Unbound is Out Today!!!
It’s been seventeen months since Codex Born was released, but Unbound is finally out today!
This is the third book in the Magic ex Libris series. There will be at least one more (Revisionary, tentatively scheduled for February 2016), but this one wraps up a lot of the plotlines I’ve been playing with over the course of the series. As Carrie at Smart Bitches Trashy Books said in her review:
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 … 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.
Summary:
For five hundred years, the Porters have concealed the existence of magic from the world. Now, old enemies have revealed the Porters’ secrets, and an even greater threat lurks in the shadows. The would-be queen Meridiana, banished for a thousand years, has returned in the body of a girl named Jeneta Aboderin. She seeks an artifact created by Pope Sylvester II, a bronze prison that would grant her the power to command an army of the dead.
Michigan librarian Isaac Vainio is determined to rescue his former student Jeneta. With no magic of his own, Isaac must delve into the darker side of black-market magic, where he will confront beings better left undisturbed, including the sorcerer Juan Ponce de Leon.
With his loyal fire-spider Smudge, dryad warrior Lena Greenwood, and psychiatrist Nidhi Shah, Isaac races to unravel a mystery more than a thousand years old as competing magical powers battle to shape the future of the world. He will be hunted by enemies and former allies alike, and it will take all his knowledge and resourcefulness to survive as magical war threatens to spread across the globe.
Isaac’s choices will determine the fate of his friends, the Porters, the students of Bi Sheng, and the world. Only one thing is certain: even if he finds a way to restore his magic, he can’t save them all…
Purchase Links: If you’re interested in picking up a copy, I’ve gathered up some convenient links. Because I’m considerate that way, you know?
- HARDCOVER: Amazon | B&N | BAMM | Mysterious Galaxy | Schuler Books | Indiebound
- EBOOK: Amazon | B&N | BAMM | Kobo | iBooks
- AUDIO: Audible.com
Reviewers: If you’re a reviewer and would like a copy of Unbound, please contact my publicist at anixon -at- penguinrandomhouse.com.
Guest Posts: I’ve also done some guest blogging for the release, and will be linking those here as they go live. My thanks to everyone who hosted me!
- My Favorite Bit, on Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog.
- Isaac and the Doctor (Finding Magic in Our World), at Dark Matter Zine.
- Unbound with Jim C. Hines. Talking about joy and hope and books at author Deborah Blake’s blog.
- Writing with Depression, an older post I did about Unbound and depression at Special Needs in Strange Worlds.
Other Releases: Wait, there’s more! Today isn’t just Unbound day, it’s also book day for other awesome people like Karen Lord, Daniel José Older, Steven Harper, David B. Coe, and Irene Radford.
But my favorite thing about this particular release date is that author Sara Humphreys has a new novella out today … called Unbound. I feel like this calls for some sort of epic showdown, Unbound vs. Unbound. Sexy man-back vs. Smoldering librarian. Lion vs. Fire-spider.
vs.
So, yeah. Not only does Unbound come out today, so does Unbound. Mind … blown!
Anyway, where was I?
Events: I’ve got three things going on for this one.
- January 8, 7 p.m. AMA (Ask Me Anything) at Reddit Fantasy.
- January 13, 7 p.m. Booksigning at Schuler Books – Okemos location. Okemos, Michigan.
- January 17, 1-3 p.m. Book launch with Karen Lord, at ConFusion.
My thanks to everyone who’s supported the series so far. Tweets, reviews, links, and other word-of-mouth are always appreciated, but mostly, I just hope you enjoy the story. I’ve been waiting years to get to some of the events in this one, and I can’t wait to share it.
Mason T. Matchak
January 6, 2015 @ 8:16 am
Happy book day, sir! ^_^ I’m rereading Codex Born while I wait for Unbound to arrive. I don’t care how fast it ships, it’s going to feel like a very long wait.
Jenn
January 6, 2015 @ 8:49 am
Congratulations!! Looking forward to reading it. 🙂
You may also be amused to learn that today is ALSO the release of the paperback edition of Victoria Schwab’s “The Unbound”. Everything is coming unbound today!
Jim C. Hines
January 6, 2015 @ 9:05 am
It is a good day to Unbind! 🙂
Angela Korra'ti
January 6, 2015 @ 10:08 am
Congratulations on the release! It will, I believe, have just shown up on my Nook. 😀
I just read your post over on Mary Robinette Kowal’s site as well and lol’d at your bio. If you’re worth 350xp, is that 350xp gained per book, or do we have to read everything you’ve written?
