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Alex Caine #1
Bound
Alex Caine, a fighter by trade, is drawn into a world he never knew existed - a world he wishes he'd never found.
Alex Caine is a martial artist fighting in illegal cage matches. His powerful secret weapon is an unnatural vision that allows him to see his opponents' moves before they know their intentions themselves.
After a fight one night, an enigmatic Englishman, Patrick Welby, claims to know Alex's secret. Welby shows Alex how to unleash a breathtaking realm of magic and power, drawing him into a mind-bending adventure beyond his control. And control is something Alex values above all else.
Alex Caine is a martial artist fighting in illegal cage matches. His powerful secret weapon is an unnatural vision that allows him to see his opponents' moves before they know their intentions themselves.
After a fight one night, an enigmatic Englishman, Patrick Welby, claims to know Alex's secret. Welby shows Alex how to unleash a breathtaking realm of magic and power, drawing him into a mind-bending adventure beyond his control. And control is something Alex values above all else.
352 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2014
52 people are currently reading
1276 people want to read
About the author
Alan Baxter
135 books526 followersMy book rating system:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Brilliant, I bloody loved it!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Really good, highly recommended.
⭐⭐⭐ - Enjoyable, well worth a read.
I don't talk about ⭐⭐ and ⭐ reads because I only talking up the good stuff. That's why my Goodreads rarely has anything under a ⭐⭐⭐.
Bio: Alan Baxter is a British-Australian multi-award-winning author of horror, supernatural thrillers, dark fantasy, and crime. He’s also a martial arts expert, a whisky-soaked swear monkey, and dog lover. He creates dark, weird stories among the valleys of southern Tasmania.
Fond him online at www.alanbaxter.com.au
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Brilliant, I bloody loved it!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Really good, highly recommended.
⭐⭐⭐ - Enjoyable, well worth a read.
I don't talk about ⭐⭐ and ⭐ reads because I only talking up the good stuff. That's why my Goodreads rarely has anything under a ⭐⭐⭐.
Bio: Alan Baxter is a British-Australian multi-award-winning author of horror, supernatural thrillers, dark fantasy, and crime. He’s also a martial arts expert, a whisky-soaked swear monkey, and dog lover. He creates dark, weird stories among the valleys of southern Tasmania.
Fond him online at www.alanbaxter.com.au
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
September 13, 2016
I picked up Bound, by Alan Baxter, on the recommendation of a friend. I owe that friend a few drinks now.
Bound is about cage fighter Alex Caine, a man who can see his opponents moves before they make them. Following a successful fight Alex is approached by an Englishman called Welby, who knows his secret and wants Alex to help him unlock the key to an ancient and powerful grimoire. Drawn into a world filled with magic, violence, and a chaotic Fey godling called Uthentia, Alex must harness his innate magical ability and fighting skills to prevent the end of the world as we know it.
Upon finishing Bound my first thought was 'damn.'
My second thought was that if Stephen King and Jim Butcher ever had a love child then it would be Alan Baxter.
Finally, my third thought was that Bound is a seriously entertaining read.
Full of dark, gritty and bloody goodness, Bound is possibly one of the best debut novels I've read in many years. Cracking action and dialogue propel the story along at a fast pace as the reader journeys from the cages of the underground fighting scene in Sydney to the icy wastes of Iceland. I loved the fight scenes, and I could tell they were written by someone who has trained extensively in hand to hand combat and martial arts. I almost felt the bones being broken and smashed at times throughout the book, and their realism kept me enthralled. The world in which Bound is set was also gloriously gritty and full of things that go bump in the night. Dark horrors exist everywhere (the Three Sisters for example), and the world is full of mythical and supernatural creatures such as gargoyles and the Fey.
Alex Caine was also a fascinating protagonist. Flawed in many ways but still noble and honest, he was a believable hero who I couldn't help but cheer for as the odds kept stacking up against him. His rages, lust, frustration, and mistakes throughout the story only added depth to his character and made him more human. His dialogue and interplay with the other characters (like Silhouette) throughout the novel were also loaded with wit and humour that had me chuckling well into the night.
The other characters and creatures in Bound were also interesting. I loved the idea of the Kin, and the dark horrors like the Three Sisters and the Subcontractor. However, the two characters I absolutely adored were the evil duo of Mr. Hood and Miss Sparks and their Black Diamond Inc. They are the perfect narrative foil for Alex and Silhouette, and their dark and twisted relationship and actions brought a real nefarious essence to the story that was both creepy and strangely thrilling as well.
All in all Bound was a bloody excellent read. I cannot recommend this book enough to fans of Butcher and Wendig.
4 out of 5 stars!
smashdragons.blogspot.com.au
Bound is about cage fighter Alex Caine, a man who can see his opponents moves before they make them. Following a successful fight Alex is approached by an Englishman called Welby, who knows his secret and wants Alex to help him unlock the key to an ancient and powerful grimoire. Drawn into a world filled with magic, violence, and a chaotic Fey godling called Uthentia, Alex must harness his innate magical ability and fighting skills to prevent the end of the world as we know it.
Upon finishing Bound my first thought was 'damn.'
My second thought was that if Stephen King and Jim Butcher ever had a love child then it would be Alan Baxter.
Finally, my third thought was that Bound is a seriously entertaining read.
Full of dark, gritty and bloody goodness, Bound is possibly one of the best debut novels I've read in many years. Cracking action and dialogue propel the story along at a fast pace as the reader journeys from the cages of the underground fighting scene in Sydney to the icy wastes of Iceland. I loved the fight scenes, and I could tell they were written by someone who has trained extensively in hand to hand combat and martial arts. I almost felt the bones being broken and smashed at times throughout the book, and their realism kept me enthralled. The world in which Bound is set was also gloriously gritty and full of things that go bump in the night. Dark horrors exist everywhere (the Three Sisters for example), and the world is full of mythical and supernatural creatures such as gargoyles and the Fey.
Alex Caine was also a fascinating protagonist. Flawed in many ways but still noble and honest, he was a believable hero who I couldn't help but cheer for as the odds kept stacking up against him. His rages, lust, frustration, and mistakes throughout the story only added depth to his character and made him more human. His dialogue and interplay with the other characters (like Silhouette) throughout the novel were also loaded with wit and humour that had me chuckling well into the night.
The other characters and creatures in Bound were also interesting. I loved the idea of the Kin, and the dark horrors like the Three Sisters and the Subcontractor. However, the two characters I absolutely adored were the evil duo of Mr. Hood and Miss Sparks and their Black Diamond Inc. They are the perfect narrative foil for Alex and Silhouette, and their dark and twisted relationship and actions brought a real nefarious essence to the story that was both creepy and strangely thrilling as well.
All in all Bound was a bloody excellent read. I cannot recommend this book enough to fans of Butcher and Wendig.
4 out of 5 stars!
smashdragons.blogspot.com.au
January 9, 2015
Alex Caine grew up in foster homes and was a wild kid until he started learning martial arts; since then, he's had focus, discipline and a means of earning a living in illegal cage fights. He always wins, too, because he has a secret advantage: he can see people's shades, and knows what his opponents are about to do. It isn't until he meets Englishman Patrick Welby that Alex learns there's a name for what he is: mage. Once Welby unlocks the door to the hidden world of magesign and the Fey, Alex is reluctantly drawn in. Welby has his sights set on a powerful magical book that he hasn't been able to read, but he thinks Alex can. He wants Alex to go with him from Sydney to London to try and read the book, being held by a cranky and unlikeable bookseller called Peacock.
Welby's hunch was right: Alex can read it, only with unexpected consequences. The book is actually a vessel for a trapped piece of a Fey god, a being of chaos that was driven from this plane with only this one little bit remaining, a piece that latches onto a mortal soul and drives them to destruction. Alex is no less a victim, and with his training is driven to lethal acts. He'll do whatever it takes to get rid of the indestructible book, even braving the dens of flesh-eating Kin, before any more people die at his hands.
With the help of an unlikely but beautiful, inhuman ally called Silhouette, and pursued by a ruthless and ambitious magical-artefacts dealer called Mr Hood, Alex finds himself traversing the globe to hunt down shards of the powerful stone that first rid the world of the godling, Uthentia. Time is running out and the stakes are getting higher. Even if he succeeds in his quest to find the long-hidden pieces, he has only a hunch and conviction that he will be able to use what took three powerful mages to wield long ago. But there's only one way to find out.
