IAAA - Ilona Andrews Addicts Anonymous: Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years & Other spinoffs (December 2024)

[Charlie]

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Magic Bleeds Chapter 16 [spoilers removed]"

Just read this scene and it was awesome, as was what followed. Curran (view spoiler)[ lost his mind and it was awesome! Saiman is soo playing with fire here, dude needs to stop or he's gonna end up relieved of his life. (hide spoiler)]

[Diana Stormblessed]

Charlie wrote: "Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Magic Bleeds Chapter 16 [spoilers removed]"

Just read this scene and it was awesome, as was what followed. Curran [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ I know the feeding soup thing was a big deal and all, but I think that scene and what followed was kind of the no turning back on the Kate/Curran train. Like that’s when you know he’s super serious about it. I think that’s why I love it so much. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I love the scene because everyone (view spoiler)[but Saiman (hide spoiler)] is on the same page... when they start walking in, and do a bit of a double-take and start whispering/managing the situation...

So much stuff happens in this book, the sets the stage for the rest of the series... even if you don't fully realize it until later on when it's discussed...

(view spoiler)[of course Erra is a big deal... and the croc shifter is cool and points to Hugh... the magic beacon at the church (I think Roland references that later?)...

the Saiman / pack dynamic is set for the rest of the series, which sets other events in motion...

Dynamics of the Erra/Roland/Kate stuff are revealed later on, like Erra calling Roland the day before the battle (view spoiler)[and feeling like a goodbye, because she wasn't happy with the world she woke up in... (hide spoiler)]

And then when the Pack turns on Kate during Curran's coma, that sets off (view spoiler)[Curran's willingness to abandon the Pack at the end of book 7, because they don't care about him as much as Kate does, so fuck 'em (hide spoiler)]...

And the power vacuum sets the Mercenary Guild into freefall for awhile, until it eventually gets sorted...

Of course, that stuff continues to evolve even further, into the Wilmington Years... (hide spoiler)]

I talk about all sorts of series spoilery stuff in there ^^ (through book 8, minimum)...

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "The narrator was thinking of all the other maces in the story ;)"

LOL That sounds like a bad pickup line...

A new one--in Guards! Guards! right now and the narrator says "noblesse oblige" like "ob-lee-gay" ... it's "ob-liege!" Fortunately it's only come up a couple times.

We could write a book about these...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "The narrator was thinking of all the other maces in the story ;)"

LOL That sounds like a bad pickup line...

A new one--in Guards! Guards! right now and the narr..."

if you're gonna butcher it, butcher it all

NO-blee-ESS OB-lee-GAY

:D

no-bless ob-liege

[Choko]

Marie, the scene where auntie Kate came to impress the kids in the school and Raphael was her romantic sidekick, was awesome! Favorite scene of #3 for sure!!!

[Diana Stormblessed]

Starting Magic Dreams. You can find it online for free. I think it used to be on their website but if you can't find it there I'm reading through https://allnovel.net/magic-dreams-kat...

[Charlie]

Choko wrote: "Marie, the scene where auntie Kate came to impress the kids in the school and Raphael was her romantic sidekick, was awesome! Favorite scene of #3 for sure!!!"

Yes! I can imagine all those brats who tormented Julie shit themselves. I'm so glad Kate gave her what she needed, instead of getting mad at her behaviour. Kate is the coolest.

[Charlie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I love the scene because everyone [spoilers removed] is on the same page... .."

Now that you've pointed it all out, absolutely, this really was the catalyst for everything that follows. (view spoiler)[ When the pack turned on Kate and Curran is raging when he wakes up, I adore that scene, can't wait to get to it. I think it really does show that they absolutely don't give a single shit about his happiness. And what on earth did they think would happen if one of them actually won the challenge?! Are they seriously deluded into thinking Curran would let whoever harmed his mate live? In what universe, have they even met him?! (hide spoiler)]

[Charlie]

A few mins into chapter 26 of book 4 (view spoiler)[ They're about to go into the big battle and I'm so anxious, even knowing how it turns out. It's a shame really, Kate and Erra could have had a great relationship from the get go if Erra wasn't so hateful. If she'd took a moment to really see Kate, she would have realised there was absolutely no reason they needed to be enemies, at least until Kate tried to kill Roland. She was a long lost child of her blood. That could have meant something.

O and when Ted made Kate choose between helping the pack and staying with the Order, I really thought Andrea was going to help. I can't believe she abandoned the shifters. Ted doesn't see them as people, he said so, very clearly. It's time the Order lived with the consequences of it's choices. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Charlie wrote: "A few mins into chapter 26 of book 4 They're about to go into the big battle and I'm so anxious, even knowing how it turns out. It's a shame really, Kate and Erra could have had a great relationsh..."

Megaspoilers for the series... (view spoiler)[honestly, the events of book 9 are my favorite retcon of the series... the scenes with Kate/Erra & Grandma, putting the ghost of Erra into the bone dagger, and then the events of book 10 bringing Erra back to life, after she had time to grow into a mentor for Kate & Julie... I can't wait to see what the future holds for her in Aurelia Ryder 2+/etc... there have been mentions of what she's been up to in California, I think, in the Wilmington books and Aurelia Ryder 1 and the blog?...

I mostly called it a retcon, because it expanded on why Erra LET herself die in book 4 / etc etc etc... (hide spoiler)]

Also, in not-really-spoilery talk (view spoiler)[the Erra = origin of erratic thing is another example of my favorite thing in UF/Fantasy, of giving a magical origin/meaning to something that already existed... (hide spoiler)]

[Charlie]

@Iain Erra is (view spoiler)[ one of my favourite characters of the series so I'm so glad she got over herself! I wish she could have joined forces with Kate from book 4 though. (hide spoiler)]

[Charlie]

Finished book 4! (view spoiler)[ I'd forgotten this is where Curran buys Kate her business, such a good move!

You really got to see Kate show her skills here, no holding back, and it was awesome. The way she killed those two jackal alphas in seconds, absolutely fantastic. Her fight with Erra, beautifully done, even if it was raw and dirty. Voron trained her well. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

reading Magic Dreams... the first Dali POV... aka blind Daisy Duke (seriously... street racing?)...

Anyway... there's a detail in here I constantly forget, that's a good example of narrative bias / unknowingly unreliable narrator... (view spoiler)[in the main series, everything is from Kate's POV... she explains how the magic/tech shifts work, and how phones only work sometimes...

Then here, Dali's like "nope"... Kate's so magically potent, when she's angry her magic causes phones nearby to stop working... so anytime a phone doesn't work for Kate, it's because she's too worked up emotionally or magically... and she has no idea... so neither did we, until now... (hide spoiler)]

[Charlie]

@Iain Ooh that's a really cool little insight! I've just started Magic Dreams (view spoiler)[ Poor Jim, wonder what happened to him to make him lose his memory like this? (hide spoiler)]

[Marie]

I have read Magic Dreams yesterday. I like that it shows a very different area of magic. And yeah seeing Kate from other POV is interesting. (view spoiler)[Really liked the insight about Kate's magic. Makes me think, though, how many people knew there is something about her. Dali said she doesn't control that magic seeping out. Seems like a miracle she managed to remain hidden. (hide spoiler)]

[Diana Stormblessed]

Finished Magic Dreams. It was ok. I gave it 3 stars the first time I read it and I'm giving it the same rating again. I really liked the plot and mythology, but Dali and Jim are not my favorite characters so it makes it harder for me to connect with the story. Jim is a jerk to most people and Dali can be immature and annoying. But I do love the mythology and story in this one.

[Tonari no Emily]

Nirkatze wrote: "Diana Stormblessed wrote: "You are really going to watch me die on this hill, huh? 😂😂 I’m like a dog with a bone here."

I'll join you on that hill, Diana... there are some ways words should just n..."
OMG EVERYTIME I grimACED when he said that lmao

[Marie]

I agree that Dali can be immature and annoying but for some reason I still love her POVs. She is a good change of perspective to the ass kicker Kate. More relatable to me as a person. More real.

[Charlie]

I get that, I like that she's a bit of a wimp and easily startled, definitely more real and relatable.

Don't get me wrong, I love Kate, she's awesome, but I absolutely cannot relate to anything about her, other than how much she loves her kids.

[Diana Stormblessed]

Marie wrote: "I agree that Dali can be immature and annoying but for some reason I still love her POVs. She is a good change of perspective to the ass kicker Kate. More relatable to me as a person. More real."

The first time I read her I loved her. I guess I'm just not in a Dali place right now.

[Diana Stormblessed]

Charlie wrote: "I get that, I like that she's a bit of a wimp and easily startled, definitely more real and relatable.

Don't get me wrong, I love Kate, she's awesome, but I absolutely cannot relate to anything a..."

I relate to how much I want to be her lol

[Nyssa]

Just started Magic Bites. This is a reread but it’s been long enough for me to forget the story.

Sadly, I have two issues - 1. The audio is refusing to sync with the ebook (so I have to play it separately) , and 2. The narrator pronounces the word plait as “plate”!! Nooooooo! How can she not know how to say plait!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nyssa wrote: "Just started Magic Bites. This is a reread but it’s been long enough for me to forget the story.

