Unbound (Magic Ex Libris, #3)

by Jim C. Hines

"For five hundred years, the Porters have concealed the existence of magic from the world. Now, old enemies have revealed the Porters' secrets, and an even greater threat lurks in the shadows. The would-be queen Meridiana, banished for a thousand years, has returned in the body of a girl named Jeneta Aboderin. She seeks an artifact created by Pope Sylvester II, a bronze prison that would grant her the power to command an army of the dead. Michigan librarian Isaac Vainio is powerless to stop her, having been stripped of his power and his place among the Porters by Johannes Gutenberg himself. But Isaac is determined to regain his magic and to rescue his former student Jeneta. With no magic of his own, Isaac must delve into the darker side of black-market magic, where he will confront beings better left undisturbed, including the sorcerer Juan Ponce de Leon. With his loyal fire-spider Smudge, dryad warrior Lena Greenwood, and psychiatrist Nidhi Shah, Isaac races to unravel a mystery more than a thousand years old as competing magical powers battle to shape the future of the world. He will be hunted by enemies and former allies alike, and it will take all his knowledge and resourcefulness to survive as magical war threatens to spread across the globe. Isaac's choices will determine the fate of his friends, the Porters, the students of Bi Sheng, and the world. Only one thing is certain: even if he finds a way to restore his magic, he can't save them all ..."--Publisher's website.

Michigan librarian Isaac, stripped of his power, teams up with fire-spider Smudge, dryad warrior Lena, and psychiatrist Nidhi in order to stop a banished queen who has returned in the body of a young girl.

• ISBN10: 0756409683
• ISBN13: 9780756409685
• Publish Date: 6 January 2015
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Imprint: Daw Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

I waited almost a year to read Unbound. Why? Well, the pesky #ShelfLove Challenge last year and then before I knew it I was being offered an ARC of Revisionary, book 4 in the Magic Ex Libris series, and I thought I had better get cracking.

First of all, I’m happy I waited because it meant I got to jump right into book 4 after finishing Unbound. Unbound doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but a lot happens to crack magic wide open and there are lots of implications for non-magic users (muggles/mundanes), unhumans (i.e. vampires, werewolves, etc.) and magic users. After finishing Unbound, I simply had to know how the World was going to handle everything.

Reading this now, with politicians moving into Iowa in light of the presidential election screaming about what to do about guns and health care and refugees, makes the arguments about magic and how best to use and/or contain it all the more poignant. And that’s the big picture stuff.

As Issac struggles with the fallout from book 2 that directly affects how events play out in book 3, I was struck by my own search for purpose when a piece of you is stripped away. Issac borders on manic most of the novel. His obsession with finding a solution and attempts to rescue everyone don’t quite play out in his favor. At a few different points in the novel, I paused and reflected on those moments in my life when I felt burned out by trying to fix everything. Issac’s struggle is my own.

Even in the darkest moments in this novel, there is laughter. The final battle gets pretty heated and I found myself laughing out loud as Smudge, Issac’s fire-spider, came to the rescue. Plus all the pop culture references and hints at other novels and stories make this an all around solid read.

If you haven’t discovered the Magic Ex Libris series yet now is the time to pick it up. The final book in the series releases in February. Fans of science fiction, fantasy and paranormal novels will get a kick out Jim’s mastery at weaving elements from all these genres together. Issac is a down-to-earth hero that everyone can relate to and see a bit of themselves in. I’m sure that everyone will become quite fond of Lena and Nidhi who continue to amaze me in the growth of their personalities as the series has continued. Plus what bookworm doesn't believe that librarians are the most kickass people on this earth and that books are the most powerful weapon?


This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews