Magic Claims

An unmissable return

Every word of this was utter perfection.

When the original ten book series had its stunning conclusion, I was thrilled with the way Ilona Andrews had brought it all together. Yet, beneath that happiness was the uneasy understanding that I would never get to feel the same way again. These characters have a hold on me that few ever manage, to such an extent that I feel like I KNOW them. Any bookworm will recognise this feeling. That moment when the people on the page become more… become friends. I’ve reread these stories countless times, turning to them when I feel low, safe in the knowledge that I will feel better after just a few hours in their company. Of course, I had Hugh to fall back on (and what trip that would be) and more reluctantly Julie, which I had zero interest in (btw, was I ever wrong on that point), but Kate and Curran and all the rest were lost to me. Their stories told.

Until I got an email from the publisher about Magic Tides. It hinted at the potential for a new path, but while it was fun, it was little more than a snippet, over in an hour or less. A surprising and enjoyable diversion, but it seemed to confirm that Kate would only be back in tidbits, forever leaving me and all her other fans wanting.

Except now there is Magic Claims. And this is so much more. This feels like a promise.

Kate and Curran leaving Atlanta made sense to me. Everything they did after the final battle was absolutely understandable: the withdrawal from the very public life they lead, the desire to raise Conlan away from the spotlight and ever present dangers, the choice to be themselves for a time, no longer Beast Lord and Consort or Sharratum. All of it. So how could there be an ‘afterwards’? They have everything they wanted already. Separation from their former world, sure. But safety?

There’s the rub. Try as they might, the world has not forgotten them. Neither have they been able to leave behind who they are inside. The titles they held were merely a reflection of their essential nature, that of protectors. Neither can, or would want, to lose that aspect of themselves and it is precisely this that brings them back into the thick of things. With violent consequences.

I’ll say nothing here of the plot. I wouldn’t want to spoil that for anyone. But this refashioning Ilona Andrews has created, offering a path forwards for Kate, Curren et al, makes even more sense than the isolation. It works. So well that I can’t believe I didn’t see the issues in their choices before. It gave me chills to see it all play out and imagine what could come next. I’m so hopeful that I will get to have my friends back, to experience the new battles and challenges, to see them fight and love and survive. I’m so grateful that I might have more stories to keep me going in dark times, something this series gives me and so many others.

So buy it. Read it. Spread the world. Make sure Ilona and her publishers know the audience is here for more and more and more of this.

ARC via publisher.