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The author gave great detail and description to each weapon used or mentioned, almost like he was writing a manual on how to perform brain surgery.Ĭertain concept points came across a little transparent and while not taking away from the story they didn’t leave much of a mystery for the reader. Don't get me wrong I am not adverse to some gun action but it was taken to another level in this book. I did have issues with the amount of gun love throughout the book, but considering the biography of the author, it is not surprising (have a read, you'll see why). Within the last ten years these creatures have been done to death (pun intended), the only original aspect I took away from the vampires in this story was the idea that a vampire’s strength and mental control did not come from age (being an old vampire) but from the creature who turned them in the first place as well as the amount if blood they have drunk to date.
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Soapbox time! I have said it before and I am sure to say it again, I am not a fan of vampire/werewolf fiction. He even has a shred of humanity at the end and saves the day for an even greater evil, so you kind of feel bad (only a little) when he dies. This main agent of destruction, The Cursed One was a well thought-out character that inspired distrust and dislike from the moment the reader is introduced to them. We have the expected love interest, an over-arching villain with their willing and unwilling agents and a hidden Evil.
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We still have the traditional fantasy memes, only one person has the innate skills, untapped power and destiny to save mankind and that man is Owen Pitt. Stepping back I will say the idea behind Pitt was a little on the nose for me and he could have had some bigger flaws and a little more of a learning curve as he deals with his new world. He has been trained from an early age by his military father in all things war - he is the perfect monster fighting machine. With a dark past as a bare knuckle fighter he initially hides away as an accountant to escape his sins. The main character Pitt is a hulking beast of a man: tall, strong, skilled and smart. Think of it as a book that runs up hill without stopping and then jumps off. From the opening pages this book contains a lot of action and gun love, and continues in this vain from the start to finish. It’s a hidden world known only to those who fight these creatures and those who have suffered at their hands. In Monster Hunter International we inhabit a world of werewolves, vampires, trolls, orcs and much much more. I know it sounds ridiculous but it was the combination of these things that encouraged me to purchase the book, which I was thankful for, as I did really enjoy the story. In the end what actually pushed me over the edge was something a little sillier and real world - it was the feel of the pages as I flicked through them, soft, silky and very tactile. I had lifted it at random from the shelf at my favourite bookshop, Pulp Fiction, read the blurb and immediately had my interest piqued. Initially, I did not think I would enjoy this style of book (vampires, werewolves etc.) but I was pleasantly surprised when I did.
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