Monster Hunter International

De: Larry Correia

Narrado por: Oliver Wyman

Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a 14th story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer.

It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.

It's actually a pretty sweet gig, except for one little problem. An ancient entity known as the Cursed One has returned to settle a centuries-old vendetta. Should the Cursed One succeed, it means the end of the world, and MHI is the only thing standing in his way.

With the clock ticking towards Armageddon, Owen finds himself trapped between legions of undead minions, belligerent federal agents, a cryptic ghost who has taken up residence inside his head, and the cursed family of the woman he loves. Business is good.... Welcome to Monster Hunter International.

©2009 Larry Correia (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Killin’s my business and business is fine

This audiobook has monsters of impossible, mind-bending proportions. The main villain, the “Cursed One,” is not just a mwahaha villain – we also get inside his head through his memories in Owen’s ghost-guided dream/nightmares that recall C.O.’s journey from a “mean son-of-a-bitch” conquistador to one very megalomaniacal, unearthly, tentacled, flesh-wriggling being who is intent of stopping time itself. I think I’m in love with Owen Z. Pitt, who’s inherently epic, but it’s hard to let the listener know how epic Owen is through first-person narration without it sounding over-the-top or silly. Like when a master vampire tells Owen he has the strongest will of any mortal she’s ever met, or when one guys says to the other that he shouldn’t mess with Owen because he has “one hundred pounds of muscle” on him. Or worse yet, when Julie reads his file and we find out Owen’s a marksman/genius. This book is cliché in the best way possible. It's like 1 part monsterish gore, 1 part comedy, and 1 part all sorts of artillery. It's like Hot Fuzz.

Oliver Wyman is great. This is the first time I heard him read, and his style is perfect for Monster Hunter International. He has a rather macho tone with just a bit of immaturity, and again, the term “epic” comes to mind to describe his style. His reading of female voices didn’t make me burst out laughing, which is what usually happens when I listen to male narrators read girls’ voices. The only thing that jarred me was how seriously Oliver Wyman took those vocal direction. I usually comment on whether narrators do a good or bad job at distinguishing internal monologue with external speak when audiobooks are in first-person, like this one. The listener has no problem with distinguishing the two in Monster Hunter International, because Oliver Wyman reads the directions in a rather calm soft voice, while reading the actual words with the proper emphasis, instead of splitting the two.

over the top in a good way

Any additional comments?

bruce campbell meets arnold schwarzenegger in a b-movie loaded with big guns, big baddies, and one-liners with a love story to boot.* i didn't even mention the lovecraftian slant!

yes, this book is over the top but in a good way! there are huge battle scenes reminiscent of the lord of the rings movies, full of rampaging zombies, vampires, and werewolves.

if you're a zombie lover like me, there are cool zombies in this book, called whites.

i haven't read many books about werewolves or vampires, but both are well done here. the author does a good job of conveying their power and their fearsome nature.

even though, i didn't really like the star wars reboot (george lucas wasn't dark enough. christopher nolan of batman fame should've directed the rise of darth vader and the fall of anakin skywalker), i thought of it while listening to monster hunter international. why? let me explain. another aspect of the book i enjoyed was seeing the rise of the bad guy, seeing how he was utterly corrupted by his lust for power.

yes, this is a long book, but you never get bogged down nor lose interest. there's a large cast of characters, but you don't get lost in who's who. larry correia does a good job creating unique and memorable characters.

overall, i thoroughly enjoyed this book. i liked it enough to snap up the next 2 books in the series and am eagerly awaiting the release of the 4th book in the series.

* NOTE: I am a 30 something male so younger readers may only know bruce campbell from his cameos in the spiderman reboot. sam raimi directed the spiderman reboot, but before that, he directed a trilogy of evil dead movies, which are classic for their slapstick and gore, provided by bruce campbell. also, younger readers may only know arnold schwarzenegger as the "governator" of california and from his latest movies. arney cut his chops in the 1980's making ultra-violent movies with big guns and clever one-liners. imho, those were his best movies.

A lot of fun to listen to!

This was a great story for those who love a good combination of humor, drama, action with some differant kinds of super heroes thrown in. Love the narrator too!

Great Fun

A must for any horror fan the book contains equal parts horror, action and humor. Mr. Wyman is superb in his narration. Highly recommended.

decent story, uninspiring characters.

Interesting premise, characters were pretty bland and a bit forced on "charm." Annoying heavy handed political views peppered through out. Narrator was a bit too dramatic and long on the pauses. played better at 1.3 speed