Ilona Andrews - "Kate Daniels"

Mikka

Ilona Andrews

1. Magia kąsa

Technologia przeciw magii. Słowa kontra czary.

Atlanta przyszłości. Arena walk magii i technologii. Wampirze hordy na usługach Panów Umarłych grasują po mieście.

Kate Daniels - pyskata dziewczyna, w której żyłach płynie krew i magia - dowiaduje się o śmierci swojego opiekuna. Musi dokonać wyboru - komu zaufać, z kim współpracować. Spojrzeć w oczy Władcy Bestii i dołączyć do Gromady? Wejść w układ z kotołakami i szczurołakami?

Ofiara woła o pomszczenie, krwawa zagadka o rozwikłanie.
2. Magia parzy

Krew krzepnie. Rany wciąż się goją. A Kate Daniels czeka kolejne wyzwanie.

Tym razem to nie przelewki. Pod wpływem serii wybuchów magii po ciemnych uliczkach Atlanty krąży jeszcze więcej dziwadeł niż zwykle. Kate odnajduje w ruinach samotną dziewczynkę. Co się stało z matką sieroty? I dlaczego śladem Kate podąża Bran, zbyt przystojny i zbyt pewny siebie heros z zaświatów? Wiele wskazuje na to, że w sprawę zamieszana jest pewna bogini...

3. Magic uderza

Tam, gdzie magia uderza i odchodzi niczym przypływ, Kate Daniels stawi czoła największemu wyzwaniu.
Derek, przyjaciel Kate zostaje skatowany niemal na śmierć. Śledztwo w sprawie, naprowadza najemniczkę na trop dostępnego tylko dla wybranych, pozbawionego zasad, brutalnego turnieju walk. Kate i Curran odkrywają spisek, który może na zawsze odmienić społeczność zmiennokształtnych.

4. Magic bleeds[/img]

Mikka

Magia parzy dumnie stoi na mojej półce. Pierwsza od jakiegoś czasu książka, której zakupu nie żałowałam przez nawet sekundę.
A dlaczego? Curran, rzecz jasna. No i Kate. Gdy dwójka tych bohaterów się spotyka, można płakać ze śmiechu. A po przejrzeniu "Magic strikes" mogę tylko powiedzieć, że będzie tylko lepiej i ciekawiej Very Happy

To genialna para bohaterów. Coś jak Len i Wolha w wersji hard Wink

Seria ta zawiera całą masę ciekawych bohaterów. Choćby Saiman - wiem, że w Magic strikes ma go być więcej, co jest jednym z powodów dla których będę czekać na wydanie tej książki.

Miriam

Przeczytałam pierwszy tom. Dosyć ciekawa lektura Smile

I tak jak Mikka prawie przy każdym spotkaniu Kate i Currana śmiałam się jak głupia. Choćby przy takiej banalnej scenie kiedy Kate zamawia mleko dla "kici". Ah czekam na dalsze części. Może będą gdzieś na chomikach

Mikka

Przeklejone i poszerzone:
UWAGA SPOILER
Po przeczytaniu "Magia kąsa" i muszę przyznać, że fajna pozycja. Wartka akcja z ładnymi zaskokami. Ale to co rozbawiło mnie najbardziej to para głównych bohaterów [a przynajmniej żywię nadzieję, że będą parą ] Podobna relacja jak między Wolhą a Lenem, tyle że w wersji "hardcore". To znaczy cały czas się zastanawiałam czy się w końcu ze sobą prześpią czy też zaczną się regularnie prać po pyskach [chociaż chyba można powiedzieć, że do mordobicia między nimi doszło ]. Ciekawie było to czytać i zastanawiać się, które pierwsze pęknie, czy Kate strzeli w łeb [ewentulnie pokroi] Currana, czy też on ją rozszarpie [jeszcze bardziej polubiłam kotołaki].
Scena, która mnie na sam koniec zabiła:

