Book Review - Hard Magic by Larry Correia

Despite always being interested in the Urban Fantasy genre, I don't remember having read any recently. Not for lack of options, but mainly because YA and regular fantasy have a massive presence on blogs and YouTube channels, so there's always a new great book that everyone should be reading coming out. Another reason is because the genre is even less popular here in Brazil, resulting in an impressive lack of options in Portuguese. But now that I'm reading mainly in English and I have a Kindle, it's waaaay easier for me to finally give it a try to some great Urban Fantasy books.

I was supposed to start my journey with the first book in The Dresden Files series: Storm Front by Jim Butcher. My Want-To-Read shelf on GoodReads was filled with other interesting books too, but then I discovered Hard Magic by Larry Correia, the first book on The Grimnoir Chronicles series and decided to buy and read it. And I'm REALLY glad that I did.

Cover of the french edition

This is a mix of Urban Fantasy, Steampunk, Alternate History and Science Fiction, with a bit of Dark Fantasy too. Here, the magic is called Power, and everyone has one kind: alter gravity, healing, teleport, control the weather, just to name a few. Jake Sullivan, our hero (not that he really wants to be one), is a Heavy, being able to control the pull and intensity of gravity. He's a really good one, knowing more about the Power than almost anyone.

I liked that the characters are varied, with different Powers and personalities, each one being part of the plot and connected to each one in ways that you can't imagine. The plot is very good too, and although you can read this first volume as some sort of stand alone, you'll finish it wanting more and being anxious to know more about that thing that I can't say because its spoiler.

Heinrich scowled. “You’ve got a real problem with zombies, don’t you?”
“I only want to have to kill somebody once. Killing them twice seems like work."

This book is full of surprises that make you like it even more at every page read. Several nights I went to sleep late because I didn't want to stop reading, and the pacing just keep speeding up, with more twists and cool things happening and being revealed all the time.

He took his place in a comfortable recliner and opened first to the obituaries, as was his daily custom, to see if anyone he disliked had died, but sadly the announcements held no joy.