#BookReview: Monster Hunter Memoirs: Fever, by Larry Correia and Jason Cordova

Someone new gets to play in Correia's Monster Hunter sandbox.

When a series gets big enough, it only makes sense to let other people play in the sandbox. The Monster Hunter International world started expanding with the Monster Hunter Files anthology, then with John Ringo creating a history from the 1980s into the 90s.

And now, it’s time to go to the seventies, and watch LA, and disco, burn.

The Story

After a mission goes bad in Israel, Chloe Mendoza needs a new job. Or she can go and reapply to an old job back in Cazador, the home base of Monster Hunter International. Chloe is one of many monsters (or half monsters) who has served her time working for the government and is on the no-kill list. She is a nagualii, an Aztec monster, and her father is an Aztec god of bloodshed. There are few places she can call home.

Unfortunately, when she’s assigned a team, half of them are rookies, the leader of the team has never taken lead before, and she’s expected to be the diplomat between the MHI teams and locals—including a particularly mean group of Feds.

Soon, it’s apparent that evil is rising in Los Angeles, and it has nothing to do with the gangbangers, or the disco.

This was a solid entry in the Monster Hunter Memoirs, and the writing was much more consistent and smoother than Guardian was. There is to some extent that Fever pulled off at least one trick that John Ringo tried to do in Grunge, but that is a spoiler.

One of the aspects I like about Cordova’s writing is that he uses a lot of the right terminology … in some cases, it’s the wrong terminology, but it makes perfect sense, given the history on these characters. The opening chapters showing Chloe Mendoza as an academic in the world of monster hunting are fun, using academic tricks I’ve seen personally.

There are nice little tidbits along the way. (“[He] politely raised his hand, like this was an actual respectable school setting, and not the Shackleford Home for Wayward Homicidal Maniacs.” Or “Ignorance killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.”)

The pacing on Fever is interesting, because it’s more of a mystery and a slow build, as several missions and set piece battles tie together into an overall whole. There are no random encounters here.

And I must admit, a Hispanic working for Mossad made me want to cast Chloe as Cote de Pablo.

The conclusion of Fever is clear that this is the start of a new series, be it a trilogy or otherwise.

The Characters

We have an interesting team here.

A nerd from the navy, Alex Wigan is the bookworm of the team, who really enjoys research.

There’s the California blonde Melanie, who has an almost supernatural ability to find her way around. Also, she’s smarter than she looks.

There’s the black marine from Chicago, and a veteran from Vietnam.

The team leader who is basically a hairless bear, and has the delicacy of Godzilla in a china shop.

There’s a veteran MHI lady sniper.

And then there’s Chole.

Yes, I made certain to count that they are the Magnificent Seven.

Though one of the questions for the future is simple: how many are going to make it out alive?

Even some of the side characters are fun, from the local Deputy to some of the Feds involved. No one here is stupid, and it’s always enjoyable.

The World

The worldbuilding here is a collection of details that fleshes out the LA of the 70s. Also, some of the cryptozoological aspects expand the MHI world even more, especially when the newly formed EPA comes into the plot— I almost expected a visit from Chad’s mom (from Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge). Like the God of War franchise, it looks like no mythos or pantheon will be safe by the end of the series.

Politics

The politics of the entire Monster Hunter universe are that of Ghostbusters: private industry can do what government can only screw up.

Content Warning

I believe TV ratings would call it: “Fantasy violence,” up to and including people getting torn apart by monsters. There’s the odd profanity, but nothing on par with Die Hard or an Eddie Murphy film.

Who is it for?

This is a straight-up Urban Fantasy novel for anyone who likes the genre, and prefers action films.

Why buy it?

This is a solid, fun entry in an entertaining series. Unlike previous Memoirs, this is more plot than character focused. But is has a nice balance of characters, better balanced than Ringo’s Chad would allow.