ILONA ANDREWS

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

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Friday snippet

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I opened my eyes. I stood on a square platform high above the ground, holding a plastic cooler and a small bag. A beautiful palace spread before me, a vision painted against a glowing pre-dawn sky in cream marble and Lemurian blue granite. Terraces stretched from stately towers; balconies traced graceful rooms, held up by elegant colonnades; waterfalls spilled from the floors above into stone pools. Below a river wound its way to sea, its waters diverted to run through breathtaking gardens, where flowers bloomed along hundreds of ponds and streams, and stone gazebos with padded loungers and carved benches offered a chance for respite.

The air was warm and pleasant. The wind smelled like flowers.

In this realm, my father was a god, and this palace, so beautiful it almost floated among the greenery, was the purest expression of his will, his vision come to life without the constraints of reality.

A soft breeze stirred my hair. I walked across the platform to a narrow bridge connecting it to a terrace, which bordered my father’s study, a vast chamber with tall arched windows.  The doors to the study stood ajar.

“Father?”

Another swirl of the breeze. 

“There you are, Blossom.”

Roland appeared in the doorway.  He wore formal garments today, a tailored blue tunic that dripped to his ankles, fringed with white at the hem, and a long outer garment he called irrok, a length of snow-white fabric, thin like gossamer.  It was secured at his left shoulder and fell in structured, perfect folds across one side of his body. Sometimes, he wrapped it around his hips in spiral folds but today, the irrok hung loose.

Usually, he didn’t bother with formal clothes just for my sake. I got a tunic, sometimes pants and a shirt, and one time, he showed up in a tracksuit, which made me laugh for five minutes.

The clothes were different, but he was always the same. A man with the face of a prophet or a sage, his dark hair streaked with grey, his handsome features touched by the sun, and his eyes full of wisdom and warmth. My father who adored me more than he loved any of my long dead siblings, tried to kill me in the womb, murdered my mother, fought a war against me, and now pouted if I missed a scheduled visit. Complicated, our family did it right.

“It’s been so long since you came to visit me.”

True to form. “Disparaging my husband in front of our son might have something to do with that.”

He waved his hand, dismissing the idea. “I didn’t disparage him. I simply pointed out that a man who would sacrifice his position of power under pressure wasn’t fit to rule.”

I waved my hand in front of my nose. “It stinks.”

“What?”

“Your bullshit, father.”

He chuckled.

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Comments

  5. Squeeee! Thank you, we are not worthy, but will gobble all the snippets!

    Happy Friday and hope House Andrews has a restful weekend.

  9. Oooooo a new snippet!!! Love it! June is sooooo far away. Thanks for this! A great start to the weekend.

  12. The introduction led me through a beautiful serene path. The step down put me into a flight or fight scene.

    I love it.

  18. This was an incredible Friday indulgence. So, so welcome. I’m glad Kate isn’t going soft toward Roland. He richly deserves all she can dish out. BTW, I laughed out loud about the track suit. I simply can’t imagine! Thank you!

    • I’m picturing those 80s fashion catalogs ????, with the colourful tracksuits on middle aged men with ski tans. In Eastern Europe we would get the German Neckermann mail order ones- always about 5-6 years later hehe.

      • The velour tracksuit in all its neon color glory.

        Oh I remember them. Please to all the fashion gods that it doesn’t come back. ????‍♀️????‍♀️????????????????

        • The 1970’s came back. I said to my nieces and nephews “I lived through this so no one else had to”. They still wore the *throw back fashions* anyway. Sigh.

        • I’m afraid it might be starting. Along with the words on the butts of sweatpants…. ????

      • In the Netherlands the lycra would come in the form of suits for cyclists. The racing kind. Think “Tour de France”.
        They’re a menace on the paths meant for us on normal bikes or e-bikes, since they travel in groups of 5-6 minimum.
        And they swear if you don’t get out of their way fast enough.

