This was a hoot. It was full of camp and ridiculousness and it was fun to listen to.  It's a stupid funny space multidimensional adventure, and I recommend.

 

Monster Hunter Siege (Monster Hunters In... It feels like a long time since I got to sink my teeth into a Monster Hunter Internal story. Well at least one that takes place in the main story arc that is.

I did indeed have rather high expectations on this one and Mr. Correia certainly delivered.

The book continues the story from book five. Hell, at least as far as I remember. The last book was published three years ago and I have to confess that some of the details might have faded in my memory.

We get introduced to Owen’s father who, not surprisingly, is just as much badass as his son. He also has a secret. I do not think I can explain it without spoiling too much so I will not try but it’s a big one and it’s pretty a damned important one for the story.

As usual with books from Larry Correia it is a well written book, no bullshit, plenty of action, enjoyable dialogue and lots and lots of hardware that makes loud noises (okay there was a few Katana’s and other cutting instruments as well). Actually in this movie the amount of hardware is overshadowing all the previous books taken together. MHI is going to war! Not only MHI but pretty much the entire monster hunter community…all over the world.

With all this going on the book is a bit different from the previous books. It is on a different scale and although Owen is still the main character, and one crucial for the story, the books is not so much about the MHI team as the other books but rather about good versus evil on a global scale. I have no problem with that.

My one gripe about this book is, where the fuck is Frank? Yes, yes, I know he was briefly present in the beginning but I really miss the little altercations between Frank and the MHI team.

Overall a great book and it was so good to sink my eyes into a Larry Correia book again.

I liked this book better than the previous book in the series. I felt it read more like a single book than a series of short stories even though the book is very much a series of different monster hunting stories tied together. It was much fun to read this one.

I can just as well get the political incorrectness part over with right away. This book is not going to please social justice warriors, gender fanatics or any other person with strong so called politically correct views, especially if they reside on the more extreme ends of the political scale. John Ringo writes fun to read adventures and does not give a fuck about the use of rude languages or any of the other pet peeves that the easily offended gets so riled up about nowadays. It is guns galore and his characters uses the language and has the behavior you would expect from a Monster Hunter International hunter or a marine or quite a lot of normal people actually. I have no problem with that and it certainly does not take away my pleasure of reading these books. After all, it is total fiction. If you are easily offended go read a politically correct bed time story instead.

Now, for the book itself. It is fun to read. There are of course lots and lots of good monster related action. Lots of guns and other various implements that slice or go boom. The dialogue between the various colorful characters is also very entertaining as usual.

John Ringo has used the setting in New Orleans and Chad’s somewhat involuntary change of scenery due to screwing around with an underage elf (she was 40) wonderfully. Apart from a huge monster infestation people in New Orleans apparently do things a little differently. Actually make that a lot differently. What about the local MHI team being on friendly terms with the MCB one for instance? Actually the MCB guys are far from the dickheads they usually are in the other books in this universe. Also, most of the population in New Orleans believe in monsters and actually cheer along when the MHI guys charge towards whatever slimy creature they intend to shoot, decapitate or blow up next.

There are a lot of colorful people around. Not just in the MHI team but in New Orleans as well. Chad gets a butler (or gentleman as he prefers to be called) which nicely add to the story. The female HMI hunter who want to try and cook and eat (having a fais do do) any monster they kill is also great fun. The book is really quite a good read whether Chad is clobbering monsters or just having a conversation with his friends, butler or the latest girls he hooked up with.

There is a thread, a mystery, going through the book. Why the sudden increase in monster activity? Why does a simple houdoun summoning create an avalanche of monsters the size of elephants? Sadly, although there are hints thrown around about something big coming and Chad being the savior, the book ends without shedding much light on this. Oh well, I guess I have to wait for the next book in the series, which I seriously hope will be coming.

The books ends in a huge monster bash when yet another houdoun summoning goes haywire. It is New Orleans after all so what could be more suitable than a crayfish infestation. Heck, I would find thousands of crayfish running my way with their claws snapping a wee bit scary. They would be a lot scarier if I knew they wanted to suck out my brain for snacks. At the realization that they were about a meter long and with a claw that either snapped off your head or cracked it I would start to run as hell. At this little crayfish party we even get a visit from Franks. Yes it is that bad!

When the smoke disappears and the ectoplasm dries it is a bit of Last Man Standing over the scene. It is actually a rather sad ending. The casualties are enormous to say the least. Looks like Chad will have to do quite a bit of that paperwork that he hated so much.

Regardless of this it was, as I may have mentioned a few times, a quite entertaining book to read. I am now eagerly waiting for the next one in the series.

It was a long time since I read the Monster Hunter International series. I was therefore quite happy when I found something new had Larry Correia’s stamp on it and took place in the Monster Hunter International universe. This is a fun book to read but, sadly, I do not think it is as good as the original Monster Hunter International series. It is good, even very good, but not WOW good.

The book is obviously co-written by Larry Correia and John Ringo although I get the impression that there is more John Ringo than Larry Correia in the book. It is a fun book to read. I like both Larry’s and John’s no bullshit style of writing. If you are offended by grown up language, womanizing or are a social justice warrior then this book is not for you. Stay far, far away from it. I am not plagued by any of these issues myself so, consequently, I quite liked the book.

The book essentially follows Oliver Chadwick Gardenier, or Chad for short, from the events where he is resurrected and sent back to Earth to fight evil and through his career as a Monster Hunter. Naturally this means lots and lots of action against various supernatural creatures and monsters. As usual with these two authors the action is quite violent and guns, explosives as well as various sharp instruments are plentiful.

However the book feels a bit lighter than the Monster Hunter International books. As the name of the series indicate it is a memoire so it is essentially the main character himself that recites the story and the way it is done is by telling various memorable events from his life. This also means that, in my opinion, the book feels a bit chopped up. Sure, there is a red thread going through it but sometimes I felt like I was reading a collection of short stories strung together.

As I wrote above, this is a good and enjoyable book but a notch below the books in the original series.