r/IlonaAndrews

While waiting for Maggie2 reread all the others books. Like them enormously. But for me there are lots of questions and I like to speculate.

Hugh:

if He is son of Erra and Aesculap how did he end up in the slums of Paris.

How did Erra not recognize him and how did she finally.

Why and how should Roland do the blood ritual to Hugh. If H is already blood relative how could it work.

And if no blood exchance, how the influence on Hugh and Hughs withdrawal symptoms.

Ellara:

Where is she from? First thought Russia. But if more than a few people difficult to cross ocean. So Salem, cajun? I get a cthulhu feeling, primoral deity and all.

Derek: possessed, avatar, priest, deal with power, magic object? I suppose deal with northern native power

Marten:

Father can't be a god, Marten met him several times and no flare. Maybe Avatar of thief god, greek Hermes, or indian trickster god Raven or else.

Anybody like to speculate too?

>!Soo I've just read TKWNKM and I'm absolutely obsessed. I really enjoyed that the romance bit was a subplot - not the main part of the story. It wasn't as fast-paced as in typical romantasies nowadays, which made me even more excited for it.

I was wondering about Ramond as the main love interest. He seems to genuinely care and is sure about Maggie (literally proposes to her at the end of book 1), but what is a little bit off to me is his confidence in Maggie being with him. To the point of being almost territorial. Do you think that there's a specific reason Everard is so sure about Maggie 'belonging' to him? Or is the guy so in love he's just manifesting it.

Also, one thing that keeps creeping at the back of my head - after reading Sarah J. Maas ACOTAR I'm always suspicious when in the book #1 the MMC and the antagonist are both described as handsome an charismatic - which in this case would be Everard and Silveren. Do you think it's possible they're gonna switch from Everard to Silveren as the love interest? Haven't read any Ilona Andrews books before, so don't know how they handle romance subplots. Silveren is the bad guy but for a "good" cause you could say, as he seeks justice for what was done to his family.!<

SOSOS my brain is on fire with the passion of a thousand suns for this freaking book. It has permanently altered my brain chemistry. I eyeball-read it the first time and loved it so much that I picked up the audiobook, and WOW. The audiobook elevates it so much and is so immersive and wonderful. And now I literally cannot stop listening.

I am on my 5th or 6th listen and the obsession isn't dying down. I devoured 5 Kate Daniels books in a week to try and get myself weaned off and I just keep crawling back.

WHAT DID THEY PUT IN THIS BOOK?! It is the perfect combination of complex plot machinations, characters that feel real and alive, and a romance I am kicking my feet and blushing over.

There are certain scenes that I could listen to infinitely. Particularly scenes with Solentine+MMC+Maggie. But I love all of the characters so much and all of the dialogue scenes are wonderful.

And Kristen Sieh's narration?? Are u kidding me? She's a one woman theater troop! The voices are SO GOOD (Solentine and the Man in the Garden are my FAV but I love Reynald's voice too).

I don't know what to do with myself. HELP. DON'T HELP. I don't want to stop.

(I almost wish I had never picked this up because I don't know if I can bear to wait for the second one)

For context, a while ago we saw on House Andrews blog post regarding book 2 for Maggie and how they'd have to commission Hugh D'Ambray to build a moat. Then there was Jeanie Frost's action of "if redacted redacted not endgame, I can't take it".

I suddenly have this wild theory that maybe at the end of Book 2, Ramond would end up at the noose. We know that in Maggie's world, Book 2 ended with one of the main characters at the noose. I cant remember if it ever revealed who would be at the noose but since Ramond wasn't the main character in the series Maggie read, it couldn't be him originally (edit: it's Solentine). I'm guessing that Maggie made many changes but the world resists and put someone else at the noose (edit: from Solentine to Ramond). It'd be a nice parallel.

Since House Andrews said we wouldn't be happy, I'm guessing it'd be Ramond ending up at the noose! its pretty clear he's a fan favorite so there will be an uproar! To top it up, I'm guessing maybe Maggie would be forced to marry someone else as well since she became more and more prominent. Maybe Arvel, hence Jeanie's reaction. I can't guess what sort of events would cause these developments but if my crazy theory is true, it'd make a really epic (and heart-breaking) book 2 and then we'll agonise waiting for book 3 to see Maggie saving Ramond.

What do you think of my wild theory? 😂

Easily the best sentence in the whole book!! I cannot stop giggling over it.

Maggie has gotten me out of the worst book slump of my life. Absolutely loving every second so far 🥰

I am probably overthinking this and pulling it out of nowhere but....

In chapter 27, when Maggie asked Clover how badly >! Lute had been hurt and Clover says "It looked bad to me" !< but he seems fine the next morning.

I know in chapter 28, Gort explains this away with >! "If it wasn't for my brigandine, he wouldve shredded you kidney. You wouldve bled out" !< It still seems that he is less injured than he should've been.

