Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews (Revised)

~ spoilers ~

They have got to be my all-time favorite authors so far this year. I just recently figure out after reading this book that Ilona Andrews is a pseudonym for a husband and wife that write novels. I know I raved about Lev Grossman and his style of writing earlier in my posts, but seriously Ilona Andrews is awesome, at least from my perspective. Both authors have this amazing collaborative power that is fearsome. You have just enough of macho actions scenes, with mystery, and the sensitive little love spurts that keeps your attention in check. The Kate Daniel' series is a great example of this action with love waiting in anticipation. When I say a little love from earlier, I mean it. She hasn't had any ferocious scenes of romance that last pages long, she has been modest and kept PG13 rated, only kissing so far. Compared to Kim Harrison and Karen Chance, who both have some.... interesting descriptions.

The book I read, Magic Strikes, is the third novel to the Kate Daniels series and there are two more as far as I know. The book series goes in order from Magic Bites, Magic Burns, Magic Strikes, Magic Bleeds, and Magic Slays. In Magic Strikes Kate is a liaison for the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, in which she has to take care of the paranormal problem no one wants to take care of in Atlanta, unofficially. The third book leaves off two months after the second. Kate gets caught up in the Midnight Games, which leads to a lot of bloody fights and drama.

The Kate Daniel's series is a little bit dark science fiction and humorous. Kate Daniels, the female protagonist, is a mercenary that lives in Atlanta. She is also an expert swordsman, which is very cool because if I had to master one skill in the entire world before I die, I would pick swordsmanship. Because of obvious reasons learning that trade wouldn't be much help now, but it's still awesome. What I love best about her novels is that she doesn't make vampires look like some pretty boys that seduce you to them in fashionable ways. No, she keeps them ugly, crude, creepy, and bloodthirsty. They are also controlled by necromancers. YES! Finally I have been waiting for someone to do that.

What also catches my attention in their novels is the alternate world that Kate lives in. It is very similar to our world, but different in its own magical way. I love it. It isn't they typical vampires and werewolves novel, it has a quirky kick to it. The random magic outbursts is pretty funny, but then it makes Kate's job harder because she has to help all the people in need of help. Curran, the Beast Lord of the shape-shifters, is also hilarious. He teases Kate so bad and she doesn't give in. She keeps her class which is one of the reasons why I admire Kate's character so much. I don't want to say anything else much to try and not spoil everything. That would be a bad thing. Just keep reading through the first book, because it might be a little hard to get through, but it is worth while in the end.  

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I love the book and afterwards I watched the movie again. The movie follows the book so well. I found it a little harder for me to pay attention and listen to what was going on while listening to the radio recordings. I will eventually listen to the whole thing over break, hopefully. I will find a way. Oh my goodness!! The novel was great honestly. Ford Prefect is one of my favorite characters in the book. He is so quirky and funny. The fact that his name is impossible to say is hilarious. I sorta feel the same way with my last name, Iuliucci. Marvin the robot is my second favorite character. The poor robot whose brain is the size of a planet that is bored and depressed all the time. I never fully understood what was going on in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie until I watched it a second time. Even after watching it twice I still never paid enough attention to details, woopsies. I watched it in high school and haven't watched until last week when I watched the movie. I can watch that movie a bunch of times and not get tired of it now. I noticed in the beginning of the novel that the dolphins fly away and say, “So long and thanks for all the fish!” It probably would have taken me a little while to reread that part and full understand it if I didn't see the movie. What really cracked me up was the the description of Earth was “mostly harmless.” I laughed a lot. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has all the expectations I would want in a book: intelligence, humor, adventure, with a little bit of horror and romance. It has a bit of everything in it. What I found the most intriguing was the towel protectant and the answer to the universe. I feel like I need to carry around a towel now because of this book. I always have one in my car, so I'm half way there. :) The answer to the life, the universe, and everything is 42. haha I have no idea why it is 42, but I would love to find out why. I plan to read the other four books to the five book series. I really liked the novel and I look forward to reading more. :D

Kindred by Octavia Butler

When I first started reading Kindred I had no idea what it was going to be about. I knew an African American wrote it and that the novel is a science fiction/fantasy book. That was about it. The first few pages were shocking. It caught my attention in a jiffy. The action the took place is what surprised me because she lost her arm within that first few pages. It definitely kept me reading along and wanting to know more about why she lost her arm. It took me a little while to figure out that after that event happened she took a step back and started from the beginning to explain how she got into this situation in the first place. She pulled a Quentin Tarantino. Personally I like it when authors do that in books because it is a good way to catch the reader's attention. I don't like when it happens all the time, but otherwise I love it. I could not stop reading the book when I picked it up. While I worked on Sunday I was reading the book on my breaks and every chance I had I was reading that book. I got at least half of the book done before I got off of work. When I got home I started to read again, even though I know I should have done other homework. I finished the book before class and I couldn't find myself to write about it the day after. I felt like I needed to wait in order to write about it, to let it sink in. The way she approaches the history of slavery is amazing. Though I learned about the Underground Railroad and slavery in the United States in middle school, I feel like I understand what happened back then better, for some reason. I always knew what happened to them was horrible and ruthless, but now that I had a taste of what they went through it helps me realize how serious things were. Unfortunately, slavery is still happening in the United States. :( Nonetheless, Butler has opened doors in my mind that I never knew were there. I felt that Kindred was a big step out of the normal books that I usually read. I really enjoyed the book and I think I might explore more books the Octavia Butler has to offer, that is if I don't get stuck in Ilona Andrews world.