Larry Correia

Warbound is the third and final instalment of the Grimnoir Chronicles. it is an alternate 1930s and Jack Sullivan has gathered a group of Grimnoir knights and has headed to China. Along with Toru, the son of the true Chairman of the Imperium, they plan to unmask the false Chairman who is now aiding the Pathfinder, an alien intent on stealing the power which fuels all magic on earth. Meanwhile, Faye has gone to Europe to find out what her role as Spellbound really means and why the Council is show more trying to assassinate her.

This is a hard book to categorize. it is urban fantasy but also alternate history and noir. And, if I'm being honest, I am not sure why I enjoy these books so much. This is a tale of good versus evil and there are no nuances in either the story or the characters who are one dimensional, more like comic book characters without any real discernible personalities. Take away their magic and they are pretty much interchangeable and that includes Faye, the rare woman who, if anything, is even more violent than the male characters if that's possible

And the story is over-the-top uberviolent, the characters are all blood-soaked and revelling in it:

"She reached down, grabbed him by the arm, not even that hard, mind you, and his bones snapped like brittle twigs. Faye had surprised herself. The Heavy bellowed.
Fun as that was, that big Russian grenade was about to go off, Faye focused...and stepped outside.
She was whistling through the sky. The Pacific Ocean was bright blue and pretty. It was a beautiful day."

The most interesting new character is a bona fide psychopath and proud of it but, in reality, the only reason one can differentiate him from the rest of the cast is because the book tells us so. Otherwise, well, they all pretty much seem like psychopaths on both sides of this fight. If the author didn't tell us who to root for, it'd be hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. It's all kind of like a gigantic MMA match with ninjas, magic, dirigibles, aliens, lots of guns, swords, bazookas, and no rules.

And yet...and yet...it is so much damn fun. It is heart-pounding, non-stop, adrenaline soaked action, the kind that keeps you up at night reading despite the important meeting in the morning. It is, in short, the literary equivalent of bungee-jumping off of high bridges, completely nuts, and oh so addicting. show less

My best friend and I have had an ongoing discussion about series, which came up again as i was telling him about this read. His problem with series is that often, the main character becomes so powerful that he is no longer believable. Owen could easily have gone there, but in this book he escapes that fate. The Monster Hunter series starts out stretching your suspension of disbelief in human physics and anatomy as it is, so I can easily accept 0wen as he is, god touched, and highly show more competent. Own is a lovable buffoon at times in this book, but Larry leavens this with the difficult decisions that Owen must make in relation to his family, his dad, Mosh, Julie, and finally and tragically his team.

With the introduction to the team of a new arch nemesis for Earl Harbinger and MHI, and the introduction of Earl’s girlfriend Heather to the rest of the team, this book is a satisfying continuation of the Monster Hunter series. The introduction of the global teams was fun to read, and the character of Management made me laugh out loud. show less

You ever lose your TV remote? Sucks, doesn't it? Imagine that TV also happened to stop on Fox News channel too. You would get pretty angry as well, huh?

Clearly that is exactly the series of events that lead to this epic failure.

I don't disagree with some of the politics that Mr. Correia espoused [shoved] in this story, and I can see that he's blowing off steam at his perception of the state of American politics. Some of it could be funny. The part that made this story so incredibly tacky is show more a simplification and condescension of some current and complex political & social sticking points.

The Occupy Wall Street movement portions of this book show a Fox News level of understanding of the events that happened. The irony of their occupation and non-statement flew right over Mr. Correia's head, so he grasped onto anything that would make it make sense to him... hence the TV channel stuck on Fox News... and hence making him becoming angry since that's Fox's preferred mode of communication.

Further, Mr. Correia's personification of the American health care system as some insurance salesmen-cum-superheroes is so har-har jokey that it drips with tackiness. He, in the 2 hours it took to listen, consistently, and with maximum condescension, diminishes the struggle that an American has with our healthcare systems. Personally, I was a victim in a car accident, and lost a lot during the recession (my job, my healthcare, my house, nearly $1 million in car accident hospital bills). Mr. Correia displayed epic levels of righteousness, almost like he's flaunting his personal lack of adversity in the face of his fans and listeners. As if he deserves better treatment than I do, since he hasn't suffered personal trauma on the level that takes years of physical and financial recovery.

