17 thoughts on “Monster Hunter Guardian, Available on Audible.com now”

  1. Lunch Time Update:

    #1 Best Seller in Contemporary Fantasy

    Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
    #8 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
    #1 in Contemporary Fantasy (Books)
    #1 in Horror Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
    #1 in Dark Fantasy

    Most of these are different from the categories this morning, so it could be topping up to 6 or so categories, so far.

  2. Mr. Correia,

    Sorry to bother you but I found a article on Instapundit that you mentioned statistics showing mass shooting victims. You said something like when the police intervened there were an average of 12 or victims and when it was an armed citizen it 2.5 victims. Where did you get these figures? It would be helpful to be able to cite these with authority. I would be appreciative if you could point me to your source. Thank you, an avid reader.

  3. Literally the only Audible book I’ve returned. That was a hot mess, and I’m sorry your brand is associated with it. The MHI verse is easily my favorite bit of fiction.

    The Narrator sucked, and did your version of Julie a grave disservice. Your version (via Wyman) was a hyper competent pro. Hoyt’s wasn’t Julie. Julie isn’t whiny.

    YMMV, I hate to report a negative, but that was awful.

  4. I’m struggling to get through “Guardian ” and i can’t tell you how much it pains me to write that! The narrator’s portrayal of Julie is so off target, it is like Julie is from Seattle (or maybe Canada). Worse tho, is Julie’s lack of “strength of character”. The angst she has in “Guardian” is just so far off from the Julie of the rest of the series that i can’t reconcile the two.
    Initially I was all onboard with the collaborations, thinking anything that gets me more Monster Hunting faster is a good thing. However, after the Ringo debacle now this one, I gotta BEG you: please please please don’t share the franchise anymore. Its obvious (to me, at least) that what makes Monster Hunter so special isn’t just Owen, Earl, Franks, or Julie, it’s Larry Correia. And Mr Wyman.

    1. Huh, I never got that impression about Julie when I read the book.

      Maybe it’s just the narrators portrayal? I know they can make or break audiobooks.

      1. That’d be my guess. I don’t find Guardian’s Julie to be out of character, but that may be because I’ve already developed an image of her in my mind and I’m fitting her reactions to events in this book into that framework in a way that seems plausible. (I know my wife would have had the same determination if one of her kids was taken, but she’d also