The King's Captive: Magiford Supernatural City

Gate of Myth and Power, Book 1

By: K. M. Shea

Narrated by: Katie Koster, Paul Woodson

I can turn into a housecat.

It’s a fun magic, except in a world filled with vampires and werewolves, it doesn’t exactly make me a powerhouse. Instead, the supernatural community has classified me as an outcast, which means one thing: picking on me is open season all day, every day.

The local fae are the worst of all, and it’s during one of their regular “capture the cat-girl” sessions that I shift into my cat form and meet HIM for the first time.

Noctus is so powerful his magic radiates off him like a sun, and my fae captors can barely look in his general direction. And then my life gets even more terrifying when Noctus decides to take me with him. As a pet.

Why did he pick today to “adopt don’t shop” a cat?

It gets worse when I realize he’s an elf, a ruling race of supernaturals that was supposedly killed off centuries ago.

But he’s not just any elf, no. He’s an elven king, with heaps of secrets to protect. Secrets that I am quickly learning since he includes his new pet in everything from breaking into buildings to inspect classified paperwork to tracking down sketchy supernaturals.

All this means if he gets even a hint that I’m not a real cat, I’m going to find out firsthand how elves treat their prisoners.

So, escaping Noctus is priority #1. How hard can it be? (Answer: very.)

King’s Captive is the first book in the Gate of Myth and Power urban fantasy trilogy, and is part of the Magiford Supernatural City world. It features elves, fae, werewolves, and vampires, and contains an adventure-filled and hilarious take on the Hades and Persephone myth. It’s packed with humor, battles, and a sweet, slow burn romance between an outcast magic user and the deadly king of the elves.

©2022 K. M. Shea (P)2024 K. M. Shea

Love the story, narrators are so-so

I love the story, but the narrators don't match what I thought would match the characters better. Chloe's actress was too strong out the door. Noctus' actor was too English pompous. The secondary characters for both actors are a little hard to differentiate at times, especially for Noctus' POV. Despite these challenges, the performance was good enough to not deter me from listening to the rest of the series.

Amazing!

This is one of my favorite series ever! I’ve now read it 4 times, this latest time listening to the newly released audiobook (most excellent!). It somehow just keeps getting better and better. It’s so clever and so funny and so completely unique. Just exceptional!

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Original review:

By all appearances, this is NOT my type of book. It’s urban fantasy, set forth in the modern world with modern technology and modern life. It contains vampires, werewolves, and wizards. It has no questing, no dragons, and no audiobook. Honestly, I don’t know why I picked it up in the first place.

And yet… it is SO GOOD! It’s absolutely hilarious and quite addictive. It had me staying up past 1am multiple nights in a row, something I’m usually way too responsible for ☺️

The main character has the ability to transform into a house-cat, and finds herself unwillingly adopted as the pet of an evil Elf King of Death… who turns out to be a doting and obsessive pet owner. It’s written in the first person and her running commentary is beyond humorous.

If you’re considering it, I’d recommend reading through the book description. It’s very representative of the writing style and feel of the book and gives a good taste of what you’re in for.

Series content:
There’s no foul language or sex. There’s some kissing but it’s clean. There’s magic, and some minor violence. There are no references to faith or God.


“This feels like the punchline of a really bad joke, I thought as the trio petted me. Or rather, Ker and Aristide petted me as Noctus watched. A werewolf, an elf king, and a vampire find a cat—HEY!”

“Noctus—a deadly and dangerous elf king—was hand feeding his pet cat freshly cooked chicken. Bro, you should have gotten a pet ages ago if you were going to be this dedicated. I’d feel bad for you, if you weren’t a figurative nightmare from supernaturals’ past.”

“Everyone else will call you Ama,” he said. “But to me, you are Amalourne.”

My favorite Magiford series! Disappointing narrators

I love and have all of the other Magiford series. I was so excited when this trilogy finally came out as it is my favorite. Then I listened to the narrators and was so disappointed. Chloe took a little bit for me to be eh okay with but Noctus… it doesn’t match how the book describes him at all. He sounds so pompous and foppish it’s hard to listen to! Very disappointing.

couldn't put it down

I loved this book so much it has twists and turns and action. I love the characters so much and I am looking forward to listening to the next one.

Magical!!! Loved it

Love this author. Love this world. Exited for the next book in the series. The magiford urban fantasy is perfect

What a lovely audiobook

Excellent narration! I think this was one of my favorite narrations of KM Shea’s books. Smooth, emotive without being irritating. Well performed. I’m sure I will listen to it again.

LOVE THIS BOOK

This is my favorite km she’s book series. I love Chloe and noctus and their story.
I was hesitant at first with the narrators because I love these books so much and had a very clear idea of what they sound like in my head. But the narrators did grow on me and I will be listening to this book over and over again

Loved reading it and loved listening to it!

I absolutely love KM Shea’s books! They are perfect brain candy for someone who is sick of the constant high end stakes fantasy books that are full of lust instead of love. The characters and world are wonderfully developed and interweave with each other even though each trilogy follows a different main character/couple. I read the book before listening to it and I enjoy this narrator’s ability in bringing the characters alive. I felt she did it justice! I can’t wait to continue listening to my favorite trilogy of KM Shea’s Magiford series.

Better than the cover art suggests

Based on the bland, cheesy cover art, I was expecting a trashy teen romance, but instead I discovered a book that's been incredibly charming, sweet, well written, & even funny. I can't wait to listen to the next book. The 2 narrators were great too. This is a hard book to dislike!

wonderful beginning

considering the main character is a cat for most of this book. the back and forth was still great