I promised myself I wasn't going to read this until House Andrews announced a release date for either the second Iron Covenant book or the sequel to Aurelia Ryder.I promised myself....I'm a weak, weak gremlin person with no concept of delayed gratification.But in all fairness to me, it was stormy in my brain (and body; chronic pain can go fuck itself right up an evergreen) and I needed my happiest place in fiction to make me feel something other than swirling, anxiety-driven chaos.A perfectly cromulent reason to break a book pact with oneself, no?Agree, don't agree, it's happened now, I can't take it back, but now I'm equal parts bloody delighted and furiously pissed off.Why so?Because Magic Claims is fucking brilliant and comforting and funny and kickass, and now there isn't anything Kate-based to read in my immediate future.No fallbacks. No story in waiting. Just a Kate-shaped void and it sucksssssss.
Reasonably, I know this will end, that HA will release a new book when it's ready, and I'll once again be a happy urban-fantasy-loving goblin, rambling around with furry friends and squashing bad guys.I even know I could continue on with The Edge series, or start Innkeeper, Hidden Legacy, or the Nevada Baylor trilogy.(I also know I could just re-read all the KD books but I suck at re-reading. So many books, so little lifespan ⏳)My brain is perfectly capable of computing this reality, but my idiot heart's stuck on a sobbing loop of BUT NONE OF THEM ARE KATE AND CURRRAAAAANNNNNN!Remember above when I said I was a weak gremlin person? I'm also a stubborn gremlin person who'll pout 'til she gets what she wants.And what I want is an Eternal Sunshine machine to erase Magic Claims from my brain, whilst squirrelling away a sneaky little caveat in the good old grey matter that I will not, under any stressed out circumstances, read this book until there are more stories in the near, near, near future....But that's not going to happen because we're building robots instead of mind-fuckery machines, so I'll just scream into the abyss about how fucking great my blorbos are instead.
Magic Claims is everything I love about the Kate Daniels series: its wittiness, its attention to detail, its humanity in a sea of supernaturals.How its lore is steeped in not only mythology but history, how I never feel info-dumped on, or overwhelmed by descriptions but instead immersed in the landscape.That when the characters talk they seem like actual people instead of automatons lobbing lengthy, grandiose speeches every time they open their mouths.And how HA have this magic ability to create villains that aren't your stereotypical, maniacal laughing cartoons we're so often bombarded with in fantasy, but replaced with genuinely terrifying powerhouses with actual personalities.These are the many and various things that made me the HA fan I am today, and Magic Claims is a perfect love letter to its origins.With Kate, Curran, and Conlan now settled in Wilmington, building a new home, making a new life, they've truly become the solid unit I knew they would be; with now ten years of distance from the battle of Atlanta, they've had time to shed that former existence of being in constant danger, fending off the villain of the week, and have been able to build the foundations of their family and watch it thrive.That's everything I've wanted for them since the beginning, since Kate sent that bowl of milk to Curran's table when they were both on separate dates and their story officially began, and now they finally have it.They talk with more relaxed familiarity now, respect each other with more ferocity, work through their problems together instead of going behind each other's backs in the name of selfless protection, and of course, their bicker-flirting has only reached new peaks.
He scooped me up off my log."What are you doing?"Curran spun around and sprinted to the water with me in his arms. The beach flew by."Stop! Curran! Cu―"He threw me. I hurtled through the air and splashed into the ocean. The water closed over my head.Aaaa!I flailed, broke the surface, and gasped. Curran locked me into his arms, his gray eyes laughing."You said invigorating, not fucking freezing. Let go of me!""Let me warm you up.""I'll warm myself up!"His smile gained a wicked edge. "Even more interesting."I smacked him, kicked him in the chest, and launched into a frenzied freestyle, trying to warm up. I stopped about a minute later. In a calm lake, I would've ended up one hundred yards from where I started. In the ocean, against the current, I made it about fifty.Curran floated next to me, and he wasn't even breathing hard. It's good to be a werelion."Hey, baby.""You are too much."
They're my most beloved couple in Urban Fantasy (Sorry, Mercy and Adam; sincerest apologies, Toby and Tybalt; you're both a very close second), their love makes me feel loved, and reading them sparks this overload of joy inside every molecule of my body that feels like genuine sorcery.When they fight together, when they lovingly pick on each other, when they check in with each other.I love it all.I love them.
