Monster Hunter International: Review thread with SPOILERS!!!

Sounds like a shameless plug to me.


Good luck with your book sales.

Just ordered my copy after reading the other thread and the sample first chapter. Eagerly awaiting the delivery from Amazon.

I have spent a significant amount of time reading, editing and revising student work and a BA in English. There is one thing that annoyed me while reading the first chapter. The overuse of the word "I". If you go back and look, it is used copiously and it got a bit distracting. Generally speaking, and take no offense please, but using "I" that much is generally a sign of weak writing. Of course, being "written" from the characters pov could be a defense for that.

Otherwise, the hook was there as well as a building suspense of what is to come. I look forward to seeing the plot unfold.

Things I thought were great:
The elves. I was laughing so hard I couldn't read at the Enchanted Forest Trailer Park. The queen being on disability was (unable to describe how funny I found that.)
The guns. I was a bit concerned that the descriptions might be preachy, but that wasn't the case at all. (I remember reading one series where each gun had a paragraph plus description and it really detracted from the story.) I enjoyed the diverse weaponry and can dream about building my own Abomination.
The characters. I really enjoyed the diversity of characters. MHI felt like a big dysfunctional but caring family. Reminded me of all my college friends.

I was able to mildly predict the plot. I was pretty sure good would triumph and the guy would get the girl, etc. I was able to guess that the prophecy was referring to him as soon as I read it. (The being named after a weapon gave it away.) The mom being a vampire definitely caught me off guard, and the notes on the porch at the end were amusing and a great way to close that storyline.

What's Franks story? Is he just stronger than Z? Is he some sort of being like Earl? From the sounds of it, that'll be covered in MHI II.
Will we be introduced to Mosh Pitt in MHI II?

I kind of just rambled through what I remember. I've already lent the book out, so I can't refer to it to see if anything else catches my eye. I read a lot. Usually 1-2 books/week. Mainly military sci-fi, fantasy, pro-2nd, etc. right now (John Ringo, Michael Z. Williamson, to name two authors that come to mind.) This was the first book in a while that I could not put down and stayed up all night reading. The last one being the final Harry Potter.

Thanks for a good book.

It seems most people are enjoying the book, congratulations on the start of your successes. And congrats on actually finishing a book and still having enough fuel left for a second, I know how hard it can be to even put the second chapter down sometimes. (I usually find the first chapter easy, after that it's all a struggle).

I just finished MHI and was/am very impressed with it. Larry, I can't believe that most of the publishers would be so critical of your work and telling you it 'might' not sell, considering all the of the sci-fi books that are published and dont even come close to this.

Anyway, I would highly recommend MHI to anyone who loves a good sci-fi book.

Jay

P.S. - Any clue on when the sequel will be coming?

Larry -- great story. I just wish it was twice as long. (Easy for me to say, I know...) So glad you're doing #II. Your wife's a genius with her idea about the elves - laughed my butt off...

Great story, huge action, love the guns!

Larry, if you do not send me MHI II... next time I'm in SLC, I will place an "I BRAKE FOR KITTENS" bumper sticker on your truck.

Great read, reminded me of some of the books by John Ringo. Loved the elves. I grew up in south Shelby County just outside of Shelby, AL. My Grandpa always had lots of bugger and haint stories so I knew Alabama is infested with supernatural types.

Keep up the good work.

Greg

I found it interesting in that it is darn near written as a screenplay... A little adaptation, a little cleanup, and you've got at least a good Grade B movie... I could see someone as twisted as Peter Jackson having a grand old time with it... And getting a few of the actors who did elves in LOTR to rehash the parts...

So... How much do those Saigas kick, anyway? Barrel's low, right? Straight back, pretty much? I'm not a tiny little microperson, and the thing sounds interesting...

I'm only on page 86, so I'm trying not to see any spoilers here.

I found a minor technical nit to pick. MI-24 hinds don't hover (or if they do it's for a very short time). A significant portion of their lift comes from what's generated by their winglettes in forward flight.

Other than that, I'm lovin it!