Walenie w dach przybierało na sile.
- Jesteśmy pod wielkim wrażeniem... Proszę nie mieć mi za złe tego pytania, ale co to za hałas?
- Chwileczkę - odłożyłam słuchawkę na stół i wrzasnęłam: - Curran!
- Co?! - odkrzyknął.
- Możesz przestać na minutę? Rozmawiam z WKZP.
Warknął coś, ale walenie w dach ustało.
- Przepraszam - powiedziałam, podnosząc słuchawkę. - Co pan mówił...?
- Mówiłem właśnie, że twoje dokonania zrobiły na nas wielkie wrażenie. Skontaktowaliśmy się też z Gromadą i Władca Bestii wyrażał się o tobie w samych superlatywach.
- Naprawdę? - spytałam z autentycznym zdziwieniem.
- Owszem - odparł zupełnie poważnie detektyw.
- Momencik... - poprosiłam, opuszczając rękę ze słuchawką. - Curran? - zawołałam.
- Co znowu? - odburknął.
- Rozmawiałeś o mnie z WKZP?
- Mogłem rozmawiać - odparł zdawkowo.
- Co im powiedziałeś?
- Nie pamiętam. Wspomniałem o twoim zdyscyplinowaniu i umiejętności wykonywania rozkazów. Mogłem też powiedzieć coś o twoich predyspozycjach do działania w zespole.
Derek zaczął krztusić się ze śmiechu.
- Ale dlaczego? - dopytywałam się.
- Bo wtedy uznałem, że tak powinienem - stwierdził Curran i wrócił do przybijania dachówek.
- Przepraszam - powiedziałam do telefonu, zatykając palcem drugie ucho. Tylko tak mogłam usłyszeć detektywa. - Jego Wysokość ma skłonności do przesady. Chcę coś wyjaśnić. Po pierwsze, nie należę do graczy zespołowych, po drugie, jestem raczej niezdyscyplinowana, a po trzecie, mam problem z autorytetami. I po czwarte w końcu, Władca Bestii nie powinien opowiadać bzdur.
Na dachu Derek zanosił się rechotem.

Z kolei po "Magia parzy" uważam tę pozycję z jeszcze lepszą. Za mało Currana moim zdaniem [no dobra, za mało dla mnie Wink

], ale mimo to akcja toczy się wartko i wciaga. Kolejny fragment, który sprawił, że chichotałam dziko przez parę minut:

Stałam z boku i obserwowałam, jak sztanga unosi się i opada. Curran miał na sobie szary, podarty podkoszulek, dzięki czemu widziałam, jak jego mięśnie naprężają się pod tkaniną.
- Ile wyciskasz?
- Siedemset.
Dobra, to może stanę sobie trochę z boku, poza twoim zasięgiem. Mam nadzieję, że nie pamiętasz o tej obietnicy skopania ci tyłka?
Curran uśmiechnął się.
- Chcesz mnie asekurować?
- Raczej nie. Ale może w zamian powykrzykuje werbalne zachęty? - Wzięłam głęboki oddech i zaryczałam: - Bez bólu nie ma sukcesu! Ból to tylko słabość opuszczająca ciało! No dalej! Pchaj! Pchaj! Pomyśl, że ta sztanga to twoja dziwka!
Nie wytrzymał. Sztanga opadła niebezpiecznie blisko klatki piersiowej, kiedy Curran zaczął się trząść ze śmiechu.

Caeles

Ja bardzo lubię tą serię. Chociaż radzę Ci Mikkuś- przeczytaj dwa pierwsze tomy po angielsku. Są widoczne zmiany.

Cenię tą lekturę, za to że nie narzuca nam na siłę wątku romansowego. Nie ma go jako takiego, przynajmniej początkowo.

Fabuła jest wciągająca, nie możesz oderwać się od tej książki.
Już nie mówiąc o tym, że autorka dobrze pisze. Ładnie stylistycznie.

Niecierpliwie czekam na 4 tom przygód Kate. Ech.. *__*

Mikka

Nie "autorka" Very Happy

"Autorzy". To pisze małżeństwo pod pseudonimem Wink

Caeles

No wiem, on jest od strony technicznej etc ;p
Ale jakoś siłą nawyku o niej w liczbie pojedynczej piszę Smile

(w zasadzie nie dziwię się, że oboje zaczęli pisać już zawodowo, skoro tak dobrze się sprzedają Very Happy

)

Czytałaś ich inne pozycje?

Mikka

Nie, a co? Ciekawe?

Caeles

On the Edge
(The first book in the Edge series) (2009) A novel by Ilona Andrews

The Broken is a place where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is nothing more than a fairy tale.

The Weird is a realm where blueblood aristocrats rule and the strength of your magic can change your destiny.