He hugged me tighter. "I love you the way you are. If you choose to change, I will love you still. [...] Stay with me, Kate.""I love you. Where would I go?"
And I knew Kate knew!I knew it!Sorry, tangent, but whilst reading Blood Heir, I was hyperaware of just how not present Kate was in Julie's life (obviously for life-threatening reasons, duh) and how wrong that felt. I know Kate, I know how she thinks and behaves and feels about those she loves, and there is no power in the 'verse that could stop her from getting to her kid if she was in trouble. Not a damn thing. The only thing that would stop her is knowing it would be worse to interfere.I mean, clearly, Kate'd still be plotting ways to get around that, she's still the pissed off battering ram of a woman she was from the very start, but she's capable of strategy now, especially when it comes to family, so of course she's looking for loopholes, and I expect them to come to fruition very soon.But still, I knew it!I love being right about stuff. I'm never right. Plot twists always surprise me. I never figure things out.So...
The question is, will this lead to a Kate appearance in the next Aurelia Ryder books?Or perhaps more of the Wilmington series?Because come on, there's so much new information in this one little novella to fuel a legion of new stories in the KD world, it'd be criminal not to continue.A few examples:
🗡️ Conlan, for starters
Look, the kid's part shifter (a First, specifically), part descendant of an ancient mage with god-like power, there has to be a story waiting for him in the future. Surely. You cannot take Kate and Curran's DNA, smoosh it together, and not pop out a legend with sarcasm skills to rival his parents.You cannot. I refuse to believe it.And HA keep introducing him to new people, new shifters, new friends....How am I not meant to take that as a potential new band of fuzzies and Conlan as their Alpha?HOW?!
🗡️ Prehistoric shifters
Honestly - and one of my favourite things about HA's storytelling, I did not see this coming.I can't remember exactly when it's revealed that Curran's a First - a descendant of the original shifters, but it's been a fairly consistently noted aspect of his characterisation throughout the series.It's why he's an Alpha with such immense power and others simply... aren't.And now we have actual context for that, we got to see his and Conlan's origins in the flesh, and acknowledge the true potency of their lineage....And then proceed to watch Curran rip its heart out, but... y'know... shifters.All the same, though, this introduction of prehistoric shapeshifters brings a whole new side to the lore of KD; we know what the Pack can do, we've seen it, but what do the newcomers bring to the table?How do they differ?What do they offer?I'd be really excited to see how they fit into Kate's world and what past wonders they could introduce her to.Just saying, HA.
🗡️ PACK
Again, this one kinda shocked me, but it really shouldn't've.I love the Daniels-Lennarts, love them with my full, dumb heart, but there was no way in hell they were going to amble off to a new life and live it peacefully.No way, that's just not how they roll, and more so, it's not who they are.
"When the shapeshifters jumped us in the forest, and that big one tried to eat my head, and then I stabbed her?""Mhm.""I enjoyed it." And there it was. I said it and waited."I know," he said. "After you killed the skull mage, you turned to me and you were smiling. A big, bright smile. Old Kate smile.""Old Kate?""Dangerous Kate. Stabby Kate. My Kate."I raised my head and leaned it on my bent elbow. "Stabby?""Yes. Exciting." He grinned.So far, so good. "More words, bigger hole, Your Furriness.""You haven't called me that in forever.""You haven't roared in forever."His grin relaxed into a softer smile. "When I was on the wall with Keelan's pack at my back, it felt right. Seeing the enemy come, and meeting them, and stopping them. I missed it. It was a battle, Kate. We haven't been in a battle together in forever."It was time to stop dipping my toes into the water and just jump in.Like right about now.Now would be good."Some pair of homicidal maniacs we are," I murmured, buying time."We're not maniacs. We do what we have to do, and we do it well. Like it or not, the world needs an occasional roar. Maybe in the future it won't, but for now, it can use it."
I want them safe and happy, like it said, it's been a constant desire I've carried since the beginning, but they just aren't those kind of people, they can't be, not when they possess so much power.Kate's basically a goddess.Curran's near invincible.They attract attention, trouble, people in need of rescue and protection; they're leaders who thrive on solving problems, engaging in battles no one else can fight, and keeping people safe.Run away to Wilmington and play house?Pfft, not my idiots.
