ILONA ANDREWS

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

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Pills of Book Power

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I saw this idea on Facebook, because one of my author-friends posted it. I thought it was neat and wanted to bring it to you, but I can’t find the original post, so I made my own. Click the image to enlarge.

What’s Your Color?
Select a magic pill: Teal - You can resurrect any character Orange - You can kill any character Magenta - Make a character real and let them fall in love with you Green - break up any fictional couple Indigo - Permanently become a character Purple - Redeem any villain Blue - have a vacation in any fictional world Red - make any 2 characters fall in love Yellow - Induce selective amnesia so you can read the book again for the first time.

What's your color?

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Comments

    • The thing is, I feel like people’s tastes change over time. So that series that you loved reading 5 years ago? Perhaps if you read it now, you wouldn’t like it as much.

      We still love re-reads because of the nostalgia and feelings associated with reading it prior but I wouldn’t chance loving them again ????

      • Also in a reread, you might pick up things that weren’t noticeable before. There are things that I read in college that I reread recently that I still loved but I picked up on some things that I hadn’t before.

        • I’m on board for these caveats. But we almost have that now. We all apparently really get into these books.

      • Travis is imagining showing up in the middle of the tavern scene from Swept Away? I am under the table during that one. I would pay to get to sit in the balcony with Caledonia. I’ll even bring the Mellow Yellow.

          • They’re amazing worlds to read about but they are also profoundly terrifying places where the moral arc of the universe is bending away from justice. The author’s characters are moral people fighting that but they tend to do it on a small scale.

            I love reading them but living in them would be like living in a permanent war zone.

      • Yes, blue would be tempting if I could enable the cheat codes and put on invincibility so I don’t die instantly.

        • Lol. Why did I think I could just waltz and take a gander? You guys are much more practical. What would I take with me? Hmmmm… maybe shouldn’t have voted blue.

    • Hi, this will sound über creepy, but please bear with me. I was scrolling down the comments here, saw your profile pic, and remembered I had seen it before. And I did. Some years ago I was on Goodreads looking for new books recommendations, saw your review on something, totally agreed to it, went to your profile to see what else you had read looking for more sassy reviews, saw your bookshelf titles and read my first Ilona Andrews book because of it. So thank you, Jessica with the amazing Goodreads bookshelf, for introducing me to my fav authors ever.
      xoxo – from the person who didn’t want to sound like a creep but totally does.

      • ???? could also be seen as just a person with really good memory who gives credit were credit is due…

      • Aw, that’s sweet – hopefully Jessica will see this. I wish there was a way to receive notifications when someone responds to your post.

  6. Yellow!! I love rereading books and picking up all the little bits of foreshadowing I missed the first time, but there’s nothing quite like reading a series for the first time

  8. I would pick blue so I could visit but when things got too hairy as they tend to do, I could skip back to my world! I am not a badass like Kate unfortunately!

  9. Grey pill is missing. The one with which you can erase a full year in a fictional world. Would be good for the real world too.

  10. Blue !!
    But Teal is great too…. (still anxious about what you said about Iron Covenant book 2)

  11. As a reader and not a writer of fiction, clearly blue. I suspect any world one had to live in full-time would lose its charm eventually.

  13. Pretty sure I’d be dead, quickly, if I visited worlds like KD.

    I would rather relive reading my favorite stories for the first time.

    • I often point out to my husband that when the zombie apocalypse comes or the world goes all Mad Max, I’d be the first one dead.

      • One of my roommates and I have discussed the zombie apocalypse and agree that we will be the ones left behind for the zombies to eat while everyone else runs away. 🙂

  14. Exactly!
    ????????????????????
    I went back and forth between yellow and blue a bunch of times before – yeah, yellow.

    I don’t actually want to visit Kate’s post-apocalyptic world, but it would be fun to “visit” it for the first time again.

    Tho I would LOVE to actually visit Dina…

    Still. Book amnesia would be the next best thing.

  15. I cannot choose one color pill. So, how about all the above or rainbow of all the pill colors? 🙂

  16. You mean I get to read the Kate Daniels World and Hidden Legacy for the first time again?

    Yellow *grabby hands*

  18. Oooooo, it was difficult to choose. I was so sure I’d be magenta, then I remember I am married… ????

    Then I was so sure I could live permanently in a fictional world, then I remember I am married… ????

    Dilemmas…

    • I thought magenta first too and then I wondered what I would do with the hubby. At least we thought about them!

      I ended up going with blue. That was I would be able to return.

    • Oh my god, exactly me! I went with blue because magenta, but I am married. And then as Beth said above, once in, try my hand at other things.

