Three months ago, in a moment of christmassy optimism, I posted a draft quiz meant to help answer that question: Which Ilona Andrews series should you start next?
The idea was simple:
New Hordlings would arrive on our welcoming BDH shores after reading This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me. They would discover multiple Ilona Andrews series waiting for them, each with a different tone and entry point. A shiny treasure trove!
But sometimes even treasure can be overwhelming. The quiz was meant to be one extra quick, fun way to point them toward the best starting point according to their preferences. (We all know they will end up reading everything anyway.)
The Horde very generously tested the first version. And by “tested,” I mean you had many thoughts about how much you hated it haha.
Back to the drawing board I went. Thank you!
The original quiz has been reworked and simplified so it requires much less reading and thinking than the first draft. There are no more jokes or questions about anything to do with morally grey characters or pacing. There is one constraint I can’t change: the quiz plugin cannot produce a reasonably accurate result across five different series with only 3 questions, as many of you requested.
So, new version: same question count, but trims everything down to the shortest prompts I can possible write while still allowing the quiz to hopefully point readers somewhere useful.
You can let me know below whether we succeeded this time, please and thank you!
Take 2:
Please remember the quiz plugin does not work in the email newsletter, so if you’re seeing this in your inbox you’ll need to click here to try it through the blog.
I like this one, being more concise helps. Having read everything it was obvious to an existing BDH card carrying member which was what but there were some which were obscure enough to indicate I need to reread all the things. As an intro for potential BDH members I think this will work well.
I ended up with Innkeeper despite not picking obvious answers relating to it. The coziness likely did me in, not that I’m complaining, it is my favourite series.
Um, I was quite surprised by the series that I got (Kinsmen), but honestly, all Ilona Andrews books are fabulous, and there is no wrong place to start.
Nailed it. I started with Kate Daniels.
Hmmm – it goes on a bit, bit it took me to Hidden Legacy, which I re-read regularly, so a result!
What fun x I really enjoyed that. You are right I read them all anyway it’s so hard to have a favourite but Kate has it all ❤️
This is tons better. And the answer it gave me, based on honest first responses is my fave series. I wasn’t overwhelmed and didn’t feel I’d failed the test this time 🥰
Well done! I enjoyed that and got Gertrude Hunt (no surprise)
Funnily enough, it picked the only series I haven’t read yet (Kinsmen). Not that I wasn’t planning on reading it–I just haven’t gotten to it yet!
Quiz is fine, though I thought the last one was fine as well. I do find it a little ironic that readers complained about reading too much in a quiz.
Oh lol! I started with The Edge but I thought I would end up with Innkeeper because I love it so.
Good quiz, question 7 is very difficult!
i loved the first quiz but this one’s good too! Very simple. 🙂
I really enjoyed this quiz.
Good quiz.
Today I got Hidden Legacy. Tomorrow. I might get The Edge. That’s the thing about my reading stories: if I get tired of a world, I can just stop reading and switch to a different world. And I revisit some worlds over and over.
So much better!!! 5*
nailed it!
Love the questions you chose and the answer options for each question. The description of the result for Innkeeper made me smile too – naked vampires indeed! The BDH will surely turn to this for re-read inspiration… it has been awhile…
the IA sarcastic sidekick has triumphed over her adversary (herself?) and won the allegiance of the Horde! (I’d read that!)
Excellent!!
I landed on Innkeeper. My favourite series.
I thoroughly enjoy everything Ilona Andrews writes but I am absolutely huge fan of Kate Daniels because she’s seriously kick-ass! My second favorite is Maud.
I do love all series but I want more Gertrude Hunt, NOW PLEASE 🙏 😊
Thank you, Mod R! I didn’t do the first version but I liked this one just fine! The one with worlds (cozy Inn) was a bit obvious. Anyway I got the series I reread most, so redults should be okay.
But perhaps (just speculating) will not bring new readers to test new things outside their favourite tropes? E.g. I like romance with HEA inbeach book but nevertheless loooove KD.