Erra gave me one of her patented ancient power stares, reached over, and slapped an invisible ball in front of her."Is that you smacking my head?""You are playing a very dangerous game. You've been trying to hide from who you are. First, you tried to do it in Atlanta, and now you're trying to do it here. [...] You're puttering around on this beach, fixing this ruin, and trying to lull yourself into a false sense of security. Do you honestly think that you've solved your problems, child? That if you just stay in this little fortress on the edge of the continent, the world will forget about you, and you can have a quiet life? Even if you ran away to the most remote peak in the Himalayas, it wouldn't matter. Sooner or later, they will come for you, and you won't be ready."
I wasn't expecting the rebuilding of the Pack (or the character assassination of Jim, what's that all about, HA?), though. After the resolute way Curran left his post as the Beast Lord after what the Pack did to Kate when he was dying, and how profoundly Kate hated being the Consort, I would never have thought they'd even contemplate starting anew, let alone do it.But here we are, they've bagged themselves an impenetrable castle in the woods and a brand new band of shifters to boot.The Wilmington Pack is a go.
"The Pack was built on a faulty premise," Curran said. "It was bound to break sooner or later."Karter nodded again."Let's make something better," Curran said.The words sunk in. Karter frowned. "Who?""Us," Curran said. "Let's make something better."
So, I repeat, HA cannot leave us this way, it wouldn't be fair.
🗡️ Roland
Dearest dad's gonna get out at some point, right?...Honestly, Roland and Kate's relationship is not a bond I thought I'd be so invested it, what with nefarious father figures usually being pretty uncool guys, but Roland is a testament to HA's continually impressive character-building.Yes, he's a bad guy who's done monstrous things: killed all his children because of their power, killed Kate's mum, tried to kill Kate, amongst other heinous crimes, but somehow, this charming fucker has a way of making you love him.In part, because he loves Kate so very much.I know, doesn't make sense when he's so threatened by her power that he attempted to shuffle her off ye olde mortal coil, but that's why he's such a good villain.He's not solely insane with power, he's not after the apocalypse, he's not full of rage.He's a wildly intelligent man with too much power, not enough empathy, but an infinite amount of love for his family - when he calls Kate, "Blossom", I get a little squishy inside.When they behave to his liking, that is.Ugh, when I write it, it sounds bad, but it's kind of why I love him?He's not bad, he's not good, he's not even morally grey, he's just... attractive, compelling.And I know that at some point he's going to escape the prison he's trapped in and make a menace of himself, but the only thing that sparks in me is anticipation.
🗡️ Big bads napping
Short and sweet, this one, it just makes me wonder how many other villains have gone for a millennia-nap and are just waiting for their homicidal alarm clock to go off and take a shot at my girl?The scope this allows...
Makes you wonder, doesn't it?Obviously, I'm not the author(s) here, so I get no say in how/if they continue Kate's story, that's not my call, but I don't know, the world they've built is so fucking rich that it would feel wasteful to let it go....But I'm insane with love for Kate, et al., and would love the KD series to go on forever, so I'm perhaps a tad biased.I love my authors, and I'll trust their judgement, follow them narratively anywhere (and wait patiently while they do it; don't bully your authors to churn books out, people, quality art takes time), but while I still have fingers, I'm going to keep them crossed that this isn't the end.
...While I was writing this, HA released a schedule:
...
Ps. This scene:
"Stop," Keelan and I ordered at the same time.
Hakeem froze.
I caught up with him. "What is it?"
He pointed with his stick in the direction of the giant pine. Four stone spheres about the size of baseballs were stacked on top of each other in the clearing, about fifteen yards from the big tree. By every law of physics, they should have collapsed. They had to be held together by magic, but nothing emanated from them. From this distance, they looked like rocks. Unnaturally smooth and round rocks.
"Were you going to poke them with a stick?" Keelan growled.
Hakeem looked uncertain. "Yes?"
"When you find freaky shit in the scary woods, you don't poke it with a stick. It can explode in your face. What do you do instead?"
Hakeem clearly didn't know the answer to that question. I almost felt sorry for him. He had just turned eighteen this year, and this was likely his first real outing.
"You ask the Consort. The Consort knows everything."
"Oh," Hakeem said.
Keelan pivoted to me. "Consort, please tell us what this is."
"I have no idea."
Keelan blinked, his teaching moment temporarily derailed. He took a second to recover. "How do we proceed?"
I held my hand out, and Hakeem surrendered his branch. "I'm going to poke it with a stick."
To my left Troy snickered. Owen cracked a smile.
Keelan looked like he was about to suffer a conniption fit.
...
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