Unbound (Magic Ex Libris, 3)

Unbound is the third book of the Magic ex Libris series by American author, Jim C. Hines. Isaac Vainio feeling guilty and depressed that a young teen in his care, Jeneta Aboderin has disappeared. And because Johannes Gutenberg has locked his magic, his efforts to find her need to be even greater. But, as handicapped as he is, Isaac's determination, with a lot of help from his dryad lover Lena Greenwood and her lover, Dr Nidhi Shah, finally leads to the identification and location of the spirit which has possessed Jeneta's body, a woman who has control of the multitudinous Ghost Army and intends rule the world.

Isaac just has to work out how to stop her and save Jeneta, all without the support and approval of the Porters. Luckily, he has managed not to alienate everyone, despite seeming to be a magnet for trouble. Certain werewolves assist, and eventually the fugitive Spanish magician, Juan Ponce de Leon comes to his rescue. Also useful are a Mary Poppins umbrella, a disco ball, a Triumph that converts to a space ship and mirror sunglasses, although none of these prevent a certain Copper River house from being burnt down.



With the premise of magically extracting objects and creatures from the printed page, it is soon apparent that the potential for magic and tricks is as endless as the imagination of fantasy authors. Hines once again fills his tale with plenty of humour, and manages to include a Siren, vampire satellite blood banks, an rather nasty angel, a fake new eighth Harry Potter book, wood-and-metal automatons, Death, and much more. Isaac has to suffer becoming a newt, and both he and Smudge feel the effects of looking into a gorgon's eyes.

Between the chapters, Hines uses a series of emails, promotional fliers, press releases, news reports, web posts, an FBI file, news items and letters as a device to detail background events and public opinion. Once again, his plot is original and imaginative, with an exciting climax; his characters are appealing, and the nett result is a clever, witty, laugh-out-loud funny read. Some editions feature an extract of the 4th book in the series, Revisionary