ILONA ANDREWS

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Princess of Shinar

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Art by Luisa Preissler

“As the Heir of Shinar, I’m my people’s sword and shield. If a threat arises, I will be the first and sometimes the only one to respond to it. I am their atomic bomb. It is my duty to put myself between the kingdom and its enemies.”

BLOOD HEIR

For everyone who for some bizarre reason thinks that Julie at some point was dark-haired and can’t find the reference in Magic Burns: click on the blog in the menu. Look at the Magic Stars banner. That book was published 5 years ago.

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Comments

  3. The dress is so pretty!!

    For some reason I always imagined Julie with brown hair, and so it’s just going to stay that way in my head. ????

    The art is beautiful though!

    • That’s because she did have dark hair and eyes before. But she did something something with in shinar shit and the magic turned her blond and her facial structure into something more akin to Kate’s line. It will be mentioned in the new book more. I’ve personally gotten fairly used to this new Julie. Honestly you’ll have to take her almost as a new character with all that’s she’s been through and sacrificed she isn’t at all like what she used to be and yet also simultaneously so close to what she was it hurts.

      • Julie was never dark haired.

        “I had almost finished picking out all of the shrimp, when a very thin, angelic-looking child walked into my kitchen. She had fly-away caramel hair and large brown eyes on a sharp face.”

        Andrews, Ilona. Magic Burns (Kate Daniels Book 2) . Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

        She is a caramel blonde. Her hair does get lighter with sun exposure in the summer, so sometimes she is described as having lighter blonde hair, but at no point she was ever dark haired.

        • I imagine it might be because Kate has dark hair and we think of them as family, though we know biologically they are not related. Our mind does what happened to Julie in this book, we mentally make her look more like Kate.

          • But one of the chapters that has now disapeared said Julie was transformed to a look more like Kate and her families, so now it would fit that Julie is darkhaired

            • Yes, you are right Thirza! I read that as well in one of the first few chapters of Blood Heir. Julie was describing what she looks like now and that no one would know who she was because she looks so different.

              • But it said she looked like a blonde version of Kate. Which is why on those chapters there is a line where she mentions that now she truly looks like Kate & Curran’s child (since he is blonde)

  4. Julie is gorgeous inside and outside. I love how Luisa really captured how regal she can be <3

  7. Pre-ordered and I can’t wait. I wish I could read it over the holidays when I have two weeks off. Them’s the breaks I guess ????, it gives me time to re-read all the others that came before.

  9. Julie has totally changed from what she was in appearance so her hair may have been brown originally. It is interesting that Julie is the heir not Kate. And what does being heir mean. The artwork is gorgeous. I wish I had any artistic talent. Guess I will just appreciate

    • she is kate’s first born 🙂

      and erra recognizes her as a grandchild. the matter of blood is resolved since she has their blood too.

      besides, kate is not interested in leading shinar so i dont think any kids or future descendants are going to fight over the “title” of queen.

      i think there is something about how they raise their kids in their family too. i dont remember reading that roland’s or erra’s kids tried to take over his role as imshinar. its always something to do with another reason or them being crazy so roland dispatched them.

    • She was described as having very blonde hair during her first book (I can’t keep the titles straight). It might have darkened during puberty to brown though.

      • She had “flyaway caramel hair” in her debut in magic burns after her shower. So I’d say still a light brown.

          • I know this is not a helpful response and feel free to not let it stand but this just made me laugh because I couldn’t help but think “then you’ve never seen what I can do to a poor unsuspecting batch of caramel” ????
            Suffice to say there are no recipes with caramel in my repertoire anymore… ????

          • Well, sorry to disappoint you, but caramel is light/reddish-brown. And the way I make it, it is darkbrown, since I add a spoonful of cocoa powder to it, when I make my burizon slices.

          • If I bothered to remember anyones appearance that might have confused me too, to be honest. When I hear caramel i think light to mildly dark brown like this http://zimtliebe.de/karamell/ i know there is whiter looking one but it isn’t really what I associate it with personally.

