Science Fiction and Fantasy
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That you're reading this at all is amazing. When we wrote On the Edge, we never thought that there would be a sequel. The original concept was that we would write a hot romance. However, we are what we are and what we ended up with was something I took to calling "rustic fantasy," because it sounds better than "redneck romance."
That worked for Rose and Declan, who fit into that sort of story. For William Wolf, I wanted something more. William made his first appearance in On the Edge. A changeling with the ability to transform into a wolf, William was a trained killer and Declan's Army buddy. He saw Rose as a chance to create a family he never had, but William lost Rose to Declan and did not save the day. This book was his chance to be a hero, to get the girl. A damaged hero and a very odd girl, but still.
It was also my chance to save a book I knew would never be published, or at least parts of it. Many years ago we wrote a book called The Realm, which was a complicated sort of otherworldly fantasy filled with political intrigue. It was cool, there was magic and gadgets, and dames in distress.
The ultimate downfall or flaw of The Realm was that our spymaster hero was too cool and too detached. He felt nothing and could do anything. No emotion interfered with his mission, neither fear nor pity. While it may have made him a good agent, this emotional indifference made him a boring hero.
If anything, William is the antithesis of that character. He is deeply damaged. He has never known love or family. He was abandoned as a child due to his nature and raised by those who turned changeling children into killing machines. Having spent his adult life in an elite military unit, the female of the species is a mystery to William.
Being a soldier was all William knew, and when he failed to follow orders, even that was denied him. He is a man adrift with no purpose or direction. He works with his hands to survive and buys himself all of the comforts he was denied as a child. His action figure and comic collection is impressive. When he saw Rose, he felt that she and the boys were a chance at a family of his own.
Then came Declan the Hero, Declan the Noble, with as much money as God and far better manners. William knew he could beat Declan in a fight but would never win Rose's heart. Deep inside he realized that his old friend can give her the life she deserves and that he could not provide for her and the boys.
After the events of On the Edge, William returns to his self-imposed exile when he is contacted by the Virai, the legendary leader of the Mirror, the Andrianglia's shadowy intelligence agency. She is actually based loosely on our agent Nancy.
Nancy Virai offers William a chance at revenge. All he has to do is sneak through the Weird and cross the heavily guarded border into the Mire, a giant swamp that occupies hundreds of uncharted miles of the Edge. The Dukedom of Louisiana, the Adrianglia's chief rival, is using Mire as a dumping ground for its exiles, sending the worst and meanest human refuse into the swamp. Once in the Mire, William needs to track down his bitter enemy, Spider, a man who has almost killed him twice, find out why Spider is in the swamps, and stop him at any cost. Simple.
Except, of course, a girl with a sharp sword gets in the way…
– Ilona Andrews
Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Andrew is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Andrew was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Andrew is still sore about that.) Together, Andrew and Ilona are the co-authors of the New York Times bestselling Kate Daniels urban fantasy series and the romantic urban fantasy novels of The Edge. They currently reside in Portland, Oregon with their two children and numerous pets. For sample chapters, news, and more, visit ilona-andrews.com.
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