Magic Bites
A swordswoman seeks vengeance in a world of magic and technology.
Magic Bites is an urban fantasy novel by the husband-wife writing duo Ilona Andrews, published in 2007 as their debut and the first book in the Kate Daniels series. It is set in a future parallel universe where magic and technology vie for dominance.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Ilona Andrews
- Country
- USA
- Language
- English
- Series
- Kate Daniels
- Genre
- urban fantasy
- Published
- March 27, 2007 (Ace)
- Format
- Print (paperback)
- Audiobook
- E-book
- Pages
- 352
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Kate Daniels, a lethal swordswoman trained to kill the sorcerer Roland, lives in obscurity in a future parallel universe where magic and technology alternate. After her former guardian is murdered, she risks raising her profile to seek vengeance. She must cooperate with the Order of Merciful Aid, the Pack of shapeshifters, and the People, a necromancy corporation. Kate discovers an upir killed her guardian and is targeting factions to start a war, with Kate as its true target. With Curran, the Beast Lord, and Nick of the Order, she kills the upir and earns a full-time position with the Order.
Development history
Ilona Gordon returned to writing as a hobby after her first child's birth and produced two novels. Her second novel was rejected by publishers and an agent; one publisher said it resembled the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton, though Ilona and her husband Gordon were unfamiliar with Hamilton and felt her heroine was different. Ilona began writing with Gordon and joined the Online Writing Workshop (OWW), where one story received positive feedback but could not be edited further. She wrote a new introduction that felt different; Gordon encouraged her to post it to OWW, where feedback was very positive. They combined that snippet with parts of her original second novel to draft a story titled Lost Dog. Ilona submitted it to Tor; a year and a half later, Liz Gorinsky at Tor expressed interest. The couple acquired a literary agent, but Tor was less enthusiastic. Their agent withdrew and shopped the novel elsewhere. In June 2005, it sold to Ace along with a sequel; the novel was renamed Magic Bites and published in 2007 under the pen name Ilona Andrews. An unabridged audiobook was released in 2016, read by Renee Raudman, and a dramatized audio adaptation by Graphic Audio appeared on April 11, 2023.
Reception
Magic Bites was well received, with reviewers praising the world building, its twist on werewolves and vampires, and the heroine, while noting it did not break new ground in the genre. RT Book Reviews called Kate enjoyable but indistinguishable from other urban fantasy heroines. Natalie A. Luhrs complimented the pacing and worldbuilding. The novel was reviewed in Locus. In 2023, Reactor called it an iconic urban fantasy and described Kate as a chaos agent, a troublemaker, and an ultimate good guy.
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