      • I could understand the caramel thing being misunderstood (caramel is like dirty blond, no ?), but seriously guys, Julie is physically described every time she first appeared in a book…
        Book 3 : blond-haired girl.
        Book 4 : her blond hair.
        Book 5 : her light hair
        Etc, etc…..
        I think you’re kind of focused on the caramel thing, lol

        • And book 9, Era and Kate talk about the Koorghan and Kate describes them as blonde.

          She’s always been blonde, but I understand why people may have had a different image in their heads. I remember reading through (I think it was book 7 or 8) for the third time before I realized that Doolittle was black. I had somehow missed all of the physical descriptions up to that point, and for some reason, in my head had I pictured him looking like Colonel Sanders. After that realization, I immediately went back to book one to re-read the series with the correct image in my head.

      • Well caramel is light/reddish brown, can be even dark brown. Censoring my posts won´t change that.

        • You are not being censored. Your comments are being removed because you are literally arguing with me, the author of the books, over the hair color of the character and don’t have the good sense to stop. Even if you somehow decided that Julie was brown haired based on the caramel description in the Magic Burns, there are 10 books that followed where it’s repeatedly stated that she is blond. Would you like quotes?

          • People just love to argue for the sake of arguing. As someone who has read the books numerous times and is currently in the process of reading them again I am so confused as to how anyone would think she has dark hair. You without a doubt have stated numerous times she was blonde. Even in Magic Binds Erra mentions that Julie is a descendant of some old line that Roland always wanted and comments on her blonde hair about it.
            Again people like to be ignorant and argue!

          • This is like the woman who insisted we were stationed together in Germany and never believed me when I said I had never lived in Germany. You created Julie, she is your vision. She is blond, end of story.

          • You’ve misunderstood, I don´t dispute your character, that is your thing. I just dispute your color perception, which is different. I find it interesting that you describe caramel as golden instead of brown.

        • You may want to google the hair color caramel – it spans a gamut of colors, including a blonde one. Googling ‘caramel blonde’ turns up plenty of results, but ‘caramel brunette’ turns up few – they’re mostly caramel brown, usually with a caramel blonde balayage (because google is trying to give you brunette + caramel).

          I’ve pictured Julie as blonde because of all of the times she was described as blonde. I get that the Mandela effect is a thing, but once you find out you got it wrong you adjust and move on. Fruit of the Loom never had a cornucopia in the logo. The monopoly man never had a monocle. Sinbad never played a genie in a movie called Shazaam. ????

          This is a weird choice of hills upon which to die.

  19. This is an amazing Julie, really beautiful artwork! And I can’t wait to see what Blood Heir is going to be like…..

  20. Ooo, so beautiful! Love, love the picture and the brief introduction. So excited, yes…get thee gone 2020!

  22. Luisa is so incredibly talented! I love her work & she outdid herself here. I’m not sure if you make her work shine or vice versa but her talent & your talent bring it up to fantastic entertainment (the absolute best)!

  24. The artwork is absolutely perfect. In my mind that is what a warrior princess looks like,fierce.

  25. Ah, Luisa is such a gifted artist, I hope that you two love the way she gives visual representation to your creations as much as we do. Cannot wait to read this book! So glad you caved on giving Julie and Derek a series after all. FORK the haters. 🙂

  33. Love the lighting in this picture. Also if you make t-shirts for this book I nominate the signs when she enters Atlanta including the fireball graffiti. I figured the front of the shirt could be the welcome to Atlanta one and the back of the shirt could be the shape shifter one.

  36. Of course, I will buy your book! Awesome art, wonderful storytelling…. just magnificent. Thanks so much for all you both do as well as anyone on your team.

  39. I’d buy anything you guys write….got me through some dark days…..and y’all are amazing ???? ????

  48. I thought she was always dark blonde. Looked like it on Magic Stars. Its good to see Julie growing up. As much as she’s been through, she’s changed but there’s still that kid that loves her second family more than anything.

