Brilliant Breakout Book

Charming (Pax Arcana) by Elliott James (Sep 24, 2013)

John Charming isn't your average Prince...

He comes from a line of Charmings -- an illustrious family of dragon slayers, witch-finders and killers dating back to before the fall of Rome. Trained by a modern day version of the Knights Templar, monster hunters who have updated their methods from chain mail and crossbows to Kevlar and shotguns, John Charming was one of the best--until a curse made him one of the abominations the Knights were sworn to hunt.

That was a lifetime ago. Now, John tends bar under an assumed name in rural Virginia and leads a peaceful, quiet life. That is, until a vampire and a blonde walked into his bar...

This was by far and away one of the best breakout books I have read in this genre in ages.  It is not to say that Mr. James does not have a few kinks to work out, but with time, I think he really is going to be an author to watch.

If you like the books and character types of authors like Kevin Hearne, Ilona Andrews and  Rob Thurman, then I really think you are going to enjoy the world building and dry humor of this new series.

This book is split into almost equal parts between   mythology/world building and action.  There is a bit of romance thrown into the mix also and I for one cannot wait to see how Mr. James is going to handle this aspect of the series.

I did find myself laughing my socks off at the sly humor in this book and I find it interesting to see an author of Mr. James youth (I am assuming) and his use of history from my generation to fine-tune his dry wit.  It really works since this character John was born in 1937 and to have him just spout modern language and jokes would have been annoying at best.

If there is anything that I am disappointed with, it is that there are some huge information dumps.   These dumps can be a little dry, and dare I say, at times a bit boring.  They are necessary for the story itself but I hope it is just going to be something we only see with this set up novel.

The author has taken his time with his research and it shows.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.   May I just say I really hated how some of the others treated John on occasion?  I know it had to be this way or this wouldn’t have been as realistic a novel, but it still affected me emotionally.