Complete Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews in Order + Q&A
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Atlanta has never been so deadly—good thing Kate Daniels is on the job...
The Kate Daniels series from Ilona Andrews takes place in a magical version of Atlanta where the world has suffered a magic apocalypse. The magic comes and goes like the tide—and with it, the normal laws of physics come and go as well.
Monsters prowl the ruined streets, werebears and werehyenas stalk their prey; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds.
In this world lives Kate Daniels, who was introduced in 2007’s Magic Bites. She likes her sword a little too much, and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight.
The name Ilona Andrews is a pseudonym for the husband-and-wife writing team of Andrew and Ilona Gordon. In an interview for the blog of author Nalini Singh, they said the fight scenes in the books are choreographed before they go on the page.
“Gordon studied judo while in Japan,” Ilona said. “We’re both familiar with firearms and some basic sword fighting. Mostly choreographing fight scenes requires a lot of research. But yes we do actually get in the middle of the floor and try to figure out the most likely move or the easiest target. One of the things I hope people will keep in mind is that these fights are there for entertainment purposes only. We do take artistic liberties in the name of coolness.”
Find the list of books in both series below. Scroll further down for more information about each book!
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This post has been revised. It was originally published in 2020.
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Kate Daniels series novels in order
Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years
Magic Tides (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years #1)
Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years #2)—coming June 2023!
More info about each book below!
Small Magics (Kate Daniels series #0)
Contains the earliest short story in Kate Daniels Series, “A Questionable Client.”
An irresistible compilation of five previously published stories by the bestselling author of the Kate Daniels series; including Kate’s very first meeting with Saiman, some related adventures, two unforgettable ‘outside’ excursions, and new material from both Curran and Jim’s point of view.
“This is a great introduction to the series and I loved finding out more about Saiman, who is a character that intrigued me in the first book, Magic Bites. Although short, this story is full of humor and was a quick, enjoyable read that has reminded me how much I liked the first book in this series and made me keen to continue reading Kate’s story.” (Feeling Fictional)
Magic Bites (Kate Daniels series #1)
Ilona Andrews invites you to experience the first novel featuring the intriguing fantasy world of mercenary Kate Daniels…
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…
This edition includes in-depth information about the world of Kate Daniels with descriptions of its characters and factions. Explore Kate’s Atlanta like never before with a quiz to find your place there and with answers to frequently asked questions. And don’t miss the prequel story “A Questionable Client” as well as scenes of events in Magic Bites from Curran’s point of view.
“Written in the popular dark urban fantasy genre with a strong female protagonist, Magic Bites could have ended up another Anita Blake derivative but with an original spin on vampire mythology and a snappy fast-paced mystery plotline there was no danger of that. Ilona Andrews is an author who has written an original and exciting novel that successfully combines thrilling fantasy with engaging characters that capture the imagination. This book can hold its own against early Anita Blake or the work of more experienced fantasy authors such as Patricia Briggs or Kim Harrison and I would recommend it to fans of those books as well as anybody who likes their fantasy with a darker edge. Brilliant!” (Love Vampires)
Magic Burns (Kate Daniels #2)
Mercenary Kate Daniels tries to save her city from divine intervention...
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...
“I was completely blown away by the much improved writing, pacing, and style of the second novel. I found myself caring for Kate, and breathlessly turning each page, completely caught up in the story. Book 3 cannot come soon enough!” (The Book Smugglers)
Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels #3)
When magic strikes and Atlanta goes to pieces, it’s a job for mercenary Kate Daniels…
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...
“Dear Ms. Andrews: I very much enjoyed reading the first two books in your series, but this one is now my favorite. From the first page to the last, Magic Strikes was a riveting, heart pounding ride. Story lines advance, truths are admitted, intriguing characters are introduced and the romance between Kate and Curran develops a sweetness that is simply delightful. The writing is concise, finely worded and carefully constructed. You pack more in a single page than some authors do in ten. In short, a thoroughly satisfying addition to your series. A-” (Dear Author)
Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels #4)
The fourth Kate Daniels novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author who “defines urban fantasy” (Fresh Fiction)…
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...
