MAGIC BURNS

Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews  260 pages

Reviewed by Rae C.

This is book two of the series.
My review of book one https://slplbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2018/09/magic-burns.html

Kate Daniels lives in an Atlanta besieged by waves of magic so strong that technology is left powerless, and sometimes skyscrapers collapse.  When the magic rolls through the cars stop and the lights go out, so people will ride horses or magic vehicles, and use fey and other magically charged lights. Kate now works for the Order of Merciful Aid as well as the Mercenary Guild.  And in this book there is a magic "flare"- much stronger than usual, in fact, strong enough for Gods and their entourage to enter this realm.  Kate helps a young girl, Julie, whose mother has gone missing, along with the rest of the witches in her coven.

I like this book a lot.  I love the introduction of Julie, and Julie's storyline- especially the romantic interest Julie has for a boy who is just worthless (sorry, that could be considered a spoiler). And I love Andrea's developing character, and I won't give any spoilers on that.  The romance between Curran and Kate begins to sizzle, and we get some very interesting information on Pack relationships, especially alphas. We also learn a lot more about Kate's background and what she is capable of- enough to make accurate guesses about what is going to be revealed in book 3- and we explore a lot more of this alternate Atlanta, and it is spectacular!

My problems were with the use of Celtic mythology.  Bran is obviously modeled on Bran the Blessed, I was okay with that. And the inclusion of the Fomorians led me to think that the authors had done some real research, and then tailored it to fit their story.  (There's scant information available in the old stories on the Formorians, the sea demons that the Celtic tribes had to fight when they arrived in Ireland.) But Bolgor the Shepherd was a little too over the top and obviously pure invention- and invention that is not rooted in any sort of existing mythology that I know of.  Bolgor doesn't behave or have powers in a manner suited to any branch of Celtic mythology.  And this strange Morrigan versus the Great Crow? Well,  just turn your academic brain off if you need to, and let the characters exist solely in the story.  That's what I did.

Couldn't wait to read book 3 when I finished this one!