"Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
https://www.amazon.com/International-Monster-Hunter-Larry-Correia/dp/1439132852/

Book number one of an eight book dark fantasy series. Plus there are
about twenty more books written in the Monster Hunter Universe. I
reread the new well printed and well bound MMPB published by Baen in
2009 that I bought from Amazon since my first copy is out in the garage.
I would guess that this is my third or fourth reading of this book. I
will purchase and read all future books in the series.

Owen Zastava Pitt has everything going for him, a new accounting degree,
a new accounting job in a large well respected company, and a regular
paycheck for the first time in his life. But, his new boss is a real
jerk and then he turns into a werewolf when Owen is working late one
day. The boss tries to eat Owen and Owen throws him out the window of
the 14th floor office building. After Owen wakes up in the hospital,
Human Resources fires him for carrying a .357 revolver in his sock
without mentioning his werewolf boss.

But when Owen woke up in the hospital, two government agents were there
to meet him. After he did not turn into a werewolf, they left. And
then another guy showed up and explains that there are monsters in the
world, vampires, werewolves, orcs, elves, all kinds of creepy and nasty
things. And offers him a job. As a monster hunter.

According to this documentary, Tolkien got the orcs correctly
documented. But, he did not get the elves correctly documented. Some
of the elves left the old country in the 17th or 18th century and moved
to Alabama in the new World. Now the queen of the elves is 150 years
old, four foot tall, weighs 300 pounds, lives in a ninety foot long
double wide in the Enchanted Forest, and likes to sprinkle ranch
dressing on her Ho-Hos while watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.
The USA government made a deal with her that she and her elves would get
disability checks for the rest of their lives as long as they never
ventured past the Walmart in Tupolo.

The author has a very busy website at:
http://monsterhunternation.com/

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (3,295 ratings)

Lynn

On 6/24/2022 6:55 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>
> https://www.amazon.com/International-Monster-Hunter-Larry-Correia/dp/1439132852/
>
>
> Book number one of an eight book dark fantasy series.  Plus there are
> about twenty more books written in the Monster Hunter Universe.  I
> reread the new well printed and well bound MMPB published by Baen in
> 2009 that I bought from Amazon since my first copy is out in the garage.
>  I would guess that this is my third or fourth reading of this book.  I
> will purchase and read all future books in the series.
>
> Owen Zastava Pitt has everything going for him, a new accounting degree,
> a new accounting job in a large well respected company, and a regular
> paycheck for the first time in his life.  But, his new boss is a real
> jerk and then he turns into a werewolf when Owen is working late one
> day.  The boss tries to eat Owen and Owen throws him out the window of
> the 14th floor office building.  After Owen wakes up in the hospital,
> Human Resources fires him for carrying a .357 revolver in his sock
> without mentioning his werewolf boss.
>
> But when Owen woke up in the hospital, two government agents were there
> to meet him.  After he did not turn into a werewolf, they left.  And
> then another guy showed up and explains that there are monsters in the
> world, vampires, werewolves, orcs, elves, all kinds of creepy and nasty
> things.  And offers him a job.  As a monster hunter.
>
> According to this documentary, Tolkien got the orcs correctly
> documented.  But, he did not get the elves correctly documented.  Some
> of the elves left the old country in the 17th or 18th century and moved
> to Alabama in the new World.  Now the queen of the elves is 150 years
> old, four foot tall, weighs 300 pounds, lives in a ninety foot long
> double wide in the Enchanted Forest, and likes to sprinkle ranch
> dressing on her Ho-Hos while watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. The
> USA government made a deal with her that she and her elves would get
> disability checks for the rest of their lives as long as they never
> ventured past the Walmart in Tupolo.
>
> The author has a very busy website at:
>    http://monsterhunternation.com/
>
> My rating:  5 out of 5 stars
> Amazon rating:  4.6 out of 5 stars (3,295 ratings)
>
> Lynn

Here is my 2010 review: "Anita Blake meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer and
turns into a guy named Owen. Even somewhat reminds me of the
Deathstalker. If you like Urban Fantasy, you will love this hardcore
story. If not, oh well.

The story is sound, the concept is good, the good guys are imperfect and
the bad guys are real bad."

Lynn

On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia

> Owen Zastava Pitt has everything going for him, a new accounting degree, a new accounting job in a large well respected company, and a regular paycheck for the first time in his life.  But, his new boss is a real jerk and then he turns into a werewolf when Owen is working late one day.  The boss tries to eat Owen and Owen throws him out the window of the 14th floor office building.  After Owen wakes up in the hospital, Human Resources fires him for carrying a .357 revolver in his sock without mentioning his werewolf boss.
>
> But when Owen woke up in the hospital, two government agents were there to meet him.  After he did not turn into a werewolf, they left.  And then another guy showed up and explains that there are monsters in the world, vampires, werewolves, orcs, elves, all kinds of creepy and nasty things.  And offers him a job.  As a monster hunter.

These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
"Laundry Files" books.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Deuteronomy 10:18-19

On 25 Jun 2022, Michael F. Stemper wrote
(in article <t97483$3iflr$1@dont-email.me>):

> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> > "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>
> > Owen Zastava Pitt has everything going for him, a new accounting degree, a
> > new accounting job in a large well respected company, and a regular
> > paycheck for the first time in his life. But, his new boss is a real jerk
> > and then he turns into a werewolf when Owen is working late one day. The
> > boss tries to eat Owen and Owen throws him out the window of the 14th floor
> > office building. After Owen wakes up in the hospital, Human Resources
> > fires him for carrying a .357 revolver in his sock without mentioning his
> > werewolf boss.
> >
> > But when Owen woke up in the hospital, two government agents were there to
> > meet him. After he did not turn into a werewolf, they left. And then
> > another guy showed up and explains that there are monsters in the world,
> > vampires, werewolves, orcs, elves, all kinds of creepy and nasty things.
> > And offers him a job. As a monster hunter.
>
> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
> "Laundry Files" books.

Trust me on this: there is very little overlap between Correia and Stross. A
few of the monsters might have the dsame or similar names, but that’s about
it.

"Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> on Sat, 25 Jun 2022
08:57:23 -0500 typed in rec.arts.sf.written the following:
>On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>
>
>> Owen Zastava Pitt has everything going for him, a new accounting degree, a new accounting job in a large well respected company, and a regular paycheck for the first time in his life.  But, his new boss is a real jerk and then he turns into a werewolf when Owen is working late one day.  The boss tries to eat Owen and Owen throws him out the window of the 14th floor office building.  After Owen wakes up in the hospital, Human Resources fires him for carrying a .357 revolver in his sock without mentioning his werewolf boss.
>>
>> But when Owen woke up in the hospital, two government agents were there to meet him.  After he did not turn into a werewolf, they left.  And then another guy showed up and explains that there are monsters in the world, vampires, werewolves, orcs, elves, all kinds of creepy and nasty things.  And offers him a job.  As a monster hunter.
>
>These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>"Laundry Files" books.