I wish I never heard of this book. I was really enjoying some of Mr Correia's books, and I hope I can again. Now, I can't think of his work separate from his asinine level of entitlement.

1 extra star for the amazingly good narration. show less

No bones about it: I am a slow reader. Worse, I am a serial book buyer and starter, and years can pass after I buy a book before I actually start it, to say nothing of finish it.

Except for anything by Larry Correia.

Somehow, Correia has figured out the secret combination to writing novels that are fun, satisfying, and one hundred percent engrossing. If you're going to interrupt me while I'm in the middle of one of his novels, the house better be on fire. Not because I won't come otherwise, show more but because I may not notice the interruption at all. Correia hasn't not win any literary awards for his prose (at least not from the over-cultured classes of literary fart sniffers), but he's going to win the award that matters most: eyes on pages and dollars in the bank.

Monster Hunter Nemesis is the fifth installment in the Monster Hunter International series, and like others in the series, the story can stand alone (although it does tie in to an arc that connects the entire series).

Nemesis turns to the infamous Agent Franks, a reoccurring character in the previous novels. He is the US government's last resort for all monster related disturbances. If there's a monster sighting--be it vampire, zombie, or demon--Franks is sent into the field to, literally, crack a few heads, obliterate the monster, and restore order. He's the absolute worst combination of the best and the worst you can expect from the federal government: a very effective bureaucrat with single-minded purpose and no sense of morality, but the execution of his duty.

As a personality, there's always something just a little off about him. Other characters treat him with a mixture of fear, respect, and hate, and Agent Franks does nothing to dissuade them of these. And, you can't really blame them. He's mean, he's ruthless, and he has all the personality of a low functioning sociopath. Franks' job is to fight the existential and supernatural threats to humanity, and it's not his fault that he lacks all the sympathies, qualities, and emotions that makes humanity redeemable.

In short, he hasn't got many friends. It makes him an easy target when a shadowy rival government agency set out to replicate, and replace, Agent Franks. A big target, but not an easy one, I should say, if Agent Franks has anything to do with it.

The thing is, the supernatural attacks are getting worse. As has been foreshadowed in previous Monster Hunter books, something is trying to break through, enslave the Earth, and harvest its inhabitants souls. Call it Cthulhu or shaggoth, it's a threat reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft, and it's a danger to everything under God's creation. Indeed, God might have a word or two to say about making sure his Creation can avoid enslavement by other dimensional beings.

With Nemesis, Correia takes this uncharitable and unlikable character and puts him at the center of the story as the protagonist.

And boy does he protag (as Howard Tayler would say). This is Franks' origin story, and with it, Correia spins him into a sympathetic character, showing him competent and effective and active in controlling his destiny. The pages fly by, thick with action.

If you're looking for an emotionally charged, literary soap opera, this is not the place to look. There are no weighty, emotionally charged passages about social inequality and unfairness. Rather, its escapist, pitting Frankenstein's monster, werewolves, assault weapons, and humans in the middle of the fight between heaven and hell and--

Oh, yeah. Did I mention that the bad guy in Nemesis really is one of the original the Bad Guys that figure prominently in Milton's Paradise Lost? One of the best things about Correia's Monster Hunter International world is that no mythology, legend or religion is really out-of-bounds. From H.P. Lovecraft to modern Christianity (with a hat-tip to Mormonism, too, if you're paying attention), Correia works it in to his world. The boundless limits of his story telling gives him broad latitude, creates resonance that the tough-guy exterior of the novel belies, and carries nuggets of depth at unexpected moments.

That's right. Monster Hunter Nemesis might make you think.

Content Warning: I hate to include content warnings, but since not everyone who reads this site is over 18, I feel like Nemesis merits a warning. Be aware that there is occasional swearing and cussing in Correia's novels. I don't think it's necessary--I just finished John D. Brown's Bad Penny that had characters far tougher and rougher than anyone in Monster Hunter Nemesis, and I didn't see him resort to any cussing. However, it is Correia's prerogative. Just be aware, before you crack the cover, that if you are bothered by swearing you might find the occasional offensive word in the dialogue. show less