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.

Spellbound is Pure Magic

When you start the Spellbound series it is like getting hooked on chocolate. You always have to go back for more. The characters are delightful and original; the plot is out of this world. Jake Sullivan, the loyal and moral ex-Con who believes in liberty and freedom is by far my most favorite character.

Each character must confront not only their own truths but their own fears, their own personal demons. Jake becomes the glue that holds the group together when they have to fight their inner demons and the evil in the world. He also is the glue that allows success in the end.

The audio version is hands over fists better than the print version. It is wonderful to sit back and have a talented narrator read to you. Bronson Pinchot is wonderful. Overall: This has become a favorite. The plot is new and fresh and mixes a stark originality with somber far reaching themes. Its as addictive as chocolate.

I am never disappointed with Larry Correia.

Spellbound is a hit

This was a great installment in the chronicles it was really hard to put this down. If you liked the first novel your not going to be disappointed.However, if you haven't read the first one then you should really pick it up before diving into this one. I'm extremely happy they decided to keep the same narrator Bronson Pinchot is definitely one of the top 3 in the game right now.

truly excellent continuation of the story

What does Bronson Pinchot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

he is truly outstanding! the best overall narrator i've heard to date! he brings the characters to life!

Any additional comments?

first things first...after the conclusion of hard magic, i wasn't sure if larry correia could create a villan as powerful or as dreaded as the chairman, but i'm here to tell you that larry successfully crafts another lethal villain with the temerity to directly confront and challenge the grimnoir knights head on!

the events that transpired in hard magic have made the public even more wary of actives. magical opposition groups are organizing, and the gov't is proposing laws that require actives to register themselves. a secretive, new gov't agency is given a blank check to "deal with" the active problem.

enter agent crowe. crowe's mandate is to retrieve a particular grimnoir knight at any cost. crowe is merciless and relentless. he will go to any length to capture his prize, and the grimnoir knights quickly discover he won't stop. his strange and mysterious powers manage to frighten the grimnoir knights. i found crowe to be a worthy villain. he reminded me of agent smith from the 1st matrix movie- crafty, creepy, frightening powerful, relentless.

new characters are introduced, and their backstories are just as intriguing as our original cast. correia easily weaves the new characters into the overarching plot. there is a surprising addition to the grimnoir knights, and his/her inclusion (i won't tell) further fills out the story.

i hesitate to say more b/c i don't want to rob you of discovering a truly rewarding story. spellbound is an excellent continuation of the story and definitely worthy of your time.

Better than the First

I really liked Hard Magic, the first book of The Grimnoir Chronicles, but this book was much better. Where Correia had to spend alot of the first book creating this world, in Spellbound he hits the ground running, and run he does. There are many questions answered, but in the vain of any great serious he leaves you with many more. The worst part about it was that I had to wait for some of my friends to finish it so that I could talk about it without being the spoiler.

Great Stuff

This is the second book in a series started with "Hard Magic" and they are both very entertaining books. Larry Correia has made a colorful world full of action and drama, his characters are very likeable, his stories are action packed. In addition Bronson Pinchot is a fantastic narrator, his rendition of Sullivan practically drips with a rich southern molasses.

This book is an action/drama so if you're looking for deep philosophical musings or poetry you might want to look elsewhere, but if you're looking for non-stop fun this is a good one.

A solid follow-up to Hard Magic

What made the experience of listening to Spellbound the most enjoyable?

Pinchot's narration was great and the writing is solid. Like all great series, I started to feel anxious at the end of the book because I know the next installment hasn't been released yet.

The characters continue to develop in this installment - which is good. I really didn't find myself getting bored. I know I'm in a good book when my dog doesn't want to go out for anymore walks!

If you’ve listened to books by Larry Correia before, how does this one compare?

I listened to this one right after the first, so its difficult to compare. The tension isn't the same because of events in the first book, but it was a solid middle book in a series.

Which scene was your favorite?

The attack on the island at the end.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I don't know...

Any additional comments?

Great book. If you loved the first one, you'll like this too. The cover art is kind of cheesy - it doesn't do the content of the book any favors.

Another great magic action story.

