Warbound (Grimnoir Chronicles)

The Grimnoir universe is by far my favorite from Larry Correia yet. The previous two books were just fantastic. I love the characters, the setting, the limitations of the powers, and the legitimate evil of the bad guys.

Warbound does provide conclusion to the series, but it pulls an ex machina that doesn't sit well with the rest of the story. ***Spoilers*** In particular, the series started with a character that did things that shouldn't have been possible, and the story hinted that there would be a significant hidden price. That didn't come due, and the ending seemed rushed.

It's still a good book, but the two that came before, Hard Magic and Spellbound, were great books. I do hope the author comes back to revisit the universe to give us a lengthy series on this universe's version of WW2.

Warbound brings the Grimnoir trilogy to a very satisfying end. Larry Correia does not shy away from sacrifice as this was about saving the world after all. However he balances the tragic with the appropriate amount of justice and hard endings for hard wizards.

I love Larry's stuff, and have been waiting for this book for a good while. The problem I have is that this book feels RUSHED. There are a lot of things missing, slight recaps or character explanations for example, that would have really helped the story. In addition, it really feels as if he could have turned this into a longer novel, or better yet. . . . a fourth novel. The action sequences are great, but too far between the happenings. New characters are really cool, except that they feel like they have been appropriated from other novels. Hannibal Lecter, anyone? Don't get me wrong, the new Massive psychologist is really cool, but more could have been done with him, as with the new Icebox.

I think the hardest part is that the bad guy isn't nearly as cool or scary as the ones from the first two novels. Add that to the fates of several players from the first two books, and it leaves you with a funny aftertaste. Not bad, but slightly annoying. I get that Larry is trying to please his fans (I am a huge one), but now he seems to be cranking out stories just to get them done. This novel could have really benefited from about 3 more drafts. There were some editing flaws, too, but I attribute that to the hurried nature of getting the book out.

As it stands, I would like to see a 4th or 5th novel in this series, I just want our illustrious author to slow down and stop trying to write 4 or 5 books at once. MHI is one of the best book series to come out in a long time, and the Grimnoir a very close second. I would hate to see their quality suffer due to a writer cranking out stories just to meet demand. Take a breath Mr. Correia, we will wait for whatever you write!

The perfect ending to a great series! We read the 1st 2 books and hoped all would end well. IT DID! We lost some beloved characters but that is the nature of action books. A great, original plot, wonderfully written. I loved it and anyone will love it too.

This book was a good finish to a great series. It is good to see at least one author holds to keeping their series of books to the number they say they are going to and not milking us with fluff to get more cash.

I was half way through another book which I was enjoying when I got Warbound. I was just going to sample a few pages and then finish the book I was reading. I couldn't stop reading Warbound, A lot of fun. I'm a big Larry Correia fan!

Another excellent book by Larry Correia. If you enjoyed the first two in this series, you'll love this one too. If you haven't read Hard Magic and Spellbound, go back and read them. It's well worth it for a gun-slinging, magic-wielding, sword-fighting, swashbuckling tale of superheroes living just after the Great War.

No spoilers. Great action with a definitive finish that was very satisfying.

I was very reticent to pick-up the first book as I'm not really into the whole noir detective genre - but these were amazing.

Highly recommended.

I was a big fan of the first two books, and this one was pretty disappointing. There wasn't much in the way of character development. A lot of time was spent introducing a new character early on and then he was pretty much forgotten about. There wasn't much to advance the existing characters. The battle scenes were fun as always. But after the quality of the first two books, I was expecting much more from this one. It wrapped up the story, but the journey wasn't nearly as much fun as it should have been.

But my copy has a severe mechanical publishing/printing glitch...as in, pages 281-304 are quite simply not there. Page 280 ends mid-sentence, and the next page is 305, start of a new chapter. Now I may have to see if the local B&N has any copies and if those have the same issue

This is a publication issue, not the author's fault. Up to that point the story has been excellent. This would be a five-star rating if the absent pages hadn't utterly wrecked my Saturday morning reading.

Warbound is the third and final instalment of the Grimnoir Chronicles. it is an alternate 1930s and Jack Sullivan has gathered a group of Grimnoir knights and has headed to China. Along with Toru, the son of the true Chairman of the Imperium, they plan to unmask the false Chairman who is now aiding the Pathfinder, an alien intent on stealing the power which fuels all magic on earth. Meanwhile, Faye has gone to Europe to find out what her role as Spellbound really means and why the Council is trying to assassinate her.

This is a hard book to categorize. it is urban fantasy but also alternate history and noir. And, if I'm being honest, I am not sure why I enjoy these books so much. This is a tale of good versus evil and there are no nuances in either the story or the characters who are mostly one dimensional, more like comic book characters without any real discernible personalities. Take away their magic and they are pretty much interchangeable and that includes Faye, the rare woman who, if anything, is even more violent than the male characters if that's possible

And the story is over-the-top uberviolent, the characters are all blood-soaked and revelling in it:

"She reached down, grabbed him by the arm, not even that hard, mind you, and his bones snapped like brittle twigs. Faye had surprised herself. The Heavy bellowed.
Fun as that was, that big Russian grenade was about to go off, Faye focused...and stepped outside.
She was whistling through the sky. The Pacific Ocean was bright blue and pretty. It was a beautiful day."

The most interesting new character is a bona fide psychopath and proud of it but, in reality, the only reason one can differentiate him from the rest of the cast is because the book tells us so. Otherwise, well, they all pretty much seem like psychopaths on both sides of this fight. If the author didn't tell us who to root for, it'd be hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. It's all kind of like a gigantic MMA match with ninjas, magic, dirigibles, aliens, lots of guns, swords, bazookas, and no rules.

And yet...and yet...it is so much damn fun. It is heart-pounding, non-stop, adrenaline soaked action, the kind that keeps you up at night reading despite the important meeting in the morning. It is, in short, the literary equivalent of bungee-jumping off of high bridges, completely nuts, and oh so addicting.

I've read everything from Correia and I have to say this book was a major disappointment. It took a good 60% of the book being read before it even started to get good. Everything before the 60% mark was all filler and build-up. This was totally NOT like Correia! Usually it's action action action with the story mixed in between all of it. Will probably finish it tonight at work, but even if the ending is awesome I still can't give it more than 3 stars. Just too boring throughout the first half to warrant anything higher.

