Review – The Kinsmen Universe by Ilona Andrews

Posted November 16, 2021 by Carole in Reviews / 9 Comments

Review – The Kinsmen Universe by Ilona AndrewsThe Kinsmen Universe by Ilona Andrews
Narrator: Samantha Cook
Published by NYLA on March 8, 2019
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Science Fiction
Length: 7 hours 15 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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four-stars

This is an anthology edition of the Kinsmen Universe, which includes Silent Blade and Silver Shark, plus a new short story.

Family 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 battlefield...and 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 one more assignment.

To kill the man who ruined her life.

Silver Shark
Claire 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 Formality"
The 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!

This was great! Of course, it’s Ilona Andrews so what do you expect?! I know that I have read at least one of these stories years ago but decided that I needed to give this book a listen before reading Fated Blades which is due to be published soon. It was a pretty quick listen and I ended up really enjoying it.

Silent Blade was a novella that kicked of this audiobook. I had read this novella years ago but really enjoyed experiencing the story all over again. I liked the characters and understood where they were both coming from. I liked the chemistry between them and had a great time with the story. The second story was Silver Shark and I think that this was my first time with this one. I really felt for Claire and loved how strong she proved to be. I kept waiting for things to blow up and was satisfied by how everything worked out. The short story, A Mere Formality, wrapped up the book. This was a little different than what I expected from this writing pair but it was fun.

Samantha Cook narrated the audiobook. This was my first experience listening to her work and I have to admit that it did take some time to get used to her narration. Of course, that is pretty normal for me anytime I listen to a new to me narrator. I did think that she did a good job with the story and I found her voice to be very pleasant.

I would recommend this book to others. Seriously, the writing pair of Ilona Andrews can do no wrong and I found this collection to be incredibly entertaining.

9 responses to “Review – The Kinsmen Universe by Ilona Andrews

  1. I’ve only read the first of these and loved it, but I went ahead and jumped into Fated Blades. Glad I have one more Kinsmen story to look forward to.

  2. I am so happy to see that this one worked so highly for you. I was really drawn to the cover and was so curious about it. Definitely you leave me intrigued with this one.

    Great Review.