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Hard Magic (Grimnoir Chronicles #1) by Larry Correia - Start Date February 10th
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Loved these books. Love anything by Larry Correia!
I have only read his one book Monster Hunter International but he is a great writer I cannot wait to read this one. My reading for February will be stinted as I have a lot of research to do for work but if you want to read in March I could join in.
I'm flexible - whatever works best for everyone else.
We should probably read Dirty Magic first.
So we've got:January 30th - Up From the Grave
February 1st/2nd - Dirty Magic
February 25th - The Undead Pool
Maybe read this one the 10th?
Lisarenee wrote: "So we've got:January 30th - Up From the Grave
February 1st/2nd - Dirty Magic
February 25th - The Undead Pool
Maybe read this one the 10th?"
Isn't Dirty Magic the Feb BOM??
Dawn wrote: "Lisarenee wrote: "So we've got:January 30th - Up From the Grave
February 1st/2nd - Dirty Magic
February 25th - The Undead Pool
Maybe read this one..."
Yep, but I figure its more fun to read it together and both Sara and I want to read it.
Ah makes total sense!
Almost forgot we were starting this one today.
Thoughts on the Prologue -Warning, Spoilers Ahead...
"Okies" = natives of Oklahoma
"Ever since the dusts had blown up..." - I'm guessing that the prologue takes place circa 1935 - 1936 as that is when the most famous of the dust storms took place.
"...which everybody from Terceira...." - Terceira is an island in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean.
"She had grey eyes...the girl would probably be dead soon enough, impaled through her guts by some random tree branch or a flying bug stuck in an artery." - The only reference in mythology or superstition that I can recall that references grey eyes is Athena. The farmer seems to feel that grey-eyed people suffer incredible misfortune through extreme bad luck. Who dies from a bug stuck in their arteries?
"He's seen what happened to the grey eyes when they weren't taught correctly." - Or they may be able to teleport?
"I'll sell you her for twenty dollars." - Nice, loving father! Yay for the California farmer though.
Mr. Cornelius Gould Stuyvesant is quite the germ freak.
"He could afford the finest Healers. In fact, he was one of the only men in the world that had an actual Mender on his personal staff, but nothing could stop the blight of a Pale Horse, and it was that foul Power..." - A Four Horsemen reference. Death is the rider of the pale horse and Pestilence is the rider of the white horse. A "foul blight" and Cornelius's fear of germs would imply that it's a spreading plague. On the other hand, Death is the one thing healers can't stop.
"...like minded Actives. There were many who would kill a Pale Horse on basic principle, so it made sense to have a loyal staff with Power for security. ... Probably something barbaric, like a Brute, or even worse, a Torch." - Magic seems to be classified as "Powers" and "Actives" in this universe.
"Even with eight decades of mankind dealing with the presence of Powers, of actual magic, to the point that they were just an accepted part of life in most parts of the world, the Pale Horse was such a rarity that most still considered it to be a myth, crude antimagic propaganda created to sow fear and distrust in the hearts of the masses." - Assuming that Cornelius's part of the prologue takes place at the same time of the farmers then magic became public knowledge around the 1850s.
"So much nicer than plague bearer, or grim reaper, or angel of death." - If their power doesn't affect their personality I feel bad for the poor Pale Horses that were killed only because of their abilities.
"What will it be? Bone rot? Consumption? Cancers of the brain or bowel? Syphilis? Leprosy? I can do anything from a minor vapor to turn his joints to sand while his skin boils off in a cancerous sludge. I am an encyclopedia of affliction, sir."
"All of them." - This might be the scariest hitman in fiction. Cornelius should pick one affliction though - even the most obtuse coroner is going to find it wonky if a healthy man suddenly collapses from a wide variety of ailments.
"You yourself are a Mover..."
"Who told you such slanderous lies?" - Magic seems to be an accepted part of life but not a respected one given Cornelius's reaction and the parents eagerness to give up their daughter.
"He took something...someone...from me." - I wonder who? I have a feeling Cornelius wants revenge more for the personal affront than actual feelings for the missing person.