      And even with Magenta, it isn’t like I would ever want a MC to switch away from the other MC over to me. I’m currently in this Duke-Duchess romance novel & all I really want to be is a middle-class (no charm being a “working-class” person in that world!) person who goes to their balls a lot (because these characters have “trade” origins and thus aren’t too snotty to invite their non-blue-blooded country neighbors) and has their friends be friends with my (future) kids sort of a thing, and play parlor games every week etc.

      But this was a very hard choice overall. I’d want to maybe take one of each before being asked which one second (and final).

    • Michael J Sullivan wrote a fantasy series. In an interview, he said his wife loves one of the leads so much that he’s glad the guy doesn’t exist in real life…????

  20. Green. I REALLY, REALLY want to break up Cathy and Heathcliff! She’d have been so much better off without him in her life.

    • One of Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next books introduces chapters with the Wuthering Heights support group, and it’s absolutely hilarious. I just can’t remember which one at the moment, except that it definitely WASN’T The Eyre Affair.

  21. Blue, because I would like to visit the inn , watch Kate in a sword fight. Have a meal with the Baylor family.
    Every time I re read your books , I find something new. I do skip over Aunt B’s sacrifice, it still is painful to read.

  22. I just want a brownie for a clean house. I will happily leave them out milk and cookies even. They do not have to fall in love with me.

    <3

    • That was my first thought when I saw that pill. I was too dazzled and by the blue and yellow pills and too short on time when I saw the poll to think through all the other choices:)

  25. Indigo. Absolutely. I do blue all the time in my head. But to make myself a character? I’d have superpowers!

  26. I chose Teal for Saiman. That death just struck me as an afterthought and made little sense. He also died ‘off screen’. Strange choice to me. Granted, the whole thing could just be a set-up for some ridiculous Saiman-esque plot, hence the burial in Unicorn Lane of all places. I just can’t reconcile that exit with the character’s persona and background. A polymorphic demi-god child of two deities? Spears? I laugh at your spears. Ha ha ha!

  28. I don’t want to interfere with any world House Andrews creates. And I doubt I’d be a character near the center of the action (Costco lady at best!).
    But feeling the wonder and joy of discovering their worlds over and over again, priceless. (To paraphrase an old ad campaign. 😉

    • Wow. I would never have considered Lord Soren to be “hot”. 🙂 Fascinating.

      I love Sean, but I could never even try to take him away from Dina.

  32. I immediately thought Teal for a certain Bouda(in case ppl are new and don’t want spoilers).

    Magenta is a close second (though feel like that dilemma with does he love me for me or magic would haunt me forever) with Blue followed by Indigo.

  36. Cranky be a total yellow – would love to re-read HL, IC, KD and The Edges as if for the first time. Cranky would NEVER be purple and is still mad about Hugh. Hmph!

  37. Blue. But magenta was close; I would hate to actually use magic to make someone — even a fictional someone — fall in love with me. I mean, what if it wore off? I can think of a few fictional heroes I would like to be involved with. I’m intrigued that Blue has so many more votes than all the others.

  42. I always look too deeply into this kind of stuff. Like is it black and white or is there grey in the mix. For example, with Teal I would wonder if it was a Pet Sematary situation and they would come back all zombied up. With Magenta would they love you so much that they would become annoying. I look for what might be the karmic backlash.
    However if everything was at face value then I would probably pick teal because I actually cried when a character died in the Kate Daniel’s world and I am not much of a crier. So there are no spoilers for those who haven’t read the book (I can’t imagine any are part of the BDH but you never can tell) this character sacrificed themself so that others could escape. It is why I had such a hard time with the redemption of Hugh.

  47. What happens if you’re color blind or the lighting is poor and you reach for what you think is blue — so you can visit Kate’s world but come back — but instead grab indigo and become Saiman?

    • Say “Oops?” That is why it possibly is not a good idea to close your eyes and pick one at random. You never know what you might get. 😀

      Hmm…the probability of picking one color is…(that would depend if the color is taken out if chosen or put back into the group.)

  48. I picked blue but I live in yellow – Just reread an entire series of books and didn’t remember any of the story line except one part where a group of people get killed. I guess that part made me sad when I read it the first or maybe the second time. One of the good things about getting old that favorite books are always new when you reread them.

  49. That was a hard choice, wow. Morpheus is so stingy with his pills.

    But I went with indigo. 2020 has made me want to abandon ship. XD if only.

