Spellbound

Book II of the Grimnoir Chronicles

By: Larry Correia

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award, Paranormal, 2013

Dark fantasy goes hardboiled in Book II 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.

©2012 Larry Correia (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Harry Potter with Guns and Attitude

Larry Correia delivers more fast paced adventures of the Grimnoir as they are forced to work with old enemies against an even greater threat.
Bronson Pinchot's narration never disappoints.

Superpowers and Guns: Fun Pulpy Libertarian SF

Less than a year after the California Knights of the Grimnoir's desperate attempt to save the USA from the Tesla superweapon of the evil Japanese Imperium in Larry Correia's Hard Magic (2011), the sequel, Spellbound (2011), begins with their being framed for the attempted assassination of President Roosevelt. Indeed, a new governmental organization called the Office of the Coordinator of Information is out to eliminate the entire covert Grimnoir Society. The mood in America regarding Actives (people like the Grimnoir able to access "the Power" to perform specialized "magical" abilities like telekenisis, telepathy, and healing) has turned dangerously ugly, and although the Grimnoir are dedicated to coexistence between Actives and Normals, they are "loved by few, feared by many, and hated by more." Worse, the Power, an alien entity who came to earth in 1849 and started seeding certain people with "magic" so they can grow it and feed it back to the Power when they die, is about to be followed here by its own super alien predator, the Enemy. To prevent the Enemy from destroying the earth, someone must kill its Pathfinder, and to have a chance at that, the Grimnoir may need to call on their Imperium archenemies.

If all that sounds involved and absurd, it is, but Correia tells his story with pulpy panache and appealing characters. Our favorite Knights from the first book are back, like Francis Cornelius Stuyvesant, a young Mover (able to mentally move objects) who's been playing the Bruce Wayne-esque millionaire playboy corporation head; Jake Sullivan, a hard-bitten, chivalrous Heavy (able to manipulate gravity) who's been researching magic and carving magical spell sigils into his own flesh; and Faye Rivera, a teen Traveler (able to teleport herself and other people and objects) who's possibly turning into the Spellbound, the vessel for the most dangerous and powerful cursed spell of all. Correia introduces some intriguing new Knights, like Whisper, a French Torch (able to manipulate fire) and Ian, a bitter Summoner (able to summon demons); X-factors, like the Japanese Iron Guard Brute Toru (able to access super strength and speed) and the Texas Justice Beverly Hammer (able to find people and detect when they lie); and antagonists, like OCI agent Crow (an amoral, scary guy with a long history of dirty work). And real historical people appear with alternate-world twists, as in epigraphs by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert E. "Heavy" Howard, and Geronimo, references to Babe Ruth and Jack Johnson, and cameos by Navy Lt. Heinlein and Raymond Chandler, who says when Francis gives him a tricky covert job, "I'm an accountant, not a detective." (Funny lines like that are many in the novel.)

As in the first novel, Correia revels in writing exciting and creative (and destructive!) small- and large-scale fight scenes featuring a variety of weapons (tommy guns, shotguns, 45s, knives, nails, katana, war clubs, etc.), machines (automata, dirigibles, magic nullifiers, etc.), powers (electricity, fire, gravity, animal possessing, spell writing, etc.), foes (G-men, demons, black domes of death, etc.), and injuries (broken limbs, burst eyeballs, punctured lungs, gunshot wounds, immolation, etc.). Correia is not above adding humor to the action, as when a nearly deaf and blind old woman sleeps through an apocalypse in her boarding house.

The novel has a libertarian thrust. The Grimnoir's raison d'etre is "to fight for liberty though it cost my life," and Jake is sick of men with "grand visions," "just a bunch of assholes trying to control everyone else." At one point Francis says, "Nothing like that [the government imprisoning all Actives] could happen here [in America]." But of course, it can happen here, and it's up to the Grimnoir to stop it.

Correia does some politically correct things regarding race, as in repugnant racist epigraphs by H.G. Wells and Jack London, Faye's opposition to segregation, and a white Knight's marriage to a "quadroon" woman. And he depicts a more complex side to the Japanese than in the first novel's one-note depiction of them as loyalty-crazed, inhuman eugenic experimenters bent on purifying the world.

Bronson Pinchot has great fun reading the novel, changing his voices for European characters and for Americans from different classes and regions, and for demons and men and women. I really like his deliberate, deep voice for Jake, and his Okie-naïve-girl-on-the-surface-cold-killer-beneath for Faye.