Warbound puts the finishing touches on what has proved to be one of the most original series I have read. It is well written, intelligent and fun in a sea of Dresden wannabes. The first thing I did after finishing Warbound was to hop on Twitter and ask the author if we will see more in this series. Larry Correia informs that while this puts an end to the trilogy of books, he intends on writing further novels set in this world. I will be in line waiting for my copy when that day comes.

Plot summary

The threads for the previous novels all gather in Warbound to coalesce in one massive, supernatural confrontation. At the outset of the novel, Faye has gone off the grid leaving everyone to believe she is dead. She has traveled to France to meet with a elder Grimnoir to learn the secrets of the Spellbound curse and to determine if she can manage the power. Without Faye, the rest of the Grimnoir crew gathers with a ragtag band of unlikely allies to track down and destroy the pathfinder. The book culminates with battles across the globe in an effort to save mankind.

The Good

Go Big or Go Home

In this installment, very little is done on a small scale. The explosions are bigger, the fights are bigger, the magic is bigger and the stakes are higher. The characters continue to grow and their grasp of and on the power reaches epic proportions. While I was a little disappointed with the final battle, the scope of the final confrontations was so vast that the final battle served as a footnote.

He Said it Right

I have said it before and I will say it again. Larry Correia writes some of the best dialogue in the business. The dialogue is used as tool to develop the character. If you are ever unsure of who is speaking in the story, you are likely to figure it out based on the character unique speech patter or nuanced language. This is one of the most enjoyable parts of the series.

The Bad

Turn it up to 11!

While the scale of the final confrontations was epic, the action and intensity of the scenes was not up to par with the previous installment. Throughout the novel there was significant periods of seeming inactivity causing the story to drag from time to time.

The time spent slowly in the book could have been better spent tying together all the loose ends. When the story wasn't going slow, part of the story felt rushed. It was as if some of the completed threads had to be wedged into the story. The final result was that the story lacked the impeccable pacing of the previous novel.

Final Thoughts

Thought the story suffered in terms of pacing, the over story overall was excellent and enjoyable. The characters were interesting and fun throughout and kept you rooting and cringing the whole way along. This is an exceptional trilogy and it is highly recommended by me!

Audiobook Notes

Once again, the narration is top of the line. I continue to gush over the excellent characterizations of the narrator. The author has written dialogue that begs to be read out loud. This narrator does it as good as anyone.

Content Advisories

It is difficult to find commentary on the sex/violence/language content of book if you are interested. I make an effort to give you the information so you can make an informed decision before reading. *Disclaimer* I do not take note or count the occurrences of adult language as I read. I am simply giving approximations.

Scale 1 - Lowest 5 - Highest

Sex - 2

Apparently some people can find time for sex on the eve of Armageddon. There is a scene in which sex in implied. There is little other sexually related content.

Language - 3.5

Larry Corriea rarely shies away from adult language. The use adult language is a little above average in this novel. There is moderate use of mild obscenities and mild use of the f-word.

Violence - 3.5

There is plenty of fantasy violence. The violence is not located in every chapter as it is focused in several of the large fighting scenes. There is a in which a large number of people are killed that is humerous as well as moderately graphic.

'Warbound' by Larry Correia is the third and final book in the Grimnoir Chronicles. It's a big crazy novel with lots of improbable stuff going on, but I love the way it weaves real history in with events in the series.

The Power is an interdimensional monster that wants to destroy the world, or at least remove the magic from it. Standing in The Power'sway is former P.I. Jake Sullivan who is an Active, part of a group of people who have extraordinary powers that are classified kind of like in computer and role playing games. There are healers and heavies and torches and lots of others.

This time around Jake has to find help in unlikely places, like a group of airship pirate or even someone from the enemies side. There are all kinds of things from death rays to zombies to big last stands.

I like how real characters are woven in, and some even are fellow Actives. It's not the most literary thing I've read, but it's bombastic and action packed. It was a fun ride.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Baen Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

This was the final book in the Grimnoir Chronicles. It wraps up the story nicely and I enjoyed it a lot. While I haven’t enjoyed this series as much as Correia’s MHI series; it was a well done series and action packed.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narration is well done. I still have some trouble hearing some of the really low pitched character voices with the road noise in my car; but that’s something I have gotten used to over the series. Aside from that, the narrator does an excellent job with having distinct character voices and portraying character emotion well.

At the opening of this book Jake Sullivan is taking a small, yet desperate and determined, group of Grimnoir knights to face off with the Chairman in Singapore. Meanwhile Faye has gone off grid and is visiting a Elder French Grimnoir knight that is supposed to help her understand what it means to be the Spellbound and if she has any hope of making use of the Spellbound curse without destroying the world.

The book is very fast-paced and viewpoint switches between a number of characters. However the story focuses mostly on Jake and Faye for this book. There is a ton of action and I really enjoy the magic powers the characters have in here. The character continue to be able to manipulate portions of the The Power such as gravity, strength, and fire. This book stretches that a bit as characters learn more and more about the Power and are able to stretch their abilities into other areas of power.

While I enjoyed a lot of the characters my favorite of the bunch is Faye. She is super smart and super kind and sweet, but she doesn’t hesitate to take out anyone around her that she considers evil. It was interesting to have a character like her given ultimate power and force her to face the decision of whether or not that power can be used for good.

As with all of Correia’s books there is a lot of gun talk and talk about war and weapons. There are some pretty awesome battle scenes throughout too.

The book is a fantasy alternate history with the book being set in the 1940’s but in a world where all these magical powers exist. Some of the political tensions of that time are kept in the story as well.

Overall this was a very well done and fast-paced historical fantasy. There is a ton of action, a lot of witty dialogue, and wonderful characters throughout. I have really enjoyed all of Correia’s books and will definitely continue to read future books by him. I would recommend this series to Corriea fans and fans of action-packed alternate histories with some magic in them.

As you may know, there are five finalists for the annual Hugo Award, the award for the best science fiction (fantasy included for this) of the year. Warbound is one of those finalists of five. I'm on the award committee, and I read the other four, which were good, but an award for *best* has to be better than just good, and had this book last of the five to read. I was somewhat dismayed since I had read the first two books of the Grimnoir series, this being Book III, and had found them OK, but nothing I would have read on my own. This novel just blew those and the other Hugo finalists away with it's vast scope, historical vision, characters, theme, plot and writing style, and I (IMHO) consider this should be the Hugo Winner hands down, although the final vote over Labor Day Weekend 2014 will determine that.