I would listen to this twice, the story is solid, first you know where you are who the players are in this post WWI saga about magic woven into the early 20th century. The writer creates a good visualization of the magic as its being used and takes you into a phone call with a dead villian and our hero Nate Sullivan, since the story is so good to that point I just went along with it, the writer earned it. I also don't usually like high violence action for long, but his action was awesome, a lightning bolt fight with such intensity that it ends the dust bowl of the 1930's. Listen to this book it must be done. I listened to the 1st book before this one and I highly recommend it too. The dark story, lightens up just at the right times with characters that don't take themselves too seriously even in a serious situation. The ending sets up the next book in the series which I will be buying as soon as it appears.

Terrific followup...can't wait for more.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I'd definitely recommend it. It's a very original story with lots of fascinating characters.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The two main characters of Jake and Faye...the most well-developed and complex characters. Good amount of humor thrown into each of their personalities.

What does Bronson Pinchot bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

Bronson Pinchot does an amazing job of giving each character his/her own unique voice. One thing I noticed between this book and the previous one ("Hard Magic") was that several of the character voices changed. Jane and Lance both changed significantly from an eastern european accent for Jane and a sort of midwestern accent for Lance in the first book to a midwestern accent for Jane and a country drawl for Lance in this book.

A good example of how good audio can get

???You???re Heavy Jake Sullivan, aren???t you????
???Yep.???
???I was afraid of that.???

Larry Correia delivers another exciting magical alternate history with Spellbound, the second of his GRIMNOIR CHRONICLES. After Jake Sullivan and the gang took care of the German zombies, the Japanese Iron Guard, and Nikola Tesla???s peace ray in Hard Magic, the magicals are needed again to thwart new threats to the country. This is hard to do, though, after they???ve been framed for the attempted assassination of President Roosevelt. Public approval for magicals is low and opposition groups are organizing to march on Washington. FDR decides that magic must be regulated and proposes a new-deal-type law that will require all magicals to register with the government and wear an identification badge.

Meanwhile, after receiving a phone call from Hell, the Grimnoir recognize that there???s a much greater magical threat that the American citizens are unaware of. Only the Grimnoir are equipped to handle it. Frustrated, they must take care of this alien evil while hiding from the government. Fortunately, they do have some really awesome magical powers, an unexpected powerful ally, and a lot of guns.

Once again, I???m surprised to find myself enjoying Larry Correia???s testosterone-pumping, gun-toting, blood-spurting, heads-rolling story, but there???s a lot more here than guns, guts and gore. There???s a large diverse set of likeable and fully-developed fictional and real historical characters, an interesting historical backdrop, plenty of action and suspense, some blood-chilling moments, and a few quirky elements, too, such as an army of robots and a black hole.

There???s also quite a bit of dark humor, which blends perfectly to lighten the mood just a bit when things get scary. I was always entertained by the scenes in which Lance takes over the body of an animal. I also love the adapted quotes at the beginning of the chapters, which put the story in its historical context. For example, one is from the New York Commissioner of Boxing who explains how, after Jack Johnson beat the Great White Hope, they bribed a referee and snuck in a Brute to end Johnson???s career (???Gotta keep the sport pure, y???know????).

Bronson Pinchot???s performance of Spellbound is nothing short of brilliant. There???s a large international cast here and Pinchot handles all of those accents with ease. He perfectly captures the excitement, horror, and humor of Spellbound. If you don???t read audiobooks, you might consider starting with this series. It???s a perfect example of how good audio can get.

There???s danger on the horizon, American opinion about magicals is unstable (are they public heroes or public enemies?), and many questions remain about the Power, its motives, and Faye???s ties to it. I???m looking forward to the next GRIMNOIR CHRONICLES book.

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.

Bring On Book 3!

This is the second book in the Grimnoir Chronicles, after 'Hard Magic'.

If you loved the first book, you won't be disappointed with the second. All our fave characters are back along with some new ones; Grimnoir Knights, Imperium Guards, and a new sinister government organisation.

I was as completely enthralled by this as the first book, and some of the characters surprised me with how much I liked them - I would never have thought I could start rooting for an Iron Guard!

There were a lot of laugh out loud moments, especially any scene with Heimrich, who aside from Fay and Sullivan, is easily my favourite character.