Well, yes.

"There are more things in this universe than are imagined in your
philosophy."

Good stories (bad one's too) start with a "What-if" and go from
three.
"What if" the monsters of legend (vampires, zombies, elves,
trolls, merepeople, pixies, etc) are real? What if vampires won a
civil rights case, and are now protected by law from being murdered?
You get the Anita Blake series. What if there is a secret Government
Bounty Program on 'monsters' and tada- Monster Hunters Inc (tm, pat
pend, etc).
What if "magic" is a combination of innate talent and education?
Correa's Grimwore wars, or Harry Potter, take your pick.
--
pyotr filipivich
This Week's Panel: Us & Them - Eliminating Them.
Next Month's Panel: Having eliminated the old Them(tm)
Selecting who insufficiently Woke(tm) as to serve as the new Them(tm)

On 25/06/2022 09.49, Wolffan wrote:
> On 25 Jun 2022, Michael F. Stemper wrote
> (in article <t97483$3iflr$1@dont-email.me>):
>
>> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>>
>>> Owen Zastava Pitt has everything going for him, a new accounting degree, a
>>> new accounting job in a large well respected company, and a regular
>>> paycheck for the first time in his life. But, his new boss is a real jerk
>>> and then he turns into a werewolf when Owen is working late one day. The
>>> boss tries to eat Owen and Owen throws him out the window of the 14th floor
>>> office building. After Owen wakes up in the hospital, Human Resources
>>> fires him for carrying a .357 revolver in his sock without mentioning his
>>> werewolf boss.
>>>
>>> But when Owen woke up in the hospital, two government agents were there to
>>> meet him. After he did not turn into a werewolf, they left. And then
>>> another guy showed up and explains that there are monsters in the world,
>>> vampires, werewolves, orcs, elves, all kinds of creepy and nasty things.
>>> And offers him a job. As a monster hunter.
>>
>> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>> "Laundry Files" books.
>
> Trust me on this: there is very little overlap between Correia and Stross.

Given the little meta-knowledge that I have of them, I trust you.

> few of the monsters might have the dsame or similar names, but that’s about
> it.

The similarities that I saw were: a secret organization defending the
world against evil magical beings, and the protagonist's boss turning out
to be one of those evil magical beings.

--
Michael F. Stemper
A preposition is something you should never end a sentence with.

On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> > "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
> [snip-snip]
> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
> "Laundry Files" books.

We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqYJ

Here is the original text of my post:

The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".

There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
listed after...

SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING

1. They are first (published) novels.

2. The universes are explicitly Lovecraftian.

3. They are both secret histories.

4. They are aimed at a particular target audience: gun nuts and
computer geeks respectively.

5. The Lovecraftian horrors want to invade Earth and take over.

6. The protagonists are in their mid-twenties, male, very good at what
they do and have a “problem with authority”. (They also pursue and get
the girl, but that’s not exactly uncommon.)

7. The protagonists are Mary Sues with some minor flaws: obesity in
_MHI_ and alcohol abuse in _tAA_.

8. In addition to the Lovecraftian horrors, there is other magic afoot:
vampires, werewolves, etc in _MHI_ and Hands of Glory/gorgons/geasa in
_tAA_.

9. The laws of physics still apply, but are “expanded” to allow for magic
and such.

10. The Lovecraftian horrors are opposed by two teams: “The Good Guys”
and “The Bad Guys”. The “Bad Guys” are government bureaucracies: the
jackbooted thugs from an FBI clone in _MHI_ and some parts of the Laundry
bureaucracy in _tAA_.

11. Pretty much everyone is at least moderately unpleasant. You know it’s
bad when you are tempted to start rooting for the nameless horrors from
beyond space and time.

And here are some of the differences:

1. Stross has a lot more balls in the air: Dilbert, Deighton,
Lovecraft, Stephenson, the works.

2. Correia’s protagonist is a much bigger Mary Sue, often annoyingly so.

3. Stross makes some errors in the history/espionage area. I didn’t
notice any gun-related mistakes in _MHI_ (which doesn’t necessarily mean
that there aren’t any.)

4. Stross’s protagonist grows during the course of the novel while
Correia’s doesn’t.

5. Correia does a better job of describing battles and keeping the
reader interested in what’s going on. Stross writes better and more
interesting sentences. He also uses present tense, which is often
annoying, but isn’t too bad in this case.

6. _MHI_ is too long while _The Atrocity Archive_ (the novel rather than
the collection) is, if anything, possibly a tad too short.

7. Correia’s universe suffers from the “enormous top secret conspiracy
that everyone and his brother know about” problem. Stross’s universe has
the same problem in “The Concrete Jungle”, which was reportedly retconned
later.

8. Correia’s supporting characters are bland and/or interchangeable..
Stross’s characters, except for the Bad Guys, tend to use the same type
of humor. They also tend to launch into long tirades when the fate of
the world is in the balance.

9. Correia has a harder time (permanently) killing any of his Good Guys.

10. Stross’s book tries to be funny, but the humor failed spectacularly
in my case. Apparently it worked better for others.

On 6/25/2022 8:11 AM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> On 25/06/2022 09.49, Wolffan wrote:
>> On 25 Jun 2022, Michael F. Stemper wrote
>> (in article <t97483$3iflr$1@dont-email.me>):
>>
>>> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>>>
>>>> Owen Zastava Pitt has everything going for him, a new accounting
>>>> degree, a
>>>> new accounting job in a large well respected company, and a regular
>>>> paycheck for the first time in his life. But, his new boss is a real
>>>> jerk
>>>> and then he turns into a werewolf when Owen is working late one day.
>>>> The
>>>> boss tries to eat Owen and Owen throws him out the window of the
>>>> 14th floor
>>>> office building. After Owen wakes up in the hospital, Human Resources
>>>> fires him for carrying a .357 revolver in his sock without
>>>> mentioning his
>>>> werewolf boss.
>>>>
>>>> But when Owen woke up in the hospital, two government agents were
>>>> there to
>>>> meet him. After he did not turn into a werewolf, they left. And then
>>>> another guy showed up and explains that there are monsters in the
>>>> world,
>>>> vampires, werewolves, orcs, elves, all kinds of creepy and nasty
>>>> things.
>>>> And offers him a job. As a monster hunter.
>>>
>>> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>>> "Laundry Files" books.
>>
>> Trust me on this: there is very little overlap between Correia and
>> Stross.
>
> Given the little meta-knowledge that I have of them, I trust you.
>
>> few of the monsters might have the dsame or similar names, but that’s
>> about
>> it.
>
> The similarities that I saw were: a secret organization defending the
> world against evil magical beings, and the protagonist's boss turning out
> to be one of those evil magical beings.
>
In the Laundry Files it is actually a large number of secret
organizations as any country worth mentioning had their own department
dealing with magic and the "supernatural". And the Laundry Files didn't
start with the boss being one of the evil beings, one of the evil beings
ended up being their boss after they failed to prevent the end of the
world. ;)