      • Now I can’t get this picture out of my head. Being German and old enough, I also remember those catalogs…

  20. I love it when you write about family. It feels soooo true! Thank you for the Friday Snippet. It’s making my weekend.

  21. Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the snippet.

    Your ROFLOL— I sent Mother (80 with senile dementia) with niece to yoga class this week since she is refusing to do simple stretching exercises daily or plain old walk the dog outside so he can potty. Amazingly her blood sugar dropped from 235 to 125. ????

  24. “Complicated, our family did it right.” I may steal this line. Thank you for the snippet!

  25. The picture of that ‘wise’ man at the top made me laugh! Must be your image of Roland. Love the tone. Kate’s the best.

  26. Off topic, but I’m reading this while my husband is listening to Louis Jordan’s Caldonia. Everytime I hear this song, I think that with a small vowel substitution it would be a great theme song for Caldenia. Gertrude Hunt should blare it while Caldenia descends the staircase!

      • This makes me wonder what Orro would make of the song “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, which I play as I prep for Thanksgiving meal every year. His attempts to digest the saga of Officer Obie, implements of destruction, and Alice … remember Alice? make me 😀

  27. Thank you for the snippet. Family…sheesh!

    Erra in sweatpants, Roland in a tracksuit, and the misread of the title of this next book. More laughs to come. ????????????????????????????

  30. “a man who would sacrifice his position of power under pressure wasn’t fit to rule”

    Is that referring to the pressure Roland put on Curran and Kate to abandon the Pack? ‘Cause forcing someone to do something and then complaining because they did is… well, Roland all over, TBH.

    • I had an abusive boyfriend Ike that when I was a young teenager. thankfully I figured it out and broke up with him. hard to do if it’s your parent!

      • Good for you for getting rid of him! ???????????? That’s not always easy to do and can be especially challenging as a teen. ????

    • It’s more of his special gaslighting talent. I love that Kate doesn’t even try to humor him.

      BTW two weeks until Graphic Audio version of Magic Bites is released. I’m really excited about this one.

  35. wonderful snippet….families are complicated. If you survive them, you are usually prepared for the rest of life.

  37. wow! awesome Friday treat.

    Great to see Roland again and all and have Kate hold him accountable but I really want to know about that plastic cooler. Is it the same one Troy had in the previous snippet?

    (. . . checking calendar and pre-order status. . . sigh. . . Patience isn’t one of my virtues.)

  38. Thanks for the Friday snippet! I needed this!

    I agree with the comments other people have posted so won’t repeat them.

    Especially wanted to call out the sentence where Kate says “My father who adores me more . . .” Loved that list of things Roland has done, including murdering her mother and complaining when Kate misses a scheduled visit. It’s just a great sentence! So Roland and Kate!

    Happy Friday!

  41. Love what he’s done with the place. Gotta love him…. Being upset with him is like hollering at water for being wet. You just have to put a blessing there and take frequent breaks for the sake of sanity.

    Thank you for the snippet and hope your weekend is lovely!!!

  43. Well happy Friday to everyone too! Thank you very much- what a great way to start the weekend!

    • It’s a stock image ????- Ilona uses one for each blog post to illustrate the content. Here, it’s a stand in for Roland.

      • Glad to see you back and hopefully you had some nice time off!

        Although, I was hoping that Gordon might let a spoiler or 10 slip past while you were gone. ????????

  51. Lovely snippet and illustration. I can imagine him adding the glasses to look extra wise, fatherly, and non-threatening

  53. Ahhh, Kate snippet on a friday evening- makes up for a whole crazy work week. Thank you HA for the lovely images of the realm and the tracksuit laugh….

  55. Thank you! A visit with Roland is always entertaining, and seeing Kate call him out on his nonsense is priceless.

  58. The more things change the more they stay the same. I wonder if Roland truly believes what he shovels. My husband wears track suits so it sounds OK by me. Although if they are velour all bets are off. Erra in sweats is more mind boggling to me. Also a Grendel poodle skirt is just breath taking. This was so fun.

