He completely achieves the subtle and well-earned haughtiness of Japanese soldiers and officers, enhanced with magic, who are unquestionably the deadliest of deadly. Difficult characters to read for are abundant in this book, but Pinchot shines through all of them. Nonetheless, in this book Pinchot provides a depth of character that is unsurpassed (though since listening to Butcher’s newest, Cold Days read by Marsters, I am a a touch undecided). James Marsters, Spike from Buffy and narrator of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (Reviews for this Urban Fantasy masterpiece of a series to follow soon), has become my favorite audiobook actor due to his ability to harness the very being of and truly speak as whichever character he’s reading for. His articulation, tone, and pacing along with the accents provided for each individual character, of which there are maybe like 50, is as perfect as one could ask for. Sometimes Jon Stewart doppelganger Bronson Pinchot (Balki from the 1980’s Perfect Strangers) absolutely dominates as narrator. Bronson Pinchot is a truly fantastic voice actor, perhaps even dethroning James Marsters

Every chapter begins with an in-universe quote, often from a political or scientific heavyweight of the time (who also lived in our current universe), that provides a peak inside the heads of those native to the that other reality, allowing us a glimpse into how living in a world where magic exists impacts society, ethics, science, romance, …Earth itself. Hard Magic is packed full of ideas, historical figures, and characters that bring a parallel universe to life so elegantly, so robustly, that you will be utterly convinced that it must exist. Nikola Tesla provides an extremely deadly alternative to nuclear weapons… and still, I’m not even giving away the good bits! An already genius mind supplemented with magic creates unimaginably brilliant savants (Cogs) that advance technology far beyond the conceivable. Hydrogen powered dirigibles dominate the skies because wielders of fire have the ability to prevent Hindenburg-like incidents. World War I was fought, in part, with magic.

Hard Magic by Larry Correia