The subtitle of Larry Correia’s new book Hard Magic
In an alternate Earth’s 1930s, Jake Sullivan a war hero and convict is on a kind of work release program. He’s an active (person with magical powers) who killed someone protecting another active and (since actives are hated by normal people) got sent to jail. Jake’s power is a heavy (gravity manipulation) and he’s very good at it. J. Edgar Hoover had him released in exchange for helping capture five dangerous actives. It turns out that the fifth one is an ex-girlfriend and she’s backed up by some very powerful actives and Jake is lucky to escape with his life. With a little checking around, he realizes that the charges against her are faked and his investigation leads him to the Grimnoir Society, a group dedicated to protect actives from normals and vice versa. They are lead by General Black Jack Pershing (who remembers Jake from his war days) and assisted by John Browning.
Faye is a daughter in a poor family who hates her. She has the talents (and gray eyes) of a traveler (teleporter). A farmer (also with gray eyes and a secret past) purchases her from her family and sets about training her both in her powers and in farming. When a bunch of evil actives kill the farmer (who she now calls grandpa) in search of a mysterious object, Faye barely escapes. She eventually finds her way to the Grimnoir Society as well.
The Grimnoirs are in a war against the Imperium (a Japanese society of actives who wish to rid the planet of normal people). The leader of the Imperium is simply called The Chairman. He has more power than anyone else and also knows how to put runes (kanji) on actives to enhance their powers. He had an ultimate weapon, designed by the cog(a sub magic level talent) Nikolai Tesla, that he used in Siberia in 1906 (and caused ripples to other realities). The Grimnoir society was able to capture it and hide the pieces (against the wishes of some people who wanted to destroy it), but The Chairman is trying to get the pieces back again and take out New York.
The Grimnoir society is handicapped by a Pale Horse (death touch) who is killing General Pershing and need to find (and destroy) the pieces of the ultimate weapon before The Chariman can succeed. Jake and Faye are joined by other members of the Grimnoirs to fight The Chairman and his top underling (who has a family connection to the Grimnoirs).
Overall, this was a fun story that had a few rough patches. There was a side plot involving the Pale Horse who’s killing Pershing and a wealthy man (who’s part Howard Hughes) that seems to go nowhere before clumsily being brought into the main storyline. The best part of the book was the characters. Jake (and to a lesser extent Faye) are well rounded characters who have real motivations and real reasons for all their actions. The plot is well done (with an interesting twist that I only half liked) near the end. The universe is interesting and well discussed, but Correia does wander off a couple times to make sure we know how different it is. The book also does some discussion about the nature of the magic (but the discussion does slow the book down somewhat) which makes it seem like Correia has done a lot of work to layout the basic principles are rules of his magic world. It’s a fun read and I’m hopeful that Correia does more books in this series. Recommended.