I'm not a fan of fantasy in general... a fantasy novel has to be exceptional for me to enjoy it. And anything with magic becomes even more yawn-inducing. However, whereas the first two novels in the series were heavy handed in magic, this novel put some 'bounds' on it, meaning that something caused the effect of 'magic' in this alternate reality of the 1930's that occurred/started in the late 1800's. So it was an awesome blend of science fiction and 'magic.'

A portion of the population have greater ability to utilize magic that others, and this entails the ability to change one's personal 'structure' among other things, and the learning curve for some on the use of that magic is involved, along with a conflict of good and evil.

I highly recommend this novel if any part of this or other reviews seem interesting. The historical references are/seem well researched and the novel in cohesively well written. Yikes, my kids woke up, I'll need to post this quick.

Anyone who reads all three novels back to back is in for a real treat. There are plot threads that are much easier to follow without a one-year interruption between volumes. The series followed two protagonists, Jake Sullivan and Faye Vierra, as they traveled the globe in airship and via magic to save the world from a menace that will siphon all the magic from "Actives" while killing them. It turns out that the Chairman, the enemy in the first book, was opposing an even greater enemy that is traveling the galaxy to consume magic and destroy planets. It's more complicated than that, but to go further would spoil it for you.

This was a most satisfying conclusion to a series told so well that the story came alive for the reader. The action in my mind's eye was far superior to any of today's big budget movies based on comic books. I found myself cheering for our two heroes because (1) they had been fleshed out so well that they were larger than their magical powers and (2) it was obvious that the author had the option of killing at least one of them off in the climatic battle. A happy ending is a challenge in an action-based novel because it can't be too easy for the hero to prevail. Being predictable ruins the suspense.

Larry Correia has started three series of novels. This is the first time he's brought one to a conclusion. He's now proven his mettle. If his Monster Hunter International series did not strike your fancy, the Grimnoir Chronicles deserves your consideration. Larry has demonstrated that he can deliver on some big stories with lovable characters. What more can you ask of SF?

As you may know, there are five finalists for the annual Hugo Award, the award for the best science fiction (fantasy included for this) of the year. Warbound is one of those finalists of five. I'm on the award committee, and I read the other four, which were good, but an award for *best* has to be better than just good, and had this book last of the five to read. I was somewhat dismayed since I had read the first two books of the Grimnoir series, this being Book III, and had found them OK, but nothing I would have read on my own. This novel just blew those and the other Hugo finalists away with it's vast scope, historical vision, characters, theme, plot and writing style, and I (IMHO) consider this should be the Hugo Winner hands down, although the final vote over Labor Day Weekend 2014 will determine that.

I'm not a fan of fantasy in general... a fantasy novel has to be exceptional for me to enjoy it. And anything with magic becomes even more yawn-inducing. However, whereas the first two novels in the series were heavy handed in magic, this novel put some 'bounds' on it, meaning that something caused the effect of 'magic' in this alternate reality of the 1930's that occurred/started in the late 1800's. So it was an awesome blend of science fiction and 'magic.'

A portion of the population have greater ability to utilize magic that others, and this entails the ability to change one's personal 'structure' among other things, and the learning curve for some on the use of that magic is involved, along with a conflict of good and evil.

I highly recommend this novel if any part of this or other reviews seem interesting. The historical references are/seem well researched and the novel in cohesively well written. Yikes, my kids woke up, I'll need to post this quick.

Anyone who reads all three novels back to back is in for a real treat. There are plot threads that are much easier to follow without a one-year interruption between volumes. The series followed two protagonists, Jake Sullivan and Faye Vierra, as they traveled the globe in airship and via magic to save the world from a menace that will siphon all the magic from "Actives" while killing them. It turns out that the Chairman, the enemy in the first book, was opposing an even greater enemy that is traveling the galaxy to consume magic and destroy planets. It's more complicated than that, but to go further would spoil it for you.

This was a most satisfying conclusion to a series told so well that the story came alive for the reader. The action in my mind's eye was far superior to any of today's big budget movies based on comic books. I found myself cheering for our two heroes because (1) they had been fleshed out so well that they were larger than their magical powers and (2) it was obvious that the author had the option of killing at least one of them off in the climatic battle. A happy ending is a challenge in an action-based novel because it can't be too easy for the hero to prevail. Being predictable ruins the suspense.

Larry Correia has started three series of novels. This is the first time he's brought one to a conclusion. He's now proven his mettle. If his Monster Hunter International series did not strike your fancy, the Grimnoir Chronicles deserves your consideration. Larry has demonstrated that he can deliver on some big stories with lovable characters. What more can you ask of SF?

Bottom Line Upfront: The Grimnoir Chronicles is Larry Correia's best work yet, and while "Warbound" is not the best of the series, it comes [insert your choice of expletives here] close.

I grew up reading the noirish, pulpy, and gritty detective novels of the 1950's. These books had such an impact on me, that I was disappointed the first time I visited New York City in 2010, that I was disappointed I wasn't mugged on the subway and didn't have to step over any dead bodies while walking around Central Park. So to say that those books had an effect on shaping my world view is slightly understating the case.

With that in mind, Correia's Grimnoir Chronicles is updated and stylish throwback to that era of detective fiction with a SF/F twist that works. This is a credit to Larry, as a lot of other authors attempts at doing so fail, and fail rather spectacularly. As a result of his efforts, I recommend this series (even over his "Monster Hunter International" and "Dead Six" series) to people all the time.

But enough about the series, this is a review of "Warbound" after all.

I'm disappointed in this book, not because of any flaws, or technical issues (though the Kindle version I read on my iPad had some strange formatting errors and weird line breaks), but because it conclusively wraps up the series. The book does such a good job of wrapping things up, along this particularly storyline and arcs that its done. And I'm going to miss these stories and characters (good and bad), but I'll do so in a good way.

And that's all I can really say, without getting into serious spoilers about the book. It does what a third book in a trilogy is supposed to do. It furthers the world building, it develops the characters by changing them, it advances and wraps up the storyline in a satisfying manner, and none of it feels recycled from previous works.

I'm writing this review because--really--something has to be done about the abysmal lack of editing that's appearing even in first-rate authors' Kindle books. I love Correia's stuff, both MHI and the Grimnoir series, and have given him good reviews in the past. His plotting and characterization skills are completely up to snuff here as well, so no problems there. But this book, as other reviewers have noted, felt extremely rushed. And it's clear that no one, NO ONE, bothered to take a look at the final Kindle draft and fix the very large number of issues with it.