I'm not a big reader of Urban Fantasy, mostly because the majority of books that fall under that sub-genre always use mysteries or detective work as their plot, and mysteries tend to bore me. Character development especially, and also world-building, are all-too-often overlooked in a mystery (or detective or thriller or CIA) novel. I'm not sure why Urban Fantasy must contain some kind of mystery-detective plotline, but I'm guessing it's a way to explore the familiar-unfamiliar world for the sake of the audience. When it's not a mystery, it's romance - paranormal romance. I find the latter more interesting and engaging because romance, by dint of its nature, relies on characters, so you get plenty of character development (or you should). Bound pleasantly straddles several tropes common to Urban Fantasy, combining Fey and Kin with human, magic and mystery with crime and violence, love and obsession with murder and mayhem. It has more of a classic Quest structure than a detective one, and uses the trope of introducing a new, hidden and complex world to an ignorant human as a means of providing exposition at a gradual pace. Overall, it works.
Bound is a gritty, dark urban fantasy, full of violence and gore and visceral imagery. There are hints of other works here - or rather, certain scenes reminded me of other works, which is not to say Baxter lacks originality but that stories create a community of ideas and imagination, which I love. The golems reminded me of Jonathan Stroud, the island of malnourished worshippers and the obese dictator reminded me of Iain Banks' Consider Phlebus (the first of his Culture science fiction series). Other elements of the novel reminded me of less tangible stories, books I couldn't quite remember or grasp. Overall it makes Bound feel like familiar territory, one that doesn't need much exposition to understand.
Alex Caine is a good protagonist and hero-figure, leading us into this new world unwillingly, but never baulking at what he knows he must do. For the most part, he asks good questions and uses his head. I can only hope that his character is more fully developed and explained over the following two books, as we don't learn a whole lot about him here. Silhouette, likewise, is a shadowy figure (no pun intended), but an excellent one. She's only half-human, and Baxter does a good job of developing her inhumanity while at the same time giving us plenty to like and relate to. The world of the Kin and the Fey is an interesting one, and while it might not be the most original of storylines or worlds, it is quite entertaining, in a dark and often violent way.
Where I struggled some was with the writing. Baxter's prose is solid, his details are nicely placed, and the dialogue flows quite naturally. But what I got really tired of was the constant use of the rhetorical question. Baxter uses it a great deal when Alex starts reflecting and thinking and in general, trying to figure things out. The occasional rhetorical question works fine, but sometimes there were several in the one paragraph and it does weaken the writing (not to mention makes Alex a tad annoying in those moments).
I enjoyed Bound, both for its dark, twisted other-worldly creatures and, at times, downright terrifying scenes of violence and gristly murder (the scene with the children was particularly hard to read), as well as for the simple but layered world-building. Alex Caine starts off the series as an ordinary man with a couple of extraordinary talents; by the end, he's something more than human and forever changed by his experiences. It can only get more interesting from here on.
My thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book.
Welby's hunch was right: Alex can read it, only with unexpected consequences. The book is actually a vessel for a trapped piece of a Fey god, a being of chaos that was driven from this plane with only this one little bit remaining, a piece that latches onto a mortal soul and drives them to destruction. Alex is no less a victim, and with his training is driven to lethal acts. He'll do whatever it takes to get rid of the indestructible book, even braving the dens of flesh-eating Kin, before any more people die at his hands.
With the help of an unlikely but beautiful, inhuman ally called Silhouette, and pursued by a ruthless and ambitious magical-artefacts dealer called Mr Hood, Alex finds himself traversing the globe to hunt down shards of the powerful stone that first rid the world of the godling, Uthentia. Time is running out and the stakes are getting higher. Even if he succeeds in his quest to find the long-hidden pieces, he has only a hunch and conviction that he will be able to use what took three powerful mages to wield long ago. But there's only one way to find out.
I'm not a big reader of Urban Fantasy, mostly because the majority of books that fall under that sub-genre always use mysteries or detective work as their plot, and mysteries tend to bore me. Character development especially, and also world-building, are all-too-often overlooked in a mystery (or detective or thriller or CIA) novel. I'm not sure why Urban Fantasy must contain some kind of mystery-detective plotline, but I'm guessing it's a way to explore the familiar-unfamiliar world for the sake of the audience. When it's not a mystery, it's romance - paranormal romance. I find the latter more interesting and engaging because romance, by dint of its nature, relies on characters, so you get plenty of character development (or you should). Bound pleasantly straddles several tropes common to Urban Fantasy, combining Fey and Kin with human, magic and mystery with crime and violence, love and obsession with murder and mayhem. It has more of a classic Quest structure than a detective one, and uses the trope of introducing a new, hidden and complex world to an ignorant human as a means of providing exposition at a gradual pace. Overall, it works.
Bound is a gritty, dark urban fantasy, full of violence and gore and visceral imagery. There are hints of other works here - or rather, certain scenes reminded me of other works, which is not to say Baxter lacks originality but that stories create a community of ideas and imagination, which I love. The golems reminded me of Jonathan Stroud, the island of malnourished worshippers and the obese dictator reminded me of Iain Banks' Consider Phlebus (the first of his Culture science fiction series). Other elements of the novel reminded me of less tangible stories, books I couldn't quite remember or grasp. Overall it makes Bound feel like familiar territory, one that doesn't need much exposition to understand.
Alex Caine is a good protagonist and hero-figure, leading us into this new world unwillingly, but never baulking at what he knows he must do. For the most part, he asks good questions and uses his head. I can only hope that his character is more fully developed and explained over the following two books, as we don't learn a whole lot about him here. Silhouette, likewise, is a shadowy figure (no pun intended), but an excellent one. She's only half-human, and Baxter does a good job of developing her inhumanity while at the same time giving us plenty to like and relate to. The world of the Kin and the Fey is an interesting one, and while it might not be the most original of storylines or worlds, it is quite entertaining, in a dark and often violent way.
Where I struggled some was with the writing. Baxter's prose is solid, his details are nicely placed, and the dialogue flows quite naturally. But what I got really tired of was the constant use of the rhetorical question. Baxter uses it a great deal when Alex starts reflecting and thinking and in general, trying to figure things out. The occasional rhetorical question works fine, but sometimes there were several in the one paragraph and it does weaken the writing (not to mention makes Alex a tad annoying in those moments).
I enjoyed Bound, both for its dark, twisted other-worldly creatures and, at times, downright terrifying scenes of violence and gristly murder (the scene with the children was particularly hard to read), as well as for the simple but layered world-building. Alex Caine starts off the series as an ordinary man with a couple of extraordinary talents; by the end, he's something more than human and forever changed by his experiences. It can only get more interesting from here on.
My thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book.
November 26, 2018
I'm not into magical thrillers, but this one, I liked reading. Alex is a good character, he is a tortured soul, and finds a fellow tortured soul on his journey. I loved the familiar scenes of Sydney, the South Coast, Newtown (I love Newtown!) and other countries, but knowing that this book is essentially an Australian based book, was the catch for me.
November 8, 2014
A fast-paced, action-packed first book of the Alex Caine series, that had me pretty much hooked from the beginning. Magic and monsters and Magesign, oh my!
See my full review here: http://amandajspedding.com/2014/11/08...
See my full review here: http://amandajspedding.com/2014/11/08...
December 13, 2017
Originally reviewed by M.L. Spencer on Grimdark Magazine.
Alan Baxter’s Bound (Alex Caine Book One) is a brutal story that moves at a break-neck pace. It’s ripe with dark, conflicted characters in a turbulent, urban setting that has a mixture of martial arts, magic, and supernatural themes. I definitely recommend Bound for readers who take their violence seasoned with gore, sarcasm and sex.
In Bound, Alex Caine is a successful martial artist who makes his living clobbering opponents in the ring. But all his exhaustive training hasn’t prepared him for the dangerous world of magical intrigue he gets caught up in. Bound to a stone relic that augments his already kick-ass supernatural powers, Alex finds out that far more than just his own life is now at stake. If he fails to conquer the stone’s power and its link with an ancient evil trapped between realms, then the entire world is in grave peril.
Alex Caine is a formidable and enjoyable protagonist whose vicious fights to the death are as exciting as they are gruesome. Alex teams up with Silhouette, a sexy and competent woman of the Kin, a race of half-vampire, half-were-creatures. Together, the unlikely couple battle forces both ancient and powerful, all the while struggling to keep Alex’s violent new powers from consuming his mind.
Baxter’s efficient prose never gets in the way of the story, and his dialogue is vivid and dynamic. I had a lot of fun reading this book. It kept me hanging in there, eagerly flipping pages to find out who was going to be the next brutalized victim or what twisted deed would be performed next. This story packs a punch!
Alan Baxter’s Bound (Alex Caine Book One) is a brutal story that moves at a break-neck pace. It’s ripe with dark, conflicted characters in a turbulent, urban setting that has a mixture of martial arts, magic, and supernatural themes. I definitely recommend Bound for readers who take their violence seasoned with gore, sarcasm and sex.
In Bound, Alex Caine is a successful martial artist who makes his living clobbering opponents in the ring. But all his exhaustive training hasn’t prepared him for the dangerous world of magical intrigue he gets caught up in. Bound to a stone relic that augments his already kick-ass supernatural powers, Alex finds out that far more than just his own life is now at stake. If he fails to conquer the stone’s power and its link with an ancient evil trapped between realms, then the entire world is in grave peril.