Jim C. Hines
January 6, 2015 @ 10:11 am
I … honestly didn’t think about it that much 🙂
Though I did tweak my bio from the last guest post I did at Mary’s blog. I was only level 6 then. But I figured I’d earned enough XP to level up since late 2012!
Nancy K
January 6, 2015 @ 11:19 am
WOOOO!!!! Happy Book Day! I can’t make it to Schuler (it’s my birthday, I have planses) but I’ll see you at ConFusion!
Avilyn
January 6, 2015 @ 11:40 am
Yay! Been looking forward to this! Of course, now that I bought for Kindle, I have to wait until I get home from work to start reading it. Drat. I should’ve called out sick so I didn’t have to wait. 😉
Jim C. Hines
January 6, 2015 @ 11:40 am
What? You don’t want to spend your birthday hanging out with ME and everyone else at Schuler??? Hmph.
Have fun, and I’ll see you at the con! 🙂
Jim C. Hines
January 6, 2015 @ 11:41 am
How evil would it be for me to suggest downloading the Kindle software onto your work computer? (Assuming you have a work computer.)
Angela Highland (Angela Korra'ti)
January 6, 2015 @ 12:20 pm
Hee! You did!
Looking forward to reading this!
mattw
January 6, 2015 @ 12:30 pm
Happy new book day! Mine’s on order! Can’t wait to get to it!
Celestine
January 6, 2015 @ 12:34 pm
Happy Book Day!
Cat Sittingstill
January 6, 2015 @ 1:06 pm
Happy Book Day! I am glad I saw this; my in-laws gave me book money for Christmas, and now I know what they got me!
Hmm. If I read this first, (I also got Foxglove Summer today) maybe I can have a song about it ready for GaFilk. Which would be so cool.
Excuse me, I need to get off the internet and go find my Kindle.
PJ
January 6, 2015 @ 1:48 pm
I just nabbed a copy from Audible, so I’m looking forward to a hopefully long and traffic-laden commute home.
Avilyn
January 6, 2015 @ 2:06 pm
I …. was not aware that was an option. Hmm… maybe after the boss leaves for the day. 😉
Ashley
January 6, 2015 @ 6:35 pm
I’m so excited to read this! Now I just have to wait for my copy to get here . . .
mjkl
January 6, 2015 @ 7:11 pm
Congrats! Also congrats on the truly excellent “Politics of Comfort” piece.
David Youngs
January 6, 2015 @ 9:27 pm
Dagnabbit! I knew there was a reason that I planned to go to the bookstore today.
But they aren’t always that good at getting new books in right away.
Dana
January 6, 2015 @ 10:55 pm
Congratulations! Cant’ wait to read it.
Ken Marable
January 7, 2015 @ 8:32 am
Drat, was too busy to get to Schulers on release day (and also kicking myself to not check earlier, but the website was reporting it was on Okemos’ shelves Monday night, too)! But will zip over this lunch hour to grab it. My family has been excitedly waiting for this since about a few days after Codex Born came out. 🙂
Hope the book does great!
Jim C. Hines
January 7, 2015 @ 8:48 am
Thanks so much, everyone!
Heather
January 7, 2015 @ 3:52 pm
Read Unbound yesterday; reviewed it today. I imagine you saw what I said of this in the review, but to add a little detail:
I’m bipolar, comorbid with other stuff. How mental illness is presented in our entertainment is something that matters to me. I’ve had occasion to be quite upset with how some books handle it. I also have enough depression problems that I don’t like it personally when a depiction strays from being about depression to being actively depressing. (Not necessarily the same thing as dark.) So I know what kind of fine line you were trying to walk, and you did it with all the grace of a tightrope walker. I shed tears watching Isaac battle his depression, but I never once wanted to put the book down for being depressing–your sense of story and pacing kept that from being an issue.
Thank you for writing this novel. Not just because it’s a great, involving story, but because it accomplished what I hope to see more of: a deft handling of such a thorny issue.
Jim C. Hines
January 7, 2015 @ 3:56 pm
Thanks, Heather. I did see that review, and it meant a great deal. While I think “Write what you know” is a silly and cliched rule, it was very much the case when I wrote about Isaac’s depression. That struggle might not have been central to the “Stop the bad guy from taking over the world” plot, but it was important to me, and I was so happy to read your review. Thank you for posting it.
KatG
January 8, 2015 @ 12:28 am
Woot! Happy wedding anniversary present to me! Long live Smudge!