  50. Choosing between blue and yellow is very difficult….. I’ve seen something like this before, with one of the options being able to teleport to any bookstore/library in the world and that is also a great option…

  51. Lol, choices, choices, choices. I ended up on most peoples favorite blue. Then got in an argument with myself as to witch book I would visit first. Thank you for some well needed respite from 2020.

  54. Can I choose what kind of Charakter I would become? Powers? Money? Looks?????????????????????then blue….

    Falling in love sounds tempting, but one of them in the real world?-this can only result in a big drama ending-
    Nope, I prefer reading your books and fall in love in my mind ????????????

  55. I know I should have posted this on an earlier blog post, but I didn’t have the chance. Here is my prescription for 2020 induced blahs… The Chateau Diaries on You Tube. This is a laughter filled daily vlog of a woman, her French Chateau and all the people who come to help her. If you could use a little joyful laughter and camaraderie this is the channel to watch. This is a link to one of my favorite episodes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaz-0vRMFW4&t=643s Warning: This can be a bit addictive, but sooo fun!

    • Also I want the Indigo pill because I really want to be a Baylor. Love that family!!! And yes I am reading the HL series for the manyth time.

  56. Purple! I am all about the villains lol!
    Hugh D’Ambray, Razvan Shonski, Xcor, Lothaire, Orrin Blackhart, Kal Zakat…

  59. Blue for the win, but behind by . 1 point is yellow. I actually had to sit here and do a pro/con of each in order to choose my winner ????

  60. This is a brilliant one – esp to see your readership/others on this post so neatly split between my favorite three options! Note – respectful, trusting and well-intentioned fans – none of us voted to split up a fictional couple… we know the authors must have a reason for their partnership, even if not yet apparent! (Or at least, we’d much much rather be able to visit fictional world, or read all our favorites again for the first time… 🙂

  61. At first Magenta sounds pretty good, but thinking about it… I want someone to love me for me and not because of some magical pill. Everyone deserves that person who loves you for who you are faults and all! Besides, just think how it ended up for Voldemort’s mom? False love creating the greatest evil and her life ending in despair and loneliness… I’ll pass so I choose teal. So many character deaths have made me cry.

    • Teal / Teal / Red Combo: Bran and Adora love story.. They never got to live. Then you kill them off and we all will hurt bad since there isn’t a HEA pill.

    • How about bringing back Greg Feldman (Nick’s dad and Kate’s mentor)?

      Oh, I would love to hear the conversations between Nick and his dad. Especially after Kate saved his bacon with the three who were wanting to kick Nick out of the Order.

  68. Maybe a pill for being one of the inner circle side characters. I think most of us would make a terrible main character. But as a side one you could still interact with your favorite heroine or hero. Enjoy watching them in all of their glory. Maybe even be able to help them out.

    And teal.

  69. Not as many people joined me in voting for Magenta as I expected, but maybe that’s why I have unrealistic expectations of partners ^_-

    Also unrelated, but I’d love to see a post about your historical/mythological research process for world-building!

    xx

  70. Indigo. Drop me in the Sweep universe and let me explore the entire universe and stay at my favorite Inn.

  72. I thought because only half the pill was colored, we could choose two colors, like blue-magenta 😀

  74. Indigo.
    However, I don’t want to be a main character. They are too likely to be injured, killed, embroiled in painful shit. I want to be one of the supporting characters. Especially if I have to keep my current physical limitations.

  77. Blue or indigo. I thought about yellow, but I still re-read all these stories anyway, and honestly it’s fun to find new details on a re-read, which I might never find if every time was new…

  78. Blue looks good at first. But it does look like indigo a lot. Sameone can give you the wrong pill on purpos. And than I would like to see dragons. I would be eaten so quick. What is the poin if the dragons aren´t dangerous? So I choose teal because Sirius Black was the most unfair death in literar histori. It is like if Mote Christo got out of prison found his gold and then died in some pirate battle. So sad and dissapointing. Where is the happy ending?

  80. Blue, unless I could get two indigo (second for my Husband).
    And when you get to visit or be a character do you get magic/awesome powers ?

  81. I want a pill that prevents anyone from messing with the authors’ work. If I thought I (or any other random person) could do the job properly, I wouldn’t need to be rewriting someone else’s book, I would be writing my own.

  82. If I got to decided *how* I would visit, that would be amazing. A lot of these worlds are hella dangerous and not places I’d want to be an unpowered civilian…

    As it stands, I’ll take bringing a super-rich magic user who’s in love with me into my day-to-day. It might take awhile to decide which one though…

  84. I do like that the choices which amount to “I don’t like how the author did their job” are cumulatively < 10% of the responses (at least so far).