      • I really don’t get the arguing. If you (the author) say you wrote her as blonde… Then she is blonde right? I mean, you would know best

        And caramel, unless you burn it or add chocolate, is a warm blonde…

      • Good grief! How many times to you have to say it ?!?! You have to either laugh or cry…………….

        Thanks for sharing your creations with us. I love them!!

  55. She looks like a fierce regal warrior.
    She has always been blonde. Both she and Andrea blonde. Kate and Erra are brunette. Curran blonde with grey eyes. Colman has his dad’s eyes and Kate’s coloring.

  57. I went back into the kitchen and ate a piece of sausage off my plate. Through the window I could see Red and Julie on the street. They stood close together, his dark head against her blond.

    Yeppers, always been a blond.

  59. Ohhh, she’s so beautiful. She looks every inch the badbass warrior princess that she is! Derek is such a lucky wolf. They’re already canon in my head regardless of what happens!

    • I’m just trying to decide if I want Derek to get lucky in this book. Part of me has been waiting since Magic Stars and can’t wait any longer. . . The other part is willing to wait if it means more books.

      The art work is stunning.
      Thank you for sharing. And putting up with us. I just read Magic Burns this week so I am excited for more blonde Julie!

  61. The art is beautiful.
    Is it weird that I miss the old Julie (because she was all kinds of cool)? I feel like we have this whole new heroine…

    • It’s not weird, and we do. Kids grow up, you tend to miss the versions of who they use to be, while simultaneously loving the current version. You just have to roll with it, be they fictional or otherwise.

  62. This Julie is gorgeous. I love how Julie grew up and joined the Shinar branch of Kate’s family and how it fulfilled her need to belong.

  63. I also very much like the picture. Is it the same artist, that is responsible for the cover picture of Blood heir ? An excellent choice!

  64. I always knew she was blonde, and now I believe she is a lighter blonde than before, really love the picture you posted

  65. That cover is gorgeous! I can’t wait to read the book. I will have to get paper & e-book version:)

  66. Good gracious, peeps. If the author says blonde, she’s blonde.

    If I had written a spunky little girl, visualized her and birthed her, and then not been heard even after repeatedly posting “she is blonde” along with a direct quote from the bloody book, I’d have banged my head repeatedly into the wall after reading some of these comments.

    Lord have mercy–you really can lead a horse to water, but not make it drink.

    • Yes!!! My thoughts exactly. All this time I was reading the comments and I kept thinking…don’t argue with the author…it’s her character. And all this over hair??

    • +1! Can’t imagine getting all heated up over a character’s hair color, myself. But please don’t argue with the authors! It’s their character after all, so you’re being rude.

  69. Authors: Her hair has always been blonde
    Readers: Brown
    Authors:Blonde
    Readers: Blonde
    Authors:Yes
    Readers: But during the KD series it was brown.
    Authors: -_-

  70. So beautiful, thanks for sharing!

    (yes, always envisioned her with blond hair, so not surprised).
    😉

    Laurence

  71. From the most excellent, Magic Binds

    Erra glanced at me. “You have a child of the Koorgahn. And a throwback to a pure-blood, too. Look at that hair.”
    Koorgahn? She probably meant kurgan. The only kurgans I knew about were the burial mounds peppering the old Russian steppes, Asia, and southern Siberia. The kurgans served as burial mounds for the ancient race of Scythians, and the earliest ones dated sometime around the ninth century BC . . . They were blond.

  72. The word glorious has always been too melodramatic for me, but it applies so well to the artwork here…. I can genuinely see how a kingdom would fight if she was part of the royal family. And that dress!!! She’s so becoming my new phone wallpaper. 😀

  73. One moar, just for good measure
    From <Magic Rises

    I spun the spear. “One more argument and I’ll ground you.” Julie rolled her eyes with all the scorn a fourteen-year-old could muster and pushed her blond hair away from her face. “Kate, like when will I ever use this in real life?” “You’ll use it in the next five seconds to keep me from impaling you.”