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, the place between both worlds. A perilous existence indeed, made even more so by a flood of magic-hungry creatures bent on absolute destruction.

-----------------

Nawet ciekawe Smile

Mi się bardzo miło czytało ją Very Happy

anulka870

a ja dalej nie rozumiem jak można książkę jedną napisać razem....

Caeles

Wklejam tutaj wywiad z autorką. Co nieco o ich wspólnym pisaniu jest.
Wiesz, podejrzewam, że to jest na zasadzie jedno lepiej zna się na jednym, drugie- na czymś innym. Razem opracowują chara postaci.
Zresztą- poszukam, może gdzieś jest to dokładniej opisane.
O, na pewno wiemy, że mąż pomaga jej przy pisaniu części Currana. I ogólnie wczuwania się w psychikę lewka

***********************

lona Andrews is an urban fantasy novelist. She was born in Russia (English is her second language) and came to the United States as a teenager. She attended Western Carolina University, where she majored in biochemistry and met her husband Gordon, who helped her write and submit her first novel, Magic Bites. Its sequel, Magic Burns, reached #32 on the New York Times extended bestseller list in April 2008 and her third book, Magic Strikes, is due out shortly. Ilona and Gordon currently live in Georgia. (Wikipedia and Websites are a great thing)

DoC: First off, thank you very much for letting me interview you for Drops of Crimson. It's a pleasure to have you as our first featured author of the magazine and thank you for taking the time to speak to DoC. Since Drops of Crimson is not only about reading quality genre but also the genre's writers, I'd like to ask a few questions dealing with the writing process and/or your thoughts on where you stand now as a writer compared to where you started.

Watching your career as a writer grow, you've been a fairly well selling author for a few years now. Most of us as readers see the "outside" of the growth but how do you as an author look at your constructed world and what are your thoughts about its evolution?

Ilona: Only two years actually. Smile

The first book in Kate Daniels series came out in 2006, so I'm still a bit of unproven commodity. To answer your question, I have a large chunk of the plot arch planned out, so in terms of plot, I know where I'm going. What changes is how exactly I get there.

The first book was a test of sorts. By the second, my husband and I realized that we needed to streamline. Certain things could be dropped without any harm to the narrative. And now, by the third, we know which characters are finding fans among readers and which don't.

As a writer, I always strive to write to please myself. But at the same time, I try to pay attention to the readers' feedback. For example, Jim, the werejaguar, turned out to be an intriguing character and we received a lot of emails asking us about who he was and requesting more "screen time" for him. Before Gordon and I sat down to plot the third book, we knew Jim had to play a prominent role in it.

Just as well, the original plan was to structure the books somewhat in a PI series fashion: Kate would go about solving random cases. But because of reader expectations, that original plan had to mutate a bit. Now the series is more about Kate forging friendships and trying her best to protect people in her life from her own legacy.

DoC: In your first established series, you dealt with magic and technology coming to blows and to the world adapting to the rise and fall of magic for prolonged lengths of time. What difficulties have you had in creating the "chimera" adaptations and have you ever had to re-engineer something to make it work in a later book?

Ilona: One of the problems in the books was transportation. Kate works in Atlanta but she has a second house in Savannah. Originally most of her transportation occurred by car, or, in times of magic by a leyline. Leylines consist of a dense magic current which grabs things and drags them forward. Nothing living can enter a leyline without support, because the current would cut its legs right below the knees.

The more we wrote, the more inconvenient it became for leylines to disappear during tech. Not only it was impractical, it made no sense geographically. So now leylines have been sped up to 100 miles per hour and they are active continuously.

DoC: In developing Kate's character in the series, do you feel that you've been able to explore her personality prior to writing each book or are you winging it as you go?

Ilona: Winging it. Because the books are written in a first person, getting into Kate's voice is almost like slipping on a leather jacket. I'm afraid there is no plan. I just try to get the voice pitch-perfect and write what I think sounds funny.

DoC: At the start of the series, Kate's only visible relationship was with her mentor, Greg. As the books progress, her relationships are developing exponentially, which is a major underlying theme. Do you feel that her character has changed in your eyes so that she's able to form these relationships or were these relationships not available to her because of her personal circumstances?