  86. Can I have one of those 7 day tablet/pill boxes and have multiple pills please. When I was younger magenta would have been on the list for my fictional crush. Now I just want lots of Blue (i do love my job and home in our ???? so would want to come back) so that I could visit multiple universes and make friends in those.
    Plus i am bloodthirsty and a lot of the worlds I love have issues, so plenty of orange, purple (for the odd few who can be redeemed) and teal (in a first aiders). And finally a few yellow so that I can reset between books and reread all and get that same feeling every time.

  87. The potential of these pills is the best thong about them- just thinking where to go (Kates Universe), who to resurrect etc. That in itself is really amazing.
    Ended up with Indigo (if I could take my partner with me).
    Love the others ideas/reasons in the comments that I didn’t even think of.

  88. I asked my brother. He would take the green pill to separate Hermione and Ron ????
    We have different priorities in life ????????????
    Yellow for me !

  89. Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the post. We ROFLOL.

    I just don’t know. My level of acceptable personal risk of injury, harm, death has decreased with juvenile dependents and the elderly demented dependent (Mother). So I will play it safe and go with yellow. Although I am not the same person I was a decade ago, five years ago or last year. Hopefully I am older, maturer, wiser etc. bwah ha ha ha.

    Thank you for the laugh.

  90. I vote for purple! Even a villain deserves a happy ending, provided he gives up his villainous ways. Even Lucifer should have a chance for redemption.

  91. Blue pill for literature. But that yellow pill would be necessary for music, so I can listen to Phil Collin’s In the Air Tonight again not knowing the drums are coming for me 😀

  92. I see that blue is winning. I would totally have voted for that, but since my body is old and out-of-shape, and have little magic other than the ability to cook an amazing empanada, here is what would happen;
    1. Innkeeper – not allowed into the inn, eaten by a random evil traveler
    2. Edge – left wondering where that truck went
    3. KD – left in a puddle with only my fillings to show i was there.
    Now, if I could go there and be in the shape i was in my 20s!!!!!

    8-D))

  94. Only one pill huh. It was have to be Blue because as good as Kate and Nevada’s worlds are, there’s no place like home.

  97. It’s the third Wednesday of the month and I have a new checking deposit. In the midst of paying bills and doing what donations I’ve budgeted, I noticed something.

    Over the next four weeks, there will be seven books released that I have pre-ordered for my Kindle. The final one of the lot, and by far the most eagerly awaited, is Blood Heir.

    Who, me? Excited? Why would anybody think that?

    • I’ll bet there is a way to Gertrude Hunt through Unicorn Lane. Wouldn’t it be great to be a guest at GH, and have Kate, Curran & family show up? I’d love to see the room that the Innkeeper designs for them and watch Curran put food on Kate & their children’s plates.

  101. Yellow, that way I could read the kate daniels and hidden legacy again for the first time…all the joy of visiting the worlds without the danger…and with no wait between books too…heaven

  102. Teal. How about a “One-A-Day” program? Select your favorite subset of pills and rotate through them. Indigo is obviously a one-timer.

  104. I would not choose any of them. It is probably my weird way of reading, but here’s why:
    Teal – How could I choose one character? There are so many I would like to have followed farther.
    Orange – I have never hated anyone enough to kill them. Be relieved that they’re dead, yes, but kill them, no.
    Magenta – The ones I like to read about are not those I would care to live with.
    Green – No, just not for me.
    Indigo – I’m not the heroic type and I’d hate being a villain.
    Purple – I wouldn’t know how.
    Blue – I’m already doing that, in much more comfort. I’m lazy.
    Red – The author has reasons for when, if, and how that happens. I’m not dumb enough to interfere.
    Yellow – I read through books so fast the first time that I miss half the detail that makes me love them. Why would I want to start over?

  105. Maybe mix all the contents of the pills into one big pill and become a new character for Ilona to use as a wild card lol

  107. Honestly… one of the hardest choices I have ever made… I was torn between three, but in the end… Yellow is the one for me! ((Mostly because if I took Indigo I would probably make some sort of weird mistake and promptly die in my new world!))

  110. I picked Blue because there are just way too many fictional worlds where I have “vacation homes”. I spend a week or two here, a week or two there…and I could never settle on just one. So, Blue for me. 😀

  113. Most of the books I read tend to have fairly awful worlds. If I went into them as I am (a chubby nerd with few job skills, fewer people skills and no survival skills), I’d be dead in a week, probably horribly so. Also, most of the characters I like are way too good to be with me. So, that’s blue, indigo and magenta right out. I’m not big on shipping, sometimes but not super common. I’d want the orange pill to end some people, if only to prevent the damage and destruction they’ll cause. Especially the undercover or spy bad guys, where people trust them and think they’re friends right up until they get stabbed in the back.

