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Baen Books recently send me their second batch of April releases. One of those releases was Warbound by Larry Correia. This is the third and final book of the Grimnoir Chronicles trilogy,

Larry Correia’s Grimnoir Chronicles trilogy, consists of Hard Magic, Spellbound, and Warbound. I had honestly forgotten about the series and had never read the third and final book. This gave me the opportunity.

The series presents an interesting blend of urban fantasy, alternate history, magic, and noir elements. It is a captivating tale of heroism and sacrifice and has garnered praise for its imaginative world-building and diverse cast of characters,

One of the series strengths lies in its diverse and well-developed cast of characters. From the powerful Grimnoir Knights to the ruthless Chairman Tokugawa, each character contributes to the narrative. The protagonist, Jake Sullivan evolves throughout the series from a cynical loner to a leader responsible for saving the world.

Warbound

Only a handful of people in the world know that mankind’s magic comes from a living creature, and it is a refugee from another universe. The Power showed up here in the 1850s because it was running from something. Now it is 1933, and the Power’s hiding place has been discovered by a killer.

It is a predator that eats magic and leaves destroyed worlds in its wake. Earth is next.

Former private eye, Jake Sullivan, knows the score. The problem is hardly anyone believes him. The world’s most capable Active, Faye Vierra, could back him up, but she is hiding from the forces that think she is too dangerous to let live. So Jake has put together a ragtag crew of airship pirates and Grimnoir knights, and set out on a suicide mission to stop the predator before it is too late.

Set in a 1930’s alternate reality where magic is real and those who wield it are known as Actives. The story follows Jake Sullivan, an ex-con with the ability to manipulate gravity, as he navigates a complex web of political intrigue, magical conspiracies, and epic battles.

Conclusion

The action sequences in “Warbound” are good. They are full of vivid descriptions that bring the magical battles to life. Overall, the novel acts as a decent conclusion to the trilogy.

Warbound, as the concluding volume of the trilogy, faces challenges in maintaining a consistent pace. While the action sequences are gripping and turn the novel into a page-turner. However, the narrative occasionally becomes bogged down. The book attempts to weave together multiple storylines and as a result it feels rushed. The book gives the overall feeling of being ‘over packed’ with too much being done at once. This feels like it should have been spread into another novel to give the plotline more breathing room. If the series had been given another book I think it would have allowed for more even pacing. Another novel in the series would have also allowed a depth to be brought to the conclusion that currently feels lacking.

Overall, I rate this as a 4.5 star (our of 5). It’s a good book that pulls you in and makes you think a little bit. I love the history and world building and the fact that you get to see how involved and complex the Monster Hunter world actually is.

This is a great book to sit back with and enjoy with a good cup of tea, a hot fire, and a dog at your feet.

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1 = We finished the book with effort

2 = Readable, but more fluff than substance

3 = Good

4 = Pretty Good and worth passing on to your friends

5 = We couldn’t put the book down

About Baen Books:

Founded by Jim Baen, Baen Books has been bringing readers pulse-pounding, thought-provoking adventures straight from the heart of science fiction and fantasy for decades. We publish books in hardcover, paperback, and electronic form, and are one of the few traditional publishers that maintains its own ebooks webstore (with at least four new titles added every month). We are also perhaps the only book publisher to make our electronic advanced readers copies (eARCs) available for sale to devoted fans before a book’s official release date. In addition, we also sell ebooks from other publishers. We sell more than 2000 books from over 500 authors published by 24 different companies. Good reading to all!