The first book was written in 2002, while the second came about in 2007. A lot happened in those four years and I'm afraid the writing reflects that. The 2002 manuscript opens with Kate who is unwise and rash. She is a borderline alcoholic and she is satisfied with her role as a merc. In a sense, Kate remained in stasis since the point of her step-father's death, when she was fifteen. Voron was such a constant in her life, that when he died, she simply continued to exist by his rules. She became a bit wiser, a bit less feral, but essentially, she didn't progress as a human being. Unfortunately her guardian Greg only reinforced the rules by which Voron structured Kate's life: trust no one, keep to yourself, never commit to a friendship, never permit yourself to love someone. Stay safe.

It took the huge trauma of Greg's death to snap Kate out of that emotional coma. She was forced into situations where she had to rely on other people, where she had to take responsibility for her own actions and actions of her allies. She had to act independently and her hard rules didn't always work.

In 2002 I felt that this aspect of the narrative was secondary to butt kicking, but by 2007 I wanted to explore this theme further. Human beings are not designed to exist in a vacuum. We love, we seek companionship, we pick fights. That's what makes us human. I wanted to bring Kate to the point where she had to deal with having friends, perhaps lovers, and both suffering and rejoicing because of it.

If I could wave a magic wand and rewriter the first book to make this theme even more prominent, I would. Unfortunately, magic wands seem to be in short supply.

DoC: Curran, which you knew I would touch on, is a dominant alpha male… a were-lion. As Kate's connection with him grows stronger, how do you envision his character achieving a balance with Kate's own dominance?

Ilona: I can't answer this question. That would be spoilery :::sticks out tongue:::

DoC: Fair enough. How about…Is the "natural" female alpha role in a lion pride applicable to Kate in Curran's behaviour? How much of Curran's behaviour is ruled by the lion and/or the man?

Ilona: Curran is very much a lion: he's patient, single-minded, at times cruel, and always dominant. But I tried to make sure that in our books, the human part of the shapeshifters controls the bestial half. So most of Curran's behavior comes from his human side. This will probably be a bit spoilery as well, but a lot of Curran's personality was shaped by his role as Beast Lord. He became Beast Lord at fifteen. His life is essentially that of service. Yes he roars and everyone scrambles to obey, but he always carries the ultimate responsibility for the Pack. Every death is his fault. Every significant enemy is his burden to eliminate. He views it as a job and he simply tries to do the best job possible.

DoC: On to a lighter note; Other than Kate or Curran, which character is the easiest for you to write for?

Ilona: Andrea. I make Gordon help me with Curran parts.

DoC: You were contracted out for four books, I believe, in the Magic series. Would you say yes to additional books if you were asked? Have you been asked?

Ilona: Umm. Actually it's more like seven now... I'm contracted out to 2013, with one book a year. Smile

I'm not going to guess that far ahead.

DoC: Moving on to upcoming releases, Border Rose is being released in October 2009. How was writing in a different world for you? Did you find yourself inserting the flavour of the Magic books into the piece or was it reasonably easy to separate the two?

Ilona: Actually Border Rose is now called the "First Book" in Edge series. Between our wonderful editor Anne Sowards, Ace's marketing department, and Gordon and I, we still haven't come up with a title.

Rose is completely different world from Kate's. Kate Daniels series is an urban fantasy with a sword-and-sorcery flavor. The Edge series is a rustic fantasy with strong romantic element: it still takes place in the modern world, but this place is at once more rural and more magic. People in the Edge shop at Wal-Mart and say things like, "Kenny Jo, get off that damn tree and help your mom untie Grandma Elsie from her rocking chair before the invisible demons get her." It's a very odd place, but it's so much fun. It lets me crack jokes that can't happen in Kate's world and it also let me write what is basically a regency rake in a modern setting. Can’t get better than that.

DoC: Now that we've look forward, let's look back. What was the very first thing that you wrote as a so-called serious piece? How old were you and what was it about?

Ilona: I was fifteen, it was a YA SF novel, and it was awful. I had watched the Neverending Story and was heavily influenced by it. Let's see, oh boy, it was sat on post-Apocalyptic earth, where most of population had died. Mutant jungle reclaimed most of the world with certain areas remaining too "hot" to enter. The infrastructure failed and every city is sort of a country onto itself. Also some people obtained superhuman powers and formed an order of sheriffs. The sheriffs protected the towns with their crazy mutant powers.