Edit: Never mind. It was explained. Magic.

I finished it last night. It was a fun read! It's good to see a Southern-based novel. I did guess most of the plot when I got to the prophesy. I thought you handled the time loop and 'pocket universe' really well. I think this was the first time in my life I ever rooted for the orcs to win.
There were no zombies! Promise us there will be zombies in MHI II!

I read it as soon as the mailman gave it to me a couple of days ago -- It was an extremely well written and ENTERNAINING book!

A quite a few things that gave me laughs in the book, specifically the elves trailer park Also a lot of the dialogue was great, good humor in there. A few twists kept the book very interesting, much like susan being a vampire, etc. The technical aspects were awesome.

I would acutally be hard pressed to suggest anything to be changed... and that is a GOOD thing! I'm really glad I got in the pre-order and I will too on MHI:2.. Now to post my review on amazon.

I guess this is my chance to say since I kind of had a head start.

My favorite part is when Owen is trying to sleep, and a silky nightgown walks into his room. Steamy things start happening, as they tend to do, and Owen is narrowly saved from making home base with a woman who has no pulse.

Shortly thereafter comes the best joke of the book, IMO. I won't spoil that, though.

Wes

Larry, seriously, Robert Rodriguez NEEDS to see the thing. In a big way. Get addresses for him and QT, and get it to 'em...

Now, who to play Owen...

I have my own Abomination. Great minds Finished it earlier today and feel especially giddy when Abomination plays a main role of the protagonist. Loved it!



I hope some fanart comes of this. We definitely need some illustrations for some of these characters!

Speaking for all of the 6'4" +, 275lbs 'galoots' in the world, thank you for giving us a hero we can look up to, Larry. It's not every day that someone writes about a big ol' hoss who goes out and delivers monster justice at the end of an "Abomination." And he gets the girl to boot!

Great story. Very well written. I can't critique it any more than the next guy, except to say I did see the prophecy coming along with the rest of you guys. Eh, who cares? I just wanted to see how the book ends. There were a couple of great surprises in there and some fantastic story-telling. As much as I tried, I did not want to put the book down.

I think the two things I enjoyed most were your off-beat descriptions of some of the fairy tale creatures (redneck Elves, Headbanger Orcs...what's next? Italian leprechauns?), and the relationship between the Old Man and 'Z'. Great stuff.

The one thing that makes a book a GREAT book for me is if I can lay down at night and fall asleep imagining myself in the main character's place. This was one of those books. I'd love to see how it would play out on the big screen some day.

Conga Rats on a fantastic book, Larry! Consider me first in line, or darn near first, for MHI-II.

BTW, any chance you are gonna gin up some more MHI patches? Maybe some patches in the different MHI team logos? I'm a patch-a-holic and enjoy collecting obscure and goofy patches. I pinned my MHI patch to my range bag and have been telling everyone who asks about your book. You might be getting more Houston orders because of that.

frostbiker I'm with you. Big guys need heroes too.

My only gripe with the entire book is that the magic of the old ones healed Z completely.

It was kinda like an 'oh hey big guy, don't worry - we'll make you healthy enough to keep this going'

small gripe but hey we're throwing it all out there.

I really liked the wreaths. cool characters with their 'freeze' ability, but still relatively weak.. . I would like to see more of the wendigo too. seems like a cool monster. I want to see more of the 'good monsters as well in the second book!

great read! thanks again!

Larry, just so you know, my girlfriend said more than a few unkind things about you... We had to run down to Kentucky this past weekend, and she read the thing while I drove... She's a bit of a "vampire novel" and "fantasy" fan, and this was a bit of a trip.

She wants to read the next one.

Now.

Dammit.

NOW! You are _not_ writing rapidly enough. She will NOT accept the fact that this is the _only_ published MHI book.

(and it hurts REALLY bad when she hits you in the shoulder after learning the truth about elves...)

MHI

I saw Larry at the Gun show Saturday,

I didn't get pick the book up from him yet as I haven't decided how I want it inscribed.

What do you think Larry should write on the inside for me or for you?
Clark Aposhian