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 6/25/2022 8:58 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
> On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>> [snip-snip]
>> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>> "Laundry Files" books.
>
> We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
> https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqYJ
>
> Here is the original text of my post:
>
> The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
> about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
> Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
> Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".
>
> There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
> listed after...
>
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
>
> 1. They are first (published) novels.
>
> 2. The universes are explicitly Lovecraftian.
>
> 3. They are both secret histories.
>
> 4. They are aimed at a particular target audience: gun nuts and
> computer geeks respectively.
>
> 5. The Lovecraftian horrors want to invade Earth and take over.
>
> 6. The protagonists are in their mid-twenties, male, very good at what
> they do and have a “problem with authority”. (They also pursue and get
> the girl, but that’s not exactly uncommon.)
>
> 7. The protagonists are Mary Sues with some minor flaws: obesity in
> _MHI_ and alcohol abuse in _tAA_.
>
> 8. In addition to the Lovecraftian horrors, there is other magic afoot:
> vampires, werewolves, etc in _MHI_ and Hands of Glory/gorgons/geasa in
> _tAA_.
>
> 9. The laws of physics still apply, but are “expanded” to allow for magic
> and such.
>
> 10. The Lovecraftian horrors are opposed by two teams: “The Good Guys”
> and “The Bad Guys”. The “Bad Guys” are government bureaucracies: the
> jackbooted thugs from an FBI clone in _MHI_ and some parts of the Laundry
> bureaucracy in _tAA_.
>
> 11. Pretty much everyone is at least moderately unpleasant. You know it’s
> bad when you are tempted to start rooting for the nameless horrors from
> beyond space and time.
>
>
> And here are some of the differences:
>
> 1. Stross has a lot more balls in the air: Dilbert, Deighton,
> Lovecraft, Stephenson, the works.
>
> 2. Correia’s protagonist is a much bigger Mary Sue, often annoyingly so.
>
> 3. Stross makes some errors in the history/espionage area. I didn’t
> notice any gun-related mistakes in _MHI_ (which doesn’t necessarily mean
> that there aren’t any.)
>
> 4. Stross’s protagonist grows during the course of the novel while
> Correia’s doesn’t.
>
> 5. Correia does a better job of describing battles and keeping the
> reader interested in what’s going on. Stross writes better and more
> interesting sentences. He also uses present tense, which is often
> annoying, but isn’t too bad in this case.
>
> 6. _MHI_ is too long while _The Atrocity Archive_ (the novel rather than
> the collection) is, if anything, possibly a tad too short.
>
> 7. Correia’s universe suffers from the “enormous top secret conspiracy
> that everyone and his brother know about” problem. Stross’s universe has
> the same problem in “The Concrete Jungle”, which was reportedly retconned
> later.
>
> 8. Correia’s supporting characters are bland and/or interchangeable.
> Stross’s characters, except for the Bad Guys, tend to use the same type
> of humor. They also tend to launch into long tirades when the fate of
> the world is in the balance.
>
> 9. Correia has a harder time (permanently) killing any of his Good Guys.
>
> 10. Stross’s book tries to be funny, but the humor failed spectacularly
> in my case. Apparently it worked better for others.
>
Stross' humor is very British. Which makes sense since he's from the UK
and The Laundry Files are largely set there. :)

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On Sat, 25 Jun 2022 10:11:43 -0500, "Michael F. Stemper"
<michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 25/06/2022 09.49, Wolffan wrote:
>> On 25 Jun 2022, Michael F. Stemper wrote
>> (in article <t97483$3iflr$1@dont-email.me>):
>>
>>> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>>>
>>>> Owen Zastava Pitt has everything going for him, a new accounting degree, a
>>>> new accounting job in a large well respected company, and a regular
>>>> paycheck for the first time in his life. But, his new boss is a real jerk
>>>> and then he turns into a werewolf when Owen is working late one day. The
>>>> boss tries to eat Owen and Owen throws him out the window of the 14th floor
>>>> office building. After Owen wakes up in the hospital, Human Resources
>>>> fires him for carrying a .357 revolver in his sock without mentioning his
>>>> werewolf boss.
>>>>
>>>> But when Owen woke up in the hospital, two government agents were there to
>>>> meet him. After he did not turn into a werewolf, they left. And then
>>>> another guy showed up and explains that there are monsters in the world,
>>>> vampires, werewolves, orcs, elves, all kinds of creepy and nasty things.
>>>> And offers him a job. As a monster hunter.
>>>
>>> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>>> "Laundry Files" books.
>>
>> Trust me on this: there is very little overlap between Correia and Stross.
>
>Given the little meta-knowledge that I have of them, I trust you.
>
>> few of the monsters might have the dsame or similar names, but that’s about
>> it.
>
>The similarities that I saw were: a secret organization defending the
>world against evil magical beings, and the protagonist's boss turning out
>to be one of those evil magical beings.

Remove "magical" and you have a much wider range of examples of the
same story.
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."