Does anyone else think it is possible that >! Maggie's healing magic 'leaks' and that those around her, although not 'undying' like Maggie is, might heal more rapidly just by being near her? !<

I'm taking a slower reading approach to TKWNKM and I have stumbled upon this snippet that has given me pause:

First page of Chapter 10:

When Maggie is telling Reynald:

"...A complete breakdown of society, aided by the Crimson Empire and a plague. It begins with three powerful people being murdered one after another, and things really fall apart after the second murder, the assassination of the crown prince."

The second powerful person to die is Crown Prince Kiel.

The first powerful person to die is Colart Jenicor.

Who's the third to die that accelerates the breakdown of society?

I know we all have questions we are waiting for I&M 2, Blood Heir 2, or Wilmington 3 to answer.
One looms largest in my mind and that is: what’s the deal with Hugh Elara and the chicken!?

What question lives rent free in your head?

>!In my rereading, I noticed that "Clover had bought green and more green." For the family colours and that is why her and everyone else's clothes are green and this matches Everard's colours as well. A fact which delights the sleepless Duke. !<

>!However, Everard accompanied Clover to the market that first time, much to Maggie's annoyance as she was left home? So was it Clover who selected green or Reynald/Everard who suggested it to Clover as an inside joke to himself? Ofc Clover may have gone on a supply run solo but in those first days, that seems so unlikely. !<

>!What does everyone think? Was it Clover or Everard selecting the hunter and forest green for the gang?!<

I'm new to Ilona Andrews and was really enjoying this book up until say chapter 15. Now I'm just super confused on all the information! Am I meant to retain all of this? Like who is loyal to who, who actually is who...who is the leader here etc. I feel like I'm just reading it and not at all grasping the knowledge. Is it meant to be confusing? Or am I just not understanding it? Other than that I enjoy Maggie and her close group of people and her story.

I’m on another reread and notice that in chapter 6 when she meets Reynald, she mentions her favorite characters “Solentine was one, Galiene, Pelegrin…”

Have we met Pelegrin? I don’t know if my mind is just totally blanking or if he/she is to come in Maggie 2!

Lovely vellum pages (Clover was not a tanning booth victim), stickers, bookplate, bookmark - all good quality and fun!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am being forced to go and re-read TKWNKM, again. I have to determine the perfect placement for each vellum sheet. This could take a while.

That's it, that's the post. I love his cranky ass and a whole series of his wizardy day to day would be the best.

Yes I've already read all of Rivers of London

Yes I tried Harry Dresden but couldn't get into it.

>!--Julie kicking Ascansio's butt when he tried to manipulate her for a kiss!<

>!--Kate teasing Julie that she can squat in her office during winter since her school kicked her out!<

>!--Andrea slapping the sh*t out of Aunt Bea!<

>!--Kate meticulously and thoroughly taking Kenneth down (and Jennifer since she put him up to it)!<

>!--Curran saying he'll leave the pack when she says so (also, eff the pack for trying to usurp Curran's and Kate's places when he was just down for a couple weeks)!<

>!--Curran chasing Saiman and Kate from Bernard's!<

>!--Curran's starring role in his action movie that Kate showed him!<

>!--Kate taunting Curran as he's racing on the rooftops after Saiman and them duking it out in her apartment!<

>!--Kate saying stay to Curran and willing to be in a relationship with him--so sweet and took so much bravery for her to say that after her training and mental conditioning!<

>!--Kate's, Curran's, and Dali's first fight in the ring in Magic Strikes--hilarious!<

>!--I love any scene with Dali and Andrea in it!<

>!--Kate and Curran entering the temple bloody after a battle and perusing a cookbook and Curran flipping through a stack of money to find a non-bloody bill. Then, after the meeting with Rabbi Peters, the couple duking it out again and Curran going to back to the temple to buy another cookbook after he ripped the first one.!<

Curious what everyone would like to most see or read in the Guide to Kair Toren; I cannot for the life of me picture the wine tree, the layout of their house, or the layout of the processional scene with the Sun Margrave and would love art/maps for those.

(House Andrews have said they will be self-publishing a Guide to Kair Toren; originally, they thought it would be available for purchase this summer, but I'm guessing it's been pushed back due to writing/editing Maggie 2 and other commitments. I believe they've confirmed that 1-2 short stories from Solentine's perspective will be included, but that's all I know.)

>!I can’t stop thinking about the garden party that Ilona and Gordon mentioned in the interview about TKWNKM and Book 2. Maggie is going to meet Merro Ridan there, so Arvel and other Defender Knights will probably also attend.!<

>!The Book 1 scenes where Maggie has interacted with Arvel in public (city guard office and joedurar), he’s put her in social situations where “it would be rude to decline” (escorted escape and dance). If Arvel is at the garden party in Book 2, then I suspect he’ll propose marriage to Maggie in front of everyone so that she can’t say no without major social consequences. It’s in line with Ramond saying that Arvel “plans and lays traps, and when they fail, he takes what he wants by force.”!<

>!And Arvel seems like the kind of asshole who thinks a public proposal is a great idea. I’d love for Maggie to say no to his face in front of everyone, but I don’t know if she’d risk putting the Demarr family in jeopardy to do that. Obviously we have to w*it to see what happens, but I needed to get this theory off my chest!!<