Author Spotlight: Ilona Andrews

Through the years I’ve heard about their books, but hadn’t been interested in reading anything from them until a few years back, right before the pandemic hit us all in the face. Being the Romantic Fiction Buyer at the time, I ordered books of the Hidden Legacy series and thought the premise interesting, but actually became really interested in the science fiction series Kinsmen, which I could only find as ebooks at the time. I got completely hooked on their stories and style. So after reading all the Kinsmen books I could find, I looked for other titles written by them and immediately started on the Innkeeper Chronicles, which had a less romantic premise than Hidden Legacy and was a lot more urban fantasy and science fiction than romantic fantasy.

At the time they had already written 3 out of 6 titles in the series and I was immediately hooked. And while waiting for new titles in the Innkeeper Chronicles, I found the Kate Daniels world and started on that series, which by then had just been completed, so I could read it all in one go.

During the pandemic also I discovered their website, where they publish news about their own lives, but also about the books they’re working on. Occasionally they publish serials as well. That was where I started reading the serial Blood Heir about Aurelia Ryder, a character from the Kate Daniel books, now all grown up. It’s also where they started mentioning Maggie the Undying, the main character in their new book This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me. And published the serial The Inheritance, which released a few months back.

What makes them such interesting authors?

Besides being a duo -we have plenty of those going around lately- they are a duo that works really well together, write superbly well-researched books, are very funny in their banter, and their characters are usually well fleshed out, with defined personalities, where their actions make sense to who they are. Their writing is fluid and easy to follow -without being too easy-, and most of their series are well-planned. I have never found an inconsistency in their books, and I’ve read both the Kate Daniels and Innkeeper series many times. It all fits perfectly and makes sense, and even when you don’t like the direction things take, it makes absolute sense. I think this is an important part of why they are so successful.

They entice their audience with the serials on the blog, so we do have to buy the book to read the end of the story. And in between writing the serial and publishing the book or novella, they make some changes, which makes buying the book a new experience as well. The end product is always more polished than what they publish as serials on the blog, and taking part in the process and noticing where they’ve made changes is also a fun experience. They have an immense amount of followers -the Book Devouring Horde (BDH for short)- and we (of course I’m part of it! as well as Naomi, and I think we’ve converted Damla) just indeed devour everything they write because it’s just that good.

Kate Daniels series

Kate Daniels lives in a world where there’s been a magic apocalypse. Technology has been pushed too far, and magic returned with a vengeance, coming in waves and without warning, vanishing suddenly and making life complicated. When magic is up, most of the technology doesn’t work. When magic is down, technology has the upper hand and spells fail. Kate was trained as a killer, and because her existence is a secret, she hides in plain sight. But life is never easy, and she makes friends she’d prefer not to make, and falls in love when the world is almost always against her. In this world, shapeshifters and vampires are a reality, all kinds of religions have influence, and living is a constant battle up hill.

Innkeeper Chronicles

Dina Demille seems like a normal person, managing a B&B in a small Texas town. But Dina is actually different: she has magic, her Inn is magic,  it’s actually a lodging for otherworldly visitors, and she is not allowed to let people know about the existence of aliens. Her only permanent guest is a wanted galactic tyrant with a fine wit. Dina shouldn’t get involved in anything that can pose a threat to reveal the nature of her Inn, but that’s easier said than done…

Hidden Legacy series

Hidden Legacy is set in a world much like our own, where over a hundred years ago, several countries developed a serum that awakened one’s latent magical powers. They gave that serum to everybody willing to risk dying from it. Eventually, they figured out that giving humans the ability to spit fire and summon monsters wasn’t such a good thing, but by that point, it was too late. The magical powers turned out to be hereditary. Now the world is ruled by magical dynasties, powerful Houses, who marry for magic, maintain private armies, and own global corporations.*

The Edge series

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…*

NB.: Unfortunately Fate’s Edge is out of print at the moment. We might be able to order it from a second-hand/antiquary supplier.

Other titles

Some of these are related to the Kate Daniels series, such as Blood Heir (Aurelia Ryder series),  Iron and Magic (Iron Convenant series) and Sanctuary, but most are part of other ongoing series with only one or two books published in the series so far, such as The Inheritance (Breach Wars), The Kinsmen Universe and Fated Blades (Kinsmen), and Alphas: Origins (Alphas).

NB.: Alphas: Origins is unfortunately out of print and at this moment none of our suppliers have it in stock.

*as published on Ilona Andrews’ website.