Review: Monster Hunter Nemesis

Amazon  

So we apparently never reviewed this novel. Oops! With the paperback edition of MONSTER HUNTER NEMESIS recently being released, I looked back over our reviews and discovered the absence. So, yeah. Here we are.

If you’ve paid attention to this site, you already know that MONSTER HUNTER NEMESIS (Amazon) was one of EBR’s top novels for 2014. For me personally, NEMESIS is my favorite Monster Hunter novel. Why? Because Agent Franks is the main character.

When Franks was introduced in MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL (EBR Review), he became an immediate favorite of mine, and a huge portion of Larry Correia’s readership. As book by book went by, we got more pieces of info and came to realize Franks wasn’t exactly human. But we still didn’t have all the answers.

Well now we do. And the answers made for one of the most entertaining reads of 2014.

Correia calls this novel, “Agent Franks vs the World,” and that description isn’t far from the truth. NEMESIS has Franks falsely accused and on the run for a majority of the novel. The novel picks up right where MONSTER HUNTER LEGION (EBR Review) leaves off. Las Vegas has been wrecked. The world is getting crazier. The MCB is under assault from STFU.

The trouble with reviewing NEMESIS is doing so without spoilers. This novel is pretty deep in terms of character development almost right from the beginning. It is also extremely detailed in terms of world and mythos building. I often see criticism of Correia stating he lacks nuance, and that he has flat characters and shallow world-building. That is just flat out false. NEMESIS proves Correia is actually a tremendously skilled author, and that he has put tons of thought into his world. Numerous times while reading, I would realize that this was the payoff for set up THREE BOOKS AGO. I want—soooo badly—to talk about Frank’s origins, but that would ruin the books for you. It’s so much more complex than you can imagine.

One thing Correia has never been accused of is writing action poorly. He’s one of the best in the industry. There is no debating this. NEMESIS may be Correia’s most action-packed novel, if you can believe it. And most violent. Geez.

What I liked most about the novel, though, was the character development. To me, any book is pointless without good characters who grow. Franks is handled impressively well, and I love that most of his dialogue consists of one-liners. The side characters really make NEMESIS a homerun, though. I was pleased to see Kerkonen back, and also to see the MCB squad in a completely different light (can’t say much else without spoiling it). I’ve really come to appreciate Correia’s ability to provide fleshed-out secondary characters. It’s a talent too few authors develop.

MONSTER HUNTER NEMESIS is Larry Correia’s best Monster Hunter novel by a long-shot—and that isn’t meant to be insulting to his other novels in the series. NEMESIS is simply a superior novel in every respect, truly a representation of how much Correia has grown and evolved as an author. But most importantly, MONSTER HUNTER NEMESIS is the most fun and entertaining novel I’ve read in years.

***Note: If you are an audio-book listener, the adaptation of NEMESIS is incredible.