“This was the best one yet of the series, and this is one of those series where everyone says each book gets collectively better (which has proven true so far!). It’s always a pretty outstanding feat for an author to have a reader’s emotion run alongside parallel to the characters at such a degree, but they did it, and they continue to do it with every damn book of theirs I’ve read. (Kate, A Dreamer)
Magic Slays (Kate Daniels #5)
War-plagued Atlanta has never been so deadly—good thing Kate Daniels is on the job...
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 Slays is not only another standout volume in the Kate Daniels series, but it is also a book that will slay reader expectations, while leaving longtime fans anxiously awaiting the sixth entry in Ilona Andrews magical saga...” (Fantasy Book Critic)
Magic Gifts (Kate Daniels #5.5)
Now available individually for the first time, a Kate Daniels novella from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Magic Triumphs.
It isn’t often that Kate Daniels and the Beast Lord Curran get to take a break from protecting their pack and enjoy some time for themselves. So when Curran offers Kate a romantic dinner in town, there’s no way she’s going to pass.
But their quiet night doesn’t stay quiet for long. The trouble starts with a necromancer dying at a nearby table, continues with bloodthirsty vampires crashing though the windows, and ends with more blood on the walls than any dining establishment needs.
Pulled into a deadly game neither wants to play, Kate and Curran find themselves dealing with the vile undead and tolerating a clan of maniacal, hard partying Vikings while desperately trying to save the life of an innocent child...
Magic Gifts previously appeared in Gunmetal Magic.
“Holy cow does Ilona Andrews find a way to make things work and make them good. This was another great addition to an already fabulous series so I definitely recommend it.” (Book Binge)
Magic Rises (Kate Daniels #6)
Atlanta is a city plagued by magical problems. Kate Daniels will fight to solve them—no matter the cost...
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 Rises is an emotionally dark and weighted story that opens up new doorways for both the arc and the romance. Centering almost exclusively around our protagonists, the storyline(s) explode in multiple directions, using our lovers as the catalyst. This series just keeps getting better and better.” (Smexy Books)
Magic Breaks (Kate Daniels #7)
No matter how much the paranormal politics of Atlanta change, one thing always remains the same—if there’s trouble, Kate Daniels will be in the middle of it…
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...
“I didn’t see the ending coming, but it fits within Kate’s character arc and is a workable solution. I also found it a lot more original and interesting than what was largely expected. Anyone who’s looking for a fun urban fantasy series should really check out the Kate Daniels series.” (The Illustrated Page)
Magic Shifts (Kate Daniels #8)
Magic is coming and going in waves in post-Shift Atlanta—and each crest leaves danger in its wake...
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 Shifts is a tremendous shift in the status quo of this fantastic series. It was already awesome and yet the authors found a way to keep it refreshing and once again prove why they and not Jim Butcher deserve the title of champions of the urban fantasy sub-genre.” (Fantasy Book Critic)
Magic Binds (Kate Daniels #9)
Mercenary Kate Daniels knows all too well that magic in post-Shift Atlanta is a dangerous business—but nothing she’s faced could have prepared her for what’s to come...
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...
“I loved Magic Binds and I can’t wait to read the next and final book in the series. The Kate Daniels series has been a great read and I can’t wait to read what happens next.” (Open Book Society)
Magic Triumphs (Kate Daniels #10)
Mercenary Kate Daniels must risk all to protect everything she holds dear…
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…
Buy MAGIC TRIUMPHS from Amazon
“For readers who have followed the core novels since the beginning, this is a compelling conclusion that leaves most of the characters with the endings they deserve, while still opening doors for future adventures in the world that allow Kate and Curran a happy retirement into something like a normal family life. While this was not the novel I was expecting as the conclusion of the series, it is absolutely the novel the series deserved.” (Den of Geek)
Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years
The Roland arc has ended but the adventure continues. Join Kate, Curran, and Conlan and they navigate their Happily Ever After!
Magic Tides (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years #1)
Ilona Andrews invites you back to the #1 New York Times bestselling Kate Daniels series in this exciting new long novella featuring Kate, Curran and Conlan, some familiar faces, some new friends, and all the special brand of chaos they create!
Kate, Curran and their son, Conlan have left Atlanta, vowing to keep a low profile, and are settling into a new city and new house…but some things never change! Magical mayhem is about to erupt when Kate undertakes the rescue of a kidnapped youth, while Curran guards the homefront.
