Yes, it’s here, my precious, we likes it! Unbound, by Jim C. Hines, the third book in the Magic Ex Libris series is finally out, to my great rejoicing. Yes, you will have to read the previous two books to appreciate this one (Libriomancer and Codex Born). Yes, you will love them.

Libriomancer ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au | WorldCat ) introduced the characters, led by Isaac Vainio, magician and librarian. Isaac is a libriomancer, meaning he can use magic to pull objects out of books. There are many rules detailed in this review, and it’s all incredibly inventive and geeky and awesome and exciting. This series is geek paradise. Libriomancer is the kind of book that is not only fun to read but also fun to talk about afterwards, for hours, because the rules of libriomancy are so intriguing.

The second book, Codex Born, jumped right into the action, with Isaac and his girlfriend, Lena, trying to solve a murder and battling various baddies. In this book, Lena took center stage. Isaac is an engaging, fun, personable guy to spend time with, but as a character Lena is far more complex and interesting. I can honestly say that I don’t recall a darn thing about the plot of Codex Born but I remember tons of stuff about Lena’s character development.

Much as I like Isaac, it’s a bit disappointing that we are back to a completely Isaac-centered book in Unbound. Isaac is unable to use magic and between that and the other harrowing events of Unbound, he’s deeply depressed. The depiction of depression is painfully realistic. In one moment that is both heart-breaking and funny, Isaac insists that he is not depressed as he goes through a checklist of symptoms and checks them all off.

Depressed or not depressed, Isaac is stubborn, reckless, smart, and persistent, and he tracks down the Big Bad of this book, Meridiana. He teams up with some old allies and enemies to try to stop her, using their magic power and his research skills. I don’t want to spoil anything but I will tell you that this book includes gargoyles, a spaceship, and a complete re-writing (no pun intended) of all the rules of libriomancy.

There’s tons of exciting action in this book, as well as a certain amount characters of sitting around trying to figure out what to do. The action scenes are thrilling, but the best moments are when Isaac geeks out. He’s so into books that even with the fate of the world at stake, he can be completely derailed by the mention of a previously unpublished H.G. Wells novel (“Um, do you happen to have a copy of that Wells novel here?”). I love it that the characters are able to discuss the merits of Nora Roberts versus Jude Deveraux and the finer points of D&D artifacts with equal aplomb. I love how cleverly Isaac solves problems, and how persistent he is. I also loved how Nidhi, a character we’ve seen far too little of, steps up when Isaac is endangered by an unorthodox therapist (Nidhi is a psychiatrist):

I’ve worked with many powerful, dangerous people over the years. I’ve helped them through traumas nobody should have to endure. I taught them to rebuild relationships torn by magic and secrets. I fought for them, helped them find hope, helped them to retain their humanity.” Her voice dropped even lower. “And I have most of these people on speed dial.”

 

Forget libriomancy. That was badass.

I don’t know what’s planned for the rest of this series. I liked how the book wrapped up a lot of major character arcs.   If there’s no more to this series, I’ll feel that the story reached a satisfying conclusion. On the other hand, the series is potentially poised to take off in completely new directions that could be incredibly interesting. So I’m down with that, too. In particular, I am desperate to know whether Isaac helps his niece with her medical problems – and if he helps her, what does that mean? Are we going to have magic clinics, or what? I am so worried about this that I’m considering breaking all my rules and emailing Jim C. Hines and begging him to tell me. I can’t sleep properly until this is resolved.

My neurosis aside, the book is cliffhanger free and most of the major character issues from the three books are resolved in some way. I’m in an odd state of one hand feeling like, “OK, we’re cool, you may move on to other projects, thank you for this satisfying conclusion” and on the other hand I’m all, “More, please, nomnomnom”. It’s Schrodinger’s Series.

This is a great series with a lot of great components, but more than anything else it’s a love-letter to imagination. I was so busy speed reading from fight scene to fight scene that I almost missed this beautiful moment, when Isaac and Ponce de Leon (yes, that de Leon) are looking at Isaac’s notes, and de Leon sees a doodle:

I had to stop myself from snatching it away. My cheeks burned. “It started as a picture of the poem’s geometry…but then I got frustrated and turned it into a plan for a tiny steam-powered airship for Smudge. He’d provide the heat for a tiny, fireproof dirigible, and there would be eight little straps he could use to steer.” I’d even drawn tiny goggles over his eyes.

An odd smile played over Ponce de Leon’s mouth. Slowly and carefully, he smoothed out the picture, as if it was a lost Van Gogh rather than a pencil sketch. “This is where magic is born. No matter what happens, nobody can take that away from you.”