So what are the problems? One, more than half the promised artwork (interior pieces) is missing. Instead you get a page saying "Art to come". Larry: if you don't have the art ready, how about just skipping the page instead of teasing everyone? Second, the text itself could have greatly benefited from another draft. Third and most important, the editing flat-out sucks. There are sentences that repeat parts of themselves, misspellings, and stuff that just doesn't make any sense no matter how you try to parse it. Here's a sample: "I have long felt However, I did not expect them to be literally invisible." This isn't some obscure line buried in the text somewhere, it's a chapter intro!

I am very familiar with the writing/publishing business, and understand that if readers keep buying books that are poorly edited, there is no incentive for the author to spend more time making things better. So my solution, which I hope other the store reviewers will adopt, is to take it out in the ratings.

I give this book five stars for the concept and execution, which is among the most innovative and interesting explanations of "magic" that I've ever come across. And a flat ONE for the editing (or lack of same) that affected almost every page of the book. Plot's great, characters are great, pacing is great. Too bad the crappy execution made it hard to enjoy the book despite all the pluses. Final rating: three stars.

Larry Correia closes the door on his Grimnoir trilogy in grand style. For those unfamiliar with the series, the Grimnoir Chronicles are one part alternate history, one part urban fantasy and one hundred percent badass. An unspecified time before the series opens humans begin exhibiting magical abilities which closely resemble super powers. Heavies control gravity, Travelers teleport and Torches set things ablaze with their minds. Into this universe Mr. Correia introduces a multi-layered conflict between various forces. THe Imperium of Japan and the Knights of the Grimnoir, a secret society dedicated to protecting non-magicals and magicals from one another are fighting a shadow war which is, at its core a proxy fight between The Power, an alien entity responsible for granting humanity access to magic and The Enemy, a predator which has been hunting The Power across the stars for millions of years.

The story told within the three books is tight and compelling. Each volume tells its own distinct chapter in the overall narrative and the series itself has a clear beginning, middle and end. Even spread across three books you get the feel of reading one story broken into more easily digestible chunks. Fans of alternate history, hard-hitting action, urban fantasy and superheroes will all find something to love about these books.

One of the hardest tricks to pull off for any writer is to give a large cast of characters each their own distinct voice and mannerisms. Mr. Correia makes this look easy. The characters who populate the books -and which include several actual historical figures such as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and real-world gunsmith Sam Browning- are all fully realized individuals . As terrifying as actually meeting some of them on the street might be in real life (Faye in a bad mood is noone I'd want to encounter) you get the feeling that you **could** bump into these people if only you'd been alive in the days of FDR and the Dustbowl. Furthermore the Grimnoir universe itself is well-developed. The universe **works** and the rules by which it operates are consistent and solid reasons for changes from what was understood to be the way things worked are explained in an internally logical manner. There is plenty of action and hard-hitting combat in these books and it is a pleasure to read fight sequences which not only drive the narrative but are obviously written by someone with a real-world understanding of good tactics and how to make a realistic battle flow organically across the page without resorting to cinematic nonsense that would never work in the real world. Reading the final sentence of the series you are left with two sensations; a sense of admiration for how perfect the ending is and a sense of loss at knowing you won't be seeing these people and their adventures again.

Mr Correia has indicated that this is the end of the road for the Grimnoir universe. I for one hope it is merely a rest stop while we wait for the next story arc to reveal itself. The author has also penned the internationally best-selling Monster Hunters International series and indeed that is perhaps the series for which he is best known. For my part, as outstanding as the MHI work is The Grimnoir Chronicles remain my personal favorites to date. My personal recommendation to those who have not read the first book in the series is to buy all three en masse and marathon them. To those who have read the earlier two volumes, you WILL NOT be disappointed in this one. Five out of five and richly deserved.

Review Courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

Not having read the previous two books in the Grimnoir Chronicles, I hesitated continuing with WARBOUND as I found myself neck deep in a highly complex and almost confusing story but the story was interesting enough for me to carry on just to figure out what happening. I had a hard time placing this book into a genre and with interdimensional battles and magic I simply settled for mash up of sci-fi, urban fantasy, alternate history, and steampunk. Luckily, after making my way through the fascinating prologue and first chapter, I was met with a rich, violent, complex, action packed story that I was glad to have finished.

The action is set to eleven in epicness and it there are no lulls in WARBOUND. With so much action there are options for many awesome machines and magically augmented technologies like zeppelins with awesome fire power and magical armor. The magic and its rules in WARBOUND is just as intricate as the technology and the magic evolves over the course of this story as if it had its own character arc. This story isn't just fight after fight but it's intelligent and thought provoking with characters making calculated moves as if on a massive chessboard.

The diverse cast of characters have a wonderful array of magical abilities and backgrounds that I thirsted for more time with each one of them. Their struggles for acceptance along with their abilities were very reminicent of X-Men with abilities such as weather manipulation, controlling fire, teleportation and telekinesis. The great thing is that they aren't all soldiers or even fighters. There are scientists, doctors, diplomats, detectives, serial killers, and engineers present making for a fun clash of personalities and abilities. There is even a samurai to round out the badassness of this group.

WARBOUND is a deeply complex action packed mash up of genres that had me relishing every moment of this epic story. Sadly WARBOUND is the last book in the Grimnoir Chronicles and I need to go back and read the previous two to revel in this amazing world and figure out how this story began.

I have enjoyed all of the books by Larry Correia I have read. The previous two books in the Grimnoir Chronicles were very enjoyable reading and I am quite fond of the MHI universe as well. I expected this book to be a pleasant continuation of the story set out in Hard Magic and Spellbound with something that lead into a future fourth book.

I did not expect to be so satisfied with the way everything concludes. Warbound is as action packed as the first two books. There are plenty of things blowing up, getting shot, magically tossed about, and whatnot. There are politics of various sorts, zombies, and general mayhem. I expected all of that and was not disappointed. What I did not expect was to come to the end of the book and know that that was the end of the series. And to NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.

It is a rare and wonderful thing when the last book in a series leaves you feeling satisfied and content. Sure, bad stuff happened. Not everything wound up roses, it's not that kind of book. But while the world it is set in might live on in one's imagination, another book doesn't feel necessary. All the really big questions have been answered or made pointless, the world and its characters are recovering and moving on with their lives (or didn't make it through the book as the case may be). I still care about them and I'm sad that the series has ended, but I'm so satisfied with the ending that I don't really want to see another book.

