hard magic: book 1 of the grimnoir chronicles

9 comments - (closed) | 0635 18Aug11 | written by Linoge

Hard Magic: Book I of the Grimnoir Chronicles – I am going to catch seven kinds of hell for writing this, and I feel kind of bad saying it at all, but Larry Correia has gotten a little formulaic*; however, if his ability to write awesome, attention-grabbing action remains as predictable as his storylines, then I will happily keep buying and reading them.

(* – Meet big strong good guy with troubled past. Meet bigger stronger bad guy. Big strong good guy falls in with a crowd of misfit heroes. Big strong bad guy gets world-ending apocalypse device about the size of your hand. Big strong good guy and big strong bad guy fight. A lot. Eventually big strong good guy pulls a smart move and wins. The end.)

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9 comments to hard magic: book 1 of the grimnoir chronicles

• jetaz

  August 18, 2011 at 06:58

  Yeah, but it is a fabulous formula!

• John Richardson

  August 18, 2011 at 07:28

  Being as this was the first of Larry’s books I read, I don’t know the formula yet. Still I found it an enjoyable read. I will say it was way outside my normal reading pattern of history, non-fiction, mysteries, and thrillers.

• ZerCool

  August 18, 2011 at 09:30

  They are formulaic, but they are what my mother always called “brain candy”. Easy reading, limited deep-thinking required, entertaining.

  Another author of similar style is W.E.B. Griffin: slacker rich kid joins army/navy/marines, excels, decides armed service is good career, etc. Expand to seven to ten novels.

  Step 3: Profit!

• LC Scotty

  August 18, 2011 at 11:21

  Another wildly popular yet formulaic series is Cussler’s Dirk Pitt stuff.

• avidus

  August 18, 2011 at 13:22

  I shared that thought when reading “Hard Magic” and was nervous when I opened his new book “Monster Hunter Alpha”. Thankfully I discovered that he had broken the formula and written a much tighter, character focused book that occurs over a very new timeline. It’s now my favorite of his four books that I’ve read.

  So after you’ve finished “Hard Magic”, which I did enjoy regardless, pick up the new book as you’ll likely quite enjoy it, especially as it’s truly something new.

• Linoge

  August 18, 2011 at 20:02

  @ jetaz: No disagreement here!

  @ John Richardson: They are thoroughly entertaining, and if you enjoyed Hard Magic, something tells me you will like the Monster Hunter series too .

  @ ZerCool: Pulp fiction. Only without the cheap paper. And something tells me he is profiting indeed .

  @ LC Scotty: Never gotten into any of his…

  @ avidus: That is next on my list once I finish the Feed / Deadline series I have at the moment – got my signed copies and all .

• Brick

  August 18, 2011 at 22:29

  My general complaint is that everyone feels compelled to write a big story that includes the end of the world/universe if the big bad isn’t defeated. I like George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series because the “magic” is limited. There aren’t any nuclear options.

• Bob H

  August 19, 2011 at 16:22

  Here {tossing} Seven kinds of Hell.

• Linoge

  August 20, 2011 at 01:14

  @ Brick: Epic is… well… epic .

  At the moment, R.R. Martin’s books can still be quantified as significant fractions of “boxes of ammo”, so they are not quite on the list… need to finish everything else on my list .

  @ Bob H: *catches*

  *combusts*

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