There was this boy who was about eighteen. His father was a pilot, a man of a dying breed, and he made his living transporting food back and forth between isolated cities in the jungle. His flyer went down in one of the hot areas and nobody offered to go and rescue him, so his son went on his own. He met this very odd girl in the jungle and she sort of followed him.

Unfortunately, the pilot was carrying a particular cargo besides food – something a very powerful sheriff very much wanted and had to retrieve at any cost. So the sheriff followed the boy and the girl. Ehh, this is all coming out to be a lot more coherent than it was written.

DoC: If you has any advice to give to that younger Ilona, what would it be?

Ilona: Concentrate more on character relationships and less on monster spit.

DoC: Can you recall that moment when you said to yourself… Oh God, I'm a writer? When did it strike you as a reality and how did you feel?

Ilona: Well, doctor, it felt sore and tingly... ::laughs:::. When I quit my job this February, I thought, "Wow, I'm a writer." And then I thought, "You stupid fool, you've lost your mind."

DoC: And lastly, is there anything you'd like to share with the readers of DoC? Any words of advice about writing or anything up and coming that you'd like us to know?

Ilona: If you're going to jump into this business, do it because you love it.

DoC: And now, because I feel that I must ask these… The Lipton Questions.

What is your favorite word?

Unfortunately. I seem to say it a lot lately.

What is your least favorite word?

Unfortunately. I seem to say it a lot lately.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Adequate amount of sleep + hot tea + good book/good anime/good movie the night before.

What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Lack of sleep. I can skip meals but skipping sleep just kills me.

What sound or noise do you love?

I like to hear the cats purr.

What sound or noise do you hate?

Oh god, my laptop is making this annoying very high-pitched buzz, like one of those ringtones adults supposedly can't hear. It is driving me completely nuts.

What is your favorite curse word?

Fucktard. It is a very weighty curse word and it must be reserved for special morons only.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Graphic designer. I think I'd love to design web content and book covers.

What profession would you not like to do?

Legal Secretary

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Welcome.

DoC: Thank you very much for your time. I wish you the best with your upcoming releases and look forward to reading them. I hope to see you on the Best Sellers' List again!

kuszumai

Czyli [spoiler]Kate jest córką Rolanda? [/spoiler]

Smile_

Nie. Przecież w drugiej części było napisane, że jej ojciec pracował dla Rolanda, więc siłą rzeczy nie mógł być Rolandem.

Mikka

Smile_ no i się nie wykazałaś Razz

[spoiler]Z tekstu wynika, że jest córką Rolanda - po prostu ojcem nazywa gościa, który ją wychował i który był podwładnym Rolanda zanim matka Kate od niego uciekła (?)
Tylko kij wie kim jest ten Roland, ale chyba jakimś mega big bad boyem.

kuszumai

[spoiler] W magic strikes Kate przyznaje się Andrei jak jej matka zginęła i że jej ojcem jest Roland. matka uciekła od niego by ratować dziecko, które Roluś chciał zabić, by nie przejęło po nim mocy magii krwi. Krepka mamuśka wybiła mu oko. Fragment:
"She made a short cutting motion with her hand. “That’s beside the point. You broke it to pieces. It was forged out of Roland’s blood and you smeared it with yours and broke it. I’m not stupid, Kate. Please, don’t ever think that I’m stupid.”
She had put two and two together. Only a blood relation would be able to disintegrate Roland’s sword.
“Daughter?” she asked.
It’s not exactly like I could lie. “Yep.”
Her face turned a shade paler. “I thought he refused to have children.”
“He made an exception in my mother’s case.”
“Is she still alive?”
“He killed her.”
Andrea rubbed her face. “Does Curran know?”
“Nobody knows,” I told her. You’re my best friend. The only one I have. Please, please don’t force me to kill you. I can’t do it.
She took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “It’s good that nobody knows. Probably best we keep it that way.”
I remembered to breathe.
[/spoiler]

A jakie ładne zamówienie złożył Curran:
"MENU

I want lamb or venison steak. Baked potatoes with honey butter. Corn on the cob. Rolls. And apple pie, like the one you made before. I really liked it. I want it with ice cream.
You owe me one naked dinner, but I’m not a complete beast, so you can wear a bra and panties if you so wish. The blue ones with the bow will do.

Curran,
Beast Lord of Atlanta"

Albo to:
"My place, my smells, my familiar rug under my feet, my kitchen, my Curran in the kitchen chair... Wait a damn minute."