Hard Magic
Paranormal Scene Investigations, Book 1
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Hard Magic
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Narrated by:
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Romy Nordlinger
About this listen
Welcome to P.U.P.I. - Private, Unaffiliated, Paranormal Investigations. A handpicked team trained to solve crimes the regular police can't touch - crimes of magic.
"My name's Bonnie Torres. Recent college grad, magic user, and severely unemployed. Until I got a call out of nowhere to interview for a job I hadn't applied for. It smelled fishy, but the brutal truth was I needed the work - so off I went. Two days later I'm a PUPI - me and Nick, Sharon, Nifty, and Pietr. Five 20-somethings, thrown into an entirely new career in forensic magic.
"The first job we get is a doozy: proving that the deaths of two Talents were murder, not suicide. Worse, there are high-profile people who want us to close up shop and go away. We're sniffing out things they'd rather keep buried. Looks as if this job is gonna get interesting. The only problem is, we're making it up as we go along...."
©2010 Laura Anne Gilman (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
Editor reviews
Performer Romy Nordlinger is pitch-perfect casting for urban fantasy Hard Magic's narrator Bonnie Torres, a smart, feisty scryer who can read electric currents for clues to solve crimes committed by other magic-wielding talents. Nordlinger brings to life Laura Anne Gilman's ragtag team of lovingly crafted characters at once colorful and credible, from Bonnie's old-money mentor, J, to her intense, lonejack boss, Venec.
Gilman's high-concept parallel world weaves together political intrigue, the mysteries the mercenary agency is charged with investigating, and Bonnie's coming of age story as she strikes out on her own.
Overall good
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Hard magic
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The general magical community is very much against this new organisation and the fledgling force knows it will struggle to survive.
Each in the team have something to contribute and must get over their ego's to be able to work together. Ian their boss will have it no other way.
There are some gaping holes in the world and I found it very difficult to believe why the magical community would have such an aversion to a team specializing in magical crime without being affiliated to any one else bar themselves, plus I could not understand why Bonnie never really confronted the enigmatic Vasic, no spoilers here just saying.
Despite this the magical world L.G has created is intricate and clever, the characters fully fleshed out and engaging, it's magical C.S.I with bells on.
Looking forward to how this series pans out.
Mustn't forget to mention Romy Nordlinger, great narration.
Forensic magic...
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Overall I would only recommend this book, if like me you listen to several audio-books a week and you could buy it at a low price on sale. There is a childishness to the writing, the characters are far too stereotyped and overall it felt like this was a trying to be a teen novel for twenty somethings, which really didn't work. There are so many brilliant books on Audible of this type that I'd suggest instead:
Anne Bishop's Written in Red: A Novel of the Others
Michelle Sagara Chronicles of Elantra
Jim Butcher Dresden files
Sergei Lukyanenko The Watch Series
Ben Aaronovitch The Rivers Of London series.
Hard Magic: Paranormal Scene Investigations.
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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
I really loved the concept of paranormal investigators and the book started well but then failed to deliver against my expectations. In the second half of the book the plot grew weak, there was little progress and frankly I had grown bored then all of a sudden the end arrived.What will your next listen be?
Tom Rob SmithDo you think Hard Magic needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
Not if it's as disappointing overall as this oneAny additional comments?
Pity. As I say imaginative and original idea could have been greatGreat idea but poor delivery
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What disappointed you about Hard Magic?
I expected a bit more from this series. I am glad I bought it in the sale at a low price, otherwise I would be grumbling about a waste of a credit that could by me something more worthwhile.What was most disappointing about Laura Anne Gilman’s story?
The plot seemed to go in a good direction then just up and leave, dragging on for ages. Ideas and thoughts repeated quite often, but worded maybe slightly differently.Would you listen to another book narrated by Romy Nordlinger?
Yes, the narrator wasn't that bad. Though I've listened to plenty so far, none by her, apart from this series.If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Hard Magic?
I think it needed a bit of toughening up and direction. So many parts of this book were unnecessary and a bit too straightforward. How many times do we need to hear about Bonnie's hair?Any additional comments?
Overall I am glad I hadn't wasted valued credits and picked up this series on the cheap. It's filled a few hours of listening before I found something more appealing :)Disappointing
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I just couldn't get into it
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