Review of Monster Hunter Legion by Larry Correia

Monster Hunter Legion by New York Times Bestselling author Larry Correia is a really fun book. I read it quickly and enjoyed every minute. I’ve loved the Monster Hunter series so much and this fourth book was the next step in the ongoing evolution of the story, and the main character, Owen Zastava Pitt, also known as “Z.” He’s the Chosen One, and he’s finally accepting what that means for him and his family. Nothing is easy for Owen, but then if it were, the books would not be half as compelling. Z is by far, my favorite monster hunting accountant of all time.

The danger and excitement are off the hook for most of this novel, but Legion doesn’t start out as fast-paced as some of the other Monster Hunter books. In the opening scenes my favorite monster hunting company, Monster Hunter International (MHI: Proudly killing monsters since 1895!), is in Las Vegas, Nevada attending the very first monster hunter convention, where industry professionals from all over the world gather to talk shop and hang out. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, there are of course the rival companies at each other’s throats (literally and figuratively), and of course there is the Monster Control Bureau (the MCB), who are always at odds with the private companies, and then there is Special Task Force Unicorn, STFU. The leader of STFU, a very pale man who calls himself Stricken, is a very scary dude and he is now in charge and has decided to shape events and lay the groundwork for the implementation of a secret program called Nemesis. If his plans kill, maim, or otherwise destroy the monster hunting companies of the world in the process, then so be it. Stricken does not care about collateral damage. Fans will remember Stricken from the last novel, Monster Hunter Alpha, and the events of that book come into play in a big way.

In Legion, the worldwide spike in monster infestations is finally explained, though we still don’t know what or who exactly is driving the monsters to come out of hibernation, or why they are leaving their planes of existence to attack ours. That will be revealed in the next novel, I’m sure. Regardless, the plot of this novel is the culmination of all the other monster hunter books, and if you haven’t read them, start reading. This one won’t make as much sense to those who haven’t read the previous ones for sure, and if you’re a new fan, it’s a good time to begin, as you’ll be able to read four awesome books without having to wait that long for the next one, or by the time you finish these, the next one will be out.

The series is building to such a fever pitch and my favorite characters were all represented well in this novel: Julie, wife of Owen and a deadeye sniper; Holly the former stripper turned monster hunter; Milo the genius inventor explosives guru; Skippy the orc helicopter pilot; Ed the Orc Swordfighter; Tanya, Trailer Park Elf Princess; Earl Harbinger werewolf KING, and of course Agent Franks of the MCB. He was referred to as a “National Treasure” in Legion, and I’ve heard there will be a novel from his point of view in the future. I can’t wait for that, and think he is an extremely fascinating character.

Larry Correia is a superb character writer, and action-sequence writer, but what I love best about this series is the mix of humor and drama. It’s fast-paced action with a comedic vibe that comes out at just the right moments.

I wrote out some of my favorite lines, which end the chapters:

Chapter 2
“I said I was going back to bed, not back to sleep.” Julie grabbed a handful of my shirt and pulled me along. “Sleep is for quitters.”

Chapter 6
“Chicken theft? That's totally going on his next evaluation.”

Chapter 12
“Welcome to the smart team, Tanya . . . Now give me my marker back. You have to earn your own dry-erase marker.”

Those are some fun lines, and you get the idea about how cool this book series is. I’d also like to mention one of the most unique names for a character ever: Management. Also, there is a scene that portrays the best use of a live chicken to fix a broken helicopter ever written.

Monster Hunter Legion is the most ambitious and high-concept of all the books in the series, and fans will love the crazy ride and the break-neck ending. I’m really looking forward to the next one, Monster Hunter Nemesis.

