I read an entire 10 book series in 2021

A few months back I shared my excitement when I fell in love with a new to me urban fantasy series. It was a series which first book had been languishing on my Kindle since 2018 and I don’t know what made me give it a go, but I did. And I fell in love with it.

Last week I finished book ten, the final book in Ilona Andrews’ ‘Kate Daniels’ series, ‘Magic Triumphs’ and I’m honestly a bit bereft.

Here’s the set up for book one, ‘Magic Bites’, which introduces Kate and the magic at war with tech in Atlanta.

Future Atlanta is an interesting place to live: one moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters.

Here skyscrapers topple under the onslaught of magic; the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst for knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds.

Kate Daniels likes her sword a little too much, and she has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she's spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate's guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing, and remain safe, or to risk her life by pursuing his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy...

I’ve spent 10 books and 9 books with Kate, Curran, Andrea, Derek and the rest of the huge cast of characters and they’ve loved, lost, fought and battled in post-Shift Atlanta and while I was happy to reach the end of a big series, I was also really gutted to say goodbye to them. It felt like we’d been through so much together and Kate’s character arc across the series was truly remarkable. Ilona Andrews (who are a husband and wide duo, by the way!) are masters at building and developing characters and the magic systems are just complex enough to provide endless surprises, but never too daunting. To keep up momentum in that way for so many books is truly impressive; never once did I feel like ideas were running short or the characters were acting strangely.

It’s a truly wonderful series and if you’re an urban fantasy fan, I implore you to check them out.

Now, Gollanz, if you could reprint the paperbacks with matching, appealing covers that would be LOVELY. Many thanks.

This series ignited a new love for me this year: urban fantasy.

I’ve since devoured the ‘Jane Jameson’ series by Molly Harper, collected Rachel Caine’s ‘Weather Warden’ books ready to dive into, and started the ‘Night Huntress’ series by Jeaniene Frost. I’m all in, and even considering sacking off the festive reads in December and diving into the comforting worlds of urban fantasy instead…

Have you read this series? Do you have a favourite urban fantasy series?

Written by Sophie