"...nowadays one in a hundred Americans had some small measure, but it didn't mean he understood how it actually worked. One in a thousand had access to greater Power, being actual Actives, but men like Harkeness were something different, something rare and strange, themselves oddities in an odd bunch." - The rankings seem to be the minor leagues, the major leagues, and the "holy crap, avoid at all costs" league.
Cornelius is extremely stupid to enter into an open-ended deal with Harkeness. Hasn't he ever read any fiction? It never ends well!
"He absolutely despises this man?"
"For what he did to him? Wouldn't you?" - I want in on the secret!
"He would actually have to touch the victim, and it took constant Power thereafter to keep up the onslaught against the ministrations of Menders, which he already knew this man would have. It would be an extremely dangerous assignment." - If Pale Riders have to touch a victim to affect them, it would be more humane to isolate the individual rather than kill on sight.
"The Chairman was about to change the world..." - Is Harkeness referring to himself or someone else?
"...in the Special Prisoners' Wing..." - The Active prisoners?
"Because of its relation to his own special gifts, he started with Newton, then Einstein, finally Bohr and Heisenberg." - Gravity and physics? I think this is our first glimpse of the main character.
Intriguing set-up so far.
A quick recap of the Powers/Actives introduced so far:1) Traveler - teleportation
2) Healer - healing
3) Mender - big league healing
4) Pale Horse - diseases/illnesses
5) Brute - strength or durability?
6) Torch - fire?
7) Mover - telekinetic
8) Reader - telepathy
Thoughts on Chapter 1 - Warning, Spoilers Ahead...
"...and the Kaiser's zombies." - Zombies caused by an Active's powers?
Heavy and/or Gravity Spiker - gravity manipulation
"Cowley was the weakest kind of Magical, with just a flicker of natural power, but even that could ruin a man's career in some circles." - Especially if Hoover is your boss.
"You know, Purvis, I've never got in a gunfight and said afterwards, damn, I wish I hadn't brought all that extra ammo." - Jake is a man of common sense.
"Sullivan preferred the more dignified term Gravity Spiker. Heavy was what you called the Passives who were employed in factories as human forklifts." - I wonder what causes Magicals to be classified as an Active or a Passive? The desire to obey the law?"
"a Crackler, redirecting lightning and static electricity to keep the airfield's workers safe at the ends of those cables, but it wasn't like Magicals like that got any credit in the press. No, everybody knew Hearst didn't care about working stiffs with Powers. He only wasted ink on people like Delilah." - The struggles of the Powers are very similar to the racism ethnic groups have had to combat.
I like the references to the Great Depression, Rockefeller, Hoover, and Hearst. It helps establish the time period.
"A United Blimp & Freight worker..." - We have a steampunk setting in this book.
It's not a good think if the Germans are recruiting Actives - we're not that far away from World War II.
More Magical types...Heavy/Gravity Spiker - gravity manipulation
Crackler - electricity
Fade - intangibility (re: Kitty Pryde of the X-Men)
Sara, There is a glossary at the end of the book with pictures. I saw in the dedication that the author thanked someone for creating it.
Comments and Thoughts for Chapter 1 - 6Sara said, "We have a steampunk setting in this book."
I'm laughing at this because when I read Wicked as They Come I thought of steampunk too and later they termed it Carniepunk. So would this be Steampunk or Gangsterpunk?
I wonder who Cornelius wanted to be sick too. There is mention of a sick General so I'm guessing he's our man? I wonder what exactly the story is between these two?
So does Cornelius have a power? Perhaps he wants his enemies (I'm guessing he has more than one) to underestimate him?
I can't wait to see what the favor will be.
What is the mysterious item the adoptive grandfather had and why was he in hiding or was he? Did we get a name for the little girl?
I need to check these quotes. I think the author messed with them or created them but am unsure.
So this must take place after the 20s and the 30s dust bowl. so 1940ish? J. Edgar Hoover was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972 at age 77.
Delilah is an interesting name choice for a character. Does it hint at something?
Will comment more later.
Lisarenee wrote:"So would this be Steampunk or Gangsterpunk?"
I vote for Gangsterpunk - it complements the atmosphere of the book.
"Delilah is an interesting name choice for a character. Does it hint at something?"