View on Amazon: Monster Hunter Legion by Larry Correia
Highly Recommended, Five Stars

Paul Genesse
Author of the Iron Dragon Series, Editor of The Crimson Pact Series

Review: of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht

Review: of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht
(Minor Spoilers Present)

This first novel in the Fey and the Fallen series, of Blood and Honey, had my attention from the start and kept me fascinated the whole way through. Campbell award nominee, Stina Leicht’s debut novel is brilliantly crafted, fast-paced, and completely engrossing. It’s a very dark urban fantasy about a young Irishman, Liam, growing up in the 60’s and 70’s in Northern Ireland, mainly Derry and Belfast, as the fight between the Protestants and Catholics heats up. The historical backdrop is intriguing, and so different from most urban fantasies I’ve read. The unique historical setting is a huge plus for the book, but it is first and foremost a character driven novel, mainly about Liam.

Of Blood and Honey doesn’t get bogged down in the details about what’s going on in the wider war or the historical context, but history buffs will enjoy the brief mentions of important events and historical figures for sure, though it’s never done to excess. If you want to know more about the history that Ms. Leicht is referencing, she provides an excellent list of books in the acknowledgements section.

The book focuses on the main character, Liam who is trying to find his way in the world and has a tough home life with a jerk of a stepfather. You feel bad for Liam as he does not know who his real father is and that is a huge part of the novel. The truth about his parentage is revealed slowly and we learn that his father, Bran is one of the fey, and Liam has inherited at least some of his father’s dark gifts. This exploration of what Liam is, he has no idea for what feels like eighty percent of the book, is very well done. It kept me wondering and reading. If you like your fiction spoon-fed into your brain and everything explained in exact detail, this is not the book for you. If you prefer realistic, subtle and nuanced fiction, this novel is damn near perfect.

I love books like this that don’t tell too much. I find them much more believable than novels who go into extreme detail about everything and leave little unsaid between the characters. Details can be great, but the mystery keeps me interested and reading onward. Too much explanation actually hurts my suspension of disbelief, and makes a lot of the fantasy elements seem ridiculous, and this book is serious and believable at every turn.

One nitpicky issue: I don’t like the cover that much. It’s a great scene, well painted and on topic as it conveys the right mood, but it’s too dark for my tastes and I think this book deserved a rock star cover. The image for book two is similarly dark, which I suppose is a warning to the readers out there about what to expect in this series, but I wanted images that would POP more.

Moving on . . . The biggest strength of the book: The way Leicht handles the interactions between the characters. The dialogue and the characters’ actual actions are particularly awesome and so realistic. My favorite were the scenes with Liam and his paramour, a strong female character named Mary Kate, who is quite politically minded and wants to be a lawyer. Liam is very strong himself, but he has trouble reading, and is constantly fighting the literal monster within him that is trying to get out and wreak havoc. He’s a tortured hero and his experiences change him over the course of the book a lot. Mary Kate has her own war going during this book and her actions cause a lot of trouble for the both of them.

The other major character is Father Murray, a somewhat hippie Catholic Priest who has a keen interest in young Liam’s supernatural lineage, and the secret war between the Catholic church and the fallen angels who are terrorizing the world. The fey have gotten lumped into the fallen angel category and the Church has been killing them for centuries, not realizing the error of their ways. Of course Father Murray has many secrets and keeps Liam in the dark for most of the book, not telling him what is really going on to the detriment of Liam, really.

The final major character is Liam’s mother, Katherine. She and Father Murray work together to help Liam, though the young man does not feel their assistance is helpful at all, and I would completely agree. You have to be honest with people at some point and Father Murray waited on this until a very bad moment to come clean.

I enjoyed the journey of Liam as he dealt with all the chaos of living in Belfast during the “Time of Troubles” and devoured this book reading it only a few days. It’s stuck with me for some time and that is a mark of a great book. I admit that I had to put it down a few times when certain gut-wrenching events occurred. I’m tough, but I want to warn the squeamish readers that this book might not be for you. There are several scenes of torture and extreme abuse. I think four times I had to put the book down for a few minutes as I recoiled in horror at what was happening, or what had just happened to a beloved character. Of course I couldn’t help myself and went right back to reading after a few minutes and powered ahead as I had to find out what happened next.

The plot and the overall idea of the secret war going on actually reminds me of The Crimson Pact anthology series that I am the editor of, where demons have infested our world (actually many different worlds) and a group of hunters are fighting them. In a way, of Blood and Honey fits perfectly in with the Crimson Pact core idea, which is another reason I loved this book so much.