On 6/25/2022 10:58 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
> On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>> [snip-snip]
>> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>> "Laundry Files" books.
>
> We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
> https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqYJ
>
> Here is the original text of my post:
>
> The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
> about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
> Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
> Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".
>
> There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
> listed after...
>
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
>
> 1. They are first (published) novels.
>
> 2. The universes are explicitly Lovecraftian.
>
> 3. They are both secret histories.
>
> 4. They are aimed at a particular target audience: gun nuts and
> computer geeks respectively.
>
> 5. The Lovecraftian horrors want to invade Earth and take over.
>
> 6. The protagonists are in their mid-twenties, male, very good at what
> they do and have a “problem with authority”. (They also pursue and get
> the girl, but that’s not exactly uncommon.)
>
> 7. The protagonists are Mary Sues with some minor flaws: obesity in
> _MHI_ and alcohol abuse in _tAA_.
>
> 8. In addition to the Lovecraftian horrors, there is other magic afoot:
> vampires, werewolves, etc in _MHI_ and Hands of Glory/gorgons/geasa in
> _tAA_.
>
> 9. The laws of physics still apply, but are “expanded” to allow for magic
> and such.
>
> 10. The Lovecraftian horrors are opposed by two teams: “The Good Guys”
> and “The Bad Guys”. The “Bad Guys” are government bureaucracies: the
> jackbooted thugs from an FBI clone in _MHI_ and some parts of the Laundry
> bureaucracy in _tAA_.
>
> 11. Pretty much everyone is at least moderately unpleasant. You know it’s
> bad when you are tempted to start rooting for the nameless horrors from
> beyond space and time.
>
>
> And here are some of the differences:
>
> 1. Stross has a lot more balls in the air: Dilbert, Deighton,
> Lovecraft, Stephenson, the works.
>
> 2. Correia’s protagonist is a much bigger Mary Sue, often annoyingly so.
>
> 3. Stross makes some errors in the history/espionage area. I didn’t
> notice any gun-related mistakes in _MHI_ (which doesn’t necessarily mean
> that there aren’t any.)
>
> 4. Stross’s protagonist grows during the course of the novel while
> Correia’s doesn’t.
>
> 5. Correia does a better job of describing battles and keeping the
> reader interested in what’s going on. Stross writes better and more
> interesting sentences. He also uses present tense, which is often
> annoying, but isn’t too bad in this case.
>
> 6. _MHI_ is too long while _The Atrocity Archive_ (the novel rather than
> the collection) is, if anything, possibly a tad too short.
>
> 7. Correia’s universe suffers from the “enormous top secret conspiracy
> that everyone and his brother know about” problem. Stross’s universe has
> the same problem in “The Concrete Jungle”, which was reportedly retconned
> later.
>
> 8. Correia’s supporting characters are bland and/or interchangeable.
> Stross’s characters, except for the Bad Guys, tend to use the same type
> of humor. They also tend to launch into long tirades when the fate of
> the world is in the balance.
>
> 9. Correia has a harder time (permanently) killing any of his Good Guys.
>
> 10. Stross’s book tries to be funny, but the humor failed spectacularly
> in my case. Apparently it worked better for others.

I may have to try the Stross books some day.

I do have one in my SBR.

Lynn

On 25/06/2022 10.58, Ahasuerus wrote:
> On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>> [snip-snip]
>> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>> "Laundry Files" books.
>
> We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
> https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqYJ
>
> Here is the original text of my post:
>
> The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
> about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
> Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
> Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".
>
> There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
> listed after...

Interesting. More similarities than I noticed from Lynn's brief capsule.

I appear to have missed that thread since I was busy getting my house
ready to put on the market along with packing my worldly goods to move
to a different state.

--
Michael F. Stemper
The name of the story is "A Sound of Thunder".
It was written by Ray Bradbury. You're welcome.

On 25/06/2022 12.30, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> On 6/25/2022 10:58 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
>> On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>>> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>>> [snip-snip]
>>> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>>> "Laundry Files" books.
>>
>> We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
>> https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqYJ
>>
>> Here is the original text of my post:
>>
>> The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
>> about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
>> Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
>> Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".
>>
>> There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
>> listed after...

> I may have to try the Stross books some day.
>
> I do have one in my SBR.

Do you know which it is? People might be able to advise you
based on your known preferences.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

On 25 Jun 2022, Ahasuerus wrote
(in article<00b2d0e1-204a-47e1-93af-e85644e0faa9n@googlegroups.com>):

> On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> > On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> > > "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
> > [snip-snip]
> > These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
> > "Laundry Files" books.
>
> We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
> https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqYJ
>
> Here is the original text of my post:
>
> The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
> about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
> Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
> Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".
>
> There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
> listed after...
>
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING
>
> 1. They are first (published) novels.
>
> 2. The universes are explicitly Lovecraftian.
>
> 3. They are both secret histories.
>
> 4. They are aimed at a particular target audience: gun nuts and
> computer geeks respectively.

Corriea’s boy is an uber gun nut _and_ a compurt geek.
>
>
> 5. The Lovecraftian horrors want to invade Earth and take over.

They already own several versions of Earth. In Corriea’s story, they
aren’t the only ones who want to take over. Even the elves would, except
that they’d have to stir out of the trailer park and actually make an
effort.
>
>
> 6. The protagonists are in their mid-twenties, male, very good at what
> they do and have a “problem with authority”. (They also pursue and get
> the girl, but that’s not exactly uncommon.)

In Corriea’s story the girl is a bigger uber gun nut than the protag.
>
>
> 7. The protagonists are Mary Sues with some minor flaws: obesity in
> _MHI_ and alcohol abuse in _tAA_.

m’man’s not fat, he’s just big boned.
>
>
> 8. In addition to the Lovecraftian horrors, there is other magic afoot:
> vampires, werewolves, etc in _MHI_ and Hands of Glory/gorgons/geasa in
> _tAA_.

there are _lots_ of other magical/monstrous creatures roaming Corriea’s
world. Vampires. Werewolves. Minotaurs (except that they ain’t no Greek
pansies, they’re _bullmen_, _Texas_ bullmen, and will take a major dislike
to you if you forget it; one xter has a thought about whether females are
‘cowwomen’ or just heifers but thinks better of asking. There’s also
some speculation about where said females keep their mammary glands, but
no-one asked about that, either.). Orcs, who like Russian helos and heavy
metal music. (The elves like country& western.) Zombies. Pretty much every
magical monster you ever heard of from Greeco-Roman, Germanic, Hindi, Arab,
Native American and especially Mexican, Caribbean, West African (not the same
as Caribbean, but related), Japanese, Korean (not the same but related),
Chinese, Persian, and South East Asian mythologies. The Monster Hunters spend
a lot of time chasing the various monsters down, often with the help of some
of the monsters, particularly orcs, elves, bullmen, and a couple vampires and
werewolves. This is one of the ways that MHI doesn’t behave like the
Laundry. Methods and motives and monsters. (Note that the vampires help when
they feel like it, and for their own reasons, which might not mesh with
MHI’s reasons.)
>
>
> 9. The laws of physics still apply, but are “expanded” to allow for magic
> and such.

Orcs can make Russian helos do things which are totally impossible.
>
>
> 10. The Lovecraftian horrors are opposed by two teams: “The Good Guys”
> and “The Bad Guys”. The “Bad Guys” are government bureaucracies: the
> jackbooted thugs from an FBI clone in _MHI_ and some parts of the Laundry
> bureaucracy in _tAA_.
>
> 11. Pretty much everyone is at least moderately unpleasant. You know it’s
> bad when you are tempted to start rooting for the nameless horrors from
> beyond space and time.
>
> And here are some of the differences:
>
> 1. Stross has a lot more balls in the air: Dilbert, Deighton,
> Lovecraft, Stephenson, the works.
>
> 2. Correia’s protagonist is a much bigger Mary Sue, often annoyingly so.

he’s a Marty Stu. The Marty Stu of all Marty Stus.
>
>
> 3. Stross makes some errors in the history/espionage area. I didn’t
> notice any gun-related mistakes in _MHI_ (which doesn’t necessarily mean
> that there aren’t any.)

There’s the incident with the Finnish 20mm anti-tank rifle. That thing
weighed about what Our Hero’s girlfriend weighed. She hauled it into action
and used it, somehow avoiding rupturing herself when she moved it and
breaking her shoulder and/or spine when she fired it.
>
>
> 4. Stross’s protagonist grows during the course of the novel while
> Correia’s doesn’t.

He gets bigger and gets more and bigger guns. Oh. You meant as a character.
Nope, he’s still the Marty Stu of Marty Stus, and a major reason why I
stopped reading the series.
>
>
> 5. Correia does a better job of describing battles and keeping the
> reader interested in what’s going on. Stross writes better and more
> interesting sentences. He also uses present tense, which is often
> annoying, but isn’t too bad in this case.
>
> 6. _MHI_ is too long while _The Atrocity Archive_ (the novel rather than
> the collection) is, if anything, possibly a tad too short.
>
> 7. Correia’s universe suffers from the “enormous top secret conspiracy
> that everyone and his brother know about” problem.

not everybody. Our Hero gets arrested because the local cops don’t know
what’s really what, and he’s sitting on top of a pile of newly dead for
the second time zombies and has a really neat gun.
> Stross’s universe has
> the same problem in “The Concrete Jungle”, which was reportedly retconned
> later.
>
> 8. Correia’s supporting characters are bland and/or interchangeable.

I liked the orcs. Orcs with Kalashnikovs and Russian helos make up for many
problems.
>
> Stross’s characters, except for the Bad Guys, tend to use the same type
> of humor. They also tend to launch into long tirades when the fate of
> the world is in the balance.
>
> 9. Correia has a harder time (permanently) killing any of his Good Guys.

he’s got zombies and vampires and more floating around. Some characters get
dead, but come back as various undead. Some characters get dead with extreme
prejudice.
>
>
> 10. Stross’s book tries to be funny, but the humor failed spectacularly
> in my case. Apparently it worked better for others.

On 6/25/2022 3:30 PM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> On 25/06/2022 12.30, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> On 6/25/2022 10:58 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
>>> On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper
>>> wrote:
>>>> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>>>> [snip-snip]
>>>> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>>>> "Laundry Files" books.
>>>
>>> We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
>>> https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqYJ
>>>
>>>
>>> Here is the original text of my post:
>>>
>>> The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
>>> about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
>>> Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
>>> Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".
>>>
>>> There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
>>> listed after...
>
>> I may have to try the Stross books some day.
>>
>> I do have one in my SBR.
>
> Do you know which it is? People might be able to advise you
> based on your known preferences.

I thought I had a copy of "Guards ! Guards ! Guards !" in my SBR but I
cannot find it now.

Lynn

Dimensional Traveler wrote:

>On 6/25/2022 8:11 AM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:

>>The similarities that I saw were: a secret organization defending
>>the world against evil magical beings, and the protagonist's boss
>>turning out to be one of those evil magical beings.
>>
>In the Laundry Files it is actually a large number of secret
>organizations as any country worth mentioning had their own
>department dealing with magic and the "supernatural". And the
>Laundry Files didn't start with the boss being one of the evil
>beings, one of the evil beings ended up being their boss after they
>failed to prevent the end of the world. ;)

Possibly the "boss" referenced was Angleton, AKA "The Eater of Souls".

Brian

On 6/25/2022 3:46 PM, Wolffan wrote:
> On 25 Jun 2022, Ahasuerus wrote
> (in article<00b2d0e1-204a-47e1-93af-e85644e0faa9n@googlegroups.com>):
>
>> On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>>> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>>> [snip-snip]
>>> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>>> "Laundry Files" books.
>>
>> We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
>> https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqYJ
>>
>> Here is the original text of my post:
>>
>> The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
>> about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
>> Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
>> Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".
>>
>> There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
>> listed after...
>>
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>> SPOILER WARNING
>>
>> 1. They are first (published) novels.
>>
>> 2. The universes are explicitly Lovecraftian.
>>
>> 3. They are both secret histories.
>>
>> 4. They are aimed at a particular target audience: gun nuts and
>> computer geeks respectively.
>
> Corriea’s boy is an uber gun nut _and_ a compurt geek.
>>
>>
>> 5. The Lovecraftian horrors want to invade Earth and take over.
>
> They already own several versions of Earth. In Corriea’s story, they
> aren’t the only ones who want to take over. Even the elves would, except
> that they’d have to stir out of the trailer park and actually make an
> effort.
>>
>>
>> 6. The protagonists are in their mid-twenties, male, very good at what
>> they do and have a “problem with authority”. (They also pursue and get
>> the girl, but that’s not exactly uncommon.)
>
> In Corriea’s story the girl is a bigger uber gun nut than the protag.
>>
>>
>> 7. The protagonists are Mary Sues with some minor flaws: obesity in
>> _MHI_ and alcohol abuse in _tAA_.
>
> m’man’s not fat, he’s just big boned.
>>
>>
>> 8. In addition to the Lovecraftian horrors, there is other magic afoot:
>> vampires, werewolves, etc in _MHI_ and Hands of Glory/gorgons/geasa in
>> _tAA_.
>
> there are _lots_ of other magical/monstrous creatures roaming Corriea’s
> world. Vampires. Werewolves. Minotaurs (except that they ain’t no Greek
> pansies, they’re _bullmen_, _Texas_ bullmen, and will take a major dislike
> to you if you forget it; one xter has a thought about whether females are
> ‘cowwomen’ or just heifers but thinks better of asking. There’s also
> some speculation about where said females keep their mammary glands, but
> no-one asked about that, either.). Orcs, who like Russian helos and heavy
> metal music. (The elves like country& western.) Zombies. Pretty much every
> magical monster you ever heard of from Greeco-Roman, Germanic, Hindi, Arab,
> Native American and especially Mexican, Caribbean, West African (not the same
> as Caribbean, but related), Japanese, Korean (not the same but related),
> Chinese, Persian, and South East Asian mythologies. The Monster Hunters spend
> a lot of time chasing the various monsters down, often with the help of some
> of the monsters, particularly orcs, elves, bullmen, and a couple vampires and
> werewolves. This is one of the ways that MHI doesn’t behave like the
> Laundry. Methods and motives and monsters. (Note that the vampires help when
> they feel like it, and for their own reasons, which might not mesh with
> MHI’s reasons.)
>>
>>
>> 9. The laws of physics still apply, but are “expanded” to allow for magic
>> and such.
>
> Orcs can make Russian helos do things which are totally impossible.
>>
>>
>> 10. The Lovecraftian horrors are opposed by two teams: “The Good Guys”
>> and “The Bad Guys”. The “Bad Guys” are government bureaucracies: the
>> jackbooted thugs from an FBI clone in _MHI_ and some parts of the Laundry
>> bureaucracy in _tAA_.
>>
>> 11. Pretty much everyone is at least moderately unpleasant. You know it’s
>> bad when you are tempted to start rooting for the nameless horrors from
>> beyond space and time.
>>
>> And here are some of the differences:
>>
>> 1. Stross has a lot more balls in the air: Dilbert, Deighton,
>> Lovecraft, Stephenson, the works.
>>
>> 2. Correia’s protagonist is a much bigger Mary Sue, often annoyingly so.
>
> he’s a Marty Stu. The Marty Stu of all Marty Stus.
>>
>>
>> 3. Stross makes some errors in the history/espionage area. I didn’t
>> notice any gun-related mistakes in _MHI_ (which doesn’t necessarily mean
>> that there aren’t any.)
>
> There’s the incident with the Finnish 20mm anti-tank rifle. That thing
> weighed about what Our Hero’s girlfriend weighed. She hauled it into action
> and used it, somehow avoiding rupturing herself when she moved it and
> breaking her shoulder and/or spine when she fired it.