I wasn't keen on the idea of a spirit phone communicating with the deceased Chairman (this happens very early on, so not really a spoiler), but in a story that involves teleporting, mind control, human lie detectors, gravity spikers, healers, and an alien magical entity (among other things), it's perhaps a little churlish of me to have a problem with communicating with the dead.

My only other issue is that of the sole English character being portrayed as the stuck-in-the-eighteenth-century, toffee-nosed, upper-class, authority-without-a-clue figure. As an English person, I found it a little wearing to be met with this cliché yet again, but since he was only in the story for about two minutes I got over it quickly - just hope this isn't a recurring theme for Correia.

If you like supernatural action, comedy, adventure, and anything with elements of superheroes, you will not be disappointed purchasing 'Hard Magic' and 'Spellbound'.

Fast paced, intelligent, with a lot of humour and thoroughly enjoyable smart-ass comments from our Grimnoir Knights, I loved this story, and I know I will listen to it often.

The story is told from the omniscient perspective, hopping in and out of all the different characters' thoughts, and the narration is spot on, thoughts more subtle than dialogue, and it is always clear who is thinking or speaking.

Bring on Book 3!

Astounding...

This series encompasses more or less everything I love in a book, multiple point of view, multi-layered intense plot,well defined individual characters, no cardboard cut-outs here, its, in a class of it's own mixing multiple genres and coming out with a delicately balanced perfect veritable feast for the imagination.
Wonderful, I suggest you read 'Hard magic' first which is just as good..

Astounding.

I can't stress enough how much I love this series! Imagine a sort of steampunk X-men/Watchmen with magic and tommy-guns and characters that you genuinely feel for and some absolutely fantastic narration.

Spellbound is the second book in the Grimnoir Chronicles series, an urban fantasy set in 1940s America with an alternate history and steampunk elements. It isn't overdone; everyone isn't walking about with clockwork parasols, but there are airships and historical figures and events referenced briefly to help the reader understand how the emergence of magic has shaped this reality.

The Grimnoir Chronicles world combines a fantastic, original superpower-based individual magic (one power per person, with the powers mostly identified and classified i.e. "Heavy" - someone who manipulates gravity, "Fade" - someone who phases through solid matter, etc.) with a more traditional rune-based magic, and even a few sci-fi elements. It isn't difficult to follow but is wonderfully detailed and immersive, and brought alive by characters who are all very distinct and different and complement one another brilliantly. I found all of the 'good guy' characters very likeable and cared about what happened to them very early on. There are none of the irritating shallow stereotypes seen a lot in fantasy, and the plot managed to surprise me as the characters thought of ingenious solutions I hadn't considered.

To top it all, Bronson Pinchot does a masterful job of the narration, capturing all of the characters perfectly and bringing across a very strong voice to each character's observations even though the book is written in 3rd person. It changes from person to place, speech to thought very quickly and Bronson never leaves you in any doubt as to who is speaking or what is happening.

The only criticism I have is that there's no release date yet for book 3.

Cannot wait

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

A rip roaring ride picking up where the first book left off.

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

Heinrich (not sure of the spelling) is a wonderfully dry character.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes but stretched it to two days

Any additional comments?

I ploughed through the first book and loved it. Brought to mind a slightly grittier series akin to the decoder ring theatre style of noir with banter between the characters carrying well. This was a natural choice to read after the first book as i had to know how it ended. Now i need to wait until next month for the third instalment.

History's Easter Eggs Abounding

Loving this magical world, but yes again I run the risk of you screaming SPOILERS TWO... lol

Really enjoyed it

I made the mistake of actually reading these books, the wrong way round having read book 3 first, which I thought was great. If not excellent, then read book one because I like the story so much then book 2, which is this one I just wish there was another series to carry on really enjoyed it really love the idea and I think any fans of monster hunter international would love reading this too

Excellent.

Intricate and very well told story.
Once I started I couldn’t stop.
Bronson Pritchot is also brilliant.

enjoyed it

another good story and still keen to continue to the other books ggh jhg

Great follow up

A really good sequel to the 1st book... not just more of the same, but also expands the overall story and each individual character. I really enjoyed it.

Great book

Good read if your into fantasy and a bit of sci-fi with a pinch of noir. It’s got a real pulp feel to it except the women are all very capable and no damsels in distress and there’s not a Doc Savage to be found. Very well acted and a great story, highly recommend.