Beanbag Love

What can I say? I'm crazy about this series.

Monster Hunter Legion takes place largely in Las Vegas during a convention of monster eradication companies. This was a great premise, IMO, because we'd read in earlier books about other monster hunting companies, but we really hadn't met any worthy of the vocation. So getting competitive, slightly insane mercenaries together for a weekend in Vegas is just a lot of fun.

However, it also necessitated a kind of clunky, outline-like beginning to get all these characters in the same place and introduce some new ones. That doesn't take long, though, and before you know it, the adventure has begun.

The past MHI books have often felt like a roller coaster of action and suspense. This installment maintains the suspense throughout and the action builds steadily rather than hitting and receding intermittently. It's very effective and the climactic action sequence is as good, if not better, than anything in any previous MHI book. By the time everything all came down, I was completely invested, emotionally engaged, and on the edge of my seat.

I loved Monster Hunter Alpha, but this is a great follow-up. The first person POV is back from the first two books, but Correia does switch out and give us at least one more POV, so I appreciated that. I personally love his facility with third person, I think he's one of the best in the business at delineating character "voices" and interpretations.

The story holds together very well and lives on in the thoughts after it's finished. It may be an action-based urban fantasy but it's got all the elements needed for an overall satisfying reading experience.

This story has a lot less "gun porn" than the first three (I thought Alpha already had pulled back on that element). I never minded the gun porn, but it's like my friends teasing me that I like "guy music", it's not for everyone. I also like "guy movies" and, apparently, "guy books". I love that visceral kick I get from hard and fast action whether it be from thrashing guitars, breathless car chases, or stories that include every action device you can think of twisted on its head. I like a wide variety of genres and this no less than anything else.

The first three books are available together in an omnibus called "The Monster Hunters" (very inexpensive in e-book from Baen). So, if you can abide "guy books", I highly recommend this series.