  61. Wonderful snippet! Thank you ????
    Makes me curious how Conlon will or won’t be swayed by Roland. He is brilliant and also young.

  62. I’m now conflicted. I love the snippet but I’m sure I’ve seen the Roland model pictured somewhere before and it’s going to bug me soooo much. . .

    • You can do a reverse image search maybe? ???? It’s a stock image so it’s possible you’ve seen it in an ad or similar.

  63. So fun! The pouting if you miss a scheduled visit – or even one you refused upfront to schedule, because it was flat-out impossible – deja vu all over again.

  66. Thank you for the snippet. And the comments y’all. Reading the comments can be quite entertaining too.

  69. A snippet today from you, and one yesterday from Jeaniene! Such luck! Books are on the way!
    ????????????????????

  74. I have truly enjoyed the progression of the relationship between Kate and her dad. The uncertainty…will Roland try to kill her again, or will he chill out? Will Kate maintain her distance and keep her wits? So enticing!

  75. Ah Roland, some things never change…

    Thank you for this snippet. I always find scenes with Roland (the guy we love to hate) fascinating! ????

  76. Love these little snacks. ( I would say or-durves but it looks as bad phonetically as it does spelled correctly 😉 )
    The book itself is what I’m looking forward to.
    These occasional snippets are a treat. I’d rather have these than an expected “every Friday chapter”. A surprise is more enjoyable than an expectation for me.
    Thanks

  77. Now I’m wondering why Kate chose to visit. She must have a reason and I’m wondering what’s the purpose of calling Roland on his bs. Not likely to be an effort to throw him off or surprise him.

    • Looking for advice probably. Roland loves to teach, and the embryonic Wilmington Pack has a knotty problem on their hands.

  79. Thank you for the beautiful setting! From your description I can see all the colors, smell the flowers, feel the warm sun & breeze on my skin–a glorious escape from reality. And the humor! Just when I think my family tops the charts of crazy/dysfunctional..along come Kate & dear old Roland!

  82. Every time I think of Roland I picture King Solomon from “Three Thousand Years of Longing” especially when he played his magic harp.

  85. This picture is exactly how I have imagined Linus to look! Amazing! This will forever be Linus for me!

    • It’s meant to represent Roland ????, but several people have said they see Linus!

  87. ARrgh !
    right I know
    And so you should . . .

    I know this absolutely evil man , a jeweler. When I met him, he didn’t have what I wanted but told me where to go, come back, he said if it’s not what you want. I could try to make it.

    I went back, he had an hexagonal piece of tri color spinel which he carved out and clasped with yellow gold . . . The next few times I went back, he’d say hi, look at this and slip something in my hand !!!!

    I now keep my hands behind me ! I love His Evilness. He loves jewelry, he loves making it, adorning his peeps, he often buys things because he thought of us.

    When I go to his shop , I’m not looking, I don’t even want, I don’t expect A N D, I learned not to touch !! that stuff, sticks to you! Let somebody even start to think about separating us . . . why I would become positively UNcivilized. Anyhoo , said all that to say as I was reading the excerpt, in my mind I was wondering HOW did I miss this AND then I thought yo stupid, EXCERPT, we don’t read those.
    Waiting is hard enough, we don’t read those until after we got the goods in our greedy paws to be petted and stroked and fawned over, which is what brought that evil little man to the forefront of my mind as I have been striving mightily NOT to go there . . .