Isn't it a recoilless rifle on wheels ?

Lynn

On 25 Jun 2022, Lynn McGuire wrote
(in article <t97ve6$3kf31$1@dont-email.me>):

> On 6/25/2022 3:46 PM, Wolffan wrote:
> > On 25 Jun 2022, Ahasuerus wrote
> > (in article<00b2d0e1-204a-47e1-93af-e85644e0faa9n@googlegroups.com>):
> >
> > > On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> > > > On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> > > > > "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
> > > > [snip-snip]
> > > > These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
> > > > "Laundry Files" books.
> > >
> > > We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
> > > https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqY
> > > J
> > >
> > > Here is the original text of my post:
> > >
> > > The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
> > > about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
> > > Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
> > > Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".
> > >
> > > There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
> > > listed after...
> > >
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > SPOILER WARNING
> > >
> > > 1. They are first (published) novels.
> > >
> > > 2. The universes are explicitly Lovecraftian.
> > >
> > > 3. They are both secret histories.
> > >
> > > 4. They are aimed at a particular target audience: gun nuts and
> > > computer geeks respectively.
> >
> > Corriea’s boy is an uber gun nut _and_ a compurt geek.
> > >
> > >
> > > 5. The Lovecraftian horrors want to invade Earth and take over.
> >
> > They already own several versions of Earth. In Corriea’s story, they
> > aren’t the only ones who want to take over. Even the elves would, except
> > that they’d have to stir out of the trailer park and actually make an
> > effort.
> > >
> > >
> > > 6. The protagonists are in their mid-twenties, male, very good at what
> > > they do and have a “problem with authority”. (They also pursue and get
> > > the girl, but that’s not exactly uncommon.)
> >
> > In Corriea’s story the girl is a bigger uber gun nut than the protag.
> > >
> > >
> > > 7. The protagonists are Mary Sues with some minor flaws: obesity in
> > > _MHI_ and alcohol abuse in _tAA_.
> >
> > m’man’s not fat, he’s just big boned.
> > >
> > >
> > > 8. In addition to the Lovecraftian horrors, there is other magic afoot:
> > > vampires, werewolves, etc in _MHI_ and Hands of Glory/gorgons/geasa in
> > > _tAA_.
> >
> > there are _lots_ of other magical/monstrous creatures roaming Corriea’s
> > world. Vampires. Werewolves. Minotaurs (except that they ain’t no Greek
> > pansies, they’re _bullmen_, _Texas_ bullmen, and will take a major dislike
> > to you if you forget it; one xter has a thought about whether females are
> > ‘cowwomen’ or just heifers but thinks better of asking. There’s also
> > some speculation about where said females keep their mammary glands, but
> > no-one asked about that, either.). Orcs, who like Russian helos and heavy
> > metal music. (The elves like country& western.) Zombies. Pretty much every
> > magical monster you ever heard of from Greeco-Roman, Germanic, Hindi, Arab,
> > Native American and especially Mexican, Caribbean, West African (not the
> > same
> > as Caribbean, but related), Japanese, Korean (not the same but related),
> > Chinese, Persian, and South East Asian mythologies. The Monster Hunters
> > spend
> > a lot of time chasing the various monsters down, often with the help of some
> > of the monsters, particularly orcs, elves, bullmen, and a couple vampires
> > and
> > werewolves. This is one of the ways that MHI doesn’t behave like the
> > Laundry. Methods and motives and monsters. (Note that the vampires help when
> > they feel like it, and for their own reasons, which might not mesh with
> > MHI’s reasons.)
> > >
> > >
> > > 9. The laws of physics still apply, but are “expanded” to allow for
> > > magic
> > > and such.
> >
> > Orcs can make Russian helos do things which are totally impossible.
> > >
> > >
> > > 10. The Lovecraftian horrors are opposed by two teams: “The Good Guys”
> > > and “The Bad Guys”. The “Bad Guys” are government bureaucracies:
> > > the
> > > jackbooted thugs from an FBI clone in _MHI_ and some parts of the Laundry
> > > bureaucracy in _tAA_.
> > >
> > > 11. Pretty much everyone is at least moderately unpleasant. You know it’s
> > > bad when you are tempted to start rooting for the nameless horrors from
> > > beyond space and time.
> > >
> > > And here are some of the differences:
> > >
> > > 1. Stross has a lot more balls in the air: Dilbert, Deighton,
> > > Lovecraft, Stephenson, the works.
> > >
> > > 2. Correia’s protagonist is a much bigger Mary Sue, often annoyingly so.
> >
> > he’s a Marty Stu. The Marty Stu of all Marty Stus.
> > >
> > >
> > > 3. Stross makes some errors in the history/espionage area. I didn’t
> > > notice any gun-related mistakes in _MHI_ (which doesn’t necessarily mean
> > > that there aren’t any.)
> >
> > There’s the incident with the Finnish 20mm anti-tank rifle. That thing
> > weighed about what Our Hero’s girlfriend weighed. She hauled it into
> > action
> > and used it, somehow avoiding rupturing herself when she moved it and
> > breaking her shoulder and/or spine when she fired it.
>
> Isn't it a recoilless rifle on wheels ?

it had wheels, but it most definitely was not recoilless.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahti_L-39 and, in any case, the wheels
weren’t much help, she was hauling it upstairs.

Note that in Finnish service it was often towed by horses. It’s a big, big,
BIG gun.