  75. I had the impression she has dark hair, but that was from the earlier chapters of Blood Heir, where she said she looked more like a child of Kate and Curran after the transformation. and my brain immediately went to Kate has dark hair so her hair has turned dark now. 🙂

  76. This is so funny! Julie was blonde from the start. I can’t quote the books, but I never considered that she might have dark hair. My Kindle doesn’t show colors, but even with it in black and white, the cover of Magic Stars shows blonde hair! And is this something that matters? I can’t imagine someone quibbling about this.

    The artwork is stunning, as it always is. The book will read the same in my black and white, but the pictures you’re posting here will stay with me as I read it.

  77. So so so beautiful ???? is that picture made with a software ? It looks so beautiful ! Like a painting ????

  81. HUH didn’t even know that was a thing! I think I was mildly surprised when Magic Stars came out but that’s just because I pictured her more dirty blond.

    People get upset about weird things lol.

  82. Maybe some people got mixed up with the “three generations of Shinar” in the Blood Heir chapters and extrapolated that Julie must now have dark hair?

    The artwork ist beautiful, can’t wait for the release date 🙂

  85. I’m guessing it was because of the brown eyes. I picked up on the blond at first read, but missed the brown eyes until later. It’s a less usual combination than blond/blue or brown/brown. Not that it’s so UNUSUAL or bad/wrong at all, but if someone isn’t reading super carefully, it’s easy to make assumptions.

    • I feel like this is one of those tricks of psychology where your brain image for some reason does not align with the canonical description. This happens to me constantly with books. I will read a description form an image and several re-reads later discover my mental image was off base, but getting rid of that first image can be a challenge. In my head Julie was always a dirty blonde, but it seems a lot of people ended up creating a different mental picture for some reason. Our brains are mysterious things.

  87. My favourite thing about this image is how powerfully athletic she looks – I can’t stand ‘waif-fu’, where we see images of super thin women with arms like sticks who are somehow supposed to be able to fight. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with being thin, if that’s you! But there’s also nothing wrong with being physically imposing, and we don’t see nearly enough of that. This image of Julie is gorgeous, and beautifully feminine, but her arm is muscular and her waist is ‘thicc’ like an athlete’s – like a snowboarder or javelin thrower – which is what she would *need* to be in order to fight. I know she and Kate have magic too, and that makes them powerful in a different way, but I will never stop craving and appreciating representation of women who look physically powerful.

    Tl:dr: YAS QUEEN.

  88. Julie looks gorgeous! I love the striking contrast of shadow and light and how she looks like an ancient queen. A lovely atomic bomb indeed.

  89. The artwork is beautiful! I don’t get the hair issue, you have always been very clear that Julie’s hair is blond. Some people just aren’t very good retaining details when they read ????

  92. Beautiful artwork.

    I find the addition of art in your books thrilling. I’ve loved every image you’ve included, often going back to books looking for the images.

    I love the descriptions in the Innkeeper series – the visuals stoke my imagination further.

    Thank you for the time, care and expense in bringing your characters to life!

  93. Actually I always thought of Julie as more of a white maybe platinum blonde with her hair blazing like a banner in the wind as she rode in the sun. On Peanut.

  94. I’ve always pictured Julie as the scrappy, tomboy type. But the new art looks fabulous and exactly how I pictured how she looks now (at least from the original
    Ryder posts).

  96. Welp, I guess that some people just like arguing too much to ever let a small thing like facts as stated by the AUTHORS dissuade them. But let’s try something new here: how about we all just agree these are the best books ever? In my opinion, discovering these books has been the saving grace of the pandemic…more time to sit home reading!!

  97. Julie had blond hair and brown eyes; those were described pretty much at her first introduction. Not an unusual combination by any means.

  98. Julie has always been blonde. The only confusion I’m having is the confusion of anyone thinking Julie was ever described as having dark hair. Does no one remember Magic Stars, Julie is on the cover and surprise, surprise, she’s blonde. Don’t argue with the authors, ask questions, but don’t piss them off, I want more books.