Delilah is a legendary temptress.
Delilah was the woman Samson loved who betrayed him. Will she be Jake's downfall?
Thoughts on Chapter 2 - Warning, Spoilers Ahead...
"155's a bitch." - I wouldn't mess with her - especially after being smacked in the face with a urine-soaked tail. Eww!
"...but she was still young, and therefore dumb." - True!
"The girl's head just didn't work in the same direction as most folks." - Kids do have their own sense of logic.
"There was at least one person out there with more than one Power, but she was too young to have to know about him." - This mysterious person sounds ominous.
"Faye assumed what most people did, that there was only one kind of magic, but he knew there was the other kind. The old kind. The bad kind." - Does having multiple abilities considered to the "bad" kind?
"...he'd spent a lot of time using his powers to toughen his body." - I wonder if Jake's intense studying of the science behind his abilities allowed him to discover more widespread applications of it?
"We prefer being called Edisons." - I wonder if each type of Active has their own preferred call sign as opposed to the more popular slang term. Jake prefers Gravity Spiker, Harkeness liked Pale Horse, and the Crackler wanted to be called an Edison. The slang terms are more descriptive but the Active preferred names have more of a mystique to them. The Active-coined terms would be decent super hero names.
"And then he shot the kid in the knee." - I like Jake. He's very practical.
"I'll fetch my beating stick." - Yep, Jake's definitely having a long night.
Thoughts on Chapter 3 - Warning, Spoilers Ahead...
If you pay close attention to the opening quote of chapter 3, Adolph Hitler was executed in 1929 in this universe. It appears that Japan will still be a major player in WWII: "...they were busy as they could be taking over everything in the Eastern hemisphere."
"...Lincoln freed the slaves, but he never said anything about the convicts." - Good to know that Hoover is as much of an ass in this universe as he was in real life.
Did Delilah actually murder anyone? Hoover isn't a trustworthy source.
"So let me get this straight. A single Heavy fought a Brute to a standstill, caught a dirigible that was already in the air, knocked out Heinrich, beat the ever living hell out of Francis, and resisted your Influence?" - Jake's a badass.
"There's only one man in the whole world who possesses more than one type of Power." - The mysterious man is mentioned again.
Lisarenee, I think you're right about the General being the man Cornelius had made sick.
"Very few Actives survived the battle of Second Somme." - Wikipedia is becoming my best friend during the reading of this book. Per Wikipedia: "During the First World War, the Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought on the Western Front from the end of the summer, in the basin of the Somme River. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to the German Spring Offensive, after a pause for redeployment and supply.
The most significant feature of the 1918 Somme battles was that with the first Battle of the Somme of 1918 having halted what had begun as an overwhelming German offensive, the second formed the central part of the Allies' advance to the Armistice of 11 November."
"...the impending threat of the Imperium." - Is the Imperium this world's version of the Axis powers?
Sara asked, "Is the Imperium this world's version of the Axis powers?" I'm not sure they have any association with any country although they all seem to be Japanese.
Thoughts on Chapters 4 - 6Warning, Spoilers Ahead...
"Oh why, Lord, did you see fit to give that accursed Stonewall Jackson the strength of ten? - Stonewall appears to have been a Brute. These opening quotes offer intriguing glimpses into the past. The author could write prequel novellas/short stories on these quotes alone.
"She knew that Tesla was the brilliant cog inventor who had designed...the amazing Peace Ray that had ended the Great War, and that kept all nations at peace today. The news said that the rays made it so that there could never be a big war again." - I wonder if Tesla was a Magical? How does the peace ray work? If it does work, why isn't it preventing the Japanese from curbstomping the Eastern hemisphere? Will it slow down the Imperium?
"...before summoning his imp." - Is the ability to summon demons a type of Active or does Lenny have access to different types of magic?
Is the Chairman the mysterious person who has multiple abilities? He's mentioned often and seems to inspire a lot of fear?
"...the Germans they just kept killing over and over while the Kaiser's sorcerers would just wake them up and send them back into the fray..." - Zombies!
"...General Roosevelt dying in a spray of blood and fire under the claws of a Summoned..." - Demons!