I think that there was an incident with a 106mm recoilless and one of the
larger Great Old Ones. 106mm recoillesses were a lot easier to move around
than Lahtis, and easier to shoot, but were usually jeep (or
Ontoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M50_Ontos) mounted.
>
>
> Lynn

On Sat, 25 Jun 2022 08:58:20 -0700, Ahasuerus wrote:

> On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper
> wrote:
>> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> > "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>> [snip-snip]
>> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>> "Laundry Files" books.
>
> We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
> https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-
TPjgUXqYJ
>
> Here is the original text of my post:
>
> The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
> about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
> Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
> Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".
>
> There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
> listed after...
>
> SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER
> WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING
> SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER
> WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING
>
> 1. They are first (published) novels.
>
> 2. The universes are explicitly Lovecraftian.
>
> 3. They are both secret histories.
>
> 4. They are aimed at a particular target audience: gun nuts and computer
> geeks respectively.
>
> 5. The Lovecraftian horrors want to invade Earth and take over.
>
> 6. The protagonists are in their mid-twenties, male, very good at what
> they do and have a “problem with authority”. (They also pursue and get
> the girl, but that’s not exactly uncommon.)
>
> 7. The protagonists are Mary Sues with some minor flaws: obesity in
> _MHI_ and alcohol abuse in _tAA_.
>
> 8. In addition to the Lovecraftian horrors, there is other magic afoot:
> vampires, werewolves, etc in _MHI_ and Hands of Glory/gorgons/geasa in
> _tAA_.
>
> 9. The laws of physics still apply, but are “expanded” to allow for
> magic and such.
>
> 10. The Lovecraftian horrors are opposed by two teams: “The Good Guys”
> and “The Bad Guys”. The “Bad Guys” are government bureaucracies: the
> jackbooted thugs from an FBI clone in _MHI_ and some parts of the
> Laundry bureaucracy in _tAA_.
>
> 11. Pretty much everyone is at least moderately unpleasant. You know
> it’s bad when you are tempted to start rooting for the nameless horrors
> from beyond space and time.
>
>
> And here are some of the differences:
>
> 1. Stross has a lot more balls in the air: Dilbert, Deighton,
> Lovecraft, Stephenson, the works.
>
> 2. Correia’s protagonist is a much bigger Mary Sue, often annoyingly so.
>
> 3. Stross makes some errors in the history/espionage area. I didn’t
> notice any gun-related mistakes in _MHI_ (which doesn’t necessarily mean
> that there aren’t any.)
>
> 4. Stross’s protagonist grows during the course of the novel while
> Correia’s doesn’t.
>
> 5. Correia does a better job of describing battles and keeping the
> reader interested in what’s going on. Stross writes better and more
> interesting sentences. He also uses present tense, which is often
> annoying, but isn’t too bad in this case.
>
> 6. _MHI_ is too long while _The Atrocity Archive_ (the novel rather than
> the collection) is, if anything, possibly a tad too short.
>
> 7. Correia’s universe suffers from the “enormous top secret conspiracy
> that everyone and his brother know about” problem. Stross’s universe has
> the same problem in “The Concrete Jungle”, which was reportedly
> retconned later.
>
> 8. Correia’s supporting characters are bland and/or interchangeable.
> Stross’s characters, except for the Bad Guys, tend to use the same type
> of humor. They also tend to launch into long tirades when the fate of
> the world is in the balance.
>
> 9. Correia has a harder time (permanently) killing any of his Good Guys.
>
> 10. Stross’s book tries to be funny, but the humor failed spectacularly
> in my case. Apparently it worked better for others.

I would say that the first Monster Hunter book(the only one I have read)
was funnier than The Atrocity Archive. Which is not praising either
book. The Atrocity Archive wanted to be witty and was not all that
successful and MHI was unintentionally one of the funniest books I ever
read.

Of course The Atrocity Archive was a good enough book anyway that I read
the sequels until I dropped them after the James Bond one(which was just
bad) however I have never wanted to read any more of the MHI books.

On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 5:56:02 PM UTC-4, Wolffan wrote:
> On 25 Jun 2022, Lynn McGuire wrote
> (in article <t97ve6$3kf31$1...@dont-email.me>):
> > On 6/25/2022 3:46 PM, Wolffan wrote:
> > > On 25 Jun 2022, Ahasuerus wrote
> > > (in article<00b2d0e1-204a-47e1...@googlegroups.com>):
> > >
> > > > On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> > > > > On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> > > > > > "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
> > > > > [snip-snip]
> > > > > These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
> > > > > "Laundry Files" books.
> > > >
> > > > We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
> > > > https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqY
> > > > J
> > > >
> > > > Here is the original text of my post:
> > > >
> > > > The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
> > > > about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
> > > > Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
> > > > Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".
> > > >
> > > > There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
> > > > listed after...
> > > >
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > > SPOILER WARNING
> > > >
> > > > 1. They are first (published) novels.
> > > >
> > > > 2. The universes are explicitly Lovecraftian.
> > > >
> > > > 3. They are both secret histories.
> > > >
> > > > 4. They are aimed at a particular target audience: gun nuts and
> > > > computer geeks respectively.
> > >
> > > Corriea’s boy is an uber gun nut _and_ a compurt geek.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 5. The Lovecraftian horrors want to invade Earth and take over.
> > >
> > > They already own several versions of Earth. In Corriea’s story, they
> > > aren’t the only ones who want to take over. Even the elves would, except
> > > that they’d have to stir out of the trailer park and actually make an
> > > effort.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 6. The protagonists are in their mid-twenties, male, very good at what
> > > > they do and have a “problem with authority”. (They also pursue and get
> > > > the girl, but that’s not exactly uncommon.)
> > >
> > > In Corriea’s story the girl is a bigger uber gun nut than the protag.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 7. The protagonists are Mary Sues with some minor flaws: obesity in
> > > > _MHI_ and alcohol abuse in _tAA_.
> > >
> > > m’man’s not fat, he’s just big boned.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 8. In addition to the Lovecraftian horrors, there is other magic afoot:
> > > > vampires, werewolves, etc in _MHI_ and Hands of Glory/gorgons/geasa in
> > > > _tAA_.
> > >
> > > there are _lots_ of other magical/monstrous creatures roaming Corriea’s
> > > world. Vampires. Werewolves. Minotaurs (except that they ain’t no Greek
> > > pansies, they’re _bullmen_, _Texas_ bullmen, and will take a major dislike
> > > to you if you forget it; one xter has a thought about whether females are
> > > ‘cowwomen’ or just heifers but thinks better of asking. There’s also
> > > some speculation about where said females keep their mammary glands, but
> > > no-one asked about that, either.). Orcs, who like Russian helos and heavy
> > > metal music. (The elves like country& western.) Zombies. Pretty much every
> > > magical monster you ever heard of from Greeco-Roman, Germanic, Hindi, Arab,
> > > Native American and especially Mexican, Caribbean, West African (not the
> > > same
> > > as Caribbean, but related), Japanese, Korean (not the same but related),
> > > Chinese, Persian, and South East Asian mythologies. The Monster Hunters
> > > spend
> > > a lot of time chasing the various monsters down, often with the help of some
> > > of the monsters, particularly orcs, elves, bullmen, and a couple vampires
> > > and
> > > werewolves. This is one of the ways that MHI doesn’t behave like the
> > > Laundry. Methods and motives and monsters. (Note that the vampires help when
> > > they feel like it, and for their own reasons, which might not mesh with
> > > MHI’s reasons.)
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 9. The laws of physics still apply, but are “expanded” to allow for
> > > > magic
> > > > and such.
> > >
> > > Orcs can make Russian helos do things which are totally impossible.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 10. The Lovecraftian horrors are opposed by two teams: “The Good Guys”
> > > > and “The Bad Guys”. The “Bad Guys” are government bureaucracies:
> > > > the
> > > > jackbooted thugs from an FBI clone in _MHI_ and some parts of the Laundry
> > > > bureaucracy in _tAA_.
> > > >
> > > > 11. Pretty much everyone is at least moderately unpleasant. You know it’s
> > > > bad when you are tempted to start rooting for the nameless horrors from
> > > > beyond space and time.
> > > >
> > > > And here are some of the differences:
> > > >
> > > > 1. Stross has a lot more balls in the air: Dilbert, Deighton,
> > > > Lovecraft, Stephenson, the works.
> > > >
> > > > 2. Correia’s protagonist is a much bigger Mary Sue, often annoyingly so.
> > >
> > > he’s a Marty Stu. The Marty Stu of all Marty Stus.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 3. Stross makes some errors in the history/espionage area. I didn’t
> > > > notice any gun-related mistakes in _MHI_ (which doesn’t necessarily mean
> > > > that there aren’t any.)
> > >
> > > There’s the incident with the Finnish 20mm anti-tank rifle. That thing
> > > weighed about what Our Hero’s girlfriend weighed. She hauled it into
> > > action
> > > and used it, somehow avoiding rupturing herself when she moved it and
> > > breaking her shoulder and/or spine when she fired it.
> >
> > Isn't it a recoilless rifle on wheels ?
> it had wheels, but it most definitely was not recoilless.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahti_L-39 and, in any case, the wheels
> weren’t much help, she was hauling it upstairs.
>
> Note that in Finnish service it was often towed by horses. It’s a big, big,
> BIG gun.
>
> I think that there was an incident with a 106mm recoilless and one of the
> larger Great Old Ones. 106mm recoillesses were a lot easier to move around
> than Lahtis, and easier to shoot, but were usually jeep (or
> Ontoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M50_Ontos) mounted.

