Ilona Andrews


Ilona Andrews is the pen name of Ilona Gordon and Andrew Gordon, an American husband-and-wife duo writing urban fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal fiction. Their debut novel was Magic Bites, the first in the Kate Daniels series. They have since published over 40 novels and novellas.
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Early lives

Ilona Gordon

Ilona Gordon was born in the Soviet Union. She was a gifted student, frequently participating in state-sponsored academic Olympiads. As a result of a cultural exchange trip to the USA as a teenager, and despite her limited English, she received a full scholarship to attend Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, a boarding school in the state of Georgia. She continued to excel there, eventually enrolling at Western Carolina University, where she majored in biochemistry and met Andrew Gordon.

Andrew Gordon

Andrew Beauregard Gordon was born in Florida, U.S., and grew up in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, where he was raised by his aunt and uncle.
Gordon, as he is known, served four years in the United States Navy as a communications officer, then attended Western Carolina University to study history and political science.

Relationship

Ilona and Gordon met in a writing course at WCU in early 1994. They began collaborating and editing one another's school work, eventually writing their first novel together, which has not been published.
The couple married in August 1995.

Career

Ilona returned to writing as a hobby after dropping out of college to stay at home with her first child. She began writing what would become their first novel as early as 2002, but went through multiple edits and various cycles of rejection. One publisher said it was too similar to the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Gordon helped Ilona rewrite one of her discarded submissions into Lost Dog which was eventually accepted and published as Magic Bites.
After the instant success of their 2021 self-published novel Blood Heir, Andrews announced they would take a year off from traditional publishing to focus on self publishing, as their audience was now large enough to make it financially sustainable.

Writing Process

Ilona and Gordon generally write side by side, with two chairs at one computer. Ilona will write the first draft of lines of female characters, and Gordon the lines of the male characters. They plot out fight scenes together, drawing on Gordon's experience in judo. Gordon described writing together like marriage: "You have to realize the other person has strengths that compensate for your weaknesses."
Their writing is heavily inspired by world mythology; Gordon had studied history and mythology and Ilona grew up hearing Slavic folk tales. They find new sources of material by visiting used book stores.

Works

Kate Daniels (2007– )

Kate Daniels is an urban fantasy series set in an alternative future where technology and magic flood the world in alternating waves. The series originated as ten books starring Kate Daniels, supplemented with novels and short stories offering alternative character perspectives and additional background. The universe has since been expanded in a number of spin-off series: The Iron Covenant, Aurelia Ryder, Wilmington Years, and Roman's Chronicles.

The Edge (2009–2012)

The Edge is a completed urban fantasy series under the Ace Books imprint of Penguin Random House.
The series is set in a parallel universe, where next to our world exists a magic world called "the Weird", separated by a lawless buffer region where the mundane and magic collide, known as "the Edge". The series follows multiple couples on adventures of espionage and survival through the Edge and beyond as they come up against a variety of dangerous factions and forces.

Novels

  1. On the Edge, September 2009
  2. Bayou Moon, September 2010
  3. Fate's Edge, November 2011
  4. Steel's Edge, December 2012

Short Story

  • "George and Jack in School"

The Kinsmen Universe (2009–2021)

The Kinsmen Universe is an unconnected series of self-published novellas set in a sci-fi spacefaring future where human genetic modification has resulted in a select few families possessing deadly and dangerous abilities. These families, known as "Kinsmen", run vast corporate empires and compete amongst one another for business and power. Each novella follows a different romantic pairing within the world.

Novellas

The Kinsmen Universe, August 2018Silent Blade, June 2009Silver Shark, April 2011Fated Blades, November 2021

Short Story

  • "A Mere Formality", August 2018

The Innkeeper Chronicles (2013-)

The Innkeeper Chronicles is an ongoing science fiction and urban fantasy series, originally serialized on the author's blog before being self-published via print, ebook, and audiobook.
The series follows Dina Demille, a young woman who presides over a bed and breakfast named Gertrude Hunt in the quiet town of Red Deer, Texas. Gertrude Hunt is secretly an intergalactic waypoint that offers refuge and lodging for extraterrestrial visitors in their travels to Earth. Through the series Dina must balance the health of her business, the safety of her guests, and continue to conceal the truth of the greater galaxy from other humans.

Novels and Novellas

  1. Clean Sweep, December 2013
  2. Sweep in Peace, November 2015
  3. One Fell Sweep, December 2016
  4. Sweep of the Blade, July 2019
  5. Sweep with Me, January 2020
  6. Sweep of the Heart, December 2022

Hidden Legacy (2014–2022)

Hidden Legacy is an urban fantasy and paranormal romance series published under the Avon imprint of HarperCollins.
The setting is a parallel universe, where the discovery of the Osiris Serum in the 1800s enabled inheritable magical abilities in humans. Centuries later, the serum has been banned and the world is ruled by dynasties of existing magic-imbued families called Houses, who marry for magic, maintain private armies, and own global corporations. Competition between houses is ruthless, resulting in ongoing warfare.
The series follows the daughters of the Baylor family - Nevada, Catalina, and Arabella - who run Baylor Investigative Agency in Houston, Texas, a small private detective firm they've inherited after their father's death. When Nevada is forced to accept a high-stakes job, the entire family is swept into the cutthroat world of the magical elite.

Novels and Novellas

  1. Burn for Me, October 2014
  2. White Hot, May 2017
  3. Wildfire, July 2017
  4. Diamond Fire, November 2018
  5. Sapphire Flames, August 2019
  6. Emerald Blaze, August 2020
  7. Ruby Fever, August 2022

Breach Wars (2025- )

In a blog post published early April, 2025, Ilona Gordon announced they were working on a novella. The following week, the first installment was published on their blog. The completed work was self-published as The Inheritance on August 10, 2025.
The story was inspired by LitRPG, but stars a middle-aged, female protagonist. It was written specifically to be serialized and originally intended as a standalone. The scope of the initial story expanded, however, and a sequel is now in the works.

Maggie the Undying (2026- )

Maggie originated as a story snippet posted on the author's blog on June 30, 2022. They elaborated on the project in October the next year, revealing its genre as isekai.
On July 17, 2024, the acquisition of Maggie the Undying by Tor Books was leaked on reddit, triggering Andrews to formally announce the deal that day. The deal includes two additional books: one a sequel, and the third to be determined.
The first book in the series, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me, will be published in March 31, 2026 by Tor Books.

Reception

Their first novel, Magic Bites was released to positive reviews. The final installment of the Kate Daniels series, Magic Triumphs, climbed to #2 on Combined Print & E-Book Fiction and #5 on USA Today's Best-selling Booklist.
Locus reviewed the Innkeeper Chronicles series positively, calling it "a charming mix of action, character-based funny bits, and the occasional heartwarming moment".
In 2021 their self-published novel Blood Heir reached #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list and #2 on USA Today's Best-selling Booklist.

Adaptations

The Kate Daniels series and the existing Innkeeper Chronicles novels have been adapted by Graphic Audio. An adaptation of the Hidden Legacy series is in progress.
In 2022, the novel Clean Sweep was adapted into a web comic by Tapas. The comic has since been published in two print volumes.

Personal lives

The Gordons live in Texas with their dogs and cats. They have two grown children.
They are enthusiastic consumers of media, including books, animation, and computer games. Ilona enjoys crocheting and knitting, posting updates on her projects on their blog.