| Series: | Kate Daniels #10 |
| Pub. Date: | Aug. 28, 2018 |
| Publisher: | Berkley |
| Length: | 336 pgs |
| Source: | NetGalley |
Magic Triumphs is the final installment of one of my very favorite series, Kate Daniels, by Ilona Andrews, a most excellent husband-wife writing duo. This book was so bittersweet for me. We have been working toward this conclusion for years, but the closer we got, the more reluctant I was for the series to end. Kate and Curran are two of my favorite urban fantasy characters, and this is one of the series that I have re-read time and time again. I'm sure I will be re-reading these again in the future, and I think there are rumors of a spinoff series, but I'm still a little sad to say goodbye to this dynamic duo in their current iteration.
So Kate and Curran are now raising their son, Conlan. It was so fun to see them as parents of such a cute and cuddly little boy. Kate, being who she is, flying by the seat of her pants, slaying evil, saving Atlanta, and wrangling all different kinds of personalities... I wasn't sure how she would fit being a parent into all that craziness. But she handles it like everything else, one day at a time. And of course she is an uber-protective parent, to the point of being accused of being a helicopter mom! Curran was the more laid back dad, and I loved all his interactions with Conlan. But even more interesting in this installment were the changes that were happening around Curran - they were quite unexpected and interesting.
We knew that things were coming to a head between our favorite characters and Roland, Kate's dad and our long-standing villain(ish) character. I love the way that the authors made Roman this gray character... we never know what he is going to do. And this installment was no different. Not only is Kate having to figure out a resolution to her daddy issues, but there is another big bad that has made his way to Atlanta, one who may have history with Kate's family. So Kate has to fight a battle on two fronts, which seems par for the course these days.
We got a nice integration of characters in this final story. I liked that the various supernatural entities of Atlanta were featured, and reminded us of parts they have played in this series as it unfolded. These authors have such a great imagination and all of their characters have been interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, but always adding that extra something special to each story. I won't say that I was absolutely happy with where all the cards fell at the end, but I won't complain about how things ended up.
My only regret for this book was that I didn't get the opportunity to read Hugh's book, Iron and Magic, before starting this one. I have the book lined up in my Audible queue, so I will be listening to it soon. I think if I was privy to what Hugh had been up to in the interim, it would have enriched this story even more (and it was already stellar even without that knowledge).
Overall, this is going down as one of my very favorite series of all time. Now that it's over, I want to go back and re-read the entire series in audio (for maybe the 4th or 5th time). I have a feeling that will be a project for the new year.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher, Berkley Publishing.
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