Alex Caine is a formidable and enjoyable protagonist whose vicious fights to the death are as exciting as they are gruesome. Alex teams up with Silhouette, a sexy and competent woman of the Kin, a race of half-vampire, half-were-creatures. Together, the unlikely couple battle forces both ancient and powerful, all the while struggling to keep Alex’s violent new powers from consuming his mind.
Baxter’s efficient prose never gets in the way of the story, and his dialogue is vivid and dynamic. I had a lot of fun reading this book. It kept me hanging in there, eagerly flipping pages to find out who was going to be the next brutalized victim or what twisted deed would be performed next. This story packs a punch!
July 2, 2014
Loved this.
A great urban fantasy based around an underground-fighter dragged kicking and screaming into a world of magic and mayhem.
The revelation of the mysteries that flow throughout Bound are timed perfectly to maintain and escalate the reader’s interest, keeping up a pace that encourages rather than bores or overstimulates. The plot moves along nicely, and ticks all the boxes. The character development is great, and the overall charm of Bound shines through without being lost in the writing itself.
Great read. Highly recommended.
A great urban fantasy based around an underground-fighter dragged kicking and screaming into a world of magic and mayhem.
The revelation of the mysteries that flow throughout Bound are timed perfectly to maintain and escalate the reader’s interest, keeping up a pace that encourages rather than bores or overstimulates. The plot moves along nicely, and ticks all the boxes. The character development is great, and the overall charm of Bound shines through without being lost in the writing itself.
Great read. Highly recommended.
September 26, 2016
A poor writing style and awkwardly inserted sex scenes had me struggling to finish this book.
January 15, 2025
Not sure how Alan Baxter might feel about a comparison of Alex Caine to Harry Potter, but from the beginning Bound and Alex Caine reminded me of those HP stories. You know how Harry learns through a series of perilous trials just how strong he is? How big the bad guys are? How he grows and becomes what he’s destined to be? Yeah, Bound is all that but for us adult readers! Plus, Alan piles on the Mission Impossible action that we crave! I’m happy to find Alex Caine and will be following Alan Baxter wherever he goes. Bound is an older book, but I suspect I won’t be disappointed as I catch up!
May 18, 2017
A fast paced, supernatural fantasy. A wonderfully entertaining read.
In a small way, reminiscent of Lord of the Rings.
Bound feels very comfortable and familiar in its story construct. However, also original and exciting. Like all Baxter's work, it hits the mark.
Read this and you're going to get covered in a decent amount of gross monster guts :0).
I'll definitely be reading Obsidian and Abduction. I'm thoroughly invested in Alex and Sil's adventure.
In a small way, reminiscent of Lord of the Rings.
Bound feels very comfortable and familiar in its story construct. However, also original and exciting. Like all Baxter's work, it hits the mark.
Read this and you're going to get covered in a decent amount of gross monster guts :0).
I'll definitely be reading Obsidian and Abduction. I'm thoroughly invested in Alex and Sil's adventure.
April 17, 2017
A wonderful dark urban fantasy -- very well-written and fast-paced with characters you come to care about. The first of a trilogy (I'll be snatching up 2 and 3 right away). Wizards and witches and monsters all set around a street fighter's mentality with plenty of cosmic horror to leave Lovecraftians and dark Fantasy seekers equally satiated and wanting more. Highly recommended.
May 15, 2014
An entertaining and driven urban fantasy thriller from Aussie Alan Baxter, Bound is full of martial arts, magic and monsters. Review will be posted closer to release.
May 27, 2023
I‘d been looking forward to this since the author of the wonderful Midnight Pals has made positive mention of Alan Baxter. Urban Fantasy with martial arts? Enticing!
Sadly, the writing made this all but unreadable, even after I‘d decided to circumnavigate problem of cliché-laden characters by reading their dialogue in the voices of the TED LASSO cast (grumpy badass of all badasses Alex Caine as Roy Kent worked wonders for a while).
EVERY one of those numerous heads that kicked in makes a “sickening sound”, not a single bit of plot while be repeated less than 3 times, often as a triple combo three paragraphs in a row.
I. E.
Alex thought this was pretty fucked up.
He said “this is pretty fucked”.
Silhouette, the smoking hot immortal kind of vampire of 200 years replied snarkily “maybe there’s going to be some fucking and some up later on”, lingering on the fucking.
Alex wondered how things had gotten so fucked up. And was Silhouette trying to bang him? What would his Sifu have said before he died?
“Fuck you” Alex replied.
And I swear it’s all like this!
Sadly, the writing made this all but unreadable, even after I‘d decided to circumnavigate problem of cliché-laden characters by reading their dialogue in the voices of the TED LASSO cast (grumpy badass of all badasses Alex Caine as Roy Kent worked wonders for a while).
EVERY one of those numerous heads that kicked in makes a “sickening sound”, not a single bit of plot while be repeated less than 3 times, often as a triple combo three paragraphs in a row.
I. E.
Alex thought this was pretty fucked up.
He said “this is pretty fucked”.
Silhouette, the smoking hot immortal kind of vampire of 200 years replied snarkily “maybe there’s going to be some fucking and some up later on”, lingering on the fucking.
Alex wondered how things had gotten so fucked up. And was Silhouette trying to bang him? What would his Sifu have said before he died?
“Fuck you” Alex replied.
And I swear it’s all like this!
August 14, 2014
REVIEW: “BOUND” BY ALAN BAXTER
One of the oldest adages in the world of writing fiction is “Write What You Know”. It may not be a perfect formula, but it’s a bloody good place to start, and it’s served Alan Baxter well with his new novel Bound, the first in a series about protagonist Alex Caine, from Harper Voyager.
Caine is an illegal ring fighter, and a very successful one at that. The book opens in the ring, straight into the action, and it keeps going from there. In fairly short order we discover that Caine is not just a highly skilled martial artist, but he has a secret ability — the capacity to foresee his opponent’s intent and actions by reading their ‘shades’. Without much ado, Caine is embroiled in troubles with a match-fixer, leading him to accept an offer to travel to London with a mysterious man who says he knows Caine’s secret. And once in London…
The pacing of the book is very strong. Baxter moves us from fights to revelations of deep magic, into the centre of a hidden world steeped in ancient lore with lashings of creepy creatures and violent confrontations. In true and appropriate form, Caine is revealed to be an unusually gifted Mage and is quickly drawn into a quest to destroy a terrible grimoire linked with an unspeakably dangerous entity from the distant past. His allies are a shapeshifting half-Fay with a penchant for rough sex, and an incalculably powerful magical stone broken into three shards which must be reunited if Caine is to have any hope of saving himself from the influence of the grimoire.
The books strengths are also Baxter’s: himself a practitioner of a form of kung fu, Baxter draws upon his knowledge to provide Caine with not only a string of believable, fast-paced fight sequences, but a deeper code upon which to shape his behaviour. This last is important, because while the book overtly is about Caine’s quest to destroy the grimoire and the being — ‘Uthentia’ — associated with it, much of the conflict that drives the narrative lies in Caine’s efforts to maintain his control and his humanity as the influence of the grimoire increases.
In another sense, this strength is also a potential weakness. In this book we are introduced to Caine, and we know him only through his fighting skills and his martial discipline. We discover that he was orphaned, and lived rough for a while before finding a sifu — a master — to guide him, and from that day on he has essentially lived a life on the fringes: he fights, he wins, and in between he lives quietly, alone in the country.
That’s enough for a first book, especially one as pacy and action-oriented as Bound. The reader is invited in for a fast, dangerous ride, and Baxter delivers precisely that – with a few touches of wry humour here and there, particularly amidst the support characters. Nevertheless, this is only the first Alex Caine novel, and it draws the protagonist (and the reader) into a very high-powered, fast-moving world with some truly fearsome enemies.
In other words, fun as Bound is, Baxter is setting himself a hell of a challenge for the next book. In a genre where enemies traditionally get bigger and badder with each new instalment, we’re already pretty far up the power scale. And in the meantime, we’ve really only been shown one aspect of Alex Caine. Somehow, the next book is going to have to give Caine room to grow and move, while still keeping the action rolling.
It’s going to be fun to watch!
(Oh — and bonus points to readers of Australian horror and fantasy who spot the Tuckerised characters in the narrative!)
Bound by Alan Baxter
Dark Urban Fantasy Fiction
Publisher: Harper Voyager, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7322991-0-1
One of the oldest adages in the world of writing fiction is “Write What You Know”. It may not be a perfect formula, but it’s a bloody good place to start, and it’s served Alan Baxter well with his new novel Bound, the first in a series about protagonist Alex Caine, from Harper Voyager.