Mr. Correia knows how to end a series, and while I hope his Monster Hunter series continues for a few more books, I am comforted by this assurance that when it does end, it will end well. Because if Warbound is any indication, he really knows how to wrap things up.

This is the concluding volume in the Grimnoir Chronicles trilogy, and the series goes out on a high note. Jake Sullivan and his motley crew of Knights must save the world again; this time from the Enemy, a powerful alien that is in pursuit of The Power, the being that gave magic to the world not too many years before the story starts. Set in a film noir 1930s of an alternate universe, Jake & company find themselves fighting both the Japanese Imperium and the Enemy while dodging the US FBI agents who want to round up all the magical beings. The good guys are all stretching their magical powers to the limit, learning new things. Throw in airships, a nearly invincible Samurai defector, and a teenager that is so powerful that the head of the Grimnoir Knights wants her killed and it’s nonstop action.

I love this alternate universe that Correia has created. My only complaint is that the characters aren’t always developed enough. The action is what the book is all about. It’s got somewhat the flavor of the old pulp magazine stories that went from one crisis to another and left you wanting more. Which brings me to this: I said it’s the last of the trilogy, but I, for one, wouldn’t mind seeing more books in this series.

Strong, but overlong and repetitive at times, Larry Correia has crafted a solid conclusion to his Grimnoir Chronicles that features magic galore, action aplenty, and dash of romance along with taut dialog, mild humor, and a mild dose of political satire. The blending of historical figures like FDR with the magical alternate world helps the book along as we compare our real past with the current present that's featured in the book. I enjoyed this book, but got tired of reading some of the long-winded descriptions of Jake Sullivan's amazing mind that is trapped in the body of a wrestler, and Toru's own troubled relationship with his First Guard brethren. Perhaps Correia wrote so much that he forgot he'd already made multiple allusions to each character's backstory. Also, a new character modeled after Hannibal Lector is barely important in the book and could have been avoided altogether..unless book 4 is around the corner.

A good read, but not the best in the series.

I am so sorry to have finished this trilogy, but the ending was epic. I love the characters and am going to have a hard time leaving them behind. My timing for reading this series couldn't have been more perfect though, since there are two little audio shorts to ease my withdrawal pains. And the one with a member of the next generation gives me hope that maybe we'll get a little more from this fabulous world that is a mash up of alternate history, magic, sci if, and detective noir, wrapped up in some unexpected heroes and made even more awesome by the vocal stylings of the amazing Bronson Pinchot.

I'll be keeping an eye out for more by him and author Correia - together and separately.

Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.

Warbound is the third volume of Larry Correia’s GRIMNOIR CHRONICLES, an alternate history which takes place during the early 19th century. This review will contain spoilers for previous volumes. You’ll definitely want to read those before picking up Warbound.

The stakes are higher than ever in Warbound. When Jake Sullivan was let out of jail to help his country, he never dreamed he’d be fighting an evil being from another dimension that plans to suck the power out of magic-wielding humans so it can use their power for its own. Roosevelt’s administration is unwittingly (perhaps) helping this “Pathfinder” by demanding that all Actives get registered and wear a special badge. They’re even building special towns for Actives to live in and are starting to round them all up. Jake realizes that this will only help Pathfinder when he’s ready to harvest all the power.

Francis, an airship tycoon who’s also an Active, is frustrated as he tries to enlighten congress. His girlfriend Faye, whose Spellbound powers are growing, is worried that the power will taint her. Feeling more alone than ever, and knowing that the Council is trying to assassinate her, she goes on a quest to zombie-infested Berlin to get some answers. Meanwhile, Toru, the disgraced Japanese Iron Guard who was exiled to America, feels certain that the Chairman of his beloved Imperium is now the Pathfinder’s pawn. If so, the Chairman has fooled all of Toru’s brothers in the Iron Guard and Toru wants them to know the truth. He’s looking for redemption and hopes to win back his honor. He’s also starting to question his country’s moral philosophies.

Toru, Jake and their international group of magical friends (we met most of these fascinating folks in Hard Magic and Spellbound) have to make some unsavory alliances if they want to defeat the Chairman and Pathfinder. They meet some helpful Chinese mobsters in occupied China, but the scariest ally is a psychopathic psychologist who Jake retrieves from solitary confinement in a maximum security prison. It will take all of these people’s combined efforts and skills to win this war for humanity. Along the way, they’ll fight Samurai and ninjas, find a mechanical armored body suit, cause a riot, explore underground tunnels, blow up dirigibles, control animals, meet Rasputin, create origami art, and learn about the metaphysics of the magic. As usual there is some humor, some romance, some clever alternate history (I love the bastardized quotes at the beginning of each chapter), and several well-choreographed brutal fight scenes. There is also major loss and one of my favorite characters dies. If there are any future volumes in the GRIMNOIR CHRONICLES, I’ll miss that character.

After enjoying seven of his novels, I’m no longer surprised that Larry Correia always entertains me. His outspoken libertarian political views don’t bother me (I lean that way, too), but he’s a rabid gun nut, and that’s an issue that I don’t feel quite so libertarian about. There’s some gun porn in Warbound but it’s minimal and tasteful. Jake Sullivan occasionally lets us know that he’s politically conservative:

“FDR can go to hell. I’m a man. Not a type, not a number, and sure as hell not something that can be summed up as a logo to wear on my sleeve. A man. And I ain’t registering nothing.”

Larry Correia’s political views inspire Jake Sullivan’s characterization, but Jake’s libertarianism fits well in a story set during the time of the New Deal and it never interferes with the exciting plot. (It’s far less intrusive than Heinlein’s pulpitting.)

Warbound has been nominated for a Hugo award. I’m not interested in commenting on this year’s Hugo kerfuffle except to say that I agree with John Scalzi when he says let’s put politics aside, read all the books, and judge them based on quality. And to those who refuse to read this Hugo-nominated book, all I can say is that you’re missing out on a lot of fun. This story may not have the intellectual heft that I’d prefer from an award-winning book, but it’s wildly popular and it’s certainly not dumb. It’s clever, well-written, and immensely entertaining.

