Hard Magic: Book 1 of the Grimnoir Chronicles

Correia (Monster Hunter Vendetta) fails to make the most of his unusual setting, settling for a run-of-the-mill action yarn that's heavy on fights and violence and light on ideas. The introduction of magic has dramatically changed some major events of the 20th century, but readers are left to imagine the consequences of Hitler being executed in 1929 or Freud overdosing on cocaine. Yet these tantalizing glimpses of an alternate universe are much more interesting than the central plot about a battle between the ultra-good Grimnoir Society and the ultra-evil Japanese Imperium over the last piece of a device created by Nikolas Tesla. Talking animals, magic with minimal consequences, and a stock plot make this fantasy an uphill climb. (May)