In this series of books by Ilona Andrews, Kate Daniels plays a mercenary. In the year 2040, the world experienced a terrible apocalypse. Technology had progressed too quickly, and when magic reappeared, it did so with a vengeance. When magic is up, electricity and technology are down, when magic is down, the technology works, and spells fail.
Nobody knows when the periods start or stop; they occur at random. Kate is a unique individual who confronts a variety of enemies. This is owing to her being a human with a few magical skills but, more importantly, a skilled warrior.
The first novel in the “Kate Daniels” series, Magic Bites, was published in 2007. When magic is up, rogue mages cast spells, bringing creatures with them, and the cars and guns stop working. When technology returns, the magic vanishes. On a supernatural level, it leaves behind a slew of issues.
The book starts with Kate Daniels having a bad streak. She earns her living by resolving any magical issues that arise. Kate’s guardian has been murdered, and she is seeking retribution. The journey leads her into a battle between two powerful factions inside Atlanta’s magical circles.
The Masters of the Dead, as well as the Pack, blame each other for some strange killings that occur. Kate’s guardian’s death may be part of the same puzzle. She is under duress from both sides in her attempt to get the killer, and she discovers that she is out of her element. She, however, wouldn’t want it any other way.
Kate Daniels Books in order
Kate Daniels
- Magic Bites (2007)
- Magic Burn (2008)
- Magic Strikes (2009)
- Magic Bleeds (2010)
- Magic Slays (2011)
- Magic Rises (2013)
- Magic Breaks (2014)
- Magic Shifts (2015)
- Magic Binds (2016)
- Magic Triumphs (2018)
Similar authors
- Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs focuses on the life of shifter Volkswagen mechanic, Mercedes “Mercy” Thompson.
- Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost follows a half-vampire girl. Her nature enables her to hunt down vampires, something her mother supports.
See also: Three Dark Crowns Books in Order.
Most recommended books of the series
- Magic Triumphs (Kate Daniels, #10) (4.56 Goodreads score)
- Magic Binds (Kate Daniels, #9) (4.55 Goodreads score)
- Magic Breaks (Kate Daniels, #7) (4.48 Goodreads score)
- Magic Rises (Kate Daniels, #6 & #5.8) (4.44 Goodreads score)
- Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, #4) (4.44 Goodreads score)
Latest releases in the series
The last and final book of the Kate Daniels series is book number 10, Magic Triumphs, published in 2019.
Book summaries
Magic Bites (2007)
Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way our of her league—but she wouldn’t want it any other way…
Magic Burn (2008)
As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack—Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shape shifters—she quickly realizes much more is at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug of war between two gods hoping for rebirth, and if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, Atlanta may not survive…
Magic Strikes (2009)
Drafted into working for the Order of Merciful Aid, mercenary Kate Daniels has more paranormal problems than she knows what to do with these days. And in Atlanta, where magic comes and goes like the tide, that’s saying a lot.But when Kate’s werewolf friend Derek is discovered nearly dead, she must confront her greatest challenge yet. As her investigation leads her to the Midnight Games—an invitation only, no holds barred, ultimate preternatural fighting tournament—she and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, uncover a dark plot that may forever alter the face of Atlanta’s shapeshifting community…
Magic Bleeds (2010)
Kate Daniels works for the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle—especially if they involve Atlanta’s shapeshifting community. When she’s called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar midway between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers there’s a new player in town. One who’s been around for thousands of years—and rode to war at the side of Kate’s father. This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family…
Magic Slays (2011)
Kate Daniels may have quit the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid, but she’s still knee-deep in paranormal problems. Or she would be if she could get someone to hire her. Starting her own business has been more challenging than she thought it would be—now that the Order is disparaging her good name. Plus, many potential clients are afraid of getting on the bad side of the Beast Lord, who just happens to be Kate’s mate. So when Atlanta’s premier Master of the Dead calls to ask for help with a vampire on the loose, Kate leaps at the chance of some paying work. But it turns out that this is not an isolated incident, and Kate needs to get to the bottom of it—fast, or the city and everyone dear to her may pay the ultimate price…
Magic Rises (2013)
Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shapeshifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta. Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shapeshifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute—and they’ll pay him in medicine. With the young people’s survival and the Pack’s future at stake, Kate and Curran know they must accept the offer—but they have little doubt that they’re heading straight into a trap…
Magic Breaks (2014)
As the mate of the Beast Lord, Curran, former mercenary Kate Daniels has more responsibilities than it seems possible to juggle. Not only is she still struggling to keep her investigative business afloat, but she must now deal with the affairs of the Pack, including preparing her people for attack from Roland, a cruel, ancient being with godlike powers.As Roland’s long shadow looms ever nearer, Kate is called to attend a gathering of leaders from Atlanta’s supernatural factions. When one of the Masters of the Dead is found murdered by a shapeshifter, Kate is given less than twenty-four hours to hunt down the killer. And this time, if she fails, she’ll find herself embroiled in a war that could destroy everything she holds dear…
Magic Shifts (2015)
After breaking from life with the Pack, mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate—former Beast Lord Curran Lennart—are adjusting to a very different pace. While they’re thrilled to escape all the infighting, Kate and Curran know that separating from the Pack completely is a process that will take time. But when they learn that their friend Eduardo has gone missing, Kate and Curran shift their focus to investigate his disappearance. As they dig further into the merc’s business, they discover that the Mercenary Guild has gone to hell and that Eduardo’s recent assignments are connected in the most sinister way… An ancient enemy has arisen, and Kate and Curran are the only ones who can stop it—before it takes their city apart piece by piece.
Magic Binds (2016)
Kate and the former Beast Lord Curran Lennart are finally making their relationship official. But there are some steep obstacles standing in the way of their walk to the altar. Kate’s father, Roland, has kidnapped the demigod Saiman and is slowly bleeding him dry in a never-ending bid for power. A Witch Oracle has predicted that if Kate marries the man she loves, Atlanta will burn and she will lose him forever. And the only person Kate can ask for help is long dead. The odds are impossible. The future is grim. But Kate Daniels has never been one to play by the rules…
Magic Triumphs (2018)
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 their 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.
