Thanks to him, I'm reading Monster Hunter International
for the first time, making me probably the last gun blogger to do so.For the four of you readers who haven't yet read it, let me summarize:
If you're looking for the next Pride And Prejudice or even the next Bonfire of the Vanities, this ain't it.
If you're just into SF, Action, or that genre they've taken to calling "urban fantasy", then you'll probably like it.
And if you're an internet gun nerd, well, here's the first book that was tailor-written just for you. It's all here: all the memes, tropes, characters, and zombies (and werewolves and vampires oh my!) Heck, the review blurb on the back cover isn't from the New York Times or Kirkus Reviews, it's from Bayou Renaissance Man.
Further, Stephen Hunter and John Ringo just won't read the same anymore, because Larry raises the bar for realistic gunplay in this book. Back when he was still shooting Three Gun competitions seriously, he was good enough to be shooting OPA (that's "Other People's Ammunition", for the uninitiated,) and he's owned a machine gun store; if he says it can be done with a gun, it's probably because he did it. MHI is to gun books what Way of the Gun
is to gun movies. Except with monsters; which is even cooler.
"Heck, the review blurb on the back cover isn't from the New York Times or Kirkus Reviews, it's from Bayou Renaissance Man. "
ReplyDeleteThat was one of my favorite things about the cover of the book:)
It's a good book. I just read it last week while on vacation in Virginia Beach. Correia has a blog, too.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget LawDog on the front cover, either. And it's one of those books, for me, where I'll need several copies, because I keep loaning it to somebody. It's gotten universal high marks from everyone my copy has gone to.
ReplyDeletewv: ingeona - What an Italian gun nut might say of Larry's writing.
MHI was only the second book I've ever read (in July of this year, no less), and I managed to read it before you?
ReplyDeletePriorities. Get them;)
Soooooo... now I (movie guy) guess I need to watch Way of the Gun then.
Priorities. Right. I'm on it.
tweaker
And there I was embarrassed to have read it for the first time while attending the Gun Bloggers Rendezvous...
ReplyDeleteI may be ahead of the Tam Power Curve again someday, but it will probably involve an obscure Pacific Northwest Micro Brew that hasn't hit Flyover Country yet.
I am about half way through the book myself. They have just finished a major battle with scary monsters. Your review looks spot on so far. Gripping battle scenes, a bit of humor, way cool guns, and a world in which all the monsters from film and fiction are part of the landscape makes for a pretty good read.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually re-reading it right now. Enough time has passed that a lot of the little moments are surprises again.
ReplyDeleteI was taken aback when people mentioned Lawdog and Bayou RM on the cover blurbs . . . I bought two copies when the Baen edition came out on general pro-Larry principles, and I never looked closely enough at the blurbs to notice them.
Tam, are you starting with the Baen edition? I recommend it. I like Oleg's cover better, but the Baen version has been subjected to very heavy copy editing that makes it much easier to read.
Is there a link to Oleg's cover anywhere? While I enjoyed the book (okay, giggled with glee while reading), I find most genre covers to be...marginal, and this one wasn't an exception.
ReplyDeleteYou're just now reading it?
ReplyDeleteTam, don't take this the wrong way, but wow... what the hell is wrong with you?
Classic literature it ain't, but it wasn't supposed to be. It reads better than most of what else is out there in the pulp paperback market and clearly Larry has actually handled a real boomstick, unlike most authors.
Oh, thank goodness. I'm not the last gunblogger to have not read it.
ReplyDeleteI loved it until a certain character went completely 180 degrees out of character (I won't spoil it; you'll know it when you see it). After that, even though the action was still awesome, I couldn't muster more than a 'meh.' Which is too bad, because like I said, I really really liked it up to that point.
ReplyDeleteIf you're looking for the next Pride And Prejudice or even the next Bonfire of the Vanities
ReplyDeleteForced to read the former in College and never got past the first chapter or so of the latter, so no, as a matter of fact, I am NOT looking for the next one of either.
Now MHI II, THAT I am looking for! Larry goes on my list of "buy anything by" with Drake, Ringo, and Flint.
Ah, but do any of you have a custome engraved MHI logo on the sideplate of your 625? No? Didn't think so. *swaggers off and tries not to trip over the cat*
ReplyDeleteW/V "calven" A gathering of Wiccan cows?
Damn - I only just discover John Ringo and now I have to read MHI, too? Do you think I'm made of free time or what? Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteWell you're not the last, but it is sitting in my 'to read' pile waiting for me to finish the 'sea of time' series
ReplyDeletethe elves made me giggle...
ReplyDeleteThe elves made me giggle too. :)
ReplyDeleteTam, I'm glad you like it. I've got 4 more books planned right now with Baen. The second is called Monster Hunter Vendetta, and will be out in Fall 2010. Then is Monster Hunter Alpha (the Earl Harbinger book), and there is a 3rd Owen book. Then I've got another series that Baen is going to publish as well, but no dates on that yet.
It has been doing really good, primarily because of the high literacy rate in the gun blogger community. :)
Randy -- Add Kratman to your list as well.
ReplyDeleteTam, we'll expect a review when you're done....
ReplyDeleteLet this be a lesson to all; this is the drawback to full-time gainful employment (in a factory at least) ... you're the last to have a chance to say, "You're entirely welcome". :)
ReplyDeleteMy only criticism of Larry's description of gun handling is the apparent lack of difficulty transitioning from training technique to actual fight conditions. He makes mention of the distinction, but doesn't depict it as I had anticipated. Yeah, yeah; at some point the actual story telling has to overtake the training seminar. And I'm grateful for a really good story, too; I just thought a telling character development opportunity was under-utilized, that's all.
Enjoy the books Tam, but you're really going to have to explain the whole Watchman thing to me sometime.
I need to get me a copy...
ReplyDeletealso, if any of the readers want a good fantasy read that was a decade early in it's publishing...
Try Term Limits by by Vince Flynn. real wag the dog, but in an oh so good way!
btw, I read your blog, and many others daily... keep on writing!
Took you long enough!
ReplyDeleteHeck I'm on the other side of the pond and I've read it already!
Original MHI Cover.
ReplyDeleteThe original cover is what made everyone want the patches . . . but Baen has a lot invested in its brand, and their covers tend to be readily identifiable as Baen covers.
What I don't get about the cover is that it sure looks to me like they put Grant on the cover instead of Owen. ;)
MHI is geil!
ReplyDeleteI read Larry's self-published version, then pre-ordered half a dozen of the Baen edition from Amazon. I gave one to a guy last week who told me yesterday that he'd since been telling all of his buddies about it. He asked me where he could buy more copies and said that he wanted to write to Larry (worry not, he's a decent young man).
ReplyDeleteHe pointed out that, unlike other SF and mil-fic novels that he knows, MHI is about "people like us." They're not starship captains or part of a military culture. They're private citizens and gun gamers and the like. Important to him was that the characters talk like ordinary people, not like physics professors or SpecOps types from the movies. I mentioned Amazon and Barnes & Noble, then showed him Larry's blog. I don't know whether or not the guy has noticed the MHI patch on my laptop bag. ;)
wv is "franatic," no kidding.