• Murder on the Orient Elite

  • A Tale of the Grimnoir Chronicles
  • By: Larry Correia
  • Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
  • Length: 1 hr and 14 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (3,778 ratings)

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Murder on the Orient Elite  By  cover art

Murder on the Orient Elite

By: Larry Correia
Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
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Publisher's summary

In this brand-new Grimnoir Chronicles story written exclusively for Audible, it's 1937 - four years after the Grimnoir Society defeated the magical alien force known as The Power. "Heavy" Jake Sullivan is summoned by his oddest ally, Dr. Wells, to stop the bombing of a new ultra-luxury airship. Amid the glitz, the gambling, and the high-society types, Sullivan races time to hunt for the saboteur. But surrounded by a blimp-full of Germans, Russians, Imperium Iron Guard, and other magical enemies - where can he even begin?

Murder on the Orient Elite is available free through 01/01/15.

Listen to more hard-boiled dark fantasy in the rest of the Grimnoir Chronicles series.
©2014 Larry Correia (P)2014 Audible Inc.

What listeners say about Murder on the Orient Elite

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An Excellent Teaser

This is an Audible-only novella set in Larry Correia's very excellent Grimnoir universe, a noir alternate history adventure series taking place in a diesel-powered magicpunk setting where the onset of magic in the last two centuries has changed our familiar world in often unexpected ways.

The novella takes place after the first three books (currently the only novel-length installments; I highly recommend those Audible performances as well), and so contains spoilers for that series. In particular, the fates of certain characters are shown, and I would recommend only listening to this AFTER you have finished Warbound. However, if you don't care so much about spoilers, this novella doesn't give away much in the way of plot, just what happens to those characters (which is more than just who lives or dies, but I can't say more without giving it away).

The name gives the impression of a detective story. To some extent, this is true; it's a story with classic mystery plotting and a bit of a whodunnit puzzle, but it won't feel like a mystery. Like all of Larry Correia's stories, this is a rollicking adventure where the good guys square off against the bad guys with clever situations that push the boundaries for all characters involved. There are even a few decent one-liners in it, but I happen to like puns so maybe I have a low bar.

Most importantly, this novella teases Correia's promised sequel, taking place some years after the events of Warbound. The ending left me rather hungry for more. The Grimerse's magic system is one of my favorites (easily matching something out of Brandon Sanderson's books), and I enjoyed watching the way he used modern physics to shape magic as viewed by Depression-era characters, and then continually pushed the boundaries to show how different forms of magic could do different things when applied correctly. In this story, Sullivan -- one of the main characters of the series and a top expert on magic -- encounters something impossible according to everything he knows. I want to know more, and eagerly await any further installments.

If you haven't picked up the Grimnoir series yet, try it out now. If you have, and haven't listened to this novella yet, I don't know why you scrolled down here. The button you want to click is up THERE.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

I WAS COCKY AT YOUR AGE TOO

Grim, Grimn, Grimoire, Noir
Correia has a huge following and it is easy to see why. He has carved out his own little niche. It is noir detective attitude, with Grimoire Magic, sometimes with grim results. It is not totally Steampunk, not totally Clockwork, but all alternative history. Buckminster Fuller was mentioned in the story and I had to look him up, knowing I had heard the name before. I had thought he invented geodesic domes, but turns out he did not, but he made them famous. He was an inventor and even worked on an air car.

This little story has Germans, Japs, Russian Spies, Commie Bastards, The Titanic (having never sunk), Blimps, Robots, Iron Guards, Magic, Fade Magic and Jake Sullivan who has control over gravity. It is all done in a fifties setting.

If you have not read Correia, this would be an excellent place to start. Some of his other works are fairly long. I am not a big fan of his writing, but I do appreciate his genius and creativity.

Pinchot is a great narrator.

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Wonder If There Will Be More??

Loved this book.. it was quick, but too quick.... loved the quick actions and detailed story... Want more though... I wonder if there will be more of these books, or if there will be a new series in the future in this world.

Go ahead, its fantastic!!!!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

As great as the Grimnoire novels!

If you have read Hard Magic and its sequels, you'll enjoy this story much more. And you're going to love that series!

So go read the series then come back and read this. But that's not entirely necessary.

Pinchot is wonderful as you might expect from one of the best audiobook narrators around.

Bottom line: AWESOME! I'll read every book and short story in this series because I know I'll love it.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fun story!

What did you love best about Murder on the Orient Elite?

Tight plotting keeps the story moving.

What did you like best about this story?

The tension between Sullivan and the professor.

What about Bronson Pinchot’s performance did you like?

How very talented Bronson Pinchot is! He puts so much characterization into his voices, its difficult to believe that its only him narrating.

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

There is something invigorating in listening to this story. Gets your adrenalin going.

Any additional comments?

I will look for more audible books by both Larry Correia and Bronson Pinchot.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Jake is back.

