Book Review: Monster Hunter Legion

The thing I really dislike is a book review with spoilers.  I'm going to do my best to steer clear of that kind of thing.  I mean, what's the point of a book review where you would be reading it to see if maybe you want to read it and there is a bunch of stuff given away.  I will also refrain from just summarizing the book.  I will say this: VEGAS.  It takes place in Las Vegas and since we're about to go on a trip there it seems like everything is oddly Vegas lately.  

For the most part I wasn't a science fantasy or science fiction fan before Larry Correia came along.  What drew me in was the fact that he knows his firearms.  I mean KNOWS his firearms.  I bought his first self-published edition book (Monster Hunter International) and was excited about reading something that wouldn't roundly irritate me with gun errors.  I was more than happy.  I was addicted.  This book carries on that tradition of accuracy.

So, a few books later we arrive at Monster Hunter Legion.  If you are just getting in on this series and are thinking about getting this book, DO IT.  But first, you really need to go back and catch up on the MHI series.  Larry doesn't spend time explaining the past or what things are that he assumes you should remember from previous books (such as his awesome Saiga shotgun named Abomination, for instance).  I actually like this.  Why spend pages and time re-hashing the previous stories?  It's why I like my DVR for some TV shows.  I don't need to know what happened previously.  Saw it.

So, how was the book?  In short - incredible.  The story has plenty of action.  There is a bit of down time in this one, but the humor and snark keep it interesting and funny.  If you're already a fan of Correia's stuff, you'll know what I mean when I say that it lives up to the crackalicious reading for which his previous tomes are known.  Honestly, this stuff is brain candy.  Don't think, just read.  Enjoy.  Lose yourself in the monster killing, buffet hitting, full-auto shooting, chicken sacrificing, sarcasm dripping story.  If you're not already a fan, you will be.  Just start at the beginning (MHI).  I got this Saturday afternoon and finished last night.  You will not be able to put it down.  

Box of Happiness

Something came in the mail today.  Probably not what you expect, although I just sent a couple of heavy boxes hurtling this direction to feed some toys.  No, it was a couple of signed copies of Monster Hunter Legion.  I guess it's time to let Mrs. 45er have the Kindle for a while.  I'll be working on some dead tree versions of a book for the first time in a while.

Yippee

Free Stuff, Girly Guns, The Touch and Melted Things

Yes, I have been away.  Quite a bit out of touch.  The good news is that it was for mostly good reasons.  Work has been tough, but I'm not going to complain about having a job.  July is a big birthday month around here so plans had to be made, gifts were given and time was lost.  First off, a great thing happened to my dad.  A local restaurant needed to replace their cooler and freezer and needed someone to haul away the old one.  My dad got the call and...

FREE STUFF

This is a big deal to us.  With the amount of hunting and game processing that we do, this is a monumental asset to us.  My parents already have an extra refrigerator and two freezers.  In the middle of hunting season that sometimes isn't enough.  I can't wait until we get this up and running this fall.  We're pretty excited.  Now, on to guns.  Kind of...

GIRLY GUN

At this point I will say That Guy is responsible for this.  As a matter of fact, I believe that from this point forward he deserves a different nom de guerre.  From here on he will be known as That Guy The Enabler.  So, That Guy The Enabler emailed me the other day and said, "Hey, Woot has a cool trainer rifle for Little 45er."  I looked and sure enough, they did.  Real cheap (probably because at some point they absorbed some kind of radioactivity and now glow this atrocious color).  So, I went for it.  Little 45er is thrilled, by the way.  I went out to sight it in and...

.177 caliber zombie killer

This was the first target I found to sight it in.  From 20 feet it hit low right.  After moving the sights the wrong way (heh) I walked it back up on the left side and after some adjustment, took the shot on the right side.  This sucker can dot a zombie eye from 20 feet.  Little 45er will be my back up while I am reloading.

So, no pics here but I mentioned The Touch in the title.  This is the real reason I've been so out of it lately.  Mrs. 45er got me a Kindle Touch for my birthday.  I am an avid - ok - rabid reader.  The first thing I did was download a huge amount of free books.  Of course, most of the free books are classics, which is fine with me.  I love classic stuff.  I stumbled upon a free zombie book which was surprisingly good and I even paid a few bucks for the next book from the same author.  I've read those two and I'm engrossed in some Sherlock Holmes right now.  I've been dragged kicking and screaming into the digital book-reading age.  So you can blame Mrs. 45er and Kindle for my prolonged absence.

Finally, the Melted Things.  For our birthday dinner, Mrs. 45er and I went to a restaurant called The Melting Pot.  Remember the 70s and fondue?  I don't, but hey it's a thing again and it is such a fun experience.

Mmmm, cheese

Yes, cheese is the best.  This was a Sam Adams Boston Lager beer bacon cheese fondue.  It was fabulous (and had bacon!)  Speaking of the beer, we chose to do the flight of beers that was paired with each course.

Mmmm, beer

That was a great idea.  The pairings were great and the dessert course was surprisingly wonderful with the Rogue Chocolate Stout.

main course

I've never done full courses of fondue like this.  It was a very cool experience and a whole lot of fun.  The dessert was the best part.  Isn't it always?

the chocolate

It was a wild berry chocolate with crunchy peanut butter.

the pairing

What kind of beer could possibly go with dessert?  Well, if you're eating chocolate fondue this good, I recommend this Rogue Chocolate Stout.  It was phenomenal.

So, now we're just miserably full.  So, what should we do?  Go downtown, get a hotel room and wander around drinking.  This is what I call a nightcap...

Good Lord

That is two 32 ounce glasses, neigh, bowls of margarita there.  Thank goodness it was just a short stroll back to the hotel from here.  So, this is a compilation of my excuses for being out of touch lately.