Now, let me talk about my favorite part of Warbound: the audiobook! This series has one of the best (maybe the very best) audio performances I’ve ever heard, and I’ve listened to close to 1,000 audiobooks. Actor Bronson Pinchot, the narrator, is an audio genius. Genius, I tell you! This story has a large diverse cast of characters that differs in sex, age, race, region, culture, education level, and every other way you can think of. Pinchot handles them all with ease, giving each character their own voice, rhythm and tone. I have never heard this done so well. Even if the story wasn’t entertaining in itself, Pinchot’s narration of Warbound could keep anyone riveted, which is why it’s been nominated for a prestigious Audie award. Have a listen!

A note about my rating of Warbound: I struggled with how to rate Warbound. If I was rating the audiobook, it’d get 5 stars. But, realizing that most of our audience doesn’t listen to audiobooks, I tend to rate based on if I’d read it in print. In this case, though, it’s really hard for me to separate the audio out of it because it was such a huge part of my enjoyment of the book. I may be being a bit stingy to only give Warbound 4 stars because I got more than 4 stars worth of enjoyment out of it.

WARBOUND is the third entry in New York Times Bestselling Author, Larry Correia's urban fantasy epic, Grimnoir Chronicles. Though Larry has suggested the possibility of future books set in the Grimnoirverse, WARBOUND wraps up the particular story arc began with HARD MAGIC (an all time favorite of mine). This is the first time Larry has concluded a series, and so I greeted WARBOUND with much excitement and a degree of reservation. As Larry's fans are well aware, this man knows how to kick off a series with flair - but would he be able to end one in a similar fashion?

In short: well, duh! If you need continued convincing, read on. If not, you've probably had WARBOUND on pre-order for months now.

Heavy Jake Sullivan is commanding a mission into Imperium territory, on the hunt for an alien from another dimension, aboard an experimental zeppelin, kept afloat with hydrogen, crewed by sky pirates, geared for war by John Moses Browning, and laden with Grimnoir Society knight wielding an array of abilities to rival the X-Men. Sally Faye Vierra, presumed dead, is searching Europe for a man capable of training her to be the Spellbound. With the threat of the Enemy looming ever nearer, Faye may be humanity's single hope for survival - or its ultimate demise. How's that for an elevator pitch?

Waiting a year for WARBOUND was almost unbearable (am I spoiled or what?) but it was sooo worth it. Having just come off a high from playing BIOSHOCK INFINITE, this served as the perfect chaser. Airships? Check. Magical powers? Check. Political problems? Check. Compelling characters? Check. Action? Check, checkity check check check.

WARBOUND has an incredibly diverse cast, populated with awesome characters (any one of which could carry a solo novel). We've got Jake Sullivan, reliable as gravity - the war hero turned convict, turned private investigator, turned knight of the Grimnoir Society. There's Sally Faye Vierra - the badass teleporting death machine with a cheery disposition. There's Iron Guard Toru, Pirate Bob the airship captain, wealthy industrialist Francis Stuyvesant, John Moses Browing, Pemberly Hammer - the Bureau of Investigation's human lie detector...the list goes on and on. Of the new characters Doctor Wells is easily a favorite. Jake recruits Wells, a sociopathic inmate of Rockville Penitentiary, in order to outwit the Imperium and the Pathfinder. Wells channels his inner Hannibal Lecter, making a memorable supporting character.

What's great is that these aren't all typical action heroes. Many of them can slug it out all day, but there are scientists, doctors, diplomats, detectives, serial killers, and engineers present. The Enemy cannot be defeated solely by the force of arms - saving the world will take some finesse.

I will admit to being slightly disappointed that characters such as Francis, Dan, Pemberly, and Heinrich have smaller roles this go around. WARBOUND definitely belongs to Jake, Toru, and Faye. This isn't a major complaint as I love the relationship that develops between Jake and Toru, and Faye is...well, Faye. Honestly, it's impossible not to love Faye. The new characters do much to make up for the absence, but it's still noticeable. After all, I was redshirted by Heinrich in SPELLBOUND!

The Grimnoir Chronicles' alternate history has always been one of its greatest selling points. This is a world that would have carried on much like our own without the arrival of the Power. World War I was even more horrific with the addition of magical powers thrown into the mix, ending only with the firing of a Tesla super weapon. Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich never rose to power, but the Japanese Imperium did - guided by the dreaded Chairman. Despite the assassination of the Chairman in HARD MAGIC the Imperium is drawing closer to all out war with the West. In the United States the government moves to register the magical Actives in order to provide greater "security" for the nation. Semi-historical quotes set the opening of each chapter and historical figures like Raymond Chandler, Buckminster Fuller, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John Moses Browning, and even Grigori Rasputin make appearances.

It's an extremely cool setting, featuring magically augmented technology that is vastly more impressive than anything you'll find in the steampunk genre. The zeppelins of The Grimnoir Chronicles are remarkable (Jake's experimental airship has firepower just shy of a Great War heavy cruiser). There are robots and all manner of deadly cool toys. WARBOUND even features Power armor. Power armor!

"Magic was nice in a fight...but it never hurt to back it up with bullets."

With WARBOUND Correia takes urban fantasy into all out war. No other author I have ever encountered writes action quite like Larry. If you have ever wanted to read about a soldier and a samurai, each encased in Power enhanced armor, engaging legions of warrior-magicians with heavy firepower and explosive magic as an entire city devolves into chaos around them...well here you go! I love the magic system of The Grimnoir Chronicles. It's interesting and intricate, each ability has limitations and dangers. It's a system that evolves over the course of the series, almost as if it is given a character arc of its own.

Larry succeeds in bringing the series to a close while leaving room open for other novels set in the Grimnoirverse. The plot is full of victories and defeats, and I was personally impressed at the level of problem solving. This is a big action novel but it would be foolish to confuse it with a big dumb action novel. Becoming The One is much less about prophecy in the case of Faye, and much more about understanding the mechanics of the world surrounding her. Fighting the Enemy isn't about charging in guns blazing, so much as identifying the motivations and actions of its pawns. There's a really cool meta-moment involving the illustrations of Zachary Hill, peppered throughout the series. WARBOUND is a worthy sequel, a satisfying conclusion, and a reminder of Larry's storytelling prowess (not that one was even needed). I'm sad to see The Grimnoir Chronicles end (for now) but I'm excited, as always, to see what comes next for the King of Pulp, Larry Correia.