Caine is an illegal ring fighter, and a very successful one at that. The book opens in the ring, straight into the action, and it keeps going from there. In fairly short order we discover that Caine is not just a highly skilled martial artist, but he has a secret ability — the capacity to foresee his opponent’s intent and actions by reading their ‘shades’. Without much ado, Caine is embroiled in troubles with a match-fixer, leading him to accept an offer to travel to London with a mysterious man who says he knows Caine’s secret. And once in London…
The pacing of the book is very strong. Baxter moves us from fights to revelations of deep magic, into the centre of a hidden world steeped in ancient lore with lashings of creepy creatures and violent confrontations. In true and appropriate form, Caine is revealed to be an unusually gifted Mage and is quickly drawn into a quest to destroy a terrible grimoire linked with an unspeakably dangerous entity from the distant past. His allies are a shapeshifting half-Fay with a penchant for rough sex, and an incalculably powerful magical stone broken into three shards which must be reunited if Caine is to have any hope of saving himself from the influence of the grimoire.
The books strengths are also Baxter’s: himself a practitioner of a form of kung fu, Baxter draws upon his knowledge to provide Caine with not only a string of believable, fast-paced fight sequences, but a deeper code upon which to shape his behaviour. This last is important, because while the book overtly is about Caine’s quest to destroy the grimoire and the being — ‘Uthentia’ — associated with it, much of the conflict that drives the narrative lies in Caine’s efforts to maintain his control and his humanity as the influence of the grimoire increases.
In another sense, this strength is also a potential weakness. In this book we are introduced to Caine, and we know him only through his fighting skills and his martial discipline. We discover that he was orphaned, and lived rough for a while before finding a sifu — a master — to guide him, and from that day on he has essentially lived a life on the fringes: he fights, he wins, and in between he lives quietly, alone in the country.
That’s enough for a first book, especially one as pacy and action-oriented as Bound. The reader is invited in for a fast, dangerous ride, and Baxter delivers precisely that – with a few touches of wry humour here and there, particularly amidst the support characters. Nevertheless, this is only the first Alex Caine novel, and it draws the protagonist (and the reader) into a very high-powered, fast-moving world with some truly fearsome enemies.
In other words, fun as Bound is, Baxter is setting himself a hell of a challenge for the next book. In a genre where enemies traditionally get bigger and badder with each new instalment, we’re already pretty far up the power scale. And in the meantime, we’ve really only been shown one aspect of Alex Caine. Somehow, the next book is going to have to give Caine room to grow and move, while still keeping the action rolling.
It’s going to be fun to watch!
(Oh — and bonus points to readers of Australian horror and fantasy who spot the Tuckerised characters in the narrative!)
Bound by Alan Baxter
Dark Urban Fantasy Fiction
Publisher: Harper Voyager, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7322991-0-1
April 11, 2017
This is a grisly urban fantasy with touches of horror, it’s full of violence, language, sex, and fight scenes!
It’s no secret (or maybe it is? if you haven’t read my reviews), but I am a huge fan of fight scenes. Hand to hand, swords, big epics fights, whatever- bring ‘em on! That this was bound (Haha, see what I did there) to be full of them, was a point in favor of this book right off. And it was full of them, but even better, it wasn’t too full of them. They were top-notch (especially the later ones), well-paced and varied and most importantly they didn’t feel like they were there to pad out a non-existent story.
I liked the different approach to the urban fantasy setting too. The jet-setting gave this more of a thriller vibe, giving it just that something different and the magic and the connection to the fae and the kin, get this far away from the usual supernatural “monsters”. I’d put this more in line with the Skorkowsky’s Valducan series, than with Dresden- if I had to pigeon hole it
Alex comes across as a bit of a dick at first, in my opinion. He touchy and snarly and just not overly friendly at all, but he is also in a bad situation almost from the get-go. The likable side does come as we see some of his struggles and get to know him along the way.
That delay in connecting to Alex may be why this got off to a bit of a rocky start with me but once I settled into the book, it was a ride and a half! I am looking forward to seeing where the author takes this series.
I won this in a goodreads giveaway which was awesome, but in no way, affects my review.
It’s no secret (or maybe it is? if you haven’t read my reviews), but I am a huge fan of fight scenes. Hand to hand, swords, big epics fights, whatever- bring ‘em on! That this was bound (Haha, see what I did there) to be full of them, was a point in favor of this book right off. And it was full of them, but even better, it wasn’t too full of them. They were top-notch (especially the later ones), well-paced and varied and most importantly they didn’t feel like they were there to pad out a non-existent story.
I liked the different approach to the urban fantasy setting too. The jet-setting gave this more of a thriller vibe, giving it just that something different and the magic and the connection to the fae and the kin, get this far away from the usual supernatural “monsters”. I’d put this more in line with the Skorkowsky’s Valducan series, than with Dresden- if I had to pigeon hole it
Alex comes across as a bit of a dick at first, in my opinion. He touchy and snarly and just not overly friendly at all, but he is also in a bad situation almost from the get-go. The likable side does come as we see some of his struggles and get to know him along the way.
That delay in connecting to Alex may be why this got off to a bit of a rocky start with me but once I settled into the book, it was a ride and a half! I am looking forward to seeing where the author takes this series.
I won this in a goodreads giveaway which was awesome, but in no way, affects my review.
October 10, 2016
Bound is equal parts contemporary fantasy and action-packed thriller. In this dark and gritty version of our world, magic exists under the noses of ordinary people. Even fighter Alex Caine doesn't realise at first that his ability to read the aura (or 'shades') of his opponents and predict their movements is a magical one. Instead, he thinks it's a result of his hard training and discipline as a martial artist. I liked this angle, fitting in as it does with some of the more esoteric philosophies of martial arts.
When approached by an English magician, Alex soon discovers that he can not only read people but that his ability also extends to deciphering magical texts. Indeed, he's more talented at it than most, which is the very reason he's sought out. The idea of a martial artist being sought out for his ability to read is a wonderful disruption of stereotypes that delighted me.
However, the book succumbs to other stereotypes that I found disappointing. The female characters in particular lacked agency and were almost without exception sex objects. Silhouette and Sparks get the most page time and both functioned (willingly) as a way for the male characters to release tension through sex. The book gets some points for including gay and POC characters but this is undermined by almost all of them being killed off. To be fair, the story is full of violence and racks up quite the body count.
The fight sequences are a definite strength of the book. The author has extensive martial arts experience and it shows. Fights are short and brutal, not left to drag out unrealistically. The choreography is well thought-out and the characters' mental states play an important part. I particularly enjoyed Alex's fight with the Subcontractor because even when desperate and caught off-guard, Alex fought with intelligence and came up with a useful strategy.
I found the middle of the story rather repetitive. Alex feels Uthentia starts to get the better of him, has trouble keeping violent impulses in check, blows off some steam by having sex with Silhouette and then is back to worrying about staying in control. It works to illustrate the constant background struggle, but it got somewhat boring and I was never really convinced he was in any danger of losing.
So while not my cup of tea, Bound is likely to appeal to anyone who loves plot-driven thrillers and gritty fantasy.
This review first appeared on Earl Grey Editing.
When approached by an English magician, Alex soon discovers that he can not only read people but that his ability also extends to deciphering magical texts. Indeed, he's more talented at it than most, which is the very reason he's sought out. The idea of a martial artist being sought out for his ability to read is a wonderful disruption of stereotypes that delighted me.
However, the book succumbs to other stereotypes that I found disappointing. The female characters in particular lacked agency and were almost without exception sex objects. Silhouette and Sparks get the most page time and both functioned (willingly) as a way for the male characters to release tension through sex. The book gets some points for including gay and POC characters but this is undermined by almost all of them being killed off. To be fair, the story is full of violence and racks up quite the body count.
The fight sequences are a definite strength of the book. The author has extensive martial arts experience and it shows. Fights are short and brutal, not left to drag out unrealistically. The choreography is well thought-out and the characters' mental states play an important part. I particularly enjoyed Alex's fight with the Subcontractor because even when desperate and caught off-guard, Alex fought with intelligence and came up with a useful strategy.
I found the middle of the story rather repetitive. Alex feels Uthentia starts to get the better of him, has trouble keeping violent impulses in check, blows off some steam by having sex with Silhouette and then is back to worrying about staying in control. It works to illustrate the constant background struggle, but it got somewhat boring and I was never really convinced he was in any danger of losing.
So while not my cup of tea, Bound is likely to appeal to anyone who loves plot-driven thrillers and gritty fantasy.
This review first appeared on Earl Grey Editing.
June 29, 2014
It’s great to follow a writer and see that hard work and persistence pays off. Alan Baxter is one such writer and it was great news to see that he had secured a three book deal with HarperVoyager for the Alex Caine series.
