Larry Correia has created an interesting niche for himself in genre fiction. He has mashed up fantasy (magic or supernatural creatures) and a lot of really, really big weapons. He continues this with the latest installment of the Grimnoir Chronicles: Spellbound. The first book in the series, Hard Magic, introduced us to our magical supergroup set in the Depression. This book continues from the first book and, not only introduces a new bad guy and danger, but also sets things up nicely for a third book in the series (tentatively titled Warbound according to the author’s blog). So let’s see what happened after Jake, Faye and the rest of our Grimnoirs saved the world at the end of book one.

At the end of book one, Jake, Faye and the rest of our Grimnoir heroes had saved the world. In the process, Jake had been exposed, by the Chairman, to the real source of magic and had seen some magical bindings that had helped out the Iron Guard. But, it turns out that the source of magic might have it’s own enemies to deal with.

Meanwhile, there is an assassination attempt on President Roosevelt’s life. The would be assassin used explosive magic and was found to have a Grimnoir ring. At least according to a small (but growing more powerful) government agency known as OCI. The OCI has decided to use this assassination attempt to capture and control all the magical Actives.

Jake, Faye and the rest of the Grimnoir have to try and find out what happened while on the run and stop the OCI from their nefarious deeds. In addition, they have found out that there is a bigger problem coming. The creature that feeds Actives their magic has a predator that wants to kill it. And not only would Actives lose their magic, but the battle would also cause the destruction of Earth. The Grimnoirs find out that the Chairman has helped defeat the predator twice before, but with him no longer around, it’s up to the Grimnoirs. Aided by a rogue Iron Guard, the Grimnoirs need to clear their name, so that they can focus on the bigger threat against Earth.

Overall, it’s another fun book by Correia. The description is a little misleading since there is very little discussion about the predator and no battle. This book focuses almost completely on the battle against the OCI and trying to clear the Grimnoir name. Correia introduces a couple new characters including a Justice (who can spot lies) and a rogue Iron Guard who add a lot to the cast. There are a couple interesting sub plots and the main story is well told. This book is a lot of fun and does a good job setting up the plots for the third book. Recommended.