  99. Aurelia is absolutely gorgeous – but she doesn’t look terribly pleased to have to be all dressed up for court.

  104. Luisa Preissler is so talented, thank you for sharing it – that illustration is just gorgeous! No wonder Ascansio had a reaction when he saw her face clearly for the first time 🙂

  105. She has always been blonde with brown eyes. I think it might be a stereotype thing. In several jobs (10 + years), I was a voice on the other end of the line. I would occasionally get comments from guys as to what I looked like. I am not a soprano, am very direct, don’t back down and seem intelligent. EVERY SINGLE ONE said that I was dark haired, tall and athletic. I would just agree. IRL, I am a short blue eyed blonde but everybody knows that blondes aren’t known for intelligence, don’t have opinions and are agreeable.

    • You forgot sweet, even tempered, innocent, and while sexually inexperienced, a sexual dynamo once the correct man has awakened your libido.

  106. I thought her dark hair reference was from the Fire King short story. When she ate his eyeball she transformed, got dark hair and started looking more like Kate’s family?

  107. I find it interesting that Julie’s hair stayed blonde while so much else of her physical attributes changed to match Kate and her family. I wonder if it’s the Koorghan magic in her? She still sees magic so (in my brain at least) it makes sense that the signature blonde color of her ancestors would also remain and not be subsumed by Moloch’s transformation.

    Regardless, this is gorgeous and Luisa outdid herself yet again!

    • That’s not canon yet, Blood Heir started as fandom, once the decision was made to make a novel out of it a lot was changed, and we don’t yet know what or how or how much.

      I don’t think anything specific was said about her coloring changing, just that if she and Kata and Erra were all in a room, no one would question there relation.

  108. I never understood readers arguing with author about characters like I get that we have pictures of them but they aren’t our characters. It’s one thing to celebrate that publishers finally got rogan a shirt it’s another to argue with the author. Let it go people, Julie is badass with blonde hair

  109. Beautiful artwork, I have pre-ordered the book. I can’t believe people who profess to be your fans will argue with you about the hair color of a character you created. It’s because of “fans” like that that I rarely read the comments after your blog entries. I enjoy your blog, but the passive aggressive responses make me crazy.

  110. im in the blond camp. if the author says shes blond then, mic drop. and im just thinking i need to remember some of these names and look for villains in future writings ????

  111. The book that introduced Julie even talked about her being blonde. Maybe people associated her with being Kate’s kid and Kate has dark hair? IDK, but I always thought if her as blonde. Beautiful art!

  112. Ilona – sending you a virtual warm cup of tea and a hug if you need it. People are stubborn jerks sometimes, sorry they frustrated you.

    The art is incredible! I love Luisa’s work, need to order some of her KD prints for framing.

    Also, not that you need more confirmation, but I also remember reading of Julie always being a blond. Have a great evening

  114. For folks who forgot her hair color: I just reread the whole Kate Daniels series in preparation for the Blood Heir release. Julie is blond.

    Also, if I remember correctly: there was a blog post earlier this year (or maybe last year?) talking about the movie Tomiris (released Sept 2020). The post mentioned how the people of the Steppes (which would be Julie’s ancestors as described in the Kate Daniels series) are portrayed in the movie with dark hair when most were actually blond according to archaeological evidence (links were posted to the evidence) which explains why Julie was blond in the KD series.

    (I hope that makes sense. I had to rewrite it a couple times to keep it from being a gigantic run on sentence.)

  115. When I hear you rant about it, I feel the similar to the amusement you felt with the roomba story.

    I’m sorry, but that’s funny.

  116. Why…..why is everyone arguing with Ilona about her own character?

    Guys, she made her. Literally. With her own brain (and bits of Gordon’s). There is no higher authority here.

    Merde sacrée.

  120. Speechless
    Waiting
    One day it will STOP saying Pre and my order will be here

    I used to think pre-orders were a good thing … now it’s like an overly full bladder that can’t empty … except on someone elses say so

    Then again … it’s probably the waiting U_U uhmmm

  121. The author of a book is the definitive and ultimate authority on said book and all its contents including the physical appearance of any characters CREATED by the books author. So why are people even discussing this? Be grateful for the wonderful books they have created and we have enjoyed. Now move on people.

