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This first book in a new series by husband & wife team Ilona Andrews. It features 22 year old Rose, magically gifted and living in The Edge. The Edge is a small strip of land stretching between the Broken (the non-magical world we live in) and the Weird (chock full of magical beings and run by a hierarchy of nobles in a very feudal setting). Edge dwellers generally have a little magic, but are looked down on by the aristocratic Weird citizens. She lives a tough life, working a low-paid job in the Broken and trying to support her two little brothers Georgie and Jack. Because Rose is an unusually powerful magic-wielder, she also has to fight off kidnappers who want to sell her to the blue-bloods and Edge-dwellers who want her for breeding stock.

One day a blueblood warrior named Declan Camarine shows up wanting to take her back to the Weird as his woman. She pops him with her cross-bow and gives him a big HELLS-NO, and the game is on. Evil creatures are stalking the Edge and its citizens, and it’s up to Rose in an uneasy partnership with Declan to stop the killings.

One thing I love is when an author builds a world that grips me with its depth, multiple dimensions, and realism tinted with a reality brush. This world is fabulous, and I wish it had been set in an epic fantasy framework because I really wanted more slice-of-life from the Edge and Weird dimensions. I could just imagine what it would be like living there, and my mind spun off little fantasy stories set in that world. Big plus points here, and I hope the next book continues to build on it.

Another thing that hits my hot button is strong female characters. Rose is young, but her life has been hard. Seems like parenting in the Edge is an iffy proposition, and she’s had to deal with a crazy mother who was the local sleep-around and a runaway dad from early on. Realistic characters also do it – this world is people with the same loonies, abusers, and deadbeats as our own world. It definitely is not one where everyone makes nice to one another. In fact, you have to be careful even with your friends, because they all work off an “every man/woman for him/herself” framework. Rose is cynical enough to know how to play the game, but not so jaded that she doesn’t still have hopes and dreams of a normal life. But bad things can happen to good people in this world, so this isn’t a mindlessly cheerful outlook.

Rose and Declan are hot together, even when they’re not together. A good tale. The picture of Declan on the cover is a horrible one! From the description, he looks nothing like that and thank goodness! The little brothers, Georgie and Jack, steal the show. Georgie is a young necromancer, whose love of life makes him revive all kinds of sad dead critters at the expense of draining his own life away. Jack is a shapeshifter who is more comfortable in his cat (lynx) form than his human one. The way Rose loves and cares for these special little boys, and their love for her, brought me to tears several times!

I’m looking forward to the next book. This one is pretty self-contained, so it seems the next one will need to focus on another character. I’m hoping William, Declan’s tortured and gorgeous shape-shifting friend and army-mate, gets a book because we sure were teased enough!

Synopsis: “The Quantum Bomb of 2015 changed everything. The fabric that kept the universe’s different dimensions apart was torn and now, six years later, the people of earth exist in uneasy company with inhabitants of, among others, the elven, elemental, and demonic realms. Magic is real and can be even more dangerous than technology. Elves are exotic, erotic, dangerous and really bored with the constant Lord of the Rings references. Elementals are a law unto themselves, and demons are best left well to themselves. Special agent Lila Black used to be pretty, but now she’s not so sure. Her body is now more than half restless carbon and metal alloy machinery – a machine she’s barely in control of. It goes into combat mode, enough weapons for a small army springing from within itself, at the merest provocation. As for her heart … well ever since being drawn into a Game by the elven rock star she’s been assigned to protect, she’s not even sure she can trust that anymore either.”–BOOK JACKET.

This series, which starts off in the year 2021, is a bit of a hybrid between science fiction and urban fantasy/paranormal fiction. It has more relationship stuff than is typical for sci fi, but much less than a paranormal romance story. So if you’re a die-hard fan of either genre, you might be disappointed.

In the first book, Keeping It Real, our heroine Lila Black was saved from death by the earth’s (called Otopia here) government, which invested a half a billion dollars in her high-tech cyborg body. Still trying to adjust to her new body and the trauma of her assault while on a mission in Aelfheim (the elf world), not to mention the loss of her family who were told she was killed on the mission, she is assigned to protect rock-star elf Zal.  Zal is an anomaly, since everyone knows that “elves don’t rock.” But this one does, and he thinks he doesn’t need protection from the death treats that he’s been getting.

Earth as we know it is different. Magic is known to exist and creatures from the other dimensions – fairies, ghosts, demons, etc. – interact with humans in varying degrees with varying results. The worlds are well-defined and make me wish I could visit them! The Elf world is Aelfheim, rich with magic in its non-tech, garden-like existence. Earth/Otopia is in a young alliance with Aelfheim, but both sides are still feeling their way. Demonia is a color-saturated beautiful world where the demons, also magic-users, live. Faery, land of the fairies, has welcomed tourists from early on.  Zoomenon is the world of the elementals, and not much is known about it. Thanopia is the land of the dead, and no one who goes there ever comes back.