Anyway one can see the BDH will testtesttest… so you did well!
Give the moderator a cookie;-)
Hugs from Germany
Sorry, question with the worlds!
I’d love to see Hugh and Elara finished as well as the Julie books. Been waiting a looooong time for those! Hey, then you could continue/finish the Kate & Curran Wilmington books.
More inkeeper, of course!
I have a question (probably asked before by others). Would Linus’s null sword penetrate a null protection field?
thanx for the survey, but don’t go by my answers… I think I am too far different from your “normal” readers. I do love your books !! Just in candor, I would love a new Burn for Me adventure…
It works! I got Kate Daniels world. My fav of yours up to now. I will admit I really liked The Edge series and was sad that it stopped.
Result lined up with my typical preferences 👍
Some of the questions seemed to lead in a more different direction than I thought they would. For example, my response was that I should start with the Kinsman. Now I’ve read all the Kinsman books and I like them, but the whole time I was answering the questions, I was mostly thinking of Kate’s books.
Honestly, I think anyone that’s reading This Kingdom… and is new to Ilona Andrews, would be better off just coming here and letting us tell them what to read. I would tell them to start with Kate Daniels, and then expand to the Innkeeper. Although actually, the Edge books should come before the innkeeper. Then Hidden Legend.
QED lol
You are crushing it Mod R. I got Innkeeper again, which is the series I always recommend to people new to IA.
I like all of it, so this is a tough quiz. Also, I kind of depend on Ilona Andrews books to make a trope feel brand new — not sure how they manage it, but they’ve not let me down yet. (and ty, Ty, TY!)
Loved the test! I am actually waiting for the next book in the innkeeper chronicles! I need more!
Innkeeper still my go to storyline
Um, I’m on an iphone & the quiz is auto picking things for me…
YEA! first one of these that’s still been open when I got the email!! 🥰
Great questions! And took me right to kinsmen, which tbh I hadn’t been thinking about coz I had forgotten about it. But I love those stories. Time for a re-read!
Love all your work but would really like to see more with the Innkeeper series and especially more about George.
I think making the answers shorter in some cases made them harder to answer, but it’s still a great quiz!
I always get Kate Daniels 🩷🩷🩷
Kinsman! Love it!!
My husband and I have read our started all of your series. Hands down our favorite is the Innkeeper series but we feel like the parent arc needs to be resolved. Our favorite book in the series is actually Maud’s story. We liked the closed story in one book with room for linking the other books.
Mod R… as ever you deserve all the pay raises.
excellent and nailed the series I love most. Well done on the quiz.
I like it. Some of these are more mood questions and it was hard to choose between because many could apply. I think that’s a good thing though. Nothing was to weird or strange for someone new to all the back catalog.
hmm… I think the questions are somehow misleading. My favorite IA books are Hidden Legacy, with the Kate books and Innkeepers tied for second place. I read and enjoyed The Edge books, but they would be a solid 4th, yet the quiz came up with that as my first choice. Something is wrong here…
Kate. Let me just pick my jaw up off the floor for that result 💜.
Thank you got the quiz!!
I kinda forced it to get Kate and succeded 😀
I think the quiz is great. I feel like it will help newcomers. As much as I liked the humor in some of the other questions, this one seems so much quicker.
Personally I think the quiz is now kinda too boring? But it gets the point across. 🤷♀️
Lolz
^^ Cue “Garden Party”
Great quiz, Mod R! I got Hidden Legacy which is the series that originally drew me to House Andrews. And now I’ve read their entire oeuvre (minus Alphas). Hope this helps people find the right read for them. We want the BDH to grow so Ilona Andrews can keep writing!