Jim C. Hines
January 8, 2015 @ 7:50 am
Happy anniversary! 🙂
Iyeska
January 8, 2015 @ 8:54 am
An exciting, wonder-filled read! I’m now reading Unbound again, a bit slower this time. A happy Yes! escaped upon the appearance of Juan Ponce de Leon – that was such a gift. Thank you.
Jim C. Hines
January 8, 2015 @ 9:04 am
He’s so much fun to write 🙂 And I loved how throwing him into the mix changed some of the character dynamics and interactions.
Iyeska
January 8, 2015 @ 9:11 am
He’s fascinated me from the first mention in Libriomancer, and I loved having so much more of him in Unbound. His depth and passion are poignant, and his pleasure in his own magic is a joy.
Oh, I forgot to mention Smudge. If anything, my love and envy is even deeper. I’ve wanted a fire spider from the time I read the Goblin books. The images of Smudge in his dirigible and as a tiny, pissed off hovercraft have had me laughing for days.
Jimmy
January 8, 2015 @ 11:01 pm
Hi so happy about the book I am about half way threw it as of this post. Can’t wait till its over but I don’t want it to be. Looking forward to the next two books in the series. I think there will be two more because there are 3 goblin books 4 princes book so according to the gods of OCD there has to be 5 liberomaner books.
Jim C. Hines
January 9, 2015 @ 7:57 am
So glad you’re liking it! 🙂
The fourth book is under contract. To be honest, whether or not there’s a fifth book will depend a lot on how UNBOUND does. Fingers crossed!
Cool Stuff Friday
January 9, 2015 @ 9:02 am
[…] thinks Book Launch Week is like, completely whoa, […]
Susan
January 10, 2015 @ 8:58 am
Can’t buy books right now (new furnace ate the book money!) but am on the library waiting list.
Jim, as a measure of popularity — 9 holds on the one available copy (which is out, so that’s 10 people). Might push the threshold to get them to buy more!
Jim C. Hines
January 10, 2015 @ 11:16 am
I’ll take it 🙂
And sympathies on the furnace. That’s a nasty surprise expense. Stay warm!
Ela
January 12, 2015 @ 6:15 pm
Greetings from Finland! I’ve enjoyed your Magic ex Libris series very much, thank you for writing it! Iska (that’s what Isaac would be called by his friends in modern Finnish) is a very life-like character. It would be a pleasure to have a friend like him. I’m amazed that you can reach so much about being a Finn without pressing his background.
So far, Unbound is my favorite of the series. In Libriomancer, I fell in love with your clever idea of magic and, of course, with the characters – including Smudge – but the novel was just a little scratch on the surface of the world. In Codex Born, you produced a more detailed picture and went deeper, but still, some things seemed a bit underdeveloped. For example, how would different translations of the books feature in the magic? In addition, Jeneta’s role in your scheme of things seemed hazy, and I found Gutenberg’s attitude towards his enemies often hard to digest. In Unbound, most of my issues were solved. At the closing chapter, I find myself satisfied with the story. You could stop there. However, there are a few paths at sight that make me wonder, and I really hope that you will write more of this story.
Jim C. Hines
January 12, 2015 @ 7:46 pm
Hi Ela, and thank you! Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has a large Finnish population, and my wife and her family are very much a part of that group, so they’ve helped me a lot with the details.
Unbound allowed me to tell some of the story I’d been building up to in the first two books, which was a lot of fun. I’m glad it answered a lot of your questions.
And there will be at least one more book in the series 🙂 “Revisionary” is tentatively scheduled for February of next year.
Ela
January 13, 2015 @ 4:22 am
That’s great! Congratulations. I’m looking forward to reading it as soon as it’s available.
Brenton
March 20, 2015 @ 11:11 am
When I saw this post I was overjoyed given that I had just picked up the first of the series and was seriously digging it. That joy has since turned to rage as I went to acquire Unbound only to find it is not available in an ebook format in the UK!
Any ideas when said book (along with the last 2 of the Princess series) will be released on ebook in the UK?
Jim C. Hines
March 20, 2015 @ 11:39 am
Brenton,
I wish I had an answer for you. You could contact Del Rey UK and ask them about Unbound, but unfortunately, I have zero info about when or if they’ll be picking up books 3 and 4 in the Magic ex Libris series.
I’m not sure what’s going on with the princess series. We didn’t have a UK deal for those, and I’m not sure how the territorial restrictions play out, but I’d expect it to be an all or nothing deal. I don’t see any reason why some would be available and others wouldn’t, beyond the confusion of the publishing markets.
This has been “Jim Gives Useless and Uninformative Answers.”
(But I’ll share when and if I know more!)