Sadly, I have two issues - 1. The audio is refusing to sync with the ebook (so I have to play it se..."

Both are valid:


plait
/plāt,plat/

line over the a is hard a...

[Diana Stormblessed]

Nyssa wrote: "Just started Magic Bites. This is a reread but it’s been long enough for me to forget the story.

Sadly, I have two issues - 1. The audio is refusing to sync with the ebook (so I have to play it se..."

That’s the least of my concerns over pronunciations with this narrator lol. There’s a whole page of posts of me ranting about how she pronounces golem 😂😂

[Diana Stormblessed]

Started Magic Slays. I know I’m very early but I’m listening to my audiobooks in the order they’re due back to the library.

[Choko]

Just finished the fourth book and I am with Marie here - I absolutely adore Dali! She always makes me smile! And the attack poodle!!! They made the book for me! Erra is a very strong character and I wish she wasn't (view spoiler)[ a murderous maniac, because she could have been the one ruling, not her brother... For as strong of a woman as she was, she still did her brother's dirty work... But I agree with Charlie, the fights between the two of them were pretty cool!

I really, really disliked the officer of the Order and I am glad Kate ditched them! I do worry about Andrea staying there though... However, I don't agree with her boyfriend - not everyone can just walk away from something they have put so much effort in. He needs to give her time...

Well, Kate and Curren are officially together, finally! And they are capable of communicating when they are sated and satiated... Who knew?:))

I thought it doesn't bode well for her future relationship with The Pack, that when Curren was possibly dying, all types of folks from the Pack decided to challenge and try to kill her... That would make me not trust anyone...

Did I mention how much I love the attack poodle?!!! (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Nyssa wrote: "Just started Magic Bites. This is a reread but it’s been long enough for me to forget the story.

Sadly, I have two issues - 1. The audio is refusing to sync with the ebook (so I have to play it se..."

.... I say plate.... (*ﾉωﾉ)
Maybe it's an American pronunciation?
Though there is actually a decently large list of words that I have never heard out loud and only read in books that when I speak them people look at me funny... for the longest time I pronounced "khaki" as "ka-hee-kee"

[Charlie]

I pronounce it plat, like flat, pretty standard in England, we don't say it as plate. Whenever there's weird pronunciation issues I just assume it's American and let it go lol.

The only exception to this is if that book it set in England and the characters are supposed to be speaking English and then they spell or pronounce things in a non English way, that I find really jarring and it pulls me out of the story.

I remember a few years ago I was reading a romance and the author made a big disclaimer at the start of the book that this was a book set in England with English characters so they'll all be using English terminology and references etc... and THEN the book was absolutely chock full of Americanisms. That annoyed the life out of me. If she hadn't made the disclaimer at the start I wouldn't have cared, but that disclaimer set up my expectations in a certain way and then it was awkward and uncomfortable and the characters were so cringy with the things they said. It was clear she'd never spoken to a real English person before.

rant over lol

[Charlie]

Choko wrote: "Just finished the fourth book and I am with Marie here - I absolutely adore Dali! She always makes me smile! And the attack poodle!!! They made the book for me! Erra is a very strong character and ..."

Yay Grendel, (view spoiler)[ she's my favourite! Best dog ever.

The order guy (Ted?) was a huge douche and he needs to go die in a ditch.

I think Andrea needs to break away from the order for her own sanity and safety. The order have made is clear they don't see her as a person and the guy outright said he wanted genocide and wanted to murder all the shifters... like that level of prejudice is dangerous as fuck.

Regarding the pack betraying Curran that way... Honestly they've made their bed. Any consequences that come from their disloyalty are their own damn fault. He scarified his entire life to keep them all safe and prosperous and they try to murder his mate the second he's weakened. I think pissed is an understatement. If I was Curran I'd kill every last person that betrayed him. If they were willing to do that to his mate, imagine what they would have done to his children should he have had any, while he was weak.

That line where Kate says something like 'have your vote, but if you come to remove me, come in force, because I was slaughter each and every one of you' was freaking amazing and it gave me chills. You could tell in that moment she was soooo done with their bullshit. (hide spoiler)]

[Nyssa]

I was born in the Bahamas and raised in the states after age 6. So I learned to spell basic words like colour with the British spellings.
I have never heard anyone pronounce plait as plate. It has always been pronounced with a short “a” sound as in flat. I found it so jarring I had to replay the sentence because I thought I had misunderstood what was being read.

[Saar The Book owl]

I'm now at the epilogue of the first book, so I will updated soon and catch up with the messages.