Quizz led me to my least read series. The first book I ever read was “Iron & Magic”. Hugh led me to Daniels with the various spin-offs. Subsequently I jumped into anything “Ilona Andrews”. I’ve read the “Kinsmen” series but they just don’t seem to stick. I have to admit I’m a junkie. I want more of everything. More Kate – more Julie – more Andrea – more Hugh – more Dina – more Maud – more Nevada – more Katalina – more Arabella – more Edge – more Ada. And now probably April 1 —more Maggie. I just don’t think you can keep up to us. We want Want WANT.
Excellent quiz, lots of fun. No notes. 😁
So good. And pointed to me to what’s probably my favorite series (Innkeeper).
Random thing: there is a stray parenthesis in one answer, if you care.
Love the quiz!!!!
When will there be another installment of The Inheritance? Me and my cohort are really Jonesing for it here!
The authors have confirmed that there will be a sequel. Release dates are not announced until the manuscript is close to finish 🙂
Oh thank heavens, this book has become my exercise audio book and I cannot wait for the sequel.
Well done!
The quiz landed me on my absolute favorite series (Hidden Legacy), and I will say I was not trying to land there nor was I entirely sure I would! I liked this version of the quiz a lot better. The questions felt like they hit the vibe of “what am I interested in” without overly guiding me in a direction, and I still ended up exactly where I would have wanted to be if I hadn’t ever read them – even though I read Hidden Legacy at least twice a year 🤣 Comfort reads for the win!!
Alas, the quiz’s pick was my least favorite series, so something went wrong in my case. That said, your new Hordlings will do well with any they start. Super clear indications of series order is probably the most helpful thing.
I tried the quiz twice, first aiming for Innkeeper and then for Hidden Legacy. I aimed true. Some of the questions I just answered with whatever—I don’t watch TV, my reading choices are dictated more by author than by sub-genre or tropes, and I suck at defining what works for me and why—but the broad stokes worked.
I think this will definitely help newbies dive into the world of House Andrews. It gives a starting point. And if it’s not exactly the perfect starting point… it’s not like they can go wrong with House Andrews!
Took the quiz knowing that I love the Edge books but was thinking Innkeeper will be what I choose. Surprise, Surprise! The Edge was my ultimate choice. I definitely know how to pick them! Smiling!
I got Kate Daniel’s. I’m not surprised. I love that series and enjoy revisiting it…reread, snippets and spin offs. But then again I haven’t read a HA story I didn’t thoroughly enjoy. Fun quiz! Thanks ModR!
Worked for me. Got Innkeeper which was my starter series and it’s still my favorite.
You succeeded in spades! I am a long time Hoarder who started with Innkeeper, and it’s what I come back to when I need a comfort read. The quiz put me smack in the middle of Gertrude Hunt, and I’m thinking it’s time for a re-read!
When my son introduced me to Ilona Andrews books, his advice was “I know what you like to read, start with Kate”. Well the quiz just confirmed this choice. And now that I joined the BDH, have read all the books, listened to the audio books, read/watched short snippets, hints, blogs, etc. My advice is start with any series, you will want to read them all. Multiple times.
Good one! Takes me to Inn Keeper, which is my second favorite, but the right answer given how much I always want more.
My first love is the kinsmen stories and they can never get enough love for more sequels, lol.
There must be some value in the quiz. It suggested the Kinsmen stories for me. Unfortunately; when I looked, I had already read them all!
Great quiz!
I liked that one. I read nearly everything, and I couldn’t always say which series was described. Well done!
*got Kate Daniels. Since I finished rereading EVERYTHING of that world, it’s not so surprising… barsa barsa barsa!
I wound up with INNKEEPER which pleases me so much as it was I believe your first serial and my favorite series, if only you would write another chapter. Surely Helen must be dating by now if Arland hasn’t killed off all the boys who show interest in her? and where are Dina’s parents and brother?
Well, of course I got Kinsmen. I need more of them stories!!!
THAT WAS PERFECT!
My thought! the quiz is fun, but I personally think that pointing them to your free lit on the home page would let them dip their toes into the waters of house Andrews and dive into which ever realm caught their fancy. Tho I think I’d ad one for Innkeeper that is a bit more about Dina and/or Sean as the shorts there are more character background that isn’t Dina related, OR thought, maybe a short that reflects Dina and Klaus going their Separate ways and Dina getting Gertrude, because a Gertrude Short would be amazing. Dina and Gertrude save each other, one Apple tree at a time…and when did she acquire Beast? just an idea of course, but those shorts led me to read whats next.
Hi Beth, the quiz is in addition to all of the things you mention, like free fiction and book descriptions 🙂 They remain visible and available.
Yes, this worked for me on this go around!
That was fun! I liked it, felt very digestible
Oh! I got the kinsmen!to be honest I had no particular series in mind when answering but in my case the test succeeded cause that is my comfy series, in-between reads, when I want a quicky and not start rereading the other series,or when I can’t choose which one to start rereading…well you get the point!haha!
I really like the streamlining! <3 Well done!
This is direct and to the point- it may not have the in-jokes and Easter Egg references that we in the BDH love but it presents the options clearly and gives good direction to the new arrivals.
I liked the quiz, it gave me Hidden legacy!
also Ilona, thank you for recommending the Netflix wuxia drama something something pursuit jade, I have binged 20 episodes and now I am sad I cannot share my love for Yan Zheng and Fa Chanyu!
Dear Mod R, et al.,
I’m just here to comment on the picture: I love this picture.
That is all.
Thank you for your time.
THE HIGHEST REGARDS IMMA EAT THOSE COOKIES ASAP
This version worked well. I answered as I would have if I didn’t know which series were likely linked to each question, and the result it gave me matched my answers to the questions. It gave me the Kinsmen series, which for me would be an awesome intro to House Andrews’ books. Well done Mod R!
Good job on the quiz. New people will read all of the books once they discover they exist
I know the quiz doesn’t work in the email but it fills the email up junk. It takes a lot of work to scroll to the to get to the link to the website. Is there any way to not show
Self-contained trilogies, but with a big overarching story
etc
The title of each article in the newsletter is a direct link to the post 🙂
this blob of text plus much much more is what my email is full of.
I’d lead with question 7. Also question 9 had me wishing for a “none of the above” option.
Am I the only dork who got stuck on the TV show question, like, I didn’t have a tv for most of my life, and I have no idea how to correctly answer this
TV dilemma aside, great quiz Mod R. I got the series that fits what I want to read most right now. 🙂
It’s really not that deep, if you’ve ever watched a show you liked, what was it? 🙂 Or you can imagine if you never watched Tv at all, or answer at random. There are 8 other questions to weigh the decisions.
yes, I could not answer that one as I only watch live events now and the weather.
my favorite TV is the news.. sorry.. stopped watching when the commercials got longer than the content.
Episodic TV series best matches that, so problem solved 🙂 It just takes a bit of engagement with the spirit of the thing.
Perfect! I love this series the best 🙂
Quiz nailed it and came up with my suggested and favorite series.
What an awesome, fun ride. much improved.
spot on. ah, success.
Feels like I’m forgotten in a dungeon , cold, dark, wasting away , clothes tattered, no fresh water Moldy food … etc etc , you get the picture , as I wait, wait, wait , waiting like Maud , in Sweep of the Blade, left to drift aimlessly in space by the cruel merciless Creators of All there is .
Registered Complaint to the Bureau of Left to Drift Proselytes: by Erline, (not to be confused with “Erline , of the same book, who would be pleased as punch at the fate experienced by Maud”.
The new test works so much better. It picked my first “series” by House Andrews I ever read (Kinsmen) & got me hooked on their books. Every once in while when I want to read an old comfy favorite, Fated Blades is a first choice along with Sweep of the Blade. Hoping for more of Maud’s story. Keep up the good work guys.
Am I the only one who wanted an all of the above option lol.
Thank you, this was fun!
Ha! My first series was the Edge
I’ve been hooked ever since. Quizis a success.
I thought the quiz was great this time. I tried really hard to answer the questions as though it were a quiz from an author I didn’t know and it lead me to the series I would recommend, Hidden Legacy as I think that’s a great representation of HA’s writing and is more easily digestible than something like Kate. I think a trilogy is a good level of commitment and is enough to suck you in for more if you like it. I started out with Kate and absolutely loved it, but I’m glad that was when there were only a couple books as I am one of those readers (like the rest of the BDH I guess) that once I start I have to finish the whole series and spin offs and blog posts and any and all other related content, like cleaning your dinner plate, and might have been hesitant about diving into something as sprawling as Kate is now (probably why I’ve only reread Kate once whereas I’ve reread the others multiple times). Although honestly wherever they start they will love it as HA’s writing is amazing. Can’t wait for more Inkeeper, more Arabella, more Augustine, more Roman, more Hugh. More everything!
Well done.
I’m sure this will get buried, but I wanted to say this anyway—these quizzes and extras are so appreciated.
It’s easy to underestimate how hard something like this is. You’re pulling from multiple series, different tones, and trying to guide brand-new Hordlings without overwhelming them—that’s not simple at all.
Technical writer [for the Kinsmen] here, and this kind of cross-series synthesis is genuinely difficult to do well. The fact that you keep iterating on it (and taking feedback in stride) says a lot.
Thank you for putting in the time and creativity to make the BDH experience even more fun.
I like them all and want the next Breach Wars, Augustine and Diane, Maud’s Wedding, etc NOW!!!. I always want the next as soon as I finish a book
Very cool!
Kinsman…which, funnily enough, is the only IA series I haven’t read! So I’d say the quiz was right on target!
I was cranking along until the last question.
I like police procedurals and quirky shows in which good triumphs over evil.
But really? I don’t watch much tv, lol!
It was fun.
+1
I love your Innkeeper series. I am still waiting for the mystery of the parents being solved. I also enjoyed the book with Maud and Arland and hope there will be more to their story. You have quite a few worlds to follow and I am finally getting into the Kate Daniel’s books.
Played three different times with somewhat varying inputs but my result was always the Kinsmen. How did it know I love that series?!
I liked the George and Jack story line in the Edge series and was happy see them in The Innkeeper series. So I think new readers should start there. However, the short story Magic Tests was a great teaser to luring you into checking out the Kate Daniel series.
Interesting – it selected the one series I’ve not read. My favorite is the Kate Daniels Series. It selected Kinsmen for me, which is the only series outside of Alphas that I’ve avoided.
2nd time around, tweaked responses a tad – picked sarcastic mercenary, and can’t let go of the world – and got Kate Daniels, which is by far my favorite. I’ve read and listened to that series, and all the books in it, including side characters multiple times. It kind of ruined me for urban fantasy series.
As a fellow BDH member I would really encourage you to read the Kinsmen books especially if Kate is your fav. Kate is my fav too but I’ve really enjoyed the Kinsmen universe. I think you’ll be surprised how much you enjoy them. Happy reading!
The quiz was better! I tried to answer as if I didn’t know which series the questions referenced. My least favorite series was the answer. I think it is because Ilona and Gordon don’t write with all of the stereotypes and trope problems I dislike in lots of books and series, which your options could be leading me to if I didn’t know better.
Sorry, second comment here. I noticed many people got Kinsmen, which I also did. Is it possible the quiz has something going on that picks Kinsmen more often?
Not at all, it’s just based on which answers people pick most often 🙂
This is a non-compulsory, entertainment-geared, “majority A, B, C or D” quiz. Take what is useful, leave behind what is not. It cannot please everyone, and I’m not trying to 🙂
I didn’t mean to come across as if I was unhappy or disgruntled. I was trying to offer the input that, as a huge fan, the quiz did not pick my favorites and I worried that could affect a new reader’s quest to find another Andrews book they love. You work so hard and I apologize for coming off negatively. Thanks for all you do!