Spellbound by Larry Correia

From the New York Times best-selling creator of Monster Hunter International: #2 in the hard-hitting Grimnoir Chronicles. Jake Sullivan is a hardboiled private eye at war with evil magical powers in a dark and gritty urban fantasy that’s a cross between the The Maltese Falcon and Angels and Demons and Twilight. Dark fantasy goes hardboiled in #2 of the hard-hitting Grimnoir Chronicles by the New York Times best-selling creator of Monster Hunter International. The Grimnoir Society’s mission is to protect people with magic, and they’ve done so—successfully and in secret—since the mysterious arrival of the Power in the 1850s, but when a magical assassin makes an attempt on the life of President Franklin Roosevelt, the crime is pinned on the Grimnoir. The knights must become fugitives while they attempt to discover who framed them. Thing go from bad to worse when Jake Sullivan, former p.i. and knight of the Grimnoir, receives a telephone call from a dead man—a man he helped kill.. Turns out the Power jumped universes because it was fleeing from a predator that eats magic and leaves destroyed worlds in its wake. That predator has just landed on Earth. About Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter series “[A] no-holds-barred all-out page turner that is part science fiction, part horror, and an absolute blast to read.”—Bookreporter.com “If you love monsters and action, you’ll love this book. If you love guns, you’ll love this book. If you love fantasy, and especially horror fantasy, you’ll love this book.”—Knotclan.com “A gun person who likes science fiction—or, heck, anyone who likes science fiction—will enjoy [these books]…The plotting is excellent, and Correia makes you care about the characters…I read both books without putting them down except for work…so whaddaya waitin’ for? Go and buy some…for yourself and for stocking stuffers.”—Mayad Ayoob About Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter Vendetta: “This lighthearted, testosterone-soaked sequel to 2009's Monster Hunter International will delight fans of action horror with elaborate weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, disgusting monsters, and an endless stream of blood and body parts.”—Publishers Weekly

I liked this book, it is almost as good as the first one, although the most interesting aspects of the world were already presented in the previous one. What follows is a general rant and the reason why this book doesn't at least deserve a 4 stars for me.

So, I REALLY don't like the whole X-MEN/Avengers vs Government theme. You have people with super powers. Some are good, some are bad. You decide to kill them all. That's about as stupid as it is a shallow plot.

You can use that as a background for your story. Mercy Thompson books does that. The whole werewolves and magical beings coming out into the open, the mass protests and persecuting of harmless people just because their different is briefly mentioned as Mercy goes on about her life.

You can use it as a device for interesting situations, where the protagonists cleverly manipulate the conflict. You can show that by killing the ‘heroes', you ushered an age of darkness for mankind. Or maybe just that criminality has risen. But DO SOMETHING. As an excuse for drama just brings the story closer to and ordinary one. If I want reality, I live it. That's why I read fiction.

Also:

- You have the second and fourth most powerful super human beings on your side. They destroyed the first and third most powerful ones because they were the ‘baddies'. They are as superior in power to a regular super as a human is to an ant. So, the two currently most powerful supers in the world say that they have a greater understanding of the power that fuels all the magic in the world then the rest of the people does. Then, they say that a great evil is coming to destroy the world, something which the formerly number one super also agreed. What do you do? Well, obviously you distrust them, and think they are the ones that are trying to destroy the world.

- All the while the government is trying and succeeding in killing all of your kind. You could try to come out into the open and proclaim how you just saved the world, maybe engage in a crusade to educate the population. But you decide to stay in the shadows, accepting your losses and behaving like the untrustworthy beings everyone else thinks you are, because of your secretive operations that aims to benefit the people that are trying to kill you.

- These point doesn't make necessarily a bad plot. But again, they should be used as a platform for greater things, not just as a cliche. You risk your life to save people, they try to kill you as a reward, you just take it on the chin and move on?

To be fair, in the end the story does present some consequence to attacking the ones that are trying to protect you. But it was mostly about what happens when you let megalomaniac people to be in charge.

Some of the problems in the story are resolved just a bit too conveniently. The protagonist may be facing a seemingly insurmountable problem - and voila!, there appears the exact solution that is needed.

Spellbound ups the stakes in a big way without going overboard. I think I like the Grimnoir Chronicles even more than Monster Hunter International. MHI is fun, but Grimnoir has more world building, which I love, and I feel like the cast of characters is more well rounded and developed. I'm looking forward to the last book in the series.