Bound is the first book in the series and introduces us to Alex Caine, an MMA fighter who uses what he thinks are unique abilities to sense his opponents intentions before they act. He fights in Sydney’s underground Martial Arts cage matches, coasting along, making a decent living until he’s approached by a mysterious Englishman named Welby, who suggests that Alex could do much more with his abilities.
A reclusive sort, Caine initially rebuffs (although rebuff is putting this nicely – Alex Caine swears like you’d think an illegal cage fighter might) Welby. That is until a crime boss, who has lost money on Caine’s fight, makes a short holiday to London with Welby sound like a better idea. What follows is an escalating adventure that mixes epic dark urban fantasy with thriller pacing.
Bound is noticeably different to Baxter's earlier series both in terms of craft and genre. As I noted above the Alex Caine series is a fusion of thriller an Urban Fantasy. The pressure doesn’t let up the entire novel. It’s a polished piece of work. Baxter’s earlier works are more in the vein of horror/dark fantasy adventures. Bound feels like Baxter’s trimmed down the prose to fighting readiness and he’s come out swinging.
I’d compare this series to Jim Butcher’s work in terms of Urban Fantasy, though whereas Butcher riffs of hard boiled tropes, Baxter most definitely riffs of the thriller genre. I also found Bound to be a little more adult in tone and delivery. I am so thankful that HarperVoyager allowed the swearing and the dark fantasy/horror elements to come though. Nothing worse than having a hard as nails cage fighter, talk as if he’s got a plum in his mouth. The darkness, violence and sex might turn some readers off but I think Baxter and HarperVoyager are treating us as adults with this one and that’s refreshing, it’s not gratuitous but when you have flesh eating fey and bloodsports there is enough there to maintain our suspension of disbelief.
I imagine Jason Strathern for the movie role.
This book was provided by the author.
Bound is the first book in the series and introduces us to Alex Caine, an MMA fighter who uses what he thinks are unique abilities to sense his opponents intentions before they act. He fights in Sydney’s underground Martial Arts cage matches, coasting along, making a decent living until he’s approached by a mysterious Englishman named Welby, who suggests that Alex could do much more with his abilities.
A reclusive sort, Caine initially rebuffs (although rebuff is putting this nicely – Alex Caine swears like you’d think an illegal cage fighter might) Welby. That is until a crime boss, who has lost money on Caine’s fight, makes a short holiday to London with Welby sound like a better idea. What follows is an escalating adventure that mixes epic dark urban fantasy with thriller pacing.
Bound is noticeably different to Baxter's earlier series both in terms of craft and genre. As I noted above the Alex Caine series is a fusion of thriller an Urban Fantasy. The pressure doesn’t let up the entire novel. It’s a polished piece of work. Baxter’s earlier works are more in the vein of horror/dark fantasy adventures. Bound feels like Baxter’s trimmed down the prose to fighting readiness and he’s come out swinging.
I’d compare this series to Jim Butcher’s work in terms of Urban Fantasy, though whereas Butcher riffs of hard boiled tropes, Baxter most definitely riffs of the thriller genre. I also found Bound to be a little more adult in tone and delivery. I am so thankful that HarperVoyager allowed the swearing and the dark fantasy/horror elements to come though. Nothing worse than having a hard as nails cage fighter, talk as if he’s got a plum in his mouth. The darkness, violence and sex might turn some readers off but I think Baxter and HarperVoyager are treating us as adults with this one and that’s refreshing, it’s not gratuitous but when you have flesh eating fey and bloodsports there is enough there to maintain our suspension of disbelief.
I imagine Jason Strathern for the movie role.
This book was provided by the author.
July 15, 2016
NEVER TRUST AN ENGLISHMAN WITH A BOOK...
It’s been a long time since I’ve read an honest-to-goodness page-turner. Like the best thrillers, Bound drops you in the thick of the action from the very first sentence and doesn’t let up until the book is closed. But, unlike a simple airport potboiler, the world it drags you through drips with blood and magic and horror, a shadowed underworld of cage fighters, of Kin, and of dark powers that threaten to overwhelm all who come within their orbit.
On the surface, Bound is a fast-paced, action-packed urban fantasy about a martial artist with magically enhanced abilities, who finds himself both the prisoner of an ancient and malevolent power, and the focus of a brutal supernatural manhunt. Like a classic kung fu movie, the fights are gritty and authentic, the foes of increasingly insurmountable power and ability. But the deeper Alex Caine gets drawn into the book’s central mystery (and, yes, that’s a pun, but no spoilers here), the less he can simply fight his way out, the more he needs to draw on inner resources: his training, his will, and his wonderfully messed up relationship with the beautiful and monstrous Silhouette.
No matter how fast the plot compels you to rip through it, there’s a dark depth to Bound that will resonate long after you put it down. And this resonance comes on the one hand from the book’s central theme of control, and on the other from the fact that Alex Caine is himself a monster. Alan Baxter has penned a truly unique protagonist in Caine, at once superhero and antihero; and perhaps something beyond even that, something darker still. As Caine’s power increases, so too does his capacity to commit unspeakable atrocities, horrors that are far from heroic, that threaten to engulf him and endanger those he loves.
Not for the faint of heart (I’m a calloused horror reader, and at least one scene in this book damaged me), Bound is fantastic storytelling in the vein of Neil Gaiman or Alan Moore, but with a merciless black streak. If you like a double-dose of darkness with your sense of wonder, Bound will deliver. At breakneck speed.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read an honest-to-goodness page-turner. Like the best thrillers, Bound drops you in the thick of the action from the very first sentence and doesn’t let up until the book is closed. But, unlike a simple airport potboiler, the world it drags you through drips with blood and magic and horror, a shadowed underworld of cage fighters, of Kin, and of dark powers that threaten to overwhelm all who come within their orbit.
On the surface, Bound is a fast-paced, action-packed urban fantasy about a martial artist with magically enhanced abilities, who finds himself both the prisoner of an ancient and malevolent power, and the focus of a brutal supernatural manhunt. Like a classic kung fu movie, the fights are gritty and authentic, the foes of increasingly insurmountable power and ability. But the deeper Alex Caine gets drawn into the book’s central mystery (and, yes, that’s a pun, but no spoilers here), the less he can simply fight his way out, the more he needs to draw on inner resources: his training, his will, and his wonderfully messed up relationship with the beautiful and monstrous Silhouette.
No matter how fast the plot compels you to rip through it, there’s a dark depth to Bound that will resonate long after you put it down. And this resonance comes on the one hand from the book’s central theme of control, and on the other from the fact that Alex Caine is himself a monster. Alan Baxter has penned a truly unique protagonist in Caine, at once superhero and antihero; and perhaps something beyond even that, something darker still. As Caine’s power increases, so too does his capacity to commit unspeakable atrocities, horrors that are far from heroic, that threaten to engulf him and endanger those he loves.
Not for the faint of heart (I’m a calloused horror reader, and at least one scene in this book damaged me), Bound is fantastic storytelling in the vein of Neil Gaiman or Alan Moore, but with a merciless black streak. If you like a double-dose of darkness with your sense of wonder, Bound will deliver. At breakneck speed.
September 8, 2023
Have you ever wanted to be a magician? Now, I’m not talking about the children’s birthday party entertainer getting paid $8 an hour to hold off a horde of snotty kids and bored parents with just a bunch of balloons, a beginner’s magic set, and a cheap suit absolutely drenched in terrified butthole sweat.
No, I’m talking about fantasy magicians, the ones that hurl fireballs, battle mysterious monsters from ethereal worlds, and somehow manage to look way cooler wearing dusters and trench coats than you ever will. There are a lot of series out there about fantasy warrior magicians but being a proud Australian, I’m repping one of my own and looking at Bound by Alan Baxter.
Now, a real quick point to make about writing. It’s a hard slog through draft after draft, slaving away to make it as perfect as you can get, only for some dickhead on the internet to pick it apart. As one of these internet dickheads fortunate enough to be given a platform of more than ten, I’ll be doing just that.
An important distinction to be made when reviewing an author’s work is separating the author from the work. In my own works, I’ve had a character’s arm submerged into boiling hot tar, and I definitely do not want that to happen to me. It definitely applies to Bound – this book has multiple sex scenes between the main character and a shapeshifting creature known as Kin. I’m fairly confident Baxter doesn’t want to do it with a Kin (not to kink shame).
So as you may have picked up on in the last sentence and a half, this is definitely written for a more mature and adult audience. It’s not really a young adult type of book and definitely not a children’s book. Maybe back in the turn of the 20th century when children’s life expectancy was just long enough to be killed in no man’s lands across Europe… anyway back on topic here, let’s get into the review.
Alex Caine isn’t exactly what you’d call your typical heroic protagonist. He’s rougher around the edges than Arthur Dent was in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. He’s Australian (ugh), not English, for one thing… oh yeah, and he also fights in illegal underground cage matches for money which, again, doesn’t paint him in the best light.
