Grimmwald 2

A Romp of Steampunk and Mad Science!

By: Jay Aury

Narrated by: Barbie Jean Warmack, Jim Swanson

For love

For legacy.

FOR SCIENCE!

Maxim Volt has defended his rule against the depredations of industry, but a greater challenge awaits him.

Marriage.

For not only does he have to organize a rite of fealty, where the various powers of the Grimm Valley swear loyalty to him and his house, but he must fend off a bevy of sometimes murderous brides eager to become the mistress of the castle. Be they from the Hundred Houses of Europe, the vampire courts, or even the witch covens that lurk in the shadows of the forests, all would delight to rule Grimmwald at his side. As his wife.

Or his widow.

©2025 Jay Aury (P)2026 Royal Guard Publishing LLC

Book3 ?

This is better than the first book but I do wish the whole vampire story part was save for the third book if there is going to be one. I wish it got it own book for the big standalone plot point

Entertaining

Great job on the voice acting!

This is light-hearted, campy steampunk. The harem aspects actually don't seem to factor into it that much - more the adventures of a man who happens to have a harem, rather than the story of a harem.

I do like that occasionally the story takes the perspective of one of the women, so they have their own adventures and challenges.

This is an absolutely blatant rip-off of the "Girl Genius" series. That's a great source for inspiration, mind you, and could spark a whole fun subgenre. But I wish the author would focus more on being inspired by other sources, with occasional subtle references, instead of blatant copying or namedropping. The "gentleman adventurer," the concept of sparks, a town practically worshiping their evil monarch, all come from Girl Genius, but it doesn't end there. There are references to Nanny Ogg from the Discworld books, Paddington, and more. Again, I wish the author would be a little more subtle and indirect.

Still, it is an entertaining tale.

From a kinky aspect, I was hoping for plenty of bondage and D/s from a maledom/femsub perspective. There was one brief scene of that. There were, however, THREE instances where characters openly fantasized about femdom/malesub (fortunately, that never happened in canon to the protagonist). I wish the author would pick a side and stick to it more faithfully instead of doing a little of both.

Setting and lore are ridiculously amazing

Great book. Love the setting, lore and characters. Overall just an amazing series and looking forward to book 3.