Spellbound is so entertaining that it almost teleported me past some flaws.

--Correia writes some bad lines, as when a man has "unfashionably large old-fashioned sideburns."

--His ends-justify-the-means villain mastermind is prone to typical flaws of such figures, being unable to resist gloatingly telling his plans to captured heroes, and generally seeming less brilliant than he's supposed to be.

--Although Correia generally obeys the limits to magic he sets up, as when Faye can't Travel outside a boarding house because of a dust storm, he also ignores such limits when expedient, as when she Travels into an OCI room that's "full of dust."

--Correia callously uses animals for humor, as when a Knight possesses a cow into the path of a speeding automobile to stop it and then has the cow, with all four legs broken, wink at the enemy and trash-talk him.

--Finally, although the plot of Spellbound has its own closure and prepares the way for the climactic third volume, I suspect that much of the entertaining second book is superfluous, for its necessary developments (re Faye and Toru) could come in the beginning of the third book, making a potent duology instead of a de rigueur trilogy.

Anyway, readers who like pulpy horror sf about super powers and "Cog" inventions (like a Thomas Edison-made spirit phone to call hell) with plenty of exciting action and appealing characters should like the trilogy.

another great book by Larry Correia

i have known about Larry Correia a month ago, and he is one of my fev writers. This book is amazing!!!!! i'm dying for the next one.....

The narrator did a good job, i really like how he voice these characters, not all narrators do that.

i really don't know what to say guys... if you thought the first book was good... believe me this one is really really good.... no need to read any reviews, just click the add to cart button and enjoy :)

Another satisfying read

Another satisfying read. I love how this series combines magic and noir together so well.

Excellent story and narration

Any additional comments?

After loving the monster hunter books, I was worried about liking this story line. With that said, I was pleasantly surprised to find another great series. Eagerly awaiting the next book.

Another great series by Larry Corria

I listened to the monster hunter series and fell in love with both the story and the narrator. After getting used to the new narrator I have to say that the grim noir chronicles are going to be my second love, amazingly written, great characters, immersing characters facing unimaginable odds to save man kind and their planet. Highly recommended if you read and liked monster hunter international or just love a good read based on fantasy paranormal

Simply sublime

Would you consider the audio edition of Spellbound to be better than the print version?

Absolutely. The true star of the book is Bronson Pinchot, the narrator. His voice is beautiful and versatile. He manages to capture the voices of Japanese Ambassadors and midwestern girls with equal ease. His performance is amazing, but I always come back to the sheer beauty of his speaking tone. That alone is enough to recommend the book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character is without a doubt Faye Viera. It's a classic situation: small town girl thrust into a big world with amazing abilities, but unlike most, Faye never loses that simple oakie charm and honesty. She's straight forward and direct in a world compromised of lies and deceit. She's extremely intelligent, and more importantly, quick. I found her to be a breath of fresh air in a world populated by liars and schemers.

Which scene was your favorite?

Any scene involving Faye. Her interactions with the other protagonists, as well as with the antagonists were without fail hilarious and satisfying.

Any additional comments?

I really can't say enough about the narrator. I could write all sorts of cheesy similes describing his voice, but I wouldn't be able to do it justice. Just listen. You won't regret it, although if you are new to the series I'd recommend starting with the first book.

Thrill ride. Superb narration.

Any additional comments?

Very entertaining. I judge an audiobook by how hard it is to turn it off when I am forced to do something else. Lets just say I haven't been very productive the last few days.
This one is even better than the first, "Hard Magic", which I enjoyed immensely. Many twists and turns. Fast paced. Great characters.

Pinchot is again incredible as a narrator. The best I have encountered so far.

I just wish there were more.

Excellent Book 2!!

Another great book in this series. "Good on ya", Larry Correia, and keep them coming!!

Great fantasy/Action and characters that grow on U

Would you listen to Spellbound again? Why?

Probably not but only because I am have a voracious appitite for new stories

Who was your favorite character and why?

Faye (and of course Jake Sullivan) is a delightful mix of naivete and killing machine...and the reader does a marvelous job of capturing her essence

Which character – as performed by Bronson Pinchot – was your favorite?

Faye

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not extreme but very satisfied both with the entertainment value and the creative depth.

Any additional comments?

I am hooked on Larry Correia's sense of fantasy, both of his series are similar and highly recommended