Luckily for Caine, he’s a character in an intense fantasy urban thriller novel. Instead of taking and receiving beatings on the daily for years before finding freedom in a shallow grave or shadowy ditch, he’s visited after one match by enigmatic Englishman, Patrick Welby. The visit isn’t to discuss the best places nearby for a spot of tea however, it’s a more serious matter. You see, Caine has a secret vision that allows him to see his opponents’ moves before they even think it. Now it turns out that Welby knows about this secret vision and has a job he needs Caine’s help with.
In a mere instant, Caine is swept up into a world of breathtaking magic and power well beyond what he considered the realms of possibility. With events rapidly twisting and turning their way out of Caine’s control, it isn’t long before he’s down one Patrick Welby, up one mystical book of cosmic horror linked to him forever.
However, the universe is nothing if not a hopeless romantic and that’s when Caine meets Silhouette. How did they meet, you ask? Like all the greatest love stories, it was over the body Caine had just murdered, which Silhouette ended up snacking on… I’m just going to pencil both of these characters in as “anti-heroes.”
From that fateful moment onwards, Caine is pulled deeper into this mystical world, tangling with Kin packs around the world, a monster known as the Subcontractor, and his employer – the affluent Mr. Hood and Ms. Sparks. The thing is, however, once you get as deep as Caine is, there is only one way you escape.
Straight off the bat, I really enjoy the magic system in this world and the way everything revolves around it. It’s a very well-thought-out and imaginative system that I haven’t seen much of in this genre. The way magic is handled in the novel depicts it with symbols of magesign floating around in the air and physical barriers depicting magic wards. For me, this helped ground the magic as tangible, and I felt myself getting pulled into the world Baxter has crafted.
I also like how Baxter makes the magic widespread and commonplace enough that gets it away from the typical trope of magic being a secret that hardly anyone knows about. Mages are common enough in this world that cottage industries have flourished on creating wards for protection and other guns for hire, as it were. I also enjoyed that magic isn’t always an inherent gift and can be built upon by study and the pursuit of knowledge. All of this together really got me invested in the world and is easily my favourite part of the novel.
In terms of the plotline and characters, it’s not exactly Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Caine’s journey throughout the novel mirrors the standard hero’s journey template pretty much perfectly, and sure, it’s a simple plot, but it’s smart to use a simple plot as a foundation and then use characters and world-building to flesh it out. There weren’t any major plot twists that shocked me (apart from one intense scene towards the end), yet I was still entranced and wanted to keep reading.
I enjoyed the development of Caine and Silhouette’s relationship throughout the novel; although it was telegraphed very early on, the characters were fleshed out enough in the novel that it didn’t feel like Baxter was just checking boxes. Caine and Silhouette lean on and support each other throughout the novel in a healthy way that I enjoyed watching.
The novel’s not without its faults, however. The main antagonist, Mr. Hood, feels more like a background player than the big bad of the novel, and there doesn’t feel like there’s much connecting Caine and Hood apart from the book Caine has linked to him, but I would have liked to have them meet a little earlier before the final showdown.
Mr. Hood’s relationship with his secretary Ms. Sparks made me uncomfortable reading it. For me, it felt out of place in this novel full of magic and monsters to have this horrible relationship between these two characters. I feel like Baxter was trying to get this to feed into a wider arc for Ms. Sparks in earlier drafts, but it must have been scrapped when nothing comes of it in the end.
With Caine being a cage fighter, you would expect the action scenes and choreography to be tight, lean, and with as little fat as possible, Unfortunately, while the action is impactful and enjoyable, it does get just a little bit too over-complicated at times. There were a couple of times when I had to read some sentences twice just to make sure I could clearly understand what was happening.
However, all that squared away, this doesn’t get in the way of the novel being a really fun read. I mean, it would have to be for me to have read this 323-page novel in one whole day, which I haven’t done since Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series. I’d recommend picking this up and giving it a go, especially if you enjoy some urban fantasy.
No, I’m talking about fantasy magicians, the ones that hurl fireballs, battle mysterious monsters from ethereal worlds, and somehow manage to look way cooler wearing dusters and trench coats than you ever will. There are a lot of series out there about fantasy warrior magicians but being a proud Australian, I’m repping one of my own and looking at Bound by Alan Baxter.
Now, a real quick point to make about writing. It’s a hard slog through draft after draft, slaving away to make it as perfect as you can get, only for some dickhead on the internet to pick it apart. As one of these internet dickheads fortunate enough to be given a platform of more than ten, I’ll be doing just that.
An important distinction to be made when reviewing an author’s work is separating the author from the work. In my own works, I’ve had a character’s arm submerged into boiling hot tar, and I definitely do not want that to happen to me. It definitely applies to Bound – this book has multiple sex scenes between the main character and a shapeshifting creature known as Kin. I’m fairly confident Baxter doesn’t want to do it with a Kin (not to kink shame).
So as you may have picked up on in the last sentence and a half, this is definitely written for a more mature and adult audience. It’s not really a young adult type of book and definitely not a children’s book. Maybe back in the turn of the 20th century when children’s life expectancy was just long enough to be killed in no man’s lands across Europe… anyway back on topic here, let’s get into the review.
Alex Caine isn’t exactly what you’d call your typical heroic protagonist. He’s rougher around the edges than Arthur Dent was in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. He’s Australian (ugh), not English, for one thing… oh yeah, and he also fights in illegal underground cage matches for money which, again, doesn’t paint him in the best light.
Luckily for Caine, he’s a character in an intense fantasy urban thriller novel. Instead of taking and receiving beatings on the daily for years before finding freedom in a shallow grave or shadowy ditch, he’s visited after one match by enigmatic Englishman, Patrick Welby. The visit isn’t to discuss the best places nearby for a spot of tea however, it’s a more serious matter. You see, Caine has a secret vision that allows him to see his opponents’ moves before they even think it. Now it turns out that Welby knows about this secret vision and has a job he needs Caine’s help with.
In a mere instant, Caine is swept up into a world of breathtaking magic and power well beyond what he considered the realms of possibility. With events rapidly twisting and turning their way out of Caine’s control, it isn’t long before he’s down one Patrick Welby, up one mystical book of cosmic horror linked to him forever.
However, the universe is nothing if not a hopeless romantic and that’s when Caine meets Silhouette. How did they meet, you ask? Like all the greatest love stories, it was over the body Caine had just murdered, which Silhouette ended up snacking on… I’m just going to pencil both of these characters in as “anti-heroes.”
From that fateful moment onwards, Caine is pulled deeper into this mystical world, tangling with Kin packs around the world, a monster known as the Subcontractor, and his employer – the affluent Mr. Hood and Ms. Sparks. The thing is, however, once you get as deep as Caine is, there is only one way you escape.
Straight off the bat, I really enjoy the magic system in this world and the way everything revolves around it. It’s a very well-thought-out and imaginative system that I haven’t seen much of in this genre. The way magic is handled in the novel depicts it with symbols of magesign floating around in the air and physical barriers depicting magic wards. For me, this helped ground the magic as tangible, and I felt myself getting pulled into the world Baxter has crafted.
I also like how Baxter makes the magic widespread and commonplace enough that gets it away from the typical trope of magic being a secret that hardly anyone knows about. Mages are common enough in this world that cottage industries have flourished on creating wards for protection and other guns for hire, as it were. I also enjoyed that magic isn’t always an inherent gift and can be built upon by study and the pursuit of knowledge. All of this together really got me invested in the world and is easily my favourite part of the novel.
In terms of the plotline and characters, it’s not exactly Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Caine’s journey throughout the novel mirrors the standard hero’s journey template pretty much perfectly, and sure, it’s a simple plot, but it’s smart to use a simple plot as a foundation and then use characters and world-building to flesh it out. There weren’t any major plot twists that shocked me (apart from one intense scene towards the end), yet I was still entranced and wanted to keep reading.
I enjoyed the development of Caine and Silhouette’s relationship throughout the novel; although it was telegraphed very early on, the characters were fleshed out enough in the novel that it didn’t feel like Baxter was just checking boxes. Caine and Silhouette lean on and support each other throughout the novel in a healthy way that I enjoyed watching.
The novel’s not without its faults, however. The main antagonist, Mr. Hood, feels more like a background player than the big bad of the novel, and there doesn’t feel like there’s much connecting Caine and Hood apart from the book Caine has linked to him, but I would have liked to have them meet a little earlier before the final showdown.
Mr. Hood’s relationship with his secretary Ms. Sparks made me uncomfortable reading it. For me, it felt out of place in this novel full of magic and monsters to have this horrible relationship between these two characters. I feel like Baxter was trying to get this to feed into a wider arc for Ms. Sparks in earlier drafts, but it must have been scrapped when nothing comes of it in the end.
