Hi all, it’s Mod R here. How’s my favourite Horde keeping up?
House Andrews are on a working vacation for the next two weeks. In order to sweeten the pill of mod posts, today I’m going to share most of the insider info I know about the books. Yes, I said most, a lady must keep some secrets (and so should I).
You guys are so smooth! There are always sneaky questions in the comments ready to trap an unsuspecting Mod, but I hate to tell you, I simply don’t know as many spoilers as you give me credit. Your best bet is still asking Gordon during Q&As hehe.
To lay a cunning rereading trap for the BDH, I can tell you that at least 3 of the Big Questions can be figured out from the books and free fiction made available so far: what Elara from Iron and Magic is, the chicken joke in Magic Triumphs and what’s going on with Derek in Blood Heir. That’s right, the answers are already there if you pick up the hints laid down! Mwa. Ha. Ha.
Now that I’ve put that cat amongst the Stymphalian pigeons…
In no particular order and mostly about the Kate Daniels World:
- Kate and Hugh are not brother and sister, half or otherwise.
- Roland and Erra were both buried in caves, asleep, before magic came back.
- In rare cases, some shifters were probably always able to change shape. There was a trickle of magic present in the world even in the eras where tech was dominant and it would have been enough for a select (very) few. But the vast majority of people woke up on the morning of the First Shift and found they were able to transform. And sadly a lot of them went loup right away.
- Because the manuscript of Magic Bites was 124k words and publishers wouldn’t accept it unless it was cut to 95k, we’re missing out on a Pack Thanksgiving scene ::sob::. It was a holiday different from US and Canadian Thanksgiving. (The cut bit also better explains why Kate is blamed for the Crest suspicion when it turns out wrong. The collector edition of Magic Bites has a little bit more on that, but House Andrews can’t substantially rewrite it. They asked.)
- Derek has always been an exception throughout the KD series and if you go through the books, especially Magic Stars, you will see notes that he is unlike other shapeshifters. When Kate deeply cares about someone they miraculously keep living, she doesn’t have to actively do anything. Several people who should have died survive because of her, and we’ve been drawing the conclusion that’s what happened with Derek and his Midnight Games wounds, but it isn’t the whole picture. Derek lived because of his unique magic. (Mic: dropped, timbers: shivered)
- Ok, ok. I’m not just going to leave you like that. Here’s the Elara clue: you can find out what type of creature Elara is, but not her specific identity. It’s in the book where we find out about Christopher’s dual nature. There is a part where Teddy Jo straight up says what Elara is, but he isn’t talking about her, just in general. Elara does not assume animal form. The rest is up to you.
- Etymology: Roman is a Volhv, Russian plural pronounced “vol-h-vi”. It comes from an Old Slavonic word that means chant or mutter, because volhvi muttered spells under their breath. Volhv is also the root of Volshebstvo (magic) volshebnik (wizard) etc. Roman is also the connecting point of a lot of different sub plots in the KDverse, there’s more to our boy than Eeyeore pyjamas!
Bonus from Hidden Legacy:
- Michael (of the Record Keeper office) is neither prisoner, nor slave. His bond to the Keeper is one of both affection and appreciation. He is the Keeper’s apprentice and heir apparent. The Keeper is the very soul of courtesy, the velvet glove that holds the hammer.
- Arabella and other Metamorphosis mages do not transform into animals, they are not shifters. They transform into magical humanoid beasts.
Sweep of the Heart tease: there’s a foreshadowing in the two most recent chapters (Chapter 16 and Chapter 17) that no one has picked up on in comments or theories, and it’s to do with the female werewolf. It’s right there in front of our noses, but I didn’t see it either until Ilona told me. You can try and guess hehe.
Btw the female werewolf is the same one as before with the Sphinx- when Sean said he didn’t know her he meant from before she decided to attach herself to them and be a pain.
I also have an update for you regarding the Sweep of the Blade release from Graphic Audio- the new release date has been moved to the 16th of June instead of the 14th, due to some minor edit delays. I’ve listened to a few soundbites of the performance (because Mod Privilege) and I can tell you it absolutely matches the Fan Favourite status of the book. From Ilona: “Arland is clearly sex on a stick“.