It should be a simple retrieval, but with monsters on land and sea, Kate’s got her work cut out for her. Still, she's never let her blade dull or her purpose falter. And that low profile? It’s about to wash away with the raging tides!
Magic Claims (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years #2)—coming June 2023!
A new town, new friends, new challenges…. And a new heart-stopping adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Ilona Andrews. Kate, Curran, and Conlan may have left Atlanta for Wilmington, but the usual magic mayhem has also hitched a ride!
Kate and Curran have just settled into their new home and their “low profile,” when a local businessman approaches them with an offer they can’t refuse. A mysterious evil has spawned in the nearby forest and is holding a defenseless town hostage. The “due date” is rapidly approaching.
It’s exactly the kind of fight the Lennarts can’t resist, not for the prize the town offers, but for the people who will surely die if they ignore it. If they succeed, they’ll be rescuing an entire community and can build a strong new base for their family and the Wilmington Pack. If they fail...well, fail is a four-letter word.
Nothing comes without a price. Now Kate must decide if she has what it takes to pay it.
Q&A with Andrew and Ilona Gordon
Q: I’m curious about writing as a team. Do you decide ahead who will write individual scenes or are you responsible for individual characters? Tricky question—who has the final say??
Ilona: “We write together, meaning that one of us is at the keyboard and the other one is dictating. So everything that goes into the file is a compromise. Gordon has the final say over male characters. I have the final say over female ones.”—Author Interview: Ilona Andrews (Lynn’s Book Blog)
Q: You currently have two vastly different series ongoing, how do you go about writing them[do you delineate different time periods for writing them or do you write depending on how you feel each day] could you tell our readers about your writing methods? And particularly about the discipline required to produce 2 books an year [roughly]
Andrew: “It really has nothing to do with how we feel, it is more like what is due next and what we have taken money to deliver. This is pretty much our job, how we keep a roof over our heads and how we feed our kids. We try and comply with the deadlines that our publisher and our afore-mentioned editor give us. It is nice to write something different from Kate once in a while. As far as our methods go, we sit next to each other on separate computers and usually if Ilona does a scene I will read and edit it. We plot stuff out, and argue over things until we agree. I guess as far a character go, I tend to work more on the male dialogue, while Kate and Rose really come from Ilona’s head.”—Interview with Ilona and Andrew Gordon - well known as Ilona Andrews | Interview by Mihir Wanchoo (Fantasy Book Critic)
Q: Compromise is key?
Ilona: “We don’t really veto each other—we discuss. For example, today we were discussing names for a baby [in one of our series], and Gordon picked one that was really nice but was very close to [another character’s name]. We talked about it and I was like, ‘Well, I like the name, but it’s too close.’ The only time I remember being aggravated was when we had to kill my favorite character. We’re emotional junkies by nature, so to be able to really create the kind of mood that we needed to, we had to sacrifice a character, and a character that meant a lot. That was I think the worst probably disagreement we’ve had. I don’t know that we veto each other. I remember being very upset.”
Andrew: “We’re usually able to convince the other person that this would be best for the book. For instance, in a later book, I was going to kill a character and she convinced me not to.”—What It’s Like to Write Romance Novels With Your Husband (Cosmopolitan)
Q: Each and every plot of your books are unique and well explored. Where do you get your inspiration from?
Andrew: “Because we are giant nerds, everything. TV shows, movies, anime, books we read as children, cartoons we watched. The biggest common, influencer I guess, for both of us, was without a doubt, the classic Greek myths. Despite being raised in very different places, we had that in common. Our very first argument or bet was about who, in Greek myths, pulled the sun around the sky. Seriously, it was about Helios vs Apollo. I am, some twenty years later, pretty sure I was right.”
Ilona: “I was right. It was Helios. We read and watch very widely, everything from noir detective novels to Chinese comics.”—Q&A: Ilona Andrews, Authors of ‘Blood Heir’ (The Nerd Daily)
Q: When you first started writing did you ever imagine that the Kate Daniels Series would become so popular? That it would have such a large impact on the Urban Fantasy genre?
Ilona: “We have an awesome core audience of fans—and we’re very grateful to them for making the series a success and letting us continue to write for the living.”
Andrew: “As far as the impact, sometimes a person will write and say the book helped them through a rough patch, that is the best impact I think we could have.”—Interview with Ilona Andrews (Bookpushers)
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