With Caine being a cage fighter, you would expect the action scenes and choreography to be tight, lean, and with as little fat as possible, Unfortunately, while the action is impactful and enjoyable, it does get just a little bit too over-complicated at times. There were a couple of times when I had to read some sentences twice just to make sure I could clearly understand what was happening.
However, all that squared away, this doesn’t get in the way of the novel being a really fun read. I mean, it would have to be for me to have read this 323-page novel in one whole day, which I haven’t done since Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series. I’d recommend picking this up and giving it a go, especially if you enjoy some urban fantasy.
June 8, 2014
I had gone off Urban Fantasy lately. It all seems the same and all the plot lines tend to blend, but not this book.
Bound is the first book of the Alex Caine series by Alan Baxter. We start off in Sydney, then London and then all over the world. We are introduced to characters from Mythology and a new species of Fae. Alex Caine is a martial artist who makes a living off cage fighting. Then after a set of circumstances forces Alex to leave Australia, he then becomes bound to a dark grimoire which incites Alex to embrace his darker nature. He teams up with a Kin woman(the new Fae) and together they search for a way that Alex can be rid of the grimoires curse.
There is a lot of action and the story flows really well. Some of the characters are really evil and the author writes them convincingly. I found some of the sex scenes between the antagonists a bit silted but the rest of the book was well written. This book makes you want to get to the end to see just how Alex goes about getting rid of the book, does he survive? does he bring about the end of the world?
You will just have to read it to find out, you won't be disappointed. The start to this series has given me faith that the Urban Fantasy scene is not just the same story with different characters.
Bound is the first book of the Alex Caine series by Alan Baxter. We start off in Sydney, then London and then all over the world. We are introduced to characters from Mythology and a new species of Fae. Alex Caine is a martial artist who makes a living off cage fighting. Then after a set of circumstances forces Alex to leave Australia, he then becomes bound to a dark grimoire which incites Alex to embrace his darker nature. He teams up with a Kin woman(the new Fae) and together they search for a way that Alex can be rid of the grimoires curse.
There is a lot of action and the story flows really well. Some of the characters are really evil and the author writes them convincingly. I found some of the sex scenes between the antagonists a bit silted but the rest of the book was well written. This book makes you want to get to the end to see just how Alex goes about getting rid of the book, does he survive? does he bring about the end of the world?
You will just have to read it to find out, you won't be disappointed. The start to this series has given me faith that the Urban Fantasy scene is not just the same story with different characters.
November 9, 2014
I've read a fair amount of Baxter's work before, and Bound, the first volume of his new Alex Caine series, plays to the author's strengths--and reveals some new ones.
Alex Cain is a cage fighter with a deeper grounding in the spiritual side of martial arts. This is key to both the development of the character of of the plot in which he becomes immersed. A professional kung fu master himself, Baxter's description of the fights, and the consequences thereof, are visceral and realistic without ever fetishizing the details.
This book is leaner and faster than Baxter's older work, and it really pays off. The characters jet around the world looking to escape their predicament and Baxter leads us from action through the quieter moments and back again expertly.
I very much enjoy the way that Baxter gives us some point-of-view sections from the villains and minor characters. For me these were some of the most affecting moments in the book.
Bound is violent and dark and fast-paced and satisfying. There are two more books in the series, which are already available. I certainly be reading both of them.
December 20, 2014
This was better than expected. Alex Caine does cage fights to make a living. Fighting is something he loves doing and is good at it. However, he has a vision which helps him best his opponents and its this ability that a stranger who will turn his life upside down has come looking for. All he requests is that Alex read a rare book for him. A fairly harmless sounding request that circumstances make Alex think will probably be a harmless solution to his problems and not the start of a new set of them.
I'm happy to move onto book two int he series Obsidian. Based on what I've read so far I think these would be nice books to have in print as well. If urban fantasy is your thing you might enjoy these e-books.
I'm happy to move onto book two int he series Obsidian. Based on what I've read so far I think these would be nice books to have in print as well. If urban fantasy is your thing you might enjoy these e-books.
August 4, 2014
So it isn't all that often I read this urban fantasy or non second world fantasy. There is a reason for that, I generally assume most of it is trite nonsense. An assumption I am happy to say this book did not at all live up to.
An interesting tale with quite a good deal of world building, a fairly believable bunch of characters, loved the kin as a potential anything separate race.
Some parts seemed a little repetitive, the constant angry sex I mean. It wasn't over done or gratuitous it just came off as a very convenient plot device, it worked, it just stood out while it worked.
An interesting tale with quite a good deal of world building, a fairly believable bunch of characters, loved the kin as a potential anything separate race.
Some parts seemed a little repetitive, the constant angry sex I mean. It wasn't over done or gratuitous it just came off as a very convenient plot device, it worked, it just stood out while it worked.
March 6, 2019
I won't bother giving a plot summary of Bound; there are plenty here.
What I will do however is recommended both this book and it's author Alan Baxter.
The work is tightly contained and brimming with energy, suspense and genuine horror.
I can't remember the lastvtime I read a book that so relentlessly paced without losing direction or becoming just "more of the same one trick".
I thoroughly recommend this book series, as much for the author's unique voice as for the gripping story.
What I will do however is recommended both this book and it's author Alan Baxter.
The work is tightly contained and brimming with energy, suspense and genuine horror.
I can't remember the lastvtime I read a book that so relentlessly paced without losing direction or becoming just "more of the same one trick".
I thoroughly recommend this book series, as much for the author's unique voice as for the gripping story.
Read
April 19, 2015At one point in Alan Baxter's BOUND, the characters observe someone reading "an airport novel". Weirdly, I wonder if it was actually this book, because BOUND is a perfect airport novel. Fast-paced, exciting and engaging, with excellent fight sequences and a genuinely interesting mythos behind it, this book was a great read, and I can't wait to read more in the series!
August 21, 2014
This is a terrific dark fantasy action debut novel. Rich with detailed supernatural lore and a character who truly experiences the internal struggle between good and evil and his own personal torments, this is a thrilling start to the Alex Caine trilogy.
January 3, 2019
I finally unearthed Bound from my TBR pile and I’m sorry I left it so long to read. It’s a cracking story, well paced and gripping. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to reading the next two books in the series.
July 27, 2014
This book was so kick-arse, I found that when you're reading it, and put it down to go and do something else, it will actually get up, kick your arse and demand that you continue reading it!
January 19, 2019
Love Bound and the whole series, great fight scenes, terrific adventure, magic and mystery, all done of my favorite things.
June 7, 2017
Bound is a dark, I mean daaaarrrk, urban fantasy.
Bound introduces us to Alex Caine, a man with a difficult upbringing who has a couple of extraordinary abilities; one – he is an expert martial artist making money in illegal MMA cage fights, two – he has a psychic ability to read the aura and intention of his opponents. He stands in absolute mastery of his physical prowess, but does not understand his magical talent.
Enter the catalyst of the story, an English named Patrick Welby, a mage who thinks Alex can decipher a magical book he himself cannot. Welby tries enticing Alex with knowledge and access to greater power, but Alex wants nothing to do with it. But things go sower in the illegal cage fighting scene and Alex has to leave town, so off he goes with Welby.
Welby is right. Alex can read the book, and it turns out the book is like a thermonuclear device of the magical world. The book ‘Uthentia’ contains a trapped piece of a Fey God. This being is absolutely evil and laches on to Alex with the intention of returning to our world and destroying it.
So now Alex has to try everything he can to rid himself of the book and the entity it contains. He is trapped in a strange and unforgiving world with powerful magic and seriously nasty inhabitants. He is shadowed by the Black Diamond organisation and its fiendish leader, Mr Hood. Black Diamond runs an international market in arcane artefacts and are desperate to obtain the Uthentia. Luckily he isn’t alone. A half-Fey woman named Silhouette is tracking the book under orders from her ‘Kin’ leader. And she has taken a liking to Alex. Here is one of the great tensions in Bound. Will Silhouette’s loyalty to her clan win over her attraction to Alex?
The relationship between Alex Caine and Silhouette makes Bound more than a stock standard hero quest/mystery romp. The characters are relatable because they are believable as many faceted individuals.
Silhouette more than stands up to Alex as a character. In terms of the depth and subtlety of her character, and in all out badassery. Together they are a formidable team. I’m hoping we get some Silhouette based stories in the future. Maybe some pre-Bound history.
Bound is full of bone crunching violence. It is hard, fast, and Baxter makes you feel every blow. And it is awful. In a good way. You are not left hungry for a fight, but feeling empathy for the characters. Something that some urban fantasy doesn’t give you. You’ll read on the author’s website and in his bio that he is a martial arts instructor. It shows in the description of his fight scenes. But knowing a subject doesn’t make you a good writer. What you see in Bound is a good writer who can convey his knowledge and keep you glued to the page.
