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MHI

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We are informed that the Baen version of Larry Correia‘s book Monster Hunter International is on the shelves. And, apparently, flying off of them.

Outstanding. Very good news.

If you like late-night ‘B’ movies; the good guys winning and the bad guys losing; big guns; romance, and good, healthy, creative violence — then you should read buy this book.

Speaking of one of the reasons I like Monster Hunter International, when did vampires — formerly the Varsity team for the Bad Guys — turn into such … wusses?

Seriously, vampires used to have an entire chapter of the Book of Arse Kicking devoted to them. Yes, they had back-stories, but that was just stuff to fill-in after the initial neck-biting, but before the massacre started.

When Gary Oldman’s Dracula lost his girlfriend, did he write bad poetry and mope? No! He took a sword to the interior design, and kicked loyal servants through the bars of their cell.

Not only did Jerry Dandridge fail to agonize over his undead existence, he savoured it. Hell, he even went to the trouble of having dessert after his snacks.

*sigh*

When the vampire appears on the screen, the audience should be urging the heroes to track him down and pound a stake through his undead heart — the audience shouldn’t be wishing that the hero would give the vampire a wedgie and stuff him into a locker.

But that’s just me.

LawDog

Thought for the day
Noshies

33 thoughts on “MHI”

  1. I blame Anne Rice and White Wolf, to be honest.

    They poured a heaping helping of floofyness and angst onto the vampire concept, and soundly screwed it up.

    Hell, even the Japanese can do vampires right. Vampire Hunter D may have looked like a malnourished prettyboy, but he was no slouch in the swordsmanship department.

  2. I think this is actually a deep comment about what American culture has become.

  3. Let's not forget the latest entry in the vampire-wussification series, "Twilight."

    B Woodman
    III

  4. John Steakly's Vampire$, while not the greatest book, had some serious vampires that tore the good guys new one's regularly.

  5. I thought the recent film 30 DAYS OF NIGHT was decently old school. Those bloodsuckers satisfactorily bloodthirsty. But nothing compares to the 1980's film NEAR DARK. Lance Hendriksen, Bill Paxton, and Jeanette Goldstein reunite to portray white trash vampires that Bonnie and Clyde would have fit with in with.

  6. Well… it depends. I was pretty fond of that movie about the toddler hopping vampire. High cute and cuddly factor, which is why the kids of the town protect him like ET.

    OTOH, when he goes into action, his arse-kicking abilities are not too shabby, for a kid born undead, and yet he's likeable. Unlike the baby vampire in Twilight, who is possibly the most annoying kid ever.

  8. Now, as I recall, vampire fiction as a genre got started during Lord Byron's famous opium-fueled ghost story writing competition; the same one that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein for. Why are vampires supposed to be hypersexual globetrotting immortal badasses? Methinks because they all have a little bit of Byron in them.

  9. Got the book on order… now I just have to get home long enough to read it!

  10. Sorry, but until her last book, I liked Charlaine Harris' Southern vampires.
    By the way, the last book was a throwaway money maker (a ploy to which so many authors succumb), so wait for the paperback, or better still, check it out at the library and don't waste your money.
    On another genre, Janet Evanovich has fallen prey to the same thing with her last book.
    We won't even discuss Rick Riordan.
    LawMom

  11. Read Vampire$, great book.
    MHI from Baen just showed up on Thursday. I'm almost half-way through it. The dedication said an earlier volume had a cover design by Oleg Volk. That's something I'd like to see. Kit Conner, one of his friends and occasional models, would have been the definitive Julie Shackelford.

  12. Nick Simmons, sprout of KISS's Gene Simmons and zaftig Shannon Tweed, has a vampirish comic book coming out this August. It's called 'Incarnate' and will be a 3-issue special. Whatever it is, it's bound to be better than 'Twilight' but then, I never went in for romance novels, no matter what the setting.
    LawMom

  13. “…but then, I never went in for romance novels, no matter what the setting.”

    Stephanie, Morelli, 8’ long back seat of the blue Buick? 😉 Please tell me it’s not the latest Plum that’s a dud!

    Regarding vampires, I was never much into the genre.

