Family Feud Finale: Reviewing Magic Triumphs

Magic Triumphs (2018)
Written by: Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels #10
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 439
Publisher: Ace Books

Why I Chose This: My 2019 Resolution Project for Speculative Chic is to read the books in the Kate Daniels series and finish up with a first read of the final book. This is my first time reading this title.

The Premise:

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.

No spoilers

Discussion: And thus, we’ve come to the end of my 2019 Resolution Project for Speculative Chic. I’ve been waiting all year to read this series finale. If you count from the beginning, I’ve been waiting 13 years, since I originally read Magic Bites in 2007. I picked up a book at random because the author shared a unique first name with my mother and ended up discovering my favorite author, my favorite book series, and so much inspiration for my own writing. So, how did I close out the series?

If you guessed devouring this book in a single evening, alternately laughing and crying, you’d be absolutely correct.

The final book in a series should encapsulate the best of everything that has come before. In this case, highlights include epic world-building, fascinating takes on various mythologies, character interactions, and bad-ass fight scenes. Kate Daniels (now Kate Lennart) has evolved from a loner focused on hiding her heritage to one of the major powers of Atlanta, surrounding herself with family, friends, and allies.

The family feud between Kate and her father Roland goes on a temporary hold as Kate has her baby, but the majority of the first half of the book is spent waiting for the other shoe to drop. Babies make everyone adorable, from ferocious werebears to vicious necromancers, and even this child-free reader thinks Conlan is too cute for words. But nothing in Kate’s life can be normal, especially not her kid.

Then, Kate has more to worry about than her unpredictable child or the shadow of her dad’s vengeance. The mysterious enemy we met in Kentucky wants to chomp down on Atlanta. While everyone knows Roland will eventually be back, suddenly Kate has to unite the city’s different factions against a foe no one even believes in.

Luckily, one person who has her back no matter what is Curran, former Beast Lord of Atlanta. He’s traded wrangling werecreatures for herding mercenaries, but he’s also got his eye on a greater goal. Kate is the pessimist in this relationship, which means Curran needs to make some contingency plans in case the worst happens. It’s kind of insane, but it fits perfectly with how the authors have crafted this saga, and left me sobbing over the depth of Kate and Curran’s love for each other. Certainly a far cry from the days when Curran was a walking example of toxic masculinity.

And then we arrive at the grand finale. No spoilers here, but it was everything I could have wanted from the final showdown between Kate and Roland — and then some. Events end with a massive twist and multiple unexpected outcomes, cementing this series as one I will recommend to urban fantasy fans for years to come.

In conclusion: I will always want more stories set in this world, but Kate, Curran, and Conlan have more than earned their happily ever after. I look forward to checking in on them as side characters in future adventures. You might think me optimistic, but there are still two books left in Hugh’s Iron Covenant trilogy, and the epilogue of Magic Triumphs is almost certainly a promise for more. I can’t wait.