  122. She looks so ethereal!!!

    Such grace and poise, yet it doesn’t take away from the fact that she can literally eviscerate anyone who dares lay eyes on her family or loved ones.
    So excited for Blood Heir!!!!

    PS: Julie has always been Blonde. Die mad people *intense eye roll*

  123. I will admit that I have always visualized her a brunette, but in the second book, upon being shown a picture of Julie’s mom, Her mom is described as having blond hair and that Julie looked like her.

    The main reason I rarely like the cover art is it often conflicts with my mental picture of the characters.

  125. Woah beautiful art! Gorgeous!!
    I remember re-reading one of your books and paused when i read that she is blonde. I always read the descriptions of people always too fast so this was kind of a lesson for me. I think the assumption that she is dark haired comes from her being like a daughter to Kate. I hope you didn’t get too many grey hairs over this (don’t know whether this saying exists in english).

  126. SERIOUSLY???? Every book Julie is in indicates that she is blonde. Who has the nerve to argue this point – especially with the writer/creator of the character. Also, with everything Julie has gone through to be “Princess of Shinar”, if you changed her hair color – that is YOUR PREROGATIVE.

    I hope you got a good laugh out of it.

  130. I am so excited. I have pre-ordered the printed book and cannot wait for it to arrive. There is just something special about the weight and scent of an actual paper book.

  131. … someone thought Julie wasn’t blonde? ???

    I mean, I get forgetting details – I can no longer remember what order the books go in (Magic Bites is first and Magic Triumphs is last with Kate as protagonist, but I can’t remember the in-betweens – because no author could possibly write fast enough to by my one and only, but maybe go back and check before embarrassing yourself?

  132. I’m massive excited about another book from you guys!! You all have a beautiful Christmas ????. Thank you!

  134. I love the cover it is beautiful. Thank you so much for this book I cannot wait until I can think my teeth into it. Thank you again for all the hard work and time you put in for our benefit. All of the characters you have ever made have become a part of my family.

    Julie lived on the street for a while maybe that’s why people thought her hair was Brown. I’ve read the books enough times to know she was blonde

  135. Was it just 5 years ago?
    Seems so much longer to me.
    I can’t wait for Blood Heir!
    Thank you for your stories

  136. Also…
    “I had almost picked out the shrimp, when a very thin, angelic-looking child walked into my kitchen. She had fly-away caramel hair and large brown eyes in a sharp face”

    Caramel is not brown…

  138. don’t people remember what Erra said about the Kurgan(please excuse spelling tbere) ‘Blonde hair and an affinity with wolves and birds of prey’ ????
    And you mention her blond hair many times in several books!!

  139. I have subscribed to your newsletter but I never get it! Very frustrating! Only get to read it if I come across a comment. Can you help? I love your writing and have read all of your books. I am afraid I will miss one because of this. Thanks

  141. Hey Ilona and Gordon!!! I had a couple questions about Julie particularly. Based on what I’ve read in the chapters that have been posted and even this quote it seems that Julie is almost inheriting some of the birthrights that would be Colan’s. I always just associated her more with Hugh because of the act and which she received some of her power. But the vibe that I’m getting is that she’s becoming more like Kate in the sense that she developing power and the usage of that those born true would be capable of using. And so I was wondering if you would be into making a blog post about Julie and her relationship to the blood exchange. Or why she is capable of doing things that Hugh can’t do or how has the blood developed in her that she is having characteristics of being a true “born” heir. Is it simply her having acquired knowledge or…

    By the way I love you and I have read all the books probably 10 to 15 times not even kidding!!! I’m such a fan!!! Hope my questions made sense!!!

  144. Ohmigooooooooood, I’m so excited to read this. I lurve Julie (and Derek). My daughter and I are on tenterhooks for this one to come out.
    That quote gives me goosebumps – seriously.
    Thank you, thank you, thank you for an entire Julie book!!!

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