Path: ...!news-out.netnews.com!s1-1.netnews.com!peer01.iad!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!nntp.club.cc.cmu.edu!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan ) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Re: "Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years) by Ilona Andrews Date: 14 Sep 2024 04:41:51 GMT Organization: loft Lines: 39 Message-ID: References: X-Trace: individual.net ORnMiWmFFQConr2+aCdsGwNvqxVXr3L4T4h2h+H5y+c2iu152f X-Orig-Path: not-for-mail Cancel-Lock: sha1:7tHqQ+RWjJFTeQUYTo5XwasRtPY= sha256:NsQygjxjjI5IsBg9Cf5UdhpljPF5etjGhDYzWP1+7Vk= X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test76 (Apr 2, 2001) X-Received-Bytes: 2656 Bytes: 2826 In article , Scott Dorsey wrote: >In article , >Lynn McGuire wrote: >>"Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years) by Ilona Andrews >> >>https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Claims-Kate-Daniels-Wilmington/dp/B0C4ZJSJTL/ >> >>Book number two of a two book paranormal romance dark fantasy series. >>There are predecessor books, short stories, and successor books to the >>series also that is over twenty books long. I read the well printed and >>well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published by NYLA >>Publishing in 2023 that I bought new on Amazon recently. Note that >>“Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team. I >>will purchase successor books if they become available (hopefully). > >Given the recommendations in this newsgroup, I bought a copy of Andrews' >_Diamond Fire_ and it feels like it just doesn't work. It's trying to be >a fantasy novel in a magical world, a classic romance story, and a mystery >all at the same time. Then all of a sudden it's trying to be a YA story to >appeal to teens. As a mystery it is a total bust since the reader is >never presented with the information needed to figure out who did it until >it is announced. So the concept didn't work well for me. > >Also... the print quality was really bad even by MMPB standards. The print >was grey, and the printing actually had jaggies. How long has it been since >anyone has seen visible jaggies in printing? Someone needs a copy of Metafont. >--scott > Hmm, I probably wouldn't start with a side-novella. Also, Hidden Legacy is a bit more romancey than Kate Daniels, so if you want a bit less of that, start there. But of course if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't. I've bounced hard off a number of books recommended here. -- columbiaclosings.com What's not in Columbia anymore..