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A Tale of Monsters #1
A Tale of Monsters Stolen
What do you do when monsters are eating your cattle? Call a hunter. What do you do when a monster bigger than your house walks by? Call a group of hunters and open a tab. This is going to be expensive. Being a hunter is a life of adrenaline, adventure, glory, and wealth. After all, not just anybody is willing to poke a dragon in the eye and save the city from certain death. The only catch is you have to live long enough to enjoy the benefits. When the fight tomorrow might kill you, you live for yourself and your friends today. So when someone is stupid enough to kidnap one of their own…There’s a chance this could end diplomatically, but it’ll probably be by the axe.
- GenresFantasy
278 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 4, 2021
24 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 16, 2023
I have a LOT of criticism, but that doesn't mean the book is bad. I mean from a technical point, it is really bad. The author has a lot of basic problems with writing that any editor would have caught immediately, so I have to assume this book was not edited at all.
But I really liked how it feels to read the book, it evokes some nice emotions, the action scenes sometimes reach the good level, mostly decent.
I have some points that are not errors, just not to my taste:
- The world feels very craft-focused trash MMORPG. By that I mean it doesn't have much consistency in how it works, you just farm stuff from animals and make better gear.
- I don't like deserts, and most of this book plays out in the desert.
- No magic whatsoever.
Then there are a lot of problems too:
- Jumps between close third person and omnipotent. We follow a character, then suddenly we are told about some past event the character wouldn't know about, or read the thoughts of a random person in the scene.
- Contradictory sentences right after each other. I had several good examples during reading, but forgot them by this time. But think of stuff like: "She was silent. Her voice carried over the crowd." Bad example, but you get it.
- Wildly fluctuating characterization. Especially visible with Kira, who gets the most of it. But Sakien is also a victim, you always get surprised by what happens because they don't have a stable character.
- Very weird word- and phrase choices, you expect a sentence to end some way, but it doesn't, and it doesn't feel like an artistic choice. Especially weird, since the writer is a native English speaker as far as I could tell from the bio.
- Sometimes reality bending action. This example is from the start of the book: Dezzlin looks at the wall, thinks about how to climb it (obviously nobody is on the wall at this time), then turns back to tell the others that it'll be a tough climb, but only one person is behind him, the others are already scaling. How did that happen, they rushed past him with the speed of sound while his head turned around?
- The dialogue is very stilted. And the author writes in a way that is unorthodox:
As I mentioned, Kira is the most developed character of the main five (or six?). I think I see what Derek went with her, and I really like her story in concept, but the execution left a lot to be desired. She comes off as a hamster with anger management issues.
But I really liked how it feels to read the book, it evokes some nice emotions, the action scenes sometimes reach the good level, mostly decent.
I have some points that are not errors, just not to my taste:
- The world feels very craft-focused trash MMORPG. By that I mean it doesn't have much consistency in how it works, you just farm stuff from animals and make better gear.
- I don't like deserts, and most of this book plays out in the desert.
- No magic whatsoever.
Then there are a lot of problems too:
- Jumps between close third person and omnipotent. We follow a character, then suddenly we are told about some past event the character wouldn't know about, or read the thoughts of a random person in the scene.
- Contradictory sentences right after each other. I had several good examples during reading, but forgot them by this time. But think of stuff like: "She was silent. Her voice carried over the crowd." Bad example, but you get it.
- Wildly fluctuating characterization. Especially visible with Kira, who gets the most of it. But Sakien is also a victim, you always get surprised by what happens because they don't have a stable character.
- Very weird word- and phrase choices, you expect a sentence to end some way, but it doesn't, and it doesn't feel like an artistic choice. Especially weird, since the writer is a native English speaker as far as I could tell from the bio.
- Sometimes reality bending action. This example is from the start of the book: Dezzlin looks at the wall, thinks about how to climb it (obviously nobody is on the wall at this time), then turns back to tell the others that it'll be a tough climb, but only one person is behind him, the others are already scaling. How did that happen, they rushed past him with the speed of sound while his head turned around?
- The dialogue is very stilted. And the author writes in a way that is unorthodox:
X: "Blah blah" Y smiled.
Y: "Yarr yarr" Z laughed and slapped Y
Z: "Hurr durr"
As I mentioned, Kira is the most developed character of the main five (or six?). I think I see what Derek went with her, and I really like her story in concept, but the execution left a lot to be desired. She comes off as a hamster with anger management issues.
February 20, 2026
I should've written this review after finishing the first book.
As of now, I've finished the trilogy, and gotta say, this may be the weakest of the three.
It's an easy read, fun and attention grabbing. Sometimes it wonders in a weir way, or doesn't really get the point entirely through.
The action portions are intense and you can really follow it like a movie.
The characters are introduced a little bit all at once, except for Kira. I had a little bit of trouble almost up to the second book with differentiating Dezzlin with Diake. Main characters should have a unique initial letter in my opinion, makes it easier to follow.
I like how the world is set, it's mostly a common world, just humans, north=cold, desert=snakes, islands=jungle, etc. It has no magic whatsoever, just the "monsters", that are basically, big and dangerous animals/insects.
Given how graphic it is with the violence and gore, it's a nice surprise that the most "sexual" thing is the single mention of "breasts".
Other than that, I'll write a review for the following books.
Would read again.
As of now, I've finished the trilogy, and gotta say, this may be the weakest of the three.
It's an easy read, fun and attention grabbing. Sometimes it wonders in a weir way, or doesn't really get the point entirely through.
The action portions are intense and you can really follow it like a movie.
The characters are introduced a little bit all at once, except for Kira. I had a little bit of trouble almost up to the second book with differentiating Dezzlin with Diake. Main characters should have a unique initial letter in my opinion, makes it easier to follow.
I like how the world is set, it's mostly a common world, just humans, north=cold, desert=snakes, islands=jungle, etc. It has no magic whatsoever, just the "monsters", that are basically, big and dangerous animals/insects.
Given how graphic it is with the violence and gore, it's a nice surprise that the most "sexual" thing is the single mention of "breasts".
Other than that, I'll write a review for the following books.
Would read again.
April 22, 2024
Good storyline
Its a very good book, well written and entertaining. Can't wait to read the rest. Worth the time ro read.
Its a very good book, well written and entertaining. Can't wait to read the rest. Worth the time ro read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews