The Kinsman Universe

Posted on 08 November 2018 by Ilona Andrews

The World of KinsmenFamily is everything Talent is power And revenge is sweet.In a distant, future world Kinsmen small powerful groups of genetically and technologically advanced families control vast financial empires They are their own country, their own rulers, and their only limits are other Kinsmen The struggle for power is a bloody, full contact sport in business, on the battlefieldand sometimes in the bedroom Silent Blade Old hatreds die hard Old love dies harder.On the planet Rada, Meli Galdes family is of minor rank, and were relying on her marriage to Celino, the razor smart, ruthless leader of the powerful Carvanna empire When he abruptly breaks their engagement, he ruins her family and guarantees that Meli will never marry, as no suitor will oppose the rich and influential Carvannas But Meli has a rare, secret, lethal and valuable talent As a melder of energy, she s capable of severing anything in her path So she leaves her family and trains to become one of the best and most lethal of assassins, all the while covertly guarding her family s interests Now she s ready to quit but she has oneassignment.To kill the man who ruined her life Silver SharkClaire Shannon is a killer and her weapon is her mind Born on a planet torn by war for over 300 years, Claire is a soldier a psycher, with the ability to read, control, and destroy the minds of enemy psychers and to infiltrate the biological network where they battle to death When Claire s faction loses the war, she barely escapes extermination from both sides, as her talent brands her as too dangerous to society By so deeply burying her ability that she avoids detection, Claire is instead deported to Rada as a refugee, where she must find work to remain She finds a job as personal assistant to Venturo Escana, a premiere kinsman one of Rada s most wealthy entrepreneurs and most powerful psychers She thought she had left war behind, but now she must hide her skills and her growing feelings from Venturo and this battle might just cost her everything A Mere FormalityThe leader of the fierce Reigh people expires during an intergalactic summit, putting 30 million colonists lives and livelihoods in jeopardy When the new heir to the Reigh throne, Lord Nagrad, demands restitution, the phrase a life for a life turns the intergalactic calamity into an arranged marriage contract between Lord Nagrad and sharply intelligent diplomatic analyst Deirdre Lebed and the negotiation of terms becomes anything but formal Limited 1000 signed numbered hardcover copies, bound in leatherLettered 52 signed traycased copies, bound in a different leather than the limited edition New Read [ The Kinsman Universe ] By [ Ilona Andrews ] – kino-fada.fr 3.5 5A solid trio of stories set in the same universe I think the first two were previously published, but for me they were new I really liked the illustrations that accompanied each of the stories It s a nicely self published book As for the stories themselves, I reall...I averaged out these three stories at 3.5, but I liked one muchthan the others They were very much science fiction stories and because of their shorter format, it took a while to get into the world the authors created Perhaps that was why I didn t enjoy the first one so much.Silent BladeNot sure about either of the MCs here Meli was an assassin for her family, even as she leaves its protection An outcast, as it were She has a chance to avenge herself a broken engagement lies in her p I averaged out these three stories at 3.5, but I liked one muchthan the others They were very much science fiction stories and because of their shorter format, it took a while to get into the world the authors created Perhaps that was why I didn t enjoy the first one so much.Silent BladeNot sure about either of the MCs here Meli was an assassin for her family, even as she leaves its protection An outcast, as it were She has a chance to avenge herself a broken engagement lies in her past and of course the two end up falling for each other I am not a fan of assassins In the same way that I won t read Mafia romance or MC Outlaw stuff, assassins are murderers and therefore I am unable to feel any empathy for them Annoying when eth...3 novellas bundled up into one book The middle story Silver Shark was my favorite.3.75 stars, rounded up to 4.It s my second time reading these stories, I read it previously on the authors blog bless them for letting us fans read snippets of some of their stories before they re released It s hard for me to pick just one favourite because I enjoyed all three of them Immensely Although I woul...My favorite is the 3rd story Would love a full lenght book3.5 rounded up A bit tougher than most of Andrews work still enjoyable. Silent Blade Silver Shark A Mere FormalityI believe I started out 2018 with my first book as Ilona Andrews and that is always a good decision, so I decided to do it again.I can see how these novellas might have been where the Hidden Legacy universe started which I adore and I enjoyed each story immensely Everything you look for in this writing duo s stories was here, the unparalleled world building, outstanding characterization, kickass action and sharp, often hilarious banter What s not to love I believe I started out 2018 with my first book as Ilona Andrews and that is always a good decision, so I d...Good short stories 2 is my favorite The last one is sooo short and I definitely wantedinfo on that alliance I d definitely readfrom this world.The best thing about this stories are the incredibly interesting world they are set in That s what makes the stories so great Not gonna lie but I kinda expected them to add something different, but they re still the same stories that h...Silent Blade 2 stars I just don t like the revenge murder to lovers plot.Silver Shark 5 stars Would have loved a full length novel with these characters and the bionet.A Mere Formality 4 stars There s a bit of ...Reread now that this has been re released I adore SFR, so these hit me right in the soft spot The first two stories are novella sized while the last isof a bonus short story I won t go into it because I ve reviewed these already individually Onethough it feels unfair to compare the last story A Mere Formality to the first two in this anthology because it s not really a novella, but I suspect some people may I have the physical subterranean press edition and the illustrations Reread now that this has been re released I adore SFR,...I bought this wonderful illustrated book for myself for Christmas 2018 and I m certainly glad I did.The artwork is beautiful and arthouse worthy The stories are reasonably short, the book only being 289 pages for the 3 stories, but Ilona Andrews always make it work The world building characters leap off the page.This is obviously a precursor to the Hidden Legacy series, not in any way related, but in how the magic works, and it works here as well The Kinsmen Universe is made up of elite I bought this wonderful illustrated book for myself for Christmas 2018 and I m certainly glad I did.The artwork is beautiful and arthouse worthy The stories are reasonably short, the book only being 289 pages for the 3 stories, but Ilona Andrews always make it work The world building characters leap off the page.This is obviously a precursor to the Hidden Legacy series, not in any way related, but in how the magic works, and it works here as well The Kinsmen Universe is made up of elite families with either tech enhancements or biological enhancements and these families are fighting for territory business, everything is a competition.Silent Blade is the story of how Meli Galdes becomes an assassin why Celino Caravanna makes the wrong choice when they are both young A decade later and things have changed.Silver Shark is the story of a planet colonized by 2 corporations that have been at war for three hundred years Everything is grey and utilitarian and whe...I thoroughly enjoyed all three of these SFR stories set in a shared universe They re all available separately but it was nice to be able to power through them in one volume I adored every single heroine and the tropes were so fun I would love if Ilona Andrews wrote a billionof these, to be honest.Silent Blade In which a retired assassin gets her revenge on the ex betrothed who ruined her life I loved how this explored the idea that just because you didn t intend to cause harm, doesn I thoroughly enjoyed all three of these SFR stories set in a shared universe They re all available separately but it was nice to be able to power through them in one volume I adored every single heroine and the tropes were so fun I would love if Ilona Andrews wrote a billionof these, to be honest.Silent Blade In which a retired assassin gets her revenge on the ex betrothed who ruined her l...2.5 stars overallInteresting ideas mafia families in space with an emphasis on romance but uneven execution There are times when it s good, and then there are times when it s not There seems to beof the latter than the former This book consists of two novellas Silent Blade, Silver Shark and one short story A Mere Formality , and it seems I ve read them all before So why did I read them again Complete accident actually I didn t read the blurb, so I d mistakenly thought this 2.5 stars overallInteresting ideas mafia families in space with an emphasis on romance but uneven execution There are times when it s good, and then there are times when it s not There seems to beof the latter than the former This book consists of two novellas Silent Blade, Silver Shark and one short story A Mere Formality , and it seems I ve read them all before So why did I read them again...

English
08 November 2018

Ilona Andrews