The other books in the series thus far are Selling Out, Going Under, and Chasing the Dragon. By the end of the first book, Lila and Zal are lovers. Things start to look as though they’re not what they appear to be, and the tension increases. What are the various governments hiding? Who are the good guys? Author Justina Robson builds a fascinating mystery around skilful and detailed world-building.  Her writing focuses on some fairly broad themes that she’s covered in her previous publications:  the whole idea of identity,  loyalty, revenge, and love.

These books aren’t puff pieces, as Robson’s sci fi orientation makes them a bit more complicated reading than you’d find in for example a romance novel. Ideas are expressed a bit more subtly. I’ve seen reviews that complain about the sex in the stories, but in my opinion I think these were sci fi fans who don’t “do relationships.” I found that the relationships and sex scenes were underplayed relative to world- and plot-development, but there’s still quite a bit of sizzle between the characters. Just don’t expect any throbbing, dripping body parts.

Once I clicked onto the way Robson writes, I was totally buried in the worlds and the stories. I love Lila Black, a woman who’s whole life has been upended through no fault of her own and who is trying to carve out a place for herself in the new reality. It’s not always easy going, as she’s a damaged soul who doesn’t have a lot of experience in doing what’s she’s been assigned to do. She’s always trusted those in authority, but she’s beginning to see that she doesn’t have the whole story and in fact is probably being manipulated and lied to to serve some mysterious end. Zal is sexy and conflicted, as he too starts to think that everything he thinks he knows may not be true. The journey to the truth is fascinating, violent, and treacherous, and I’m totally hooked on this series!

I would have preferred to have had more detail on the hows and whys of Zal and Lila’s relationship. It’s handled a bit abruptly, and it just sort of appears. Still a great read though, and I can’t wait for the next book in the series!

The books I like best tend to be darker, more violent, less hooked on the happily-ever-after formula, and big on world-building. In other words, more of an urban fantasy tilt. After all, the whole point of the supernatural world is that its different. So I like to see those differences in the worlds the characters inhabit.

I like books that give me a different feeling.  That tingle the hairs on the back of my neck, and give me a feeling that I’ve just stepped into something strange and memorable. Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series fits the bill nicely.

The setting is a alternate Atlanta, a bit into the future. For the last 30 years, the balance between magic and technology has become unstable, and the world is lashed with “magic storms” that tear down buildings and destroy technology. Tech surfaces like the sun in between thunderstorms, letting the phones and lights work again, only to be battered again when the magic rises. People get around on horses, mules, camels – whatever non-tech means they can find, because cars often don’t work.

In this realm, supernatural creatures like werewolves, witches, shamans, vampires and more abound, and evil magic threatens everywhere. Magical mercenary Kate Daniels, who’s hiding a secret of her own, battles evil magic first as a solo act, then as part of the Order of magical knights who try to keep a lid on things.

There are 4 books and one novella in the series thus far, with one book out next year: Magic Bites, Magic Burns, Magic Strikes, Magic Mourns (novella in Must Love Hellhounds Anthology), and Magic Bleeds (coming in May 2010).  Author Ilona Andrews and her husband Gordon are contracted for 7 Kate Daniels books, so we’ve got more Kate on the way.

Andrews’ world-building and character development are outstanding. She powerfully conveys a feeling of “otherness” to her world, without going over the top with fantastic characters and improbable plot twists. Kate Daniels is a bit of a mystery. Her mother was killed by evil beings while fleeing with Kate’s father. Kate was an infant at the time, so we don’t know who they were running from, or why they were threatened. She was raised by her father and grows into a smart, strong, and magically powerful person who royally kicks butt. She also gets injured too, so her powers are not infinite.

The series opens with the hard-drinking Kate, a magical mercenary, finding out that her guardian has been murdered.  In trying to find his killer, she encounters the two main supernatural forces in her world:  the group of paramilitary shapeshifters known as The Pack, and the group of  powerful necromancers who control the undead vampires. The latter group is known as The People. In this world, vampires are not sexy. They are animated corpses, meat puppets, controlled by the necromancers in their pursuit of wealth and power. The creator of The People is the mysterious Roland, who’s story is hinted at and who is clearly a key figure in the Kate saga.  Kate hates The People.  Magic and mayhem ensues as Kate tries to get to the bottom of the murder.

Another requirement for a book to be a favorite is that the characters are smart and witty, and have great dialog. Kate Daniels fits the bill. Her head-talk and dialog with others is hilarious, since she’s a cynical smart-ass.

Since I don’t care much for books that have NO relationship development, pure sci fi or urban fantasy tends to not appeal to me much. I have no problem with adventuresome sex, and lots of it, if it furthers the story. That’s why I’m not a fan of the more romance-influenced books, where the hero and heroine are banging away by page 3, and rarely come up for air.  Kate is a normal young woman with normal appetites, and the heroes here tend to be sexy (if not classically handsome), so she indulges. And it’s hot! But it fits in with the plot and isn’t gratuitous.

I know some readers are appalled by the increasing use of same-sex erotic scenes, menages, or detailed descriptions of bondage or anal sex in today’s romance genres. Haven’t seen that yet in this series, but I think the Andrews’ would write it well if there were.

If you like series books with strong, funny, believable heroines and sexy guys, AND a well-written plot, you’ll like the Kate Daniels books.