On the Edge, Ilona Andrews
Synopsis: Andrews takes dysfunctional family stories to a new level in this engaging urban fantasy series opener. Rose Drayton and her two young brothers live in the woods between two worlds: the Broken (mundane smalltown Georgia) and the Weird (a world of strong magic and rigid social hierarchy). Those on the Edge between the two possess individual magical abilities. Rose has perfected her talent, a deadly white flash, and now the Weird’s aristocrats envy her power. Is it a coincidence that vicious hounds invade to steal magic and destroy the Edgers just as Weird blueblood Declan Camarine demands that Rose become his bride? Though Rose rejects Declan’s advances, the two must join forces to save her brothers and others on the Edge. Andrews has created a complex plot and convincing characters that will keep the pages turning.
Rating: 
My Review: Being a big fan of Ilona Andrews “Kate Daniels” series, I jumped at the chance to get an early look at the first book in her new Edge series. Not quite urban fantasy, not quite epic fantasy, it lays somewhere in between…much like the Edge.
On the Edge starts off with heroine Rose Drayton and her younger brothers Jack and Georgie. Rose and her brothers live in the Edge, the realm where they live that lies between the Broken (normal, mortal Earth where things are pretty much as we understand them, and where magic doesn’t work) and the Weird, a magical parallel Earth where just about all manner of strangeness that you can imagine can and does exist. Rose works in the Broken—under the counter, paid in cash, with forged ID and tax documents, since she was born in the Edge, where they don’t keep track of such things. Known and feared throughout the Edge for her strong magic, Rose has spent most of her adult life having to fend off slavers wanting to sell her to the highest bidder, and Blueblood nobles from the Weird wanting her for a concubine.
On their way into the Broken to get Jack new shoes, a man appears in the middle of the road. Before Rose can keep her battered pickup truck from smearing the man into a fine red paste, he jumps up and over the truck completely and disappears.
It isn’t until Rose and her brothers have returned to the Edge that they begin to realize that things are even stranger there than normal. The man who jumped over her truck reappears and turns out to be a Blueblood noble, apparently intent on having her as his own. A plague of vicious, evil creatures have begun to appear…and kill. Rose finds that she must team up with Declan, the noble, to not only save her town and family from these creatures, but stop the evil wizard that created them.
After the first ten pages, I was hooked. The characterization, the easy flow of the story, the description, and the twists and turns of the plot all combine to make On the Edge another winner from Ilona Andrews. The only offputting touch in the whole book was the cover, which shows the reader that Declan is apparently the mirror image of Aragorn, son of Arathorn, from the film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings. Other than that, I highly recommend On the Edge to all readers who have enjoyed Andrews’ prior books, and all those readers who enjoy fantasy of any stripe.
“This review is based on a free copy received from the publisher/author.”
The Bibliomaniac
Ye olde author (emphasis on the OLD) likes the weird and the strange, which explains most of her friends. Married, with two daughters, she has earned a B.A. in Literature and a B.S. in Criminal Justice. Her interests include reading and writing (of course!), gardening, poetry, comic books, herbalism, chocolate, tea, mythology and fairy tales, comparative theology and alternative religions, Celtic and darkwave music, role-playing games and LARPing, horror movies, hiking and camping, SF conventions, and the martial arts. She lives with her husband, her younger daughter, five cats, a dog, and a houseful of gargoyles somewhere east of Chicago. She can be contacted at BrigidsBlest @ yahoo.com.
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