    AND hey ho solved my preorder trauma Gift Cards ! ! ! ! go figure, as a “Courtesy “ they (retailers) don’t charge you till the book is released.
    Like I am seriously going to remember in November that I ordered a book in April, which they didn’t charge me for and never told me that !!! the thanksgiving x-mas new year spendaganza !!! imagine if you will what a $4.18 unexpected charge will do to you bookending $35.00 to the bank AND the retailer PLUS the cost of your orders! Yeesh
    I’m ordered, they charge gift cards immediately. June is summer right after spring which is neck and neck with Easter and slightly before Juneteenth!
    Gonna be some hap hap happy reading up in here.
    You hear dat!
    You all gon make me lose my mind up in here
    Thank you

  89. When I first found House Andrews I’d run across an occasional phrase that seemed to have slipped through without proper editing. I figured, “oh well, it happens” and moved on. When looking back in the book to check some detail, I’d discover, as the BDH knows, that the fault was all mine because I was reading the sentence incorrectly. Sometimes the detail and color of HA’s writing forces me to pause and think about what’s really being expressed and expands my horizons in addition to just giving me pure enjoyment! The phrase “Terraces stretched from stately towers; balconies traced graceful rooms” really made me think about what that means to draw out the beautiful imagery.

    Thanks. Thanks for all y’all do.

  90. While I was catching on the blog posts today, I spotted a notice in big green letters talking about editing (with a capital E, I think). Is there somewhere on the site where I can find and read it?

    I’ve answered a couple of calls for proofreaders/editors and haven’t gotten any response, so I suspect I don’t have the skill(s) set you’re looking for.

    But would you mind sending me to the link so I can read the full post? Thanks so much!

    Faith

  91. I like your content, but I love snippets. 🙂 So looking forward to the June book release.

  92. What fun! I really appreciated finding that in my in box tonight.

    After a crappy day of being denied by FEMA for the 5th time for reimbursement of my hurricane Ian mandatory evacuation hotel bill. Its been almost 6 months and I’ve
    decided is my final attempt. Did you know they don’t reimburse for “mandatory” evacuation. Well at least not for me that is. Gotta love the Federal Govt!

    Many thanks, it was a great snippet.
    Roland in a track suit would make me laugh for 5 minutes too.
    many thanks!

  94. The image reminds me of those Dos Equis ads:

    “The Most Interesting Man in the World was an advertising campaign for Dos Equis beer featuring actor Jonathan Goldsmith as a bearded, debonair older gentleman with voiceovers that were both humorous and outrageous.”

  95. I would like to see Roland in a track suit! The picture above reminds me of “the most interesting man in the world” commercials.

  96. I’m listening to Magic Rises, when they go to Europe and fight Hugh. There are a lot of sword fights which I just kind to gloss over in my brain. While looking on another blog yesterday, there were video examples of Cossack fighting, so I watched that and the fight scenes have a lot more meaning now.

    Also, how is Grace Draven doing? I bought and read The Wraith Kings and she was supposed to have The Nomas King published last month!

    Am looking forward to Magic Clams.

  97. Can I enter a guess? I will. Am rereading White Hot and I figured out who Augustine would pair up with. Lenora!!!!!!

  98. Is Roland completely alone in this huge world he has created? He doesn’t seem they type to enjoy solitude.

      • Ooooh!

        He will probably remold the dragon’s soldiers to be his own acolytes but I can’t see him doing anything with the Yeddimur except destroy them. Unless he can reshape them into something prettier? Having godlike powers and all.

  100. I keep coming back and re-reading this snippet. There’s something so poignant about it. I think it’s the line where she says he loves her. I think with all that we’ve been privileged to read about Kate, she now has such a large and diverse family. So far away from where she started when she was in her kitchen drinking boone’s farm at the age of 25. She was really alone for so long that ending up here with Erra as a mother figure and Roland actually loving her in his Roland way, Curran and Connor, Julie, it just warms the cockles of my cold heart.

    • Hi Shanan,

      Ilona Andrews have decided to not announce ongoing projects, in order to manage both reader expectations and workload.
      At the moment, the offering is Wilmington Years, Kate novellas, which take place after the event of Magic Shifts but before Blood Heir.

      When a new project is ready for publication, it will be posted here: https://ilona-andrews.com/release-schedule/
      Readers will not find out about it until it’s either almost done or complete.

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