Recommended Age: 15+
Language: Some, not as much as, say, MONSTER HUNTER LEGION.
Violence: Erm, yeahhh. Faye is creatively violent, Jake can increase gravity to smoosh people, and Toru wields an 80 pound tetsubo.
Sex: Hinted at one point, but not in any sort of explicit manner.

Nick Sharps
Elitist Book Reviews

This was an excellent conclusion to the story arc. Throughout the series Larry has stayed true to the characters he developed that we have come to like so much. I follow Larry's blog and as he was writing this story he would post comments such as "I just had to kill of a major character" or "Faye really is scary". This just built up my anticipation for reading the book and made it that much better as I was actually reading it. I found myself saying "Oh, this is the part Larry was talking about. REALLY enjoyed this series and I hope the rumors aren't true and that someday another story arc comes out.

Out of a whim to read and comment on all 300 and counting Hugo awards and nominations, I entered Larry Correia’s Grimnoir World. While there is a comprehensive glossary of magic powers at the end of the novel, it does not reveal a very special and very rare power which the writer himself possesses, the power of Hugo Manipulator. Seriously, Hugo Awards winners and nominees, the once exclusive club of Big Ideas seems to have been replaced in the last 2 or 3 years, with Big Fists plus your average annual zombie, or two.

However, if you ignore the ovelisk-sized thorn in the side of literature, you will discover Larry Correia’s second magic power, yes, he has two.

Page Turner.

You not only have to give Correia this, you have to bow to his skill. For a writer who has decided to live and die by the sword of
his stereotypes, this writer's particular stereotypes, the rich malevolent heir, the ostensibly unsophisticated big guy, the irritating power girl, the ugly guy with the hot wife, are quite decent and never ever make you want to throw the trilogy out of the window, all 1500 pages of it.

So, even though core SF readers would lament for a Hugo slot lost to an improbable, alternative history novel, fraught with magic, the rest of us can sit through this Hugo Manipulator and enjoy a Page Turner.

This book is the wonderful end to a fantastic series. The ending is so globally epic that its almost hard to wrap your brain around. The characters are on point as usual and you realize how badass most of them are in a fight. Especially Faye. When she finally gets a chance to cut loose on a battleship, WOW! I reread that part a dozen times! I hope Larry finds it in his heart to do another Grimnoir trilogy sooner than later.

The Grimnoir Chroncles are anything but Grim. This series has been a wonderful ride and a real adventure. The diverse magic and likable characters are incomparable to any other fantasy series I have read. Larry Corria has a real knack for creating lovable mavericks, and the imagination behind each characters magic is perfectly ingenuousness. I hope that he finds a place for them in his future writing. I would miss this posse of nonconformists.

Bronson Pinchot is so amazing. It is unbelievable that it is only one person doing the narration, it felt like a whole cast of actors from start to finish. Not one of his voices are forced or phony, in my opinion one of his best. Starting with book one is recommended.

Warbound
Larry Correia
Baen, Aug 6 2013, $25.00
ISBN: 9781451639087

Sally Faye Vierra the Traveler believes she is a Grimnoir Knight though most Actives assume she will turn into a monster. Whisper advised her to seek Jacques Montand the Grimnoir Elder. When she finds him on a church rooftop, Faye dangles Jacques over the edge while explaining why she looked for him. He sends her to what was once Berlin, but now the Dead City to meet a zombie who sees the future.

At the same time Bureau of Investigation Chief J. Edgar Hoover assigns ex-convict Jake Sullivan a Grimnoir Knight Heavy to stop the Pathfinder. He begins to put together a team to breech the Imperium to obtain a Pathfinder Detector with the assistance of Francis Stuyvesant the Mover. As part of his rapid response recruitment, Jake travels to his former residence Rockville State Penitentiary to talk with prisoner Wells the Massive psychopath about the Pathfinder. Soon his mission and Faye's quest collide.

The third Grimnoir Chronicles (see Spellbound and Hard Magic) is an exciting alternate historical fantasy. The Correia world is anchored by noted real persona like FDR, Congressional hearings, William Donovan and Hoover in somewhat limited roles as the prime plots center on the Actives being active with Sullivan and crew working the Pathfinder mission and Faye proving her worth. Readers will enjoy the 1930s as the Depression world seems Warbound.

Harriet Klausner

This book is a 5 if you've read the first two and a 4 if you haven't. So do yourself a favor and start at the beginning. The Grimnoir series works at many levels - the plot, the setting, and the characters are all well written. I especially liked the 1930's setting and the magical twist on real historical figures. Tough, action-oriented attention to detail as is typical of Correia. Check out his Monster Hunters series, too. That's better, too, if you start at the beginning.

Darn. What is with authors these days? I mean, some go for too long with their series and wind up making a disaster of it (Robert Jordan) and others end them far too quickly. Has this one ended? C'mon, Mr. Correia, you've got a couple more spells left in you, right?.....please?!!!

Borrowing strongly (and well) from the works of Marlowe and Chandler but with enough fantasy to satisfy the most hardcore fantasy fan. Once again Coreia writes a page turner with great characters. But start with Hard Magic, the first in the series. His monster hunter series is kick butt too.

This is about as much of perfect completion to a trilogy that I have enjoyed in years. I am relatively new to Larry Correia, just this year thoroughly enjoyed Monster Hunter International, but the Grimoire Chronicles are particularly engaging. Not only a period piece, with strong, memorable and endearing characters, with more than a nodding homage to Raymond Chandler. There is something for everyone in this trilogy, fantasy, action, character development, and cosmic stakes. As an added thrill is the absolutely perfect narration. of Bronson Pinchot who by this third installment is having alot of fun which seeps through every chapter!! enjoy!!

I've really enjoyed all of Larry Correia's books. There's a tad too much swearing for my liking but otherwise, love them. I've listened to them all through audible.com and the readers are great too. Can't wait for the next one in any of the series. Good job and well worth the time spent listening to them.

An excellent finale to a great series!

I loved the concept of magic and how it is used. Jake and Daye are two of the best written leading characters I have come across. This book was so intelligently written and now I want more. An outstanding story from start to finish!

It had been some time since I had read Spellbound, so it took me a bit of slogging through the first few chapters to get back in touch with the characters. But I persevered and was very glad that I had. This is a very satisfying conclusion to the Grimoire trilogy. I liked that the author used my very favorite quote ever as the epigraph of his epilogue. Larry Correia gets it.