There were so many twists and turns in of Blood and Honey and it kept me guessing right up to the ending. I’m very excited because I own book two, And Blue Skies from Pain, which continues this novel in a big way. There is so much more to be explored and I trust that the war between the fey and the fallen angels will get more page time in book two and subsequent novels. View it on Amazon.

Highly recommended, Five Stars

Paul Genesse
Author of the Iron Dragon Series and Editor of The Crimson Pact series

Monster Hunter International Role-Playing Game

I just backed an awesome kickstarter that will fund a fun role-playing game, the Monster Hunter International Employee Handbook by Hero Games. I'm a huge fan of the novels and am so excited with the idea of playing in the world Larry Correia created. Check out the video and the link.



Check out the kickstarter site here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/herogames/the-monster-hunter-international-employees-handboo?ref=live

I went in big and will be getting a signed and numbered book if it ends up getting funded, but even small amounts will help out a lot. I'm also excited to read Larry Correia's new book, Monster Hunter Legion, which just came out.

Paul Genesse
Author of the Iron Dragon Series

World Con 2012

Paul's World Con 2012 Schedule


Thursday August 30

Flight 11:20 on Delta
Arrive 3:05 in Chicago

Stay at the Hyatt Regencty Hotel

Faith in Fiction 4:30-6:30
Where: Crystal A
Shanna Swendson-M, Paul Genesse, Tim Akers, Laurel Ann Hill, Isabel Schechter

Friday August 31

Steampunk 1:30-3:00
Where: Gold Coast
Sarah Hans-M, Jay Lake, Michael Coorlim, S.J., Paul Genesse

Autograph session 4:30-6:00
Paul Genesse, Charles Stross, Gra Linnea, Jay Lake, Sharon Shinn

Electronic Publishing
Where: Gold Coast
Eric Flint-M, Paul Genesse Amanda Luedeke, Jason Sizemore, Joshua Bilmes

Saturday September 1
Open

Leave Sunday
Flight at 1:45

A Little Short For An Alien by Frances Pauli

The Genre Underground blog, where I recently did an interview is giving away some free eBooks from authors who are friends of the blog. You can go to http://www.genreunderground.com to learn more. I know that prolific speculative fiction author Frances Pauli, among others is giving away some eBooks. This is time sensitive, so check out Frances' books on her blog and leave a comment to be entered to win a free eBook.

Here's her blog address. http://francespauli.blogspot.com/


Paul Genesse
Author of the Iron Dragon Series and Editor of The Crimson Pact Series

True Blood -esque Novel Set In Russia

(from the season five finale of True Blood on HBO)

I just watched the season finale of True Blood. Wow, what a great ending to the best season in years. I loved it and of course can't wait for the next one, which is going to be so awesome, judging by what they set up in the past ten episodes.

If you miss watching True Blood, check out this novel: Midnight in St. Petersburg, which is a very entertaining urban fantasy novel in the same vein as HBO's True Blood series--which is based on New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels . . . but this book is set in the broken and predatory city of St. Petersburg, Russia, a dirty jewel of a city on the shores of the Baltic. The dark aura of the city radiates from the pages and is always present, watching and waiting to strike the well-drawn characters pulled into its hungry shadow.




Author Barbara J. Webb gives us a fascinating view of the old world and all the supernatural creatures that have been secretly living there for millennia fighting an Invisible War with each other, and against "voiders," humans who use dark magic to level the playing field. St. Petersburg has been the site of many recent murders of vampires and voiders both, and if the killers are not found out soon, the Invisible War will be explode and many more voiders and vampires will die. (read the rest of my review on Amazon.

Genre Underground Interview

Short interview with details on Crimson Pact Vol. 5 and more on the Genre Underground blog published on August 23, 2012. http://www.genreunderground.com

Paul Genesse
Editor of The Crimson Pact anthologies and the Iron Dragon Series
www.paulgenesse.com