[Charlie]

Nyssa wrote: "I was born in the Bahamas and raised in the states after age 6. So I learned to spell basic words like colour with the British spellings.
I have never heard anyone pronounce plait as plate. It has..."

It can can be jarring. I listen to a lot of American narrators so I'm usually fine with most pronunciations but there's certain words I just can't accept and plate instead of plat is one of them lol.

[Charlie]

Saar The Book owl wrote: "I'm now at the epilogue of the first book, so I will updated soon and catch up with the messages."

Hope you enjoyed it!

[Charlie]

I've just finished Magic Dreams (the Dali and Jim novella) and it was fun, but I wasn't super hooked. I love Dali so much but (spoilers for the rest of the series) (view spoiler)[ knowing what an asshat Jim turns into in this series kind of ruined my enjoyment of it. I struggled to root for him. He completely abandons Kate and Curran and baby Conlan and I can't forgive that. He was Curran's best friend, and he betrayed him in every way possible. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I read the Curran POVs yesterday, through the end of book 4... they're alright (that's always been my feeling)... they're mostly written by Ilona's husband Andrew (the series is co-written, and the author name is a pseudonym of both their names)... there's some nice backstory filling in with the dinner day, but also some continuity questions...

[Choko]

Charlie, I am trying to give The Order as a whole some grace, hoping that it's only Ted and his cronies who are this radical and horrid. I see some good things in the Order's set up, but assholes like him are what makes it a horrible situation for our girls...

Same way I feel about the Pack. There are those ambitious and radical members who tried to take advantage of the situation, but the entirety of the Pack, I hope, is better than that...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

The Order seemed alot more sane in book 1... (view spoiler)[Ted really spirals in books 3-4 to setup Kate leaving, and it only gets worse in 5-7, I think...

I think things even out in 10+sequels... mostly because (view spoiler)[Nick ends up with Desandra (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Diana Stormblessed]

Charlie wrote: "I've just finished Magic Dreams (the Dali and Jim novella) and it was fun, but I wasn't super hooked. I love Dali so much but (spoilers for the rest of the series) [spoilers removed]"

Maybe that’s my issue as well. I remember liking Jim and this book more the first time I read it.

[Charlie]

I just can't let it go, he turns into such an ass. We should have seen it coming really, (view spoiler)[ considering the way he treated Kate when Derek was attacked. Curran would never have done that. (hide spoiler)]

[Marie]

I just try to forget the future him when reading these. In a way the change makes sense since his character is so obsessive and battered with the weight of responsibility. Spoiler for whole series.(view spoiler)[I think he become peak ass when Dali is pregnant? Not sure. He wants to protect what's his. It's understandable but it still makes him selfish. He could at least be apologetic about it and not a total jerk. Only re-read those parts once so I don't remember it well. (hide spoiler)]

[Diana Stormblessed]

Marie wrote: "I just try to forget the future him when reading these. In a way the change makes sense since his character is so obsessive and battered with the weight of responsibility. Spoiler for whole series...."

(view spoiler)[He really is a character that breaks under pressure right from the start. You don't notice as much on the first read through because you don't see that a lot in main characters. I do appreciate that he was written in a way that is different than you'd expect to go in a normal urban fantasy. I dislike him but I love that his character arc goes that way. It's very real. Not everyone in life will come out shining like a golden knight. (hide spoiler)]

[Diana Stormblessed]

I’m about half way through magic slays. There’s that long awaited topic of consent that we’ve been discussing lol

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

We read fantasy to escape realism ;)

[Charlie]

@Diana I suppose his character arc is realistic... I still hate him for it though! XD

[Diana Stormblessed]

Charlie wrote: "@Diana I suppose his character arc is realistic... I still hate him for it though! XD"

Oh yeah def 😂

[Diana Stormblessed]

Yay! Someone finally taught the narrator how to pronounce golem 😂😂

[Tonari no Emily]

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Yay! Someone finally taught the narrator how to pronounce golem 😂😂"

I'm glad this was resolved for you 😂

[Diana Stormblessed]

The problem with audiobook, now that it’s getting more into the Russian roots, with the chorni bog and all, is that the narrators Russian accent/pronunciation is so bad that I have no idea what she’s saying. When I was eye reading I at least could follow the Russian portions of the conversations.

[Choko]

Yeah, I always laugh at her Russian pronunciation, but I just wave it off, since I don't expect an American narrator to be able to pronounce these words correctly... It really doesn't bother me, but I am afraid I might miss something... Like I totally missed wherever they have mentioned "chorni bog", which is the black, or by meaning, Dark G-d...