It's too bad Rokusaburo was taken out so fast - he was quite the badass.
"So now they're talking about banning us Actives from baseball because we're not fair, not sporting?" - It would be an unfair edge. They should create an all Active league.
"Every Cog was already a genius in their own way, absolutely fanatically brilliant at something, but then they would occasionally use their Power to push them over the top, to achieve the most amazing of all creative achievements." - We know Tesla was a Cog - I wonder what other geniuses were?
I can't wait until Cornelius receives some karmic payback. He's such slime.
The Grimnoir Society - good guys or bad guys?
Thoughts on Chapters 7 - 9 Warning, Spoilers Ahead...
"The people he works for shot Delilah's father down in cold blood." - Possibly the reason Delilah went into hiding?
"I once saw a six-year-old slash a man's throat with spikes that came shooting out his fingers." - Brainwashed assassin or simply a child lashing out without thinking about the consequences?
"I left part of it in a demon's stomach." - We can guess what caused the fire at Lance's home.
"The firs documented case of Powers occurred in 1849, a Chinaman in California who could bend steel rails with his hands. Newspaper attention bought in some scientists, and the rest is history. Dr. Spengler's research indicates that there may have been isolated individuals in rural communities as early as the 1830s, but those were usually hushed up or run off by the superstitious. Dr. Kelser from the University of Berlin claimed to have proof of one in 1818, but I think his methodology was flawed...and he was a quack." - Jake's speech, and the books' emphasis that magic was discovered in the 1850s makes me wonder if the medieval witch hunts and the Salem Witch trials of the 1690s occurred in this world.
"Those eugenicist ***holes have been tinkering with that for generations, trying to breed Powers, and they've still got nothing. Rumor is that the Japs are heavy into this, even doing some scary medical procedures to the people they conquer to try and make more actives."
"I can tell you the Soviets are doing it as well. I've seen things with my own eyes that you would not believe. Cog science creating terrors beyond your wildest imaginings." - Germany was shot down hard in WWI and Hitler was executed shortly afterwards, Japan is still a major player and the Soviets seem to be replacing Germany's slot. I wonder what Italy is up to?
"I doubt that God gave the Kaiser the ability to trap the spirits of men inside bodies that should have died ten times over, until they went crazy with a taste of human flesh, damned Teutonic zombies." - That's more horrifying than regular zombies.
"The Chairman's trying to reassemble a weapon that blew a thousand-mile hole in Siberia." - The Tunguska Event?
Brief Comments for Chapters 7 - 19I thought the cover was of Jake and Delilah, but Delilah has black hair so it has to be Faye. Yes, I finally noticed her name was Faye and it was mentioned in the beginning chapters. I don't know how I missed it. I also wonder who she truly is. Who were her original family.
Current time is 1932, I believe, so the timeline between this reality and ours is skewed.
Ninjas are awesome except when they're on the wrong side or attacking you. Somehow they seem out of place.
We now know who the General supposedly took away from Cornelius. Cornelius is way too full of himself.
Faye is only 16. Please tell me there will be no love interest between her and Jake.
I like the book so far, but why is it taking so long to read this one?
The whole magic alien jelly is a little weird. So it uses a symbiotic telepathic bond? Now I wonder if it's enemy is our enemy or friend?
I'm loving Faye's abilities. What else is she besides a Travelor? Does she have more than one power and why didn't she try to do for Delilah what she did for Jake?
Poor Jane.
Madi and Jake? Where did it all go so wrong? I know with their brother, but why? Is it all just sibling rivalry or something more?
So is the Chairman a mouth? He sounds very persuasive and quite a bit like Hitler (the real guy). He wants the Actives to rule. What he's doing to people sounds pretty crazy and extreme.
The zombies sound familiar, I just can't place who created something similar.
Sara said, "Jake's speech, and the books' emphasis that magic was discovered in the 1850s makes me wonder if the medieval witch hunts and the Salem Witch trials of the 1690s occurred in this world."
Interesting question. I was thinking they were just referring to the magical abilities that the Actives exhibit.
Sara said, "I can't wait until Cornelius receives some karmic payback. He's such slime."
You and me both.
I wonder who the Pale Horse is working for? What were those modifications for?
