“GO BIG OR GO HOME
When Monster Hunter International’s top hunter, Owen Zastava Pitt, was given a tip about some hunters who had gone missing in action, he didn’t realize their rescue mission would snowball into the single biggest operation in MHI’s history. Their men are being held prisoner in a horrific nightmare dimension, and the only way to reach them is through the radioactive ruins of a monster-infested war zone.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, it’s also the home base of the powerful creature behind the devastating attacks on the Last Dragon and Copper Lake. It turns out ancient gods of chaos really hate trespassers. But this god picked a fight with the wrong crew, and now MHI wants payback. Calling on their allies, a massive expedition is formed, and with the odds stacked against them, a legion of hunters goes to war.”
Monster Hunter Siege by Larry Correia is the sixth book in The Monster Hunter International Series. The premise of the Monster Hunter Series is that creatures of myth and legend exist, and the Monster Hunters are private contractors who destroy them when they pose a threat. I’ve now read a few of this series and it’s entertaining. This is not a thought-provoking or intellectual series, the books are (typically) just mindless entertainment and a fast, easy read.
I’m disappointed to say that this book is not as good at the others.
Monster Hunter Siege starts out with a bang, as Mr. Correia goes back thirty years in the prologue to give us some backstory. It’s a little rushed, but entertaining.
From there, the book slows down and stays slow for over half of the book. The dialogue is clumsy, and a huge portion of the book is simply preparing for the big fight. There isn’t much in the way of character building and there is none of the fast-paced action we have come to expect (and love). A little over halfway through, the book picks up speed and you once again have a mindlessly enjoyable read.
The basic premise is pretty typical as the main characters find they are forced to charge head first into battle to take on a powerful demi-god type creature before he can bring about the apocalypse. Unfortunately, a lot of the action seems to happen ‘off-camera’ so you only get a few really good fight scenes and the full potential for ‘badassery’ doesn’t happen.
It seems that the whole point of the novel was to set up the cliffhanger which leads into the next book (I hope).
Monster Hunter Siege gets 2.5 stars
Written by: Larry Correia
Cover Art by: Alan Pollack
Published by: Baen Books
How we rate our Books
1 = We finished the book with effort
2 = Readable, but more fluff than substance
3 = Good
4 = Pretty Good and worth passing on to your friends
5 = We couldn’t put the book down
