Premise: "Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a fourteenth story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer.
It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business.
And now Owen is their newest recruit. It’s actually a pretty sweet gig, except for one little problem. An ancient entity known as the Cursed One has returned to settle a centuries old vendetta. Should the Cursed One succeed, it means the end of the world, and MHI is the only thing standing in his way. With the clock ticking towards Armageddon, Owen finds himself trapped between legions of undead minions, belligerent federal agents, a cryptic ghost who has taken up residence inside his head, and the cursed family of the woman he loves.
Business is good...
Welcome to Monster Hunter International." - from the author's website.
Steph's Comments: Larry Correia loves weaponry. He really, really loves it. If you don't care to read passages in which a particular gun is obsessively described down to the very last detail, then you probably don't want to pick up this book. (And you're probably not a Baen reader either, so what are you doing here? Take your snobbery somewhere else!)
Monster Hunter International is basically a summer blockbuster in book form. From page one, Correia's focus is to get your adrenaline pumping by blowing stuff up and killing some bad guys. Our heroes spend much of the novel either covered in monster guts or recovering in the hospital. But all of that is okay with me because Correia doesn't deal in simple empty-headed mayhem. His characters are actually likable people; indeed, I was gratified to see a few Christians in the mix. Moreover, Correia walks on solid thematic ground by acknowledging the temptation to seize power which lurks in every human soul.
And by the way, it also helps that Correia completely avoids romanticizing his monsters. There are no brooding - or, God forbid, sparkly - vampires to be found here. There are only a Big Bad, his loyal minions, and their quest to take over the time stream and thereby destroy the world as we know it. As I implied above, that definitely works for me!
Steph's Rating: 8.5
View from the Imperium, Jody Lynn Nye
Premise: "P. G. Wodehouse meets space opera, as Ensign Thomas Innes Loche Kinago, fresh from the Academy, is given his first command. A crumb from the upper crust, he's eager to uphold the traditions of his family, and in particular, his mother, a distinguished Admiral of the Imperium. Of course, he's aware of the importance of always having simply smashing tailored uniforms on hand, and having his camera ready to record memorable moments for his scrapbook. In the meantime, a charismatic leader has arisen who seems able to control the minds of anyone he meets, and may be on his way to taking over the entire galaxy. Can Kinago's aristocratic bearing and unbridled snobbery stand up to such a challenge? Fortunately, his constant companion, the unflappable Jeeves, er, Parsons, is on hand to look after the young, impulsive master, and somehow help his charge bumble his way through, perhaps even saving the galaxy in the process." - from the Baen website.
Steph's Comments: I love the main character of this book so much. Seriously:
Contrary to Baen's book description, Thomas is not actually a snob. Impulsive? Yes. A bit oblivious? Yes. But unlike his noble cousins, Thomas is also filled with an utterly sincere desire to do good (and make friends). "I can be useful!" is his oft-repeated refrain, and by the end of the novel, you really do get the sense that, with a little maturation and a little study, Thomas could be a fine leader indeed.
As for the Imperium itself, well -- it strikes me as quite skeevy that the ruling class has resorted to genetic manipulation to maintain control. The potential for abuse of that power seems very high indeed. On the other hand, Nye does make said potential for misuse a key plot point, so I believe she is conscious of the technology's dark side.
Overall, I would like to see a lot more of Thomas's universe. The majority of the novel is written in first person from Thomas' point of view (this was an obvious choice given Nye's goal to emulate Wodehouse), so of the motives of the Imperium's enemies, we know very little. I hope Nye plans to turn this into a series, as I believe the history of the Imperium (and its neighbors) is definitely worth exploring in depth.
Steph's Rating: 8.0
No comments:
Post a Comment