That’s it, I’ve spoiled enough! I will now be cryptic for the rest of the day.
I keep wondering how the female werewolf knows where to turn up. First with the sphinx and then at the weapons shop. If she were following them seems like Sean or Karat would smell her. Gaston saw her outside the inn portal on Baha char and they ran her off. How is she tracking the action?
I came for the picture (That cat’s face????) – but YUM! – that was some good stuff. Thanks!
Just wanted to say, the Webpage is looking particularly snazzy these days. Beautiful pictures. Well organized. Easy to get around and find stuff.
Good Job Mod R.
That’s all Ilona but I will pass on the compliments! ????
Maybe this is listed elsewhere, but in Sweep in Peace, Nuan Cee’s grandmother tells him that “We owe her [Dina] a great debt. We owe her parents a debt after everything they have done for us.” What debt did they owe Dina’s parents for? I’ve been relistening to the entire series. I have NOT been reading the current book in progress because I’d rather wait until it’s finished. Maybe it was never made clear in the currently published books? Or maybe I just keep missing it?
Well, of course Kate and Hugh aren’t brother and sister genetically! What they are are family by adoption…or as a friend of mine puts it, assimilation. (Resistance is futile, she says.)
The same person raised and trained them (Voron) and the same person wanted to run their lives for his own advantage (Roland) and screwed them over. Close enough. Hugh is also the one person Julie would know would understand how she felt when her bond with Kate dissolved…and could help her get past it.
And concerning Elara, the description of her manifestation, when she rescued Hugh in I&M and the other hints we get, reminds me of a Lovecraftian Elder God…
Or maybe I just read I&M and the last few of Sterling’s Change novels too close together.
Re Elara, the primordial godess Kaos is said to be the OG of mists and gave birth to the other elder Greek gods, including Nyx, etc. In ancient Persia, Anahita was the goddess of all the waters and gave birth to Mithra – who was eventually worshiped by the Romans in the form of a bovine sacrifice.
I am really hoping Dina got baby inn powers and they are expressing themselves. I cried when the baby inn died, so it would be really nice to think that something of the baby inn’s essence is going on.
Is the female werewolf thing we’re missing related to Karat? She seemed to be pretty invested in making sure she was okay after the fight with the corrupted ad-hal
Nope ????
I’ve wondered about the Record Keeper’s magic. When Victoria took the bullet for Nevada & Michael appeared to administer punishment for breaking the rules about interfering, the dark shadows that gathered on the walls ‘ate’ magic, as Nevada found out when she tried to intervene. So is this a version of antistasi magic, except it eats magic rather than negates it? Given that Victoria can’t be the only person to ever have tried to interfere in House formation, is this magic tied to the person – in other words, the Record Keeper just happens to have this magic naturally – or is it tied to the Office? So when Michael succeeds the current Keeper due to retirement or death he too will be able to wield this magic?
On this point:
Kate and Hugh are not brother and sister, half or otherwise.
One thing that always confused me a bit…. in Iron and Magic it’s kind of a big deal that Hugh kept his blood powers, especially with that end scene with Roland. There’s also that line “She’s his grandmother too”… referring to Semiramis? So I just kinda always assumed they were cousins or something.
But then in Blood Heir, Julie keeps her blood powers and it’s not a big deal at all.
Also crackpot theory: but what if Erra and Hugh are related in some form? They kinda have similar strengths with the army and all…. Dunno how long Erra was sleeping for, but I’m assuming that Hugh was found by sometime in early medieval France. Could be some sort of descendant? Or.. a more direct relation ? Anyway going to stop my crackpot musing from getting worse, lol
In regards to the werewolf. The original people were not shapeshifters, correct? So she hasn’t transformed in front of us yet, but she has the alpha armor. She’s fast though, & Shaun recognizes her as a werewolf. Could she be a descendant of the original Auul people? Was Wilmos helping to reproduce their species?
And if so could the sun horde be behind his kidnapping?
She has a hard suit, that is not the same as Alpha nano armor as far as we know ????
So that is not a no to the descendant thing? ????