  14. HerrBGone- It is, indeed, the latest Plum. It's disjointed, poorly composed, hardly organized, and employs way too many -s and ()s. And that's in addition to my usual complaint of the overuse of the word 'couple'…. never couple OF. It would seem Evanovich's vocabulary doesn't include words like 'two,' 'pair,' 'few,' 'duo,'and assorted other synonym-type things.
    And now that I've ruined you for all future Plum books-because, like I do, you'll be counting the 'couples,' I have to say that the latest one didn't hold my attention. Despite the formulaic plots, I've thoroughly enjoyed every previous book.
    As I said, this one is a throwaway.
    LawMom

  15. Thanks for the info on the latest Plum & Stackhouse books. I've been chomping at the bit to get them. I guess lucky for me that my budget does not allow them right now.

  17. Maybe it's because "The monsters of every child's nightmare, they're all real. Except Vampires. Complete and total fiction." – Captain Page, Special Unit 2.

  18. Lawdog…Vampires, Vampires Vampires. I'll check out MHI. The only Vampire type books I have in my collection are the Half Life Chronicles by William Mark Simmons., and the Brian Lumley Necroscope books. Rice makes me want to vomit, Twilight..meh. Charlaine Harris..meh. One book I'm looking forward to won't be out til next year.
    Ever read Tom Kratman's novels? I'm thoroughly drooling over the next book in the 'Legion' series, as I call it. The Lotus Eaters. Set for release at the beginning of April of next year. Then of course there's going to be the waiting for the next Aldenata book by John Ringo. God I love Mighty Mite.

  19. To be fair, Toastrider, White Wolf's splatbooks were pretty clear that 1) the average vampire does not angst over their undead state, and 2) they consider themselves above the mortals they feed on, the same way we consider ourselves to be above the cows that become the burgers we eat.

    The angsty vampire only came into vogue when the angsty emo teens jumped at the concept of playing as vampires, and created Mary Sues who were themselves in vampire form.

  20. I picked up my copy Saturday and saw your endorsement.

    Good job to you and Peter.

    WV: dings

    I kid you not. 🙂

  22. Brigid: Want a good werewolf? The name you're looking for is Patricia Briggs.

    Her writing is far better than is the norm for the "Female-oriented-paranormal" genre… she actually had a career writing before the Mercedes books came out, and her skill puts her head and shoulders above the vast majority of that genre.

    Give her a shot: she's worth your time.

  23. The happy elves from the USPS brought my copy today.

    Well, I don't know if they are happy elves, but I sure am.

    *spoiler alert*

    Although I will never see elves in the same light again after chapter 12…

  24. Heh, heh!

    Larry, wait 'til you get later into the book and see what else shows up! Skippy and Ed.

  25. I spent all night reading this book. Awesome stacked two miles high!
    Now I'm anxiously awaiting a sequel.

  26. My wife just burned through her long-awaited copy and turned it over to me last night. Started this morning, got to the shotgun range scene before finishing breakfast.

    Now I'm trying to turn her to One Foot in the Grave. . .

  27. I've got it(MHI) ordered from amazon(along with a bunch of other books), it's delaying the order a bit, but I'll get it in about two weeks.

    I figure I gotta check it out after all the hubbub about it in various blogs I read. 😉

  28. I did my part to help the book "fly" off the shelves–I forced a co-worker to buy his own copy after I waved my copy under his nose (and allowed him to peruse it). However, I did loan my copy to my daddy, after I finished it of course; he's my daddy after all.

    Ditto on Patricia Briggs. I just started her "Cry Wolf" novel after having it recommended by a woman at the bookstore where I bought MHI. I couldn't get her interested in MHI, but I did turn her on to Jane Lindskold's Royal Wolf books.

  29. A co-worker loaned me his copy and I can honestly say this is the way monsters are supposed to be, particularly the Vamps. My personal favorite line from the book:

    "I don't do redemption."

  30. Ok, after you recommended the book I bought it this week and have been hooked hard! This is a awesome book and I'm already lining up to buy a few MHI patches! No more wussy vampires and monsters. And I love "Z's" new shotgun. 😉 (NO spoilers!) Give me a few ideas for conversion on my shotgun. 😀

  31. For vampire books I stay with the original: Dracula by Brahm Stoker. Hey, non-emo vampires and showdowns that involve Winchesters and Bowie knives. What's not to like?

  32. You should look for "Twilight with Hamburgers" on Youtube. It brings clarity to the issue of a mentally ill vampire who treats a person as a love interest.

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