Bedtime Story

I have kind of a problem.  I'm generally addicted to books.  I do everything I can to instill the love of reading in my kids.  One of my dreams has always been to read a story at bedtime to my kids.  Not the Dr. Seuss stuff, we've done that since the beginning.  I'm talking the kind of story that takes time to finish.  The kind that the kids can't wait to get back to the next night.  I thought I had jumped the gun with the oldest, but I couldn't wait any longer.

Some light reading

Yeah, I didn't start with the easy stuff, either.

Treasure Island

So, she was excited the first night.  I think she just loved the size of the book and thought she'd never have to go to bed.  I thought she might quickly lose interest.  I asked what she wanted to read the second night.  "Pirates, daddy! I want the pirates!"

Well, what a pleasant surprise.  The one thing I did learn is that it is taking me three or four times as long to read it because I have to do all of the voices and stop to explain things regularly.  She doesn't ask, but she looks at me with those blue eyes and nods her head when I do it.  I don't know if she really understands, but she seems to love it.  We're 50 pages into it now and she is still excited.  She even wants it read during the day, which I have gladly obliged.  Heck, yes I can turn off the television and read to you.  I was fully prepared to have her ask for one of her other books and that would have been fine.  I thought I was pushing it.  I think what I've discovered is that she inherited my addiction.

Don't Panic!

Good advice.

I was digging through some stuff that my mother had pulled out for a garage sale and came across something that got me all giddy.  What could it have been?  A long-lost firearm?  Cash?  A forgotten case of ammo?

No, this:

The picture looks weird because the dust-jacket is a silver, holographic job.  The picture at the top is the actual cover of the book.  It is a coffee table-sized, illustrated version of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

And I couldn't have been more thrilled.  I don't remember when I got this, but I do remember getting it, sometime back in high school.  It has been locked in a plastic container for a long time and is in pretty good condition.

Whatever you do,

American Sniper: I met a hero today

Actually a couple of them.  Today was one of those days that was up and down and ended up turning out fantastic.  The local bookstore was having Chris Kyle in to sign his book and I really wanted to attend the event.  The problem was I had a meeting right through the middle of it.  I was bummed about that.  I finished the meeting and called the bookstore.  I found out he was really planning on being out of there by 2:00 to get to another event.  They assured me he would sign some books and I could purchase one if I missed him.  With that in mind I headed to the event.  Well, he was still there signing and the line was still HUGE.  I went ahead and bought a couple of copies and got in line.  I struck up a conversation with the gentleman in front of me who happened to be a local and also a SF operator as well.  I'll call him "John".  He looked the part.  That proved to be a very enjoyable conversation and made the time fly.  When we got up to see Chris, he was still smiling, shaking hands and taking pictures.  We all knew that he was sticking it out past a deadline and he was being a champ about it.  He was even apologetic for the wait.  I was just very happy to see a turnout like that for him and support for a service member.  Hearing some of the older guys in line talking about their days in the service with "John" was just as interesting as the book signing.

Goofy smile and all (mine)

So, hats off to Chris for being a stand up guy and not only toughing it out, but doing it with style.  You guys know I'm a pretty hardcore bookworm and military is a huge favorite of mine.  I'm thrilled to add this one to my collection (as well as one to That Guy's collection -  Happy Birthday, my friend).

Excuses

It's what I have instead of posts, lately.  It isn't for lack of ideas.  I have some interesting ones.  It's just a time thing.  Here is one excuse for lack of posting...

Time Vampire

Awesome, so far and after this one there is another waiting in the wings.

Oh, look.  More time suck

And in the middle of all of that, in a couple of days is the big blow-out guys' weekend.  Lots of great food, having fun and shooting.  More blog content to not have time to post.  Awesome.

I'm baaaack...

MHA upped the ante for Larry.  I always wonder where the top end is for getting better, but he hasn't found the top yet.  I won't be doing a huge review.  I will just say that there were multiple story lines running and it never was confusing.  Every time a story line ended, I just wanted so bad to know what happened, but since that storyline ended and another started that I was wanting to get to I just couldn't stop reading that one either.  The book was multiple layers of addiction.  Each character was addicting, each storyline was addicting, and the whole book was addicting.  It sat on my desk at work and tempted me all damn day.  It's an awesome read.

Also, you gun bloggers are crazy.  I can't even catch up with all of the posts and information I've missed in just a couple of days.  I'm doing the best I can.  Again, I think it's awesome we have such a huge base of passionate people.  Keep it up.

SAVE yourself (buy a book)

A while back, I fell all over myself talking about a new book coming out from Larry Correia.  Then, a shorter while back Larry put out his own begging post trying to get some more attention for his newest book-child.  Trust me and do yourself a favor.  Run to the computer and put this one on order.  While you're at it, if you haven't read the first two, save shipping and put them all on the same order.  Don't say, "yeah, yeah I've heard how good books were before, but..."  No "buts", this is an awesome book series.  You're falling behind.  Here's what is going to happen:  You're going to wait and then you're finally going to succumb to the temptation because you just HAVE to know what the big deal is.  Then, you're going to get sucked into the crack that is the writing of Correia and have to read 5 or 6 books in a row without being able to put them down.  It's going to affect your whole life.  Your wife/husband/partner will despise you for sitting in the chair reading all of the time (or EXTRA time from all of the video game playing they normally put up with).  You might lose your job because you take so much time off just because you can't put them down.  Oh, my goodness.  Do yourself a favor and start now before it's too late.  Save your marriage and your job and order now before you're in the weeds.

See what I did there?  That's my version of Obama's "the social security checks might not go out".

But, really.  Do it for your own sake, if not your family and friends.

Enjoy.