I feel so bad for Jake.
I'm not sure where I am in the reading at the moment, but I'm starting to like Francis more and more in this section.
Thoughts on Chapters 9 - 11Warning, Spoilers Ahead...
"That Cog, Einstein, figured that it was such a release of Power that it was such a release of Power..." - I wonder if there are any non-Cog geniuses in this world?
"Unless the Imperium has found a magic kanji for channeling the Power of irresistible cuteness..." - Never underestimate the power of cuteness!
"The Imperium had a few pure-Active units that they knew of, the warrior Iron Guard, the experimental Unit 731, and the Shadow Guard assassins." - If the badasses are in the Iron Guard and the ninjas are in the Shadow Guard - what does that leave for Unit 731 - the imprisoned experiments?
"There was a Seventh-Day Adventist arguing that Clarence Darrow was the beast with seven heads..." - Per Wikipedia: "Clarence Seward Darrow (April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks (1924), for defending Ossian Sweet, and defending John T. Scopes in the Scopes "Monkey" Trial (1925)..."
Per Wikipedia: "The Scopes Trial, formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was a famous American legal case in 1925 in which a high school teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school.[1] The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he purposely incriminated himself so that the case could have a defendant."
If the Scopes Monkey trial morphed into the Tennessee Magic-Monkey Trial - was it still a publicity stunt? I wouldn't have argued with the fundamentalist shooting lightning out of his eyes either!
I don't blame Cornelius's son for leaving him and choosing another side. I can't wait for Cornelius to receive his karmic payback - his ending has to be at least as horrible as what poor General Pershing has had to endure.
Faye and Delilah's bonding moment was, um, cute? They would be good for each other. Delilah can teach Faye how to be street smart and Faye can help decrease Delilah's bitterness.
I'm slow on the uptake - is Francis the missing son of Cornelius? I can't remember if Francis said he faked his death earlier in the book or not. If he is, the apple definitely fell far from the tree.
Sullivan's hero worship of Browning was cute too. It doesn't matter how sophisticated or hardened you are - meeting one of your idols will always cause babbling.
Lisarenee wrote: "I like the book so far, but why is it taking so long to read this one?"
I'm loving the book but it is taking longer to read - it's only 423 pages so it's not an overly thick book. It seems to be more in-depth than the average urban fantasy book. Personally, my reading has been slowed down because I've been reasearching every name and event on Wikipedia to see how it compares to our world. I'm geeky that way.
*****Comments and thoughts for Chapters 20 - end*****So something worse than the magic jelly is coming and it's referred to as being hungry. Sounds ominous.
Faye was the surprise of the book.
I was glad Harkeness was eliminated. His excuses didn't cut it with me. He went against his oath. What happened to Isaccson(or is it Isaccs)?
Francis' family association with Cornelius was a surprise.
I was glad Cornelius got his. I wonder who he disinherited and how will they react when they find out they were totally cut out?
I kept hoping they'd find a way to save Delilah.
Madi let his pride get in the way of victory. I wonder if Jake will feel remorse for killing his brother?
Dirigible warfare was fun especially with Faye kicking butt.
I liked the story but am unsure what I'll rate it.
Thoughts on Chapters 12 - 13Warning, Spoilers Ahead...
"Sigmund Freud, Letter composed just prior to his death by cocaine overdose, 1925." - In our world, Freud died of a morphine overdose in 1939, administered by a doctor to end his suffering from cancer of the jaw. Judging by the quote, Freud wasn't a believer in magic.
"It felt good to feel something." - I wouldn't want to be invulnerable if it ended up with you being unable to feel anything. If something is able to pierce Madi, he could bleed to death without even noticing.
"Send a telegram to every cell in five hundred miles. We strike as soon as the Shadow Guard arrives." - I hope Pershing & company have hidden reserves or they're in a world of trouble.
It's interesting how the leader of the Imperium is called "Chariman" even thought it's rigid, military-like group and a leader of the Grimnoir Society is referred to as "General" even though it's more of a democratic group. The "General" term could be due to Pershing's background so what would a non-military Grimnoir leader be called?
