It's a great pulp ridden read, full of witty dialogue and blood soaked ichor. Larry really knows how to tease out mysteries to keep you going and wondering about what happens next as well as compelling action scenes and enough monsters and creature references from beyond - to appeal to all of my faithful readers (YOU).
Like Hellboy it mixes all kinds of pulpy things I love and sets it in the modern era, and like Hellboy I'm kicking myself that I took so long to get around to reading it. I've personally known Larry for several years and he is a pretty cool dude. I'm really looking forward to catching up on the multiple books I've got to catch up on.
We begin Owen Pitt discovering his boss is a werewolf and about to eat him - following the American Dream, he sends his boss out a fourteen story window killing him and getting a job offer with the worlds premier monster killing outfit = MHI.
I don't want to throw in any spoilers as Pitt along with the reader discovers this secret world kept from the public at large, but needless to say its a lot of action-packed fun. Loads of little monster references (and others) that I really got a kick out of = inside type jokes etc that you don't need to be friends with Larry to get by any means. Great stuff is set up for the sequels but its also a very well done self contained novel. Larry is a writer that I greatly admire from both his writing work ethic and the mantra he told me over dinner at Fantasycon = "First and foremost - please the reader." I may be paraphrasing that but it hit home and MHI does it in spades.
Highly recommended.
I had no end of Larry's fans commenting "Mini Me" jokes when I shared this on facebook.
4 comments:
LOL about the MIni me. Wow that guy is purty big.
I, too, have Larry's books on my shelf. The first of Monster Hunter and the first of Hard Magic. I need to move them up in the priority list.
I've only read a couple of his stories for the IRON KINGDOMS anthologies and the kickoff of the new epic fantasy series he had in SHATTERED SHIELDS. The others are on my TBR shelf (real and virtual). If they're half as good as the short fiction of his I've read, he's going to be a staple of my reading. I'm also going to have to move them up in priority.
He is big Charles.
Yeah, I'll read his Hard Magic sometime soon.
Cool Keith, I still need to check it out Shattered Shields/Iron Kingdoms.
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