I’ve read a couple of reviews which compare the Alex Caine novels to Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. I am huge fan of the Dresden Files, I’ve read them all several times but I have to say I don’t think they are alike at all. Alan Baxter is definitely his own man and has created a unique world.
Bound is dark, gritty and full of fast, violent action. There are new creatures and diabolical organisations. There is an international treasure hunt, and a heart stopping chase. Some passages are hard to take due to the graphic depiction of violence and the vivid description of the horrors faced by our hero. But this is the reason Bound gets five stars from me.
There is some swearing. It doesn’t bother me, but it should be mentioned in case this is something that doesn’t appeal to you.
I love Bound for its dark, dangerous world, and not one, but two great lead characters.
Alan Baxter has gifted us with a terrific protagonist. This is what I like about Alex Caine: he takes responsibility for his own problems. He meets them head on and takes action. He might not like it. He may not always succeed, but he gets stuck in and gives it everything he’s got. We don’t learn a lot about him in book one as the focus is on exploring the world Alan Baxter has created. I look forward to finding out more about Alex Caine is the following books.
Highly recommended.
Bound introduces us to Alex Caine, a man with a difficult upbringing who has a couple of extraordinary abilities; one – he is an expert martial artist making money in illegal MMA cage fights, two – he has a psychic ability to read the aura and intention of his opponents. He stands in absolute mastery of his physical prowess, but does not understand his magical talent.
Enter the catalyst of the story, an English named Patrick Welby, a mage who thinks Alex can decipher a magical book he himself cannot. Welby tries enticing Alex with knowledge and access to greater power, but Alex wants nothing to do with it. But things go sower in the illegal cage fighting scene and Alex has to leave town, so off he goes with Welby.
Welby is right. Alex can read the book, and it turns out the book is like a thermonuclear device of the magical world. The book ‘Uthentia’ contains a trapped piece of a Fey God. This being is absolutely evil and laches on to Alex with the intention of returning to our world and destroying it.
So now Alex has to try everything he can to rid himself of the book and the entity it contains. He is trapped in a strange and unforgiving world with powerful magic and seriously nasty inhabitants. He is shadowed by the Black Diamond organisation and its fiendish leader, Mr Hood. Black Diamond runs an international market in arcane artefacts and are desperate to obtain the Uthentia. Luckily he isn’t alone. A half-Fey woman named Silhouette is tracking the book under orders from her ‘Kin’ leader. And she has taken a liking to Alex. Here is one of the great tensions in Bound. Will Silhouette’s loyalty to her clan win over her attraction to Alex?
The relationship between Alex Caine and Silhouette makes Bound more than a stock standard hero quest/mystery romp. The characters are relatable because they are believable as many faceted individuals.
Silhouette more than stands up to Alex as a character. In terms of the depth and subtlety of her character, and in all out badassery. Together they are a formidable team. I’m hoping we get some Silhouette based stories in the future. Maybe some pre-Bound history.
Bound is full of bone crunching violence. It is hard, fast, and Baxter makes you feel every blow. And it is awful. In a good way. You are not left hungry for a fight, but feeling empathy for the characters. Something that some urban fantasy doesn’t give you. You’ll read on the author’s website and in his bio that he is a martial arts instructor. It shows in the description of his fight scenes. But knowing a subject doesn’t make you a good writer. What you see in Bound is a good writer who can convey his knowledge and keep you glued to the page.
I’ve read a couple of reviews which compare the Alex Caine novels to Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. I am huge fan of the Dresden Files, I’ve read them all several times but I have to say I don’t think they are alike at all. Alan Baxter is definitely his own man and has created a unique world.
Bound is dark, gritty and full of fast, violent action. There are new creatures and diabolical organisations. There is an international treasure hunt, and a heart stopping chase. Some passages are hard to take due to the graphic depiction of violence and the vivid description of the horrors faced by our hero. But this is the reason Bound gets five stars from me.
There is some swearing. It doesn’t bother me, but it should be mentioned in case this is something that doesn’t appeal to you.
I love Bound for its dark, dangerous world, and not one, but two great lead characters.
Alan Baxter has gifted us with a terrific protagonist. This is what I like about Alex Caine: he takes responsibility for his own problems. He meets them head on and takes action. He might not like it. He may not always succeed, but he gets stuck in and gives it everything he’s got. We don’t learn a lot about him in book one as the focus is on exploring the world Alan Baxter has created. I look forward to finding out more about Alex Caine is the following books.
Highly recommended.
March 31, 2021
This is the first Alan Baxter book I’ve thought was less than perfect, but I’m still giving it a 4, so it certainly did something right! Since Bound (Alex Caine) (Volume 1) is listed on Amazon as a third edition, I have to wonder if the difference is in how long ago this was written and how much he’s skilled up since then?
Alex Caine is a cage fighter. He sees people’s intentions and purposes before they do things, so he can read what his opponent will do and react accordingly. He’s always attributed this to empathy, but one day an older man named Patrick Welby hunts him down and offers to show him all about magic. Caine isn’t interested until some bad guys make it dangerous for him to stick around, so he travels with Welby even though he still doesn’t really believe magic exists. As events around him heat up, he makes new friends and enemies and sets out on a mission that could result in his death–or it could make him monumentally powerful.
At first the narrative feels a little rough. It’s as though the author hasn’t quite sunk into his “voice” yet. As things heat up and the book gets underway, this gradually improves until it’s chugging along quite nicely. Also at first, it seemed like the author was struggling a bit to give the women personality (there’s actually a scene where a woman perches on the corner of a desk and files her nails–which, I’m telling you, this woman would damn well get her nails done for her). This, however, is another thing that improves as the book goes on. Ms. Sparks, one of the villains, develops more than just “sleeps with her boss” as a personality. Silhouette, someone Alex takes up with, develops more than “hot dangerous chick” as a style. At first both Ms. Sparks and her boss, Mr. Hood, are fairly cartoonish, but that, too, gives way to more interesting personalities. I wasn’t happy to see that one bit part character was described, in every appearance, as obese. It would be nice if this wasn’t seen as a defining characteristic.
I love the fact that even as Alex’s power grows, he still tends to fall back on his physical combat abilities (even without his supernatural edge, he’s trained for years) even as he learns to do new things with his talents. It makes sense that in an emergency he’d fall back on what he knows best, and he won’t always pick the right tool for the job. He also tends to lose control, which has a fascinating story to it.
I think the part I liked best was the collection of various creatures Alex encounters. There are leathery, mysterious black “birds” that follow him around. There’s a trio called the Dark Sisters who turn out to be quite a bit of dangerous fun. There are the half-Fey “Kin” that are behind legends of various supernaturals. This is an excellent world-spanning dark adventure, and I can’t wait to read the next two books!
Content note: sex, and child death.
Original review posted on my blog: https://www.errantdreams.com/2021/03/...
Alex Caine is a cage fighter. He sees people’s intentions and purposes before they do things, so he can read what his opponent will do and react accordingly. He’s always attributed this to empathy, but one day an older man named Patrick Welby hunts him down and offers to show him all about magic. Caine isn’t interested until some bad guys make it dangerous for him to stick around, so he travels with Welby even though he still doesn’t really believe magic exists. As events around him heat up, he makes new friends and enemies and sets out on a mission that could result in his death–or it could make him monumentally powerful.
At first the narrative feels a little rough. It’s as though the author hasn’t quite sunk into his “voice” yet. As things heat up and the book gets underway, this gradually improves until it’s chugging along quite nicely. Also at first, it seemed like the author was struggling a bit to give the women personality (there’s actually a scene where a woman perches on the corner of a desk and files her nails–which, I’m telling you, this woman would damn well get her nails done for her). This, however, is another thing that improves as the book goes on. Ms. Sparks, one of the villains, develops more than just “sleeps with her boss” as a personality. Silhouette, someone Alex takes up with, develops more than “hot dangerous chick” as a style. At first both Ms. Sparks and her boss, Mr. Hood, are fairly cartoonish, but that, too, gives way to more interesting personalities. I wasn’t happy to see that one bit part character was described, in every appearance, as obese. It would be nice if this wasn’t seen as a defining characteristic.
I love the fact that even as Alex’s power grows, he still tends to fall back on his physical combat abilities (even without his supernatural edge, he’s trained for years) even as he learns to do new things with his talents. It makes sense that in an emergency he’d fall back on what he knows best, and he won’t always pick the right tool for the job. He also tends to lose control, which has a fascinating story to it.
I think the part I liked best was the collection of various creatures Alex encounters. There are leathery, mysterious black “birds” that follow him around. There’s a trio called the Dark Sisters who turn out to be quite a bit of dangerous fun. There are the half-Fey “Kin” that are behind legends of various supernaturals. This is an excellent world-spanning dark adventure, and I can’t wait to read the next two books!
Content note: sex, and child death.
Original review posted on my blog: https://www.errantdreams.com/2021/03/...
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