We learn the reason behind Sullivan's murder of the Sherriff. I knew there had to be a story behind it. I'm really enjoying Jake as the main protagonist - smart, practical, moral. In some ways he reminds me of Terrible from the Downside Ghosts series. Both men have had a hard life but they have their own code and they don't stray from it. Both men have also been labeled as a "dumb thug" by their society but are rather intelligent.
"He was back in France, in the final hours of Second Somme, the fiercest battle of the war. There were more Actives collected here on this day than any other point in history. Dirigibles and biplanes were exploding and dropping from the sky like a meteor shower. Lightning, fire, and ice danced back and forth, destroying like a reaper's scythe. Men leapt impossibly high thrown through the air, screaming down into their enemy as demons erupted from the ground in geysers of bone." Take an already terrifying situation and add in demons, zombies, and super powers - yeah, that's nightmare-inducing.
Madi is Matthew? That's going to be an awkward family reunion.
"It's alive, isn't it?" - Are we dealing with a Cthulhu-like elder monster?
"I was the very first it chose." - The Chairman is a lot older than he seems if this is true.
Jake and Faye have mad skills even if they approach it from opposite ends. Faye runs on instinct and Jake relies on his education.
"...went AWOL from the expeditionary unit sent to support the Tsar during the revolution." - Are the Romanovs still in power? I can't recall if Stalin has been mentioned in the book.
"I told you that girl would make a fine assassin. She's stabbed or shot half the estate by now." - They just need to point Faye in the right direction. She's currently a walking example of "friendly fire".
Thoughts on Chapters 13 - 14Warning, Spoilers Ahead...
"The international observers had been invited aboard the new airship Kurosawa, to watch the bombardment of the Russian fort. Officers from France, Britain, Germany, and the United States...The Russian fleet had been totally annihilated." - This is a clear example of how their world's history differs from our own. Foreign powers didn't interfere in the Russian Revolution.
"The Imperium had tricked him into building it, and had kidnapped his pigeon to keep him quiet." - Tesla must have really loved that bird!
Pershing's flashback showed how he had to deal with the frustrations of being a forward-thinking man when everyone else is lagging behind.
Pershing's death was sad. I was hoping that someone would kill Harkeness and the general's health would be restored.
"The smoking blight left by the firing of the Peace Ray had ended the Great War, but had burned the land and poisoned the air. Then it was made hell on earth as the Kaiser's undead soldiers had been rounded up and walled inside." - It's safe to say Heinrich wins the "worst childhood ever" in this book. The Imperium's child victims are good candidates too.
Thoughts on Chapters 15 - 17Warning, Spoilers Ahead...
It's taking me a while to finish this book. I'm a history geek and every time a past reference is made I get distracted researching the event before I continue reading.
"...the RMS Titanic, on its fifth anniversary cruise, 1917" - The majority of Actives have powers that would be useful in various occupations. Torches would be natural, highly effective, firefighters.
"...showed the absolute war-ending power of the Peace Ray..." - I hope we receive an explanation of how the Peace Ray works. We can tell by the amount of schemes and violence that it doesn't influence a person to think peaceful thoughts.
Apparently I should have kept reading: "...It fired a near instantaneous beam of absolute death as far as three hundred miles in a perfectly straight line." I'm guessing only select countries have a Peace Ray: the United States, Russia, and England. It doesn't appear Asian countries has one as the Imperium is curbstomping that area - unless Japan has the Peace Ray and that's one of the reasons it's path of destruction is unimpeded.
Ninja attack! Ninjas with the ability to teleport to make it even more scary.
Poor Delilah. Her crowning moment of awesome followed by death. Madi could have at least had the guts to approach her from the front. I didn't see her death coming. I thought she would be a mentor/big sister to Faye.
"...I am of the sad belief that you Peace Ray may have been inappropriately named." - Just a tad. Anything that can cause a 300 mile trail of death and destructions shouldn't have the word "peace" in it's name.
"Their spirits can't leave their bodies. They have bee chained forever." - A fate worse than death. It would explain why Berlin was turned into the City of the Dead.
Francis is Cornelius's grandson. I wonder what happened to the son? I'm assuming he died in service to the Grimnoir Society.
