And we’re back. This time around, things are getting really serious with Meridiana, the queen of the Ghost Army wrecking havoc in the modern world. It’s an excellent story, much tighter than the previous two. It’s also rather more serious in tone, although there are still piles of jokes and references to other books to go around.

As was often the case, magic just chuckled and kicked physics in the balls, leaving it groaning and wondering what just happened.

Characterwise, we get a bit more growth for Isaac and Lena, most most of the growth actually comes from the hundred plus year old club: Gutenberg and de Leon. They’re both fascinating characters and I’d love to see more.

Worldbuildingwise, there are some interesting takes in this book. First, we learn a lot more about the nature of magic and the nuts and bolts of how everything works. That’s something I always love to read about. Both Gutenberg and de Leon actually feel like they are centuries old, which is something that tends to both me when it’s done badly.

After that, of course the vampires have a presence in space. That’s a series I would love to read: an urban fantasy advanced into science fiction. How very useful would the various powers supernatural beings have ben in surviving the most inhospitable of environments?

The bronze prison is absolutely fascinating. It’s not entirely clear how it does what it does, but the idea of a magical artifact built to work with a reality based on the mindset of a thousand years ago. It’s the sort of thing that I’d love to see if Magic Ex Libris were ever turned into a TV series / film.

After this, it will be fascinating to see where else this series goes. Of books I’ve read, only the Mercy Thompson series has an urban fantasy with magic ‘out’ in the world and in that case, the Fae keep themselves relatively low key and the wolves aren’t that much different from vanilla humans. In this case, magic is out and has been demonstrated to do some absolutely crazy things. I look foward to seeing how Hines does it.

Random amusing quote from the book:

“Are they ever going to have a woman play the Doctor on Doctor Who?” I asked.

Funny you should ask. :)

Random thought:

It was pretty neat to see balefire used. It makes me want to re-read the Wheel of Time again. Perhaps next year…