An enjoyable short story. It makes me want to go back and read the rest of the series again. Jake is recruited to find a saboteur for an elite airship. With is wit and dry humor this makes for a fun little story. There is new magic in this story, so it makes me hopeful there will be more for this series in the future. I recommend listening to the other books first, there is a lot of references to them. As usual the narrator rocks.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A sip of water for a thirsty reader

What did you love best about Murder on the Orient Elite?

Catching up with one of my favorite characters, Jake Sullivan.

What did you like best about this story?

That I got to find out a little bit about what happened after the last Grimnoir book.

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

All of them - I love love love Bronson Pinchot's narration - he could read my grocery list and I'd be happy

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This book series doesn't really 'move' me (except when we didn't know if Fay was going to live), but they are very entertaining, with great characters developement and story lines. Add in Bronson Pinchot amazing voice and you get 90 minutes of bliss

Any additional comments?

As I wrote in the header, this book was a sip of water - way too short. It was more of an epilog or a novella - but definitely not a stand alone book. Don't get me wrong I loved it - that's why I want MORE of it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fun filler for the next book

This short story, set after Correia's Grimnoir trilogy, was an Audible freebie, and will be quite enjoyable to anyone who enjoyed the previous Grimnoir books. Jake Sullivan is back, and by fairly arbitrary plot manipulation, he's hanging around in Casablanca doing a bad Bogie impersonation when his old "friend" Dr. Wells, the sociopathic mastermind who's now running China's organized crime syndicates, asks if Sullivan wouldn't mind hopping a ride on his expensive new zeppelin full of international high-rollers and figuring out who's brought a bomb on board before it blows up.

Sullivan agrees, with the sort of reasoning that makes sense when the GM is telling you, "Look, if you say no, we're just gonna have to play Munchkin or something tonight instead." Thus semi-railroaded into the plot, the Player Character proceeds to sniff out the villains, of whom there are plenty to choose from, since Wells's zeppelin is carrying Imperium agents, NKVD spies, a mysterious German working for a more mysterious organization which is apparently being set up as a future nemesis for the Grimnoir Society, and various other rich, powerful scoundrels.

Correia enjoys inserting historical figures into his alternate history: here, Lavrenti Beria (one of the original Soviet secret police chiefs) makes an appearance. The story is short but of course ends with a super-powered battle and hints of future conflict with the real Big Bad (or rather, the minion of the real Big Bad) getting away. Nice to see that the Grimnoir series will continue.

Bronson Pinchot continues to narrate, and continues to be one of my favorite narrators.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A short GRIMNOIR CHRONICLES story

Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.

For fans who just can’t wait for the next installment in Larry Correia’s GRIMNOIR CHRONICLES, you can get a quick fix by reading Murder on the Orient Elite. In this short story (only 1 hour and 15 minutes on audio) which is set in an alternate 1937, not too long after the events of Warbound, Jake Sullivan is contacted by Dr. Wells to do an undercover job on Wells’ dirigible, The Orient Elite. Wells, the psychopathic (and maybe also paranoid) psychologist, suspects that one of his passengers is planning to blow up the luxury airship on its maiden voyage and he wants Jake to figure out who the saboteur is. When Jake comes aboard, he realizes the ship is full of his usual enemies — Russian, German, and Japanese agents. Jake must uncover the plot (if there is one) and stop the vandal before he and the passengers and crew are blown to bits.

As usual, readers should expect political intrigue, snappy dialogue, gun porn, and brutal fight scenes enhanced by cool magical effects. This non-essential story doesn’t really progress the overall story arc, but it does offer some hints and speculations about what might be coming next for Jake and his friends.

Short stories are often a good introduction to a series, so readers who are unfamiliar with THE GRIMNOIR CHRONICLES may wonder if they should try Murder on the Orient Elite. I’d say you can read this story first if you’re trying to get a general feel for the series and for Correia’s style, but you’ll be missing a lot of the background that will make the story more enjoyable.

Murder on the Orient Elite is not as fun and exciting as we’re used to from this series, but that’s because it’s so short. Correia doesn’t really have the space here to flesh out the characters or spend much time in amusing banter, so you’ll be missing those important features. I’d consider Murder on the Orient Elite to be mostly just a nice chance for fans to spend some time with a character we love while waiting for the next novel.

I’ve mentioned many times how much I love Bronson Pinchot’s narration of Larry Correia’s books. These are among the best (top five) audiobook performances I’ve ever heard (which means I’ll probably never pass up a chance to review one of Larry Correia’s books just so I can listen to Pinchot). So, that’s another (and perhaps even the best) reason to pick up Murder on the Orient Elite. At this time it’s available only in audio format.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Barely qualifies as a chapter of a book

What did you like best about Murder on the Orient Elite? What did you like least?

It was nice to spend a few more minutes with two characters from the trilogy.

What could Larry Correia have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Larry is capable of writing complex plots with twists you never see coming. Not so in this case - entirely predictable - he wasn't even trying.

Have you listened to any of Bronson Pinchot’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Bronson has read the Grimnoir trilogy with great success and he delivers again in this tale.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It is so short, it could be made into a commercial.

Any additional comments?

Only for those utterly desperate to hear Jake Sullivan's voice for a few more minutes.

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