Larry Correia\u2019s Monster Hunter series has been a fun experience for me.\u00a0 His stories feature heroic monster hunters battling the unalloyed evil of the world\u2019s varied monster population.\u00a0 The Shacklefords and their associates have turned wholesale slaughter of the undead into a lucrative enterprise but one that has taken its toll on the family.\u00a0 Included in this attrition are three recent victims who have been turned respectively, into a werewolf and two master vampires.\u00a0 But what makes it a pleasure is that none of the monsters and none of the hunters ever seem tempted to wax poetic on the need to increase the world quotient of social justice.\u00a0 The diversity of the characters is measured in species of monsters dispatched or the variety of allied supernatural creatures such as trailer-park dwelling elves, death-metal loving orcs and gangsta gnomes who get featured in a story.\u00a0 Correia never once discusses the need to ascertain the correct gender fluid pronouns of any zombies before blowing their heads off with a rocket propelled grenade.\u00a0 So, the books are very much action oriented.\u00a0 Shooting monsters is their forte.<\/p>\n
But I am happy to relate that Larry\u2019s storytelling abilities are definitely becoming more nuanced.\u00a0 In Siege one of the highlights of the book is a sustained dialog between the protagonist (Owen Pitt) and his nemesis.\u00a0 In this scene Correia gives the devil his due.\u00a0 In fact, I think his evil character may actually seal the show.\u00a0 Of course, there is still plenty of combat and monsters being blown up.\u00a0 And Larry further clarifies the mythology of his universe.\u00a0 So never fear, there\u2019s plenty of explosions to warm the heart of all Monster Hunter fans.\u00a0 But Larry is definitely steering the series into a more complicated plot.\u00a0 Larry has shown that he is not averse to killing off some of his characters.\u00a0 And some of that goes on in Siege.\u00a0 But what is also clarified is that he is braiding at least five separate strands of supernatural intervention and even some of the \u201cgood guys\u201d may not get along together.\u00a0 So, we shouldn\u2019t expect any imminent resolution of the larger threat that has been growing in the background.\u00a0 If anything, the details at the end of Siege further complicate the future for Owen and his family.\u00a0 But that\u2019s alright.\u00a0 Larry seems in control of his material and expanding the scope of the story to epic proportions.<\/p>\n
So, if you are already a Monster Hunter fan then the good news is that Siege is a very worthy successor to the series.\u00a0 And if you are new to the series then rest assured that your investment will pay off with an already good number of sequels to satisfy your monster killing quota and with every indication that Larry will continue to expand the Monster Hunter saga into an urban fantasy franchise comparable in size and quality to Jim Butcher\u2019s Dresden files.\u00a0 The only shortcoming to the story is that the only mention of Agent Franks is retrospective to the previous book.\u00a0 We\u2019ll have to wait for the next book to see his smiling face.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Larry Correia\u2019s Monster Hunter series has been a fun experience for me.\u00a0 His stories feature heroic monster hunters battling the unalloyed evil of the world\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[241,237,4,242],"tags":[30,68,200,8,31,1052,265,59],"class_list":["post-2899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-reviews","category-sff","category-sff-book-reviews","tag-agent-franks","tag-book-review","tag-fantasy","tag-larry-correia","tag-monster-hunter","tag-owen-zastava-pitt","tag-science-fiction","tag-urban-fantasy"],"yoast_head":"\n