Will Francis's "death" cause Cornelius to switch allegiances?
Is Jane the Pale Horse's descendant? How will he react when he discovers she's become Madi's plaything and/or a lab rat for Unit 731?
Sara said, "...I am of the sad belief that you Peace Ray may have been inappropriately named." - Just a tad. Anything that can cause a 300 mile trail of death and destructions shouldn't have the word "peace" in it's name.Found this on Wiki:
"Later in life, Tesla made claims concerning a "teleforce" weapon after studying the Van de Graaff generator.[134][135] The press called it a "peace ray" or death ray.[136][137] Tesla described the weapon as being able to be used against ground-based infantry or for antiaircraft purposes.
Tesla gives the following description concerning the particle gun's operation:
[The nozzle would] send concentrated beams of particles through the free air, of such tremendous energy that they will bring down a fleet of 10,000 enemy airplanes at a distance of 200 miles from a defending nation's border and will cause armies to drop dead in their tracks.[138][139]"
That's crazy! The author did a lot of research on Tesla. I knew he was a crazy inventor but I didn't think the peace ray had any basis in reality.
I think he claimed to have made it (as did several others) but it was never demonstrated or revealed to substantiate his claim.
Thoughts on Chapters 18 - 20Warning, Spoilers Ahead...
"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of magic as the blackest." - How did the British accomplish this?
"Damaged goods. You were the only one who understood me, Jake. You were the only one." - Poor Delilah - she had a rough life. Delilah's death was especially cruel due to the timing. She had reunited with Jake and joined a group where she could make something of herself and - bam - death by cowardly ninja attack.
As soon as Faye said she met the "nicest reader", I knew it would be Isaiah.
"The truck bed smelled like manure, and that made her feel more comfortable, like home." - Only a true country girl would find the smell of manure comforting.
Isaiah is obviously a traitor. Isaiah's alliance with Harkeness and the fact that he was present when Pershing was cursed. He must have been the one who snuck Harkeness into Lance's house during the attack.
Madi's flashback of his fight with Rokusaburo show's how badass the Japanese Active was - which makes Jake's destruction of him all the more impressive.
I love Francis bossing his grandfather's subordinates.
"She ha not liked the German at first, but she decided that that was just because he had shot her to death." - It's an understandable reason for holding a grudge.
Delilah's a zombie?!
Thoughts on Chapters 21 - EndWarning, Spoilers Ahead...
"How about I just make you captain?"
"Do I get to wear the fancy hat?" - Yes, you only accept a promotion if it comes with funky headgear!
"Sure. Is that it?" - I like Faye's response to the oath speech - let's skip the blah, blah, blah and get to the point.
Delilah's farewell speech to Jake was very touching and she had a more badass ending than death by cowardly ninja.
I love Delilah clotheslining the Sumo guy. Professional wrestling for the win!
I wonder if the "Frank Baum" who provided the opening quote of Chapter 26 is supposed to be L. Frank Baum, the author of the Wizard of Oz?
"You never wanted to be judged by a man who was named after two biblical figures." - Yeah, it probably won't end well.
Lady Origami's fascination with cows was cute.
The ending was very action-packed. I loved the book and will definitely be reading the sequels.
Who's Your Author?
Books mentioned in this topic
Wicked as They Come (other topics)Up from the Grave (other topics)
Dirty Magic (other topics)
The Undead Pool (other topics)
Up from the Grave (other topics)
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This topic is open for discussion of Hard Magic by Larry Correia. Be prepared for SPOILERS.
Synopsis:
Jake Sullivan is a licensed Private Eye—with a seriously hardboiled attitude. He also possesses raw magical talent and the ability to make objects in his vicinity light as a feather or as heavy as depleted uranium, all with a magical thought. It's no wonder the G-men turn to Jake when they need someone to go after a suspected killer who's been knocking off banks in a magic-enhanced crime spree. Problems arise when Jake discovers the bad girl behind the robberies is an old friend, and he happens to know her magic is just as powerful as his, and the Feds have plunged Jake into a secret battle between powerful cartels of magic-users--a cartel whose ruthless leaders have decided that Jake is far too dangerous to live. . . .