Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews

Mercenary Kate Daniels must risk all to protect everything she holds dear in this epic, can't-miss entry in the thrilling #1 New York Times bestselling urban-fantasy series. Kate has come a long way from her origins as a loner taking care of paranormal problems in post-Shift Atlanta. She's made friends and enemies. She's found love and started a family with Curran Lennart, the former Beast Lord. But her magic is too strong for the power players of the world to let her be. Kate and her father, Roland, currently have an uneasy truce, but when he starts testing her defenses again, she knows that sooner or later a confrontation is inevitable. The Witch Oracle has begun seeing visions of blood, fire, and human bones. And when a mysterious box is delivered to Kate's doorstep, a threat of war from the ancient enemy who nearly destroyed her family, she knows her time is up. Kate Daniels sees no other choice but to combine forces with the unlikeliest of allies. She knows betrayal is inevitable. She knows she may not survive the coming battle. But she has to try. For her child. For Atlanta. For the world.

Magic Triumphs is an entertaining enough book by itself (though still not nearly as good as earlier Kate Daniels books), but I felt that it was a horrible finale to a ten-book series. It seemed like a middle “filler” book until around the 90% point, and then Magic's Big Triumph happened and was over in about 20 pages. This was followed by a brief summary explaining what happened to various characters and an epilogue teasing yet another spin-off.

If this had not been the conclusion and just a fun-if-not-particularly-amazing book in the middle of the series, I probably would have given it 3 stars. However, given the way it hastily tied everything up, I think it deserves a lower rating.

I'm disappointed since I used to LOVE the Kate Daniels series, but they're just not working as well for me as they used to and I'm not planning to read any more related books.

Full Review with Reflections on the Kate Daniels Series

This book finished almost as I expected. A lot of lose ends were tied up.

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Magic Triumphs

Kate has come to terms with claiming Atlanta. While she doesn't like how drastically life has changed, she has had no choice but to accept it and move on. And now that far reaching dream of a home and family has come true. Kate has a family and a group of friends willing to defend them. When her father puts out a hit on her son, and an ancient enemy rears its head to attack Atlanta, it's just another battle to Kate and the crew. But this time Kate has a lot more to lose.

Watching Kate as she struggles to balance being a mother and working her cases was a new level of entertainment. Ilona Andrews paired the skills Kate developed in the field into motherhood so well, even though I would never have thought the two would coincide. But having lightning fast reflexes with a toddler does come in handy. Especially because a child from Curran and Kate is bound to get into trouble, repeatedly.

There were a few areas where the book time jumps. But even with the slight gaps in the story, it flowed well, and I understood why the pace needed to pick up. Being the last in the series, Magic Triumphs, had a lot of loose ends to tie up. True to the Kate Daniels' style, the pages flew by, but Ilona Andrews brought the series around full circle and made sure nothing was left unanswered. They even snuck in one last new culture of monsters and symbolism.

The final installment in the Kate Daniels series is everything fans of the series could hope for. Everything we have come to know and love about the series is compounded into one last book, and some older characters we haven't seen in a while have a last chance to shine. There are myriad of short stories that take place in between the major books of the series, and I'm going to backtrack to read them and stay in this world a little bit longer. I'm just not ready to say goodbye.