Fearless (Pax Arcana, 3)

I think this series has not been given the attention it deserved. It is one of the most exciting, thrilling urban fantasy series I have read. It is character-driven with a group of engaging men and women with powers. The hero and narrator is John Charming, who is an exiled knight, a group fighting the supernatural. The series posits a supernatural spellthey call the Pax Arcana. It was cast by Elves before they left the Earth for Fairy.He looks like a young man but has fought and hidden from the knights for over 80 years. He meets this group that has banded together to fight vampires. One of the group is a beautiful Valkyrie, Sig, who he falls in love with. It is a page-turning thriller that builds an intricate world with wonderful sympathetic characters and villains. It is 5 books and a a dozen standalone stories. I keep coming back to it having the read the series 3 times

I always enjoy a Charming book. However, the book did not flow as smoothly as the previous. I found the writing choppy and at times inundated and bogged down by the different monsters. By the end of the book, I could not keep them straight. The big ending was disappointing after reading 300+ pages. However, it was funny and I did enjoy the book for the most part. I will be reading the next.

This is the third book in the Pax Arcana series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The crew from the first book gets to shine as do some new characters. The only downside to this book is the need to have the background from the earlier books in the series.I liked the kitsune, one of the few mythological creatures I recognized straightaway. The introduction of Japanese mythology helped keep me on my toes since I'm less familiar with it, except for the kitsune. Fortunately John Charming let the reader know right away about each creature and its abilities. The author played fair; it was mentioned in earlier books that Charming had spent time in that part of the world and knew about it.I love that Sig is more than capable of taking care of herself. She's a nice strong female character who is a major part of the story. Even John acknowledges that she has abilities he doesn't.I think my favorite line out of the book was this one "She said that when you die, the angels won’t ask why you weren’t Moses or Gandhi or Martin Luther King or Mother Teresa. The only thing the angels are going to ask is why you weren’t yourself." Do read the footnotes; there is one that made me grin.Urban fantasy fans definitely should try this series. Harry Dresden fans, in particular, will like it, I suspect.

Continues the story. Read the first two books before starting this one. One problem solved more to come. Great characters, plot and world building.

FEARLESS opens with a Hollywood-esque catch-you-up screenplay of snippet scenes from the Pax Arcana series. HUGELY helpful if FEARLESS is the first John Charming book you’re reading, and just plain fun to read if it’s not. Huge adventure with a lovable, wise-cracking hero follows.What I loved: Sig. Talk about your strong female sidekick–she’s like a hard-core, foul-mouthed, non-human Buffy. Also, EJ’s slightly deadpan humor reminds me of Douglas Adams. Another thing–and this is weird for me–the tense shifts. I can’t figure out why, but when John Charming talks to the reader, it works for me. I asked author Elliott James to explain this strange sorcery. His answer here: Elliott James on Shifting TenseWhat I didn’t love: Hard to come up with something… Honestly, there were so many quotes from this book I wanted to scribble onto sticky notes and paste to my wall, it was a little annoying. That’s all I got.Skim factor: Zilch. I wanted to speed through this, but some books demand you savor every word. This was one of them. FIVE STARS

Review first published on jenasbookreviews.blogspot.comThe third book in the Pax Arcana series. Ted Cahill is now sheriff in a small college town when strange things start happening so he puts a call in to Sig and the team comes. As they start investigating, all signs start pointing to someone using magic against a student, Kevin Kachida, and doesn't care about innocent bystanders. To protect Kevin and stop this person, John and the team are going to have to go deep into the supernatural underground and deal with bigger forces than they ever have before.I found this one a bit less fun than the previous ones. They are focusing on an outside threat to someone they didn't know before and for no reason other than to stop casualties. It meant that the team basically split up for the entire book which meant very little character or team growth. It was much more of a basic action/adventure story and the characters really could have been any one. I have the next one in the series but I'm taking a break after this one.

This entry into the Pax Arcana series does not quite have the sparkling wit of the first two. The plot is a big unfocused and rambling, and the main character never seems to have a whole lot at stake. Still, Elliott's writing is great, the story is interesting, the world building flawless, and the characters leap off the page and into my living room. A very worthwhile series.

Great fast moving series plenty of action and excitement for any wiches and warlocks type of sci find fan. It's just a fun quick read of a series

Found the serious largely by accident but was pleasantly surprised. Well developed plot and writing style. Humor in John charming character is both sarcastic and funny

The third book in the great urban fantasy series of James is just as good as the first two. I hope he keeps going.

As usual a really good read. I love the way in which Elliot James portrays his characters, sometimes the obvious "where has common sense gone in the world" and "WHY ME" again. I have enjoyed all the books, but by far this one is the one that grabbed my imagination, made me smile, made me sigh and then well read on.....

I gave James's previous books 4 stars, as they were very good. While this is not without flaws, this one deserves 5, I think. In this one Charming and the scoobies break out of their own world and take on a case that has nothing to do with them personally - and the result is freer, more engaging. The hero is in danger of becoming Superman, which is less interesting than a vulnerable hero, but there is still the wit and plenty of story to carry you through.

Yet another thrilling episode in this series. I read it in one sitting as I just couldn't put it down. Now just waiting for the next book.