It has always bugged the hell out of me that Kate got blamed for the Crest-as-bad-guy fiasco when she kept telling the lynch mob “no, you’re wrong!” It still bugs me.
I am apparently too dim too figure out anything in chapters 16 and 17 that might possibly be useful foretelling. I see she wears a hard suit and fights with two red knives. She must be watching the door to the Inn because she showed up when the corrupted ad hal attacked. She obviously isn’t on a mission to kill Dina or she could have done so and shown up at the Inn with her dead or damaged body to use as a bargaining chip. She didn’t change like many werewolves do: she is either unwilling or unable to. If she changed she would destroy her armor. She wasn’t one of werewolves at the mercenary convention in One Fell Sweep or Sean at least would remember her. She couldn’t have fought under him at Nexus for the same reason: I’ll bet Sean knew every one of his soldiers. Dina and Karat rescued her because it was the right thing to do. Whatever the clues are, they are too tiny or tricksy for me to discern. And I do love to try to figure things out. That’s one of the things I love about books by HA—I can rarely predict correctly.
Except about Caesar. I am 100% confident about my belief there.
You did actually figure out the foreshadowing, somewhere in there ????. Now we just have to be patient (dirty word, I know) and see how it develops.
Your posts are every bit as important as those from the AL!
Plus… you confirmed what I was thinking about Elara and sneaky mod that you are now I have to re-read Blood Heir for hints about Derek’s special magic.
I simply cannot wait for August to roll around for Ruby Fever. Is there any possibility of an Arabella trilogy? That would totally round it all up for us!
Mod R,
I can’t thank you enough for telling us about the Graphic Audio books. I have now “binged listened” to all the Innkeeper books (I now love sitting in traffic) and am trying really really hard not to listen to Sweep of the Blade, (there are no more IA books afterwards and you know how you savor the last bit of a particularly savory treat crumb by crumb?) (we’ll see how long I’ll last)….
Revisiting the books through GA is spectacular!
Are the other series going to be on GA? Can I beg for them to be?
“Roland and Erra were both buried in caves, asleep, before magic came back.”?
But Jim’s file on Roland mentions that he appears in pictures during the tech era, and there must have been times when the magic was powerful enough for him to move around when the “younger gods” like the Morrigan were created. Had he a better battery than Erra? Or had he claimed more land that fed him a greater than subsistence level of magic?
Thank you Mod R for these delightful insights. Still trying to figure out what they are though haha. I reread both SoH chapters and the only thing I could think of is that the werewolf didn’t change form when it attacked the corrupted ad hal ???? so there might be something there?
Curiouser and curiouser! Things that make me go hmmm….Maud buys three new medical beds for the inn. Maud who has been in contact with Klaus. THREE new beds. Perhaps one for Wilmos and two for missing Mama and Papa DeMille?
well, i’ve never commented on the internet before but, I was thinking that the werewoman has to be related to Wilmos or Sean.(apologies if this is too much, my family doesn’t like watchin’ movies with me ‘cuz i’m a spoiler guesser) p.s. to Ilona & Gordon-I Love your Books!!! Thank You!!!
Thank you, Mod R, for sharing these!
Regarding Elara, I’ve always assumed she is an avatar of some fearsome pagan god/goddess…. As for which specific deity, I don’t think we can determine it with 100% accuracy, also because e.g.many pagan goddesses across European pantheons had similar aspects as the religions influenced one another.
Hecate is the first to come to my mind when it comes to fearsome goddesses connected to darkness and magic. But I don’t think House Andrews would choose her, I think some Slavic or Germanic deity is more likely, such as Perchta or Holda.
Can’t wait for the Iron Covenant 2! <3
Is Elara an appearance avatar? A dirty that chose to be reincarnated as a human? maybe to save her people but now they can’t pray to her bc if they do she might disappear in a strong tech wave? That’s the best I got on the hint given.
I think that in Blood heir Julie’s “great uncle” Namtur alludes to what Derek may be when he called him the shepherd of the wolves. It sounds almost like a title. And if we know anything about the author lords they weave mythologies throughout their books. I think this title means something and it’s related to the changes Derek experienced and all these new powers he has. Can’t wait for the next installment from the series.