Did this guy ride a Vespa 150 TAP?
https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespa_150_TAP

Pt

On 6/25/2022 2:39 PM, Default User wrote:
> Dimensional Traveler wrote:
>
>> On 6/25/2022 8:11 AM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>
>>> The similarities that I saw were: a secret organization defending
>>> the world against evil magical beings, and the protagonist's boss
>>> turning out to be one of those evil magical beings.
>>>
>> In the Laundry Files it is actually a large number of secret
>> organizations as any country worth mentioning had their own
>> department dealing with magic and the "supernatural". And the
>> Laundry Files didn't start with the boss being one of the evil
>> beings, one of the evil beings ended up being their boss after they
>> failed to prevent the end of the world. ;)
>
> Possibly the "boss" referenced was Angleton, AKA "The Eater of Souls".
>
The reason the "new" series is titled "The New Management". :)

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 6/25/2022 2:37 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> On 6/25/2022 3:30 PM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>> On 25/06/2022 12.30, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> On 6/25/2022 10:58 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
>>>> On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>>> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>>>>> [snip-snip]
>>>>> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>>>>> "Laundry Files" books.
>>>>
>>>> We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
>>>> https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqYJ
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Here is the original text of my post:
>>>>
>>>> The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
>>>> about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
>>>> Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
>>>> Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".
>>>>
>>>> There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
>>>> listed after...
>>
>>> I may have to try the Stross books some day.
>>>
>>> I do have one in my SBR.
>>
>> Do you know which it is? People might be able to advise you
>> based on your known preferences.
>
> I thought I had a copy of "Guards ! Guards ! Guards !" in my SBR but I
> cannot find it now.
>
That would be one of Pratchett's Discworld books. And its only two
"Guards!".

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

In article <t97v7i$3kei6$1@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 6/25/2022 3:30 PM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>> On 25/06/2022 12.30, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> On 6/25/2022 10:58 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
>>>> On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>>> "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
>>>>> [snip-snip]
>>>>> These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
>>>>> "Laundry Files" books.
>>>>
>>>> We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
>>>>
>https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqYJ
>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Here is the original text of my post:
>>>>
>>>> The last couple of threads about Correia and Stross got me thinking
>>>> about their first novels, _Monster Hunter International_ and _The
>>>> Atrocity Archive_. The latter was also published in _The Atrocity
>>>> Archives_, which collects _tAA_ and the novella "The Concrete Jungle".
>>>>
>>>> There are quite a few similarities between the two universes, which are
>>>> listed after...
>>
>>> I may have to try the Stross books some day.
>>>
>>> I do have one in my SBR.
>>
>> Do you know which it is? People might be able to advise you
>> based on your known preferences.
>
>I thought I had a copy of "Guards ! Guards ! Guards !" in my SBR but I
>cannot find it now.
>

That's a very good book, but it's not a Stross.
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

In article <0001HW.2867AB8802A0B5DB7000060FC38F@news.supernews.com>,
Wolffan <akwolffan@zoho.com> wrote:

> On 25 Jun 2022, Ahasuerus wrote
> (in article<00b2d0e1-204a-47e1-93af-e85644e0faa9n@googlegroups.com>):
>
> > On Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 9:57:27 AM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> > > On 24/06/2022 18.55, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> > > > "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
> > > [snip-snip]
> > > These two paragraphs make it sound reminiscent of Stross'
> > > "Laundry Files" books.
> >
> > We had a discussion of the two series back in 2013 -- see
> > https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/c/4iKXiwcuYGs/m/JQ-TPjgUXqYJ

(SNIP!)
> >
> > 3. Stross makes some errors in the history/espionage area. I didn’t
> > notice any gun-related mistakes in _MHI_ (which doesn’t necessarily mean
> > that there aren’t any.)
>
> There’s the incident with the Finnish 20mm anti-tank rifle. That thing
> weighed about what Our Hero’s girlfriend weighed. She hauled it into action
> and used it, somehow avoiding rupturing herself when she moved it and
> breaking her shoulder and/or spine when she fired it.
> >

Which book was this in? The last one had Agent Franks firing a 20mm
cannon (which was probably close to 2 meters in length), but Franks is a
special case.

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan wrote:

>Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

>>I thought I had a copy of "Guards ! Guards ! Guards !" in my SBR
>>but I cannot find it now.
>>
>
>That's a very good book, but it's not a Stross.

It's where I would recommend a lot of people start Discworld.

Brian