seems to be a slow build romance (if in fact, it's supposed to end up with them together?)

We got to learn a bit more about the city, and how magic works in the world. The way the various plots weaved through the story was well done, and the character who was only in things for themselves got what they deserved at the end.

I loved Derek and Julie, I hope we get to see more of both of them in the next books. I'm guessing at least Derek will be around since he helped Kate out in the first book. I wasn't sure how I'd like the series, since the first book didn't grab me as much as I expected it to (though I still liked it!) But this one was better and sucked me right in. I'll be picking up the next one, and if you haven't read this yet you need to!

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon

[EBookObsessed]

I still have the same love/hate with this series. I am enjoying getting to know Kate, Curran, and the secondary characters. I just found delving in depth into all the celtic legends to be too much of a distraction to enjoy the story.
Every seven years, the magic that floods the earth has flares, similar to solar flares. Each flare grows in strength until a final explosion and it settles down once again. While the magic flares, all magic users are scrambling to grab as much power as possible and do as much damage and gain as much control as they can before the flares end.

Kate has been hired by the Pack to reclaim stolen maps. The Pack could do it themselves, but they don’t want the embarrassment of anyone finding out that someone was able to successfully steal from the Pack. While searching, Kate stumbles upon an orphan from a prior story, Red, and his friend, Julie. Julie’s witch mother has gone missing. Kate is getting the lowdown on what happened to the mother’s coven, when the maps suddenly find Kate. Or should we say that Bran, a mysterious, handsome man finds Kate and Julie and he just happens to have stolen the pack’s property. Bran can disappear into thin air and he also has the ability to heal almost instantly making it hard for Kate to do any damage. Kate reclaims the maps and returns them to the pack only to have them stolen again by Bran.

Kate also can’t allow a young girl to wander the streets alone, so she takes Julie home until they can find out what happened to Julie’s mother and the rest of her coven. It seems the coven was trying to summon the celtic goddess, Morrigan in hopes of receiving riches and power, but Morrigan is known more for backfiring your wish for her own entertainment.

Since the witches were using Morrigan’s cauldron of rebirth or also known as the gateway to the otherworld, this also brings into the picture Morrigan’s enemies, the Fomoire. They too want to use the cauldron to bring forth the damned to run rampant in Atlanta. They also have no qualms about sacrificing a defenseless little girl to get what they need out of Kate.

THOUGHTS:
I am once again torn between my love/hate on this series. I am really starting to like Kate, and even Curren and young Derek are growing on me. What was making me crazy is the fact that Kate has a mental library of myths and legends and I do not. This story involved celtic gods and legends including Morrigan, her enemy Morfran, a gaggle of reeves, which are undead mermaids who float around on land, are hard to kill and use their hair like a monkey uses his tail. The reeves are controlled like the vampires but in this case, they are controlled by Bolgar the Shephard, a sea-demon, who hides under a monk’s robe but you can see his tentacles peeking out.

Kate is trying to find Julie’s mother. Trying to figure out why Red is trying trying to use Julie. She’s fighting off reeves who are also trying to get to Julie. Trying to not get killed by Bolgar the Shephard, by Bran and even by Curran, who she constantly pisses off. The pack sends her on a quest. The witches send her on quest. Everyone is throwing around magic. After catching us up with all the obscure celtic legends and myths being used in this story, and jumping back and forth between the Order, the Pack, the Witches, the Honeycomb, etc., etc., I was giving the whole ending a blah, blah, blah, let’s get on with it hand-motion.

As I stated in my review of Magic Bites, I don’t know if listening to this series on audiobook is having an affect on my enjoyment and I don’t mean that there is any problem with the narrator. I just feel that maybe there is too much going on to keep up without reading the pages when that is all I am doing, focusing on the book in front of me, rather than the 100 other things I do while listening to an audiobook. Although I did listen to this as I traveled on vacation as the passenger. I wasn’t listening while driving so I had nothing else to focus on but the story to distract me from the long road trip.

In this case I think it was more the flood of new characters and the constant change of focus of what Kate needed to do first. I was just overwhelmed with the craziness of the story.

Main story point: Kate, Curran, Derek, the Mercs, the Order, Andrea, Julie, etc., the magic flows. I like all that.

History lessons on obscure celtic legends. NO! You’re making my head hurt keeping up. Give me one or two, not a flood. Throwing in a history of witches and hierarchy…enough. This is taking away from the enjoyment of reading.

I will be reading Book #3, as soon as I can squeeze it in, and I will let you know if that has any effect on my enjoyment of this series. A review of the story premise on Book 3 looks more promising.

See more at http://EBookObsessed.com