  114. That was hard. I really wanted Indigo or Blue but I chose Teal for Tris in the Divergent series. Her death really surprised and upset me. I have been very careful committing to characters in books I read since then.

    I am resurrecting her to make my world right again!

  115. Although, teal is a close second to orange for me. There are a lot of awesome people that died completely unfairly.
    honestly, my very favorite would be a pill that lets you get an entire series without waiting on release dates. I don’t do well with waiting.

  116. While it would be great to try blue, I am past the age where I’d have the most fun with that.(Hard to handle KD world with a walker!) So I think I’ll opt for yellow instead. A whole bottle of yellow pills so I can have the experience with all my favorites!

  118. We need pill #10.

    The power would be forcing the author (Pat Rothfuss, darn it!!!) to immediately finish writing a book. I know, I know. You can’t rush perfection *eyeroll*.

    Although, I do have yellow by default, since I can’t remember anything. So there’s that.

  119. Oh Blue for sure!

    One of my favorite series is the Thursday Next one from Jasper Fforde. I could totally be the book detective, hopping in and out of worlds. Fun times!

    If I was to hop into Kate’s world, I’d need a bit more martial arts training. Or maybe Kate would be my friendly backup if I brought home-made cinnamon rolls as bribes? Defenders of the world like cinnamon rolls, right? 🙂

  123. I think this depends too much on the fine print of these pills. What does “redeem” or “kill” or “ressurect” mean? Can you write the exact circumstances of the change like in Death Note? Or is it a terrible monkey’s paw type deal?

    Would bringing a character to our world also grant them certain immunity? If someone brought Erra to our world would she just fall asleep because of very low magic?

  124. Teal because I always wanted to resurrect the funny, nice best friend characters who died to show the big-bad was Big and Bad. That’s how I became an author lol.

  126. Blue to visit Martha Wells’ murderbot universe (the non company planets) competent government and a cranky cyborg to trade media with.

  127. If you want to mess with worlds then write fanfiction, I voted yellow, because when I re-read a favorite book or even a series, I always find something new that intrigues me. For instance, I read Lord of the Rings when I was twelve, when I read it again in my twenties, it meant something else. Now, in my much later years, I look forwards to reading it again with the “wisdom” of years.

    • I’ve had a similar experience. Except that I’ve read Return of the King more than 25 times (I stopped counting at 25). But still, same thing. It hits me differently each time. Makes it really fun to re-read certain books. I’m also in my later years, though I haven’t officially hit the “much” part yet, LOL! Guess that means I can re-read ROTK another few times (with any luck) before I shuffle off this mortal coil.

  128. Happy Holidays from someone who enjoyed all your books during cocooning time (name of first lockdown) and then 2nd lockdown in Ireland. Thank you.

  129. There are SOME characters though that scream out for me to take that orange pill…George R.R. Martin I’m looking at you.

  130. I’d choose the Blue pills (yes, plural????). Then I keep imagining that someone will drug me with the yellow pill then trick me to consume the indigo pill saying it’s for my medicine..

  131. I’d have to take magenta and pick Roarke from JD Robb’s In Death Series. He’s been my book crush since the 90s.

    • So very close except I went for blue cos I wanted to meet Peabody and Ian and Nadine and Mavis and Dr Mira and Mr Mira and … anyway … you get the idea 🙂

  132. I’m disturbed (and slightly surprised given that I’m contrary) to find that in this group … I’m normal

  133. so the blue pill is that a)one world one visit b)different worlds one time or c)same world multiple times?

  134. I was torn between blue and teal. Sometimes I’m REALLY happy that I’m only visiting some of these worlds in a book and not for real. So Teal won, LOL!

    But then, I could never use the teal pill, because my husband would really not be thrilled, LOL!

    • Nora I thought of that too! There was that ominous mention wasn’t there!

      But I had to go with Aunt B because I think of her in different situations and make myself laugh. It would be much better from House Andrews!

  136. Orange – because while I do like that our lead characters are good ones, sometimes “bad” is needed for them as well and being too good is actually not that good, thus some killing is needed for certain “evil/bad” characters and orange pill would help out with that for our leads.

  138. I was leaning toward Orange, because, hey, violent nature is better expressed in fiction than IRL, right? But… YELLOW! Yellow! Sigh The idea that I can re-experience the fictional worlds for that first time over again? Nirvana!

  139. I picked yellow definitely… I always reread my favorite books. To fall in love with them all over again.

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