Spellbound (Grimnoir Chronicles)

This is part of the review I wrote about Hard Magic, book one in the Grimnoir Chronicles by New York Times bestseller, Larry Correia: "Imagine X-Men crossed with the 1920's period show by HBO, Boardwalk Empire . . . The world building is top notch and well researched . . . the alternate history alone makes this worth the read . . . . There's airships, superhero smack downs, lots of guns, and great writing. If you enjoy lots of action and have a special place in your heart for super heroes, this is the book for you." Now onto the review of the even more awesome book two, Spellbound. I just finished reading Spellbound, book two in the Grimnoir Chronicles, and loved it even more than the first one. The series is so much fun. In Spellbound the heroes from Hard Magic, mostly Grimnoir Knights, are put in serious danger as they are blamed for an assassination attempt on the president--Franklin D. Roosevelt. Those with magic, (called Actives) are then targeted by the government, mostly by the `F' BI, and a secret government organization called the OCI, and soon Jake Sullivan, a kick ass Grimnoir Knight, is public enemy number one. The opening of this book, and the first few chapters are so entertaining. I particularly loved the scene with the machine that Thomas Edison invented--a telephone that can contact the dead. The man on the other side wants to talk to Jake Sullivan--the man who killed him--and the message he gives Jake is bad, bad news. Something is coming to devour the Earth, and without certain preparations, there is no hope for the world. The hints of this were in book one and now it's all put on the table. We knew that Jake was a bad ass. He's called a "Heavy" and can spike gravity all around him, and ruin anyone's day, but the big news is that we learn why the teenage girl from Oklahoma, Faye, is so powerful. She's a "Traveler" who can teleport at will and is the most powerful "Active" on the planet, which we knew because of what she did at the end of book one, a truly spectacular feat that amazed and terrified everyone. I think of Faye as the "Ninja Assassin Queen." You do not want to mess with her. Ever. She will teleport behind you and put a bullet in your head before you can blink once. Seriously. The characters are great, and Spellbound is an epic story, and has so much action and lots of fascinating alternate history world building. It's actually 1933 in book two, and one of my favorite parts of world building was a letter posted at the beginning of a chapter that was from Robert E. Howard to H.P. Lovecraft. I was in Nerdvanna after I read that. Robert E. Howard wrote the Conan stories and Lovecraft invented the Cthulhu mythos. It's worth noting that the year 1933 was the year that King Kong (the original movie) came out and Larry Correia's love of monster movies carries over into this book in a pretty spectacular way at the end of the book. The King Kong parallel was awesome, and all the historical details, small and large, were so great. The Grimnoir series is the real deal. Hard Magic was no fluke. Spellbound ups the ante with dangerous villains, fantastic characterization, brilliant world building, intense action, and a great story that will enthrall you from beginning to end. I highly recommend The Grimnoir Chronicles. Five Stars. Paul Genesse Author of the Iron Dragon Series/Editor of the Crimson Pact anthology Series

I'll be the first to admit that Larry Correia's "Monster Hunter International" books are an acquired taste and written for a very specific audience of gun enthusiast horror fans. That may lead one to believe that Correia's other books are written in a similar vein, but this is not the case at all. Correia's "Son of the Black Sword" is an excellent starting point for a fantasy series that echoes the best of Dave Duncan's "Reluctant Swordsman" series. Similarly, Correia's "The Grimnoir Chronicles" is a trilogy of books written for a much wider audience than his more famous MHI series. "The Grimnoir Chronicles" is a high concept mashup of the X-Men, Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op, Doc Savage, H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, with a dash of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu. That may seem like an impossible combination to pull off, but Correia pulls it off brilliantly. As the first book in the series, SPELLBOUND faced quite a challenge. It had to introduce the reader sufficiently to Correia's mythic world of Supernaturally Powered Talents and balance the necessary exposition with the demands of an action thriller. This is where Correia's writing really shined. Through the skilled inclusion of intriguing alternate quotes from famous historical figures, and by capturing the thoughts of several protagonists, the reader is introduced to one of the most innovative superhero universes yet created. If you ever wondered what kind of superheroes the Lovecraftian circle of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith would have come up with, you might have imagined heroes who derived their powers through magical energies transferred to them by an amorphous tentacled alien intelligence. That's exactly what you get here and it's a delight. Add to that a villain who is on the right side, though using the wrong means, of a much bigger struggle and you've got a little piece of magic.

The first book was fun like Raiders of the Lost Ark was fun. I couldn't wait for the followup. I was disappointed, thought he struggled a bit with things here, but I'll continue to follow the series because I love the characters, and the concept is neat, especially thrown in the time of 20s-30s America. Doc Savage meets Xmen? Love his Monster Hunter series as well. Read the first 3 of those and they've all been great so far. Great non-stop action in both series overall, with characters that keep you hooked.

First, let me say that whisper-sync for voice along with the companion pricing on audio books has completely changed the way I I consume books. I've never had a harder time pulling away from an amazing story, whether listening to the talented Mr. Pinchot bringing the characters to life or reading on my kindle while waiting for sleep. Thanks Amazon, you keep hooking me in and i'm quiet happy for it. Now, about the book. I'll admit that the first book took me a bit fall into. I'd just finished a Sci-fi series and this was perhaps a bit too much of a mashup for me to transition easily. But on the second try, with more time between books, I just couldn't put it down! The world is so interesting and the Magic System is brilliant. Magic from a living being as a pseudo scientific reason is just too damn cool. The second novel was even better, with the characters already known and the magic established. Now i guess i should take a look at the Monster Hunter series because this writer has gotten my attention for sure!

I just finished this book, sequel to "Hard Magic", and I'm speechless. I already knew that Correia was good, but this is ridiculous! The characters, the plot, the world building... it's like a perfect clockwork mechanism. I can't wait to read the 3rd book.

Great fun. A well imagined world. Plenty of action and humour. Have now read the entire series. I had misgivings about the series having found them after reading the monster hunter international books. Not really into 'magic action books', or at least I wasn't.

This series just keeps getting better and better. I can't wait for the next installment. I need more feminist tales!

follows the story line well..

Absolutely first class.