Another great read by Larry Correia. Larry is a wonderful story teller who takes the time to develop a character so you become engaged. The style of writing in the Grimnoir Chronicles harkens back to the way a 30's radio serial sounded. Larry does a wonderful job combining fantasy with alternative history.

there are so few constants in this life but Larry Correia is one. All, and I mean all, his books are well written, well paced, entertaining and even make you think about broader social/political issues. You see his name on the cover-- pick it up, it will suck you and and not let you go till done. A true craftsman of precision writing.

Warbound (2013) is the third Fantasy novel in the Grimnoir Chronicles series, following Spellbound. The initial volume in this sequence is Hard Magic.

In the previous volume, the Warlock was killed on September 18, 1918. On the same day, a young Okie girl's eyes turned gray and she became a Traveler. She was the Spellbound.

A Boomer wanted to kill Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Then an angel gave him great power and told him where to find FDR. He went to Miami and waited.

Francis and Heinrich had also come to Miami to meet the newly elected President. They were waiting for FDR in a nearby hotel club. Then the Boomer produced a gigantic explosion.

The front of the hotel was ripped apart. The window glass was sprayed throughout the room. Luckily, Heinrich Faded both of them and the glass splinters zipped through them without cutting their flesh.

Heinrich went to help the President-elect while Francis looked for something to Move. He saw a tray and Moved it at the Boomer. It cut off the Boomer's head, but Heinrich disappeared.

In this novel, Jake Sullivan is a Heavy, capable of altering the force of gravity. He served time in Rockville State Penitentiary until he was offered a deal by Hoover. He has recently became a Grimnoir Knight.

Sally Faye Vierra is a Traveler, capable of teleporting herself. She can Travel any distance, but is only able to visualize the terrain for limited distances. She considers herself as a Grimnoir Knight. Only Francis knows that she is alive.

Francis Stuyvesant is a Mover, capable of hurling objects with his mind. He is the grandson of Cornelius and inherited United Blimp & Freight from his grandfather. He is also a Grimnoir Knight.

Heinrich Koenig is a Fade, capable of removing his body from the material plane. He is also a Grimnoir Knight.

Jacques Montand is a Grimnoir Elder. Whisper had told Faye to contact him for lessons.

Dan Garrett is a Mouth. His wife Jane is a very good Healer and a beautiful woman.

Bickminister Fuller is a Cog. He is an extremely brilliant man, with a greater grasp of physics, magic and symbology than any other living person.

Pemberly Hammer is a Justice, who always know if anyone is lying to her. She is the daughter of a former US Marshal. Now she works for J. Edgar Hoover.

Wells is a Massive with doctorates in medicine and psychology. He is also a psychopath, who observes people as an outsider.

Bob Southunder is a pirate captain. He is a weather wizard. Southunder and his crew have successively flown the FS Bulldog Marauder through Imperium blockades.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the President of the United States. He is a Democrat and does not appreciate Republicans.

J. Edgar Hoover is the head of the Bureau of Investigation. He is an ally of the Grimnoir Knights against the Office of the Coordinator of Information.

William Donovan is the new Coordinator of Information. He is a political friend of FDR.

Okubo Tokugawa was an Active, with multiple talents. He was also the Chairman of the Imperial Council and chief advisor to the Emperor of Japan. He died on the Tokugawa, but later his spirit contacted Jake.

Toru is a son of Okubo and an Iron Guard. He reveres his father. Now he knows that his purpose is to assist Jake in defeating the Pathfinder.

In this story, Faye has stowed away with Whisper's body as it is flown home. While Whisper is being interred, Faye is looking for Jacques. At the same time, he is climbing the church wall to find out what she is doing there.

Faye overcomes Jacques and holds him over the side of the church. She asks if he is Jacques and he answer in the positive. She pulls him back on the rooftop and travels out of his reach. Then she tells him why she is there.

Jacques tests Faye and discovers that she thinks exceedingly fast and absorbs visual data almost instantly. Jacques sends her to Dead City -- formerly Berlin -- to meet a zombie. The undead man can foresee the future.

Francis is having fun in a congressional hearing. He has made the chairman so mad that he just might have an apoplectic fit. He has them on the defensive until Donovan speaks.

After the committee session, Francis and Dan are met at the curb by Pemberly. She drives them to a back entrance of the White House. Roosevelt wants to talk to Francis.

Roosevelt tries to get Francis to release the plans for the Dymaxion Nullifer created by Fuller. Francis refuses to give him the documents. The POTUS threatens to takes them by legal force and Francis walks out on him.

Jake has returned to Rockville State Penitentiary for a prisoner. Although the Warden does not think it is wise, Jake's papers are correct and he is allowed to talk to the prisoner. Wells isn't interested in the job offer until Jake tells him about the Pathfinder.

Jake is gathering people for a mission into the Imperium. Francis has given him a heavily armed and equipped airship and a group of technicians to maintain it. Southunder and his crew are flying the Traveler and a group of Grimnoir Knights are onboard to conduct combat forays.

Jake tells the mission personnel that they are flying to Siberia, but he is setting a trap. Early in the morning, he is awakened by Heinrich. An Imperium agent has used magic to contact his handlers.

Afterward, the Traveler changes course toward the Arctic. They are going to raid an outpost in northern Canada. The Imperium has a Pathfinder detector there.

Toru contacts the false Chairman and is attacked by a creature coming through the mirror. He barely escapes with his life. The creature kills several knights, but is put down by Jake.

This tale presents the Grimnoir Knights with a problem. The Pathfinder has already arrived on Earth and is growing stronger. They are definitely in trouble.

Wells presents Jake with a personality profile of the false Chairman. This is probably the last volume in a trilogy. However, other tales could happen in this universe.

Highly recommended for Correia fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of various expressions of magic, political intrigue, and a bit of romance. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

This summer ti seemed as if movie producers couldn’t understand how to use CGI to make moves people wanted to see. Larry Correia certainly knows how to tell tales that keep the reader on the edge of their seat. The final book of the Grimnoir Chronicles finds our super-powered heroes Warbound (hard from Tor) in a specially made dirigible heading to fight the Japanese empire controlling Shanghai. Super powers have been around since the 1870's because of an alien creature that gives magic and reabsorbs it on the person’s death. Another creature, Pathfinder eats all species that accept the magic, leaving desolated planets behind. It has to be stopped and that involves going through super charged Japanese Warriors who are devoted to the person they think is their chairman. There’s enough action here for ten books. Great series.
Review printed in the Philadelphia Weekly Press