Derek has separated from the pack, the werewolf is one of
those who have now joined with Kate and Curran and their independent organisation.
An organisation – and business – that doesn’t tolerate the slaughter of
families
Julie, Kate’s ward, is certainly not going to stay out of
the action either – even as their investigation reveals horrors they never
expected, backing down is never an option.
A spin off series in the Kate Daniels universe? Give give give give! *grabby hands*
It can be said I did not react to this news with
particular grace and maturity.
In the past I’ve been wary of spin off series because
they don’t always work – the main characters are such a major part of the world
that without them it falls flat. This world has carried the different spin off
stories so well because, even while Kate and Curran are the most amazing, epic characters
imaginable, the other characters in the series are fleshed out enough,
developed enough and interesting enough to easily carry their own stories
Still, I was surprised that this series follows Julie –
Kate’s magic-sensitive ward/sort-of-foster-daughter – and Derrick, the werewolf
who has entered Kate’s shadow for a long time now
Like most of the characters in the main series, they have
been developed, they have had their own storylines, they have their own
histories which are quite involved. But for so much of the books these two have
been very much extensions of Kate and Curran. Which makes it interesting that these
were the ones chosen to expansion – I feel almost like the author has decided
that they need more attention to show that these characters are just as awesome
as everyone else.
And this book does an excellent job of taking both characters and establishing them as individuals. We have Derek’s history, how his path has changed so much with him being involved with Kate (but also, just as important, with his life before Kate) and how his face being scarred changed his life again (we also have an excellent look at the ableism Derek faces – with a woman assuming he will be grateful and servile towards her because his scars mean he should consider himself “lucky” that she’s paying attention to him at all). Woven into the story is Derek’s history, nicely setting him up as his own character and co-protagonist in this series as well as being a lethal fighter who has been forged through terrible experience
Derek’s story is very much a disability narrative. Even
though he is physically very capable still, his entire life has been changed by
his facial injuries; the way people treat him has changed a lot, his old career
has ended and he now finds that career path completely closed to him. His whole
identity changed from the man he used to be to the Man With Scars which affects
so much of his life. His professional life, family life, home life and romantic
life have all been vastly derailed by the scarring to his face and voice.
And Julie – it would have been easy to make Julie the
magical tool which is part of what she has been so far. The girl Kate is
desperate to protect, the girl with the useful magical tool – someone to be
sheltered and shielded (which is understandable from Kate since she is the
mother figure). It would have been easy to develop her magic (and it is
interesting to see that develop) and make her the “ultility” character to Derek’s
combat monster. But Julie can hold her own, is more than dangerous in her own
right and certainly doesn’t need Derek to shelter and protect her
I also like that Julie is not just following the path Kate
would want for her – and that she knows a lot of things that Kate has tried
(poorly) to keep a secret from her for her own good. In some ways, she’s even
more pragmatic than Kate since she doesn’t carry Kate’s hatred and revulsion of
Roland and is willing to explore – and embrace – new options. She’s very much
her own person – with her behaviour shaped by her experience on the streets as
much as by Kate.
Establishing these two characters is the main thrust of
this book, I think, and it does it excellently – taking them both out from
under the shadow of Kate and Curran and more than convincing me that they are
quite capable of carrying a series on their own – a series I really want to
lead
Of course, all of this happens against the backdrop of
the awesome and original world that has been created here. It’s such a
wonderful mash up of magic and fairy tales and technology and mythology from
around the world with a heavy dose of dystopia and just a hint of high fantasy
and all with the excellent research (contrary to many series, there’s far more
than just raiding foreign cultures for woo-woo that goes into this book) that
means I would read people just going to get coffee so long as it happened in
this world setting.
While the larger Kate
Daniels world is very racially diverse, this book is not: Derek and Julie
are both White. There are some POC they meet in passing as they investigate the
case in this book, but “in passing” pretty much covers it since there are only
two main characters. I suspect the series in general may be more racially
diverse just because so many of the major characters that are part of this
world are POC. There are no LGBT people – and
I don’t expect that to substantially change.
Do I think this series could be read without having read
the larger Kate Daniels Series… Possibly
but probably not. You certainly won’t get the full richness of it without
having read the larger series.
But, really, why would you? The Kate Daniels Series is awesome and should be read anyway.
