Larry Correia's latest offers a little more insight into one of his more interesting characters: Franks. That said, the early going also delivers a little political commentary in something of a mirror-image of Stross's "Family Trade" series, though at least without the naming of names (a practice that dates a book rather badly). It doesn't distract that much and readers can make their own minds up if the scene is really necessary.
Amusingly, a common theme between Correia and Stross is the risk posed by inter-office wrangling for power in government agencies and other groups involved in the supernatural. Despite their differences in political philosophy, both men recognize the more-immediate risk to their protagonists created by inappropriately-ambitious peers and bosses. Office politics are a universal source of trouble -- and rather more than the usual amount when eldritch horrors from other dimensions are rung in. Politicians of the Left or Right may indeed be wicked, masterminds and/or spineless but it's that unethical bureaucrat just down the hall who'll get you killed in his effort to get promoted a couple of pay grades.
Correia's gift for "recipe not quite as before" keeps things interesting in the by-now-familiar world of the Monster Hunter books. I can't wait to see how it turns out!
I can't wait to finish what Mrs. Drang describes as "yet another of those tomes you get from the library" (hey, I'm not going to spend money on those!) so I can get started on Nemesis, and Kratman's , and by then Ringo's Islands of Rage and Hope should be out on ebook...
ReplyDeleteLarry did name the desk, which technically dates it...
ReplyDeleteBut quite good point on how both authors have the politicians themselves being less the threat than the unethical bureaucrats.
Even Larry's "historicals" had that.
I did catch the bit about the desk.
ReplyDeleteSo far, this one has good moments, and moments of insufficient editing: there are places in the early going that read more like a synopsis, and twice we're told "X was here before the swamp was drained," which is a fine description, but doesn't need to be repeated. Has he become too big to edit? It's possible. Contrarily, there's a lot of story, with plenty of depth, which is unusual for shoot 'em up-type horror.
It could have used a bit more time to police. I heard the ARC copy was particularly "beta".
ReplyDeleteStory wise I thought it worked quite well in portraying Franks and his motivations,history, and ethics*. It humanized him without well... making him just a human with funny organs.
I did note that the bloody rampage that the summary and Larry hinted at wasn't quite what Franks did.
But that may have been playing to expectations.
I've been reading e-ARCs from Baen almost exclusively since I discovered them, and I find my brain self editing a lot lately because of it. Both Corriea and Ringo's 'ARCs' tend to be rougher then average. I haven't ready a 'fully edited' copy in long enough I can't compare the two...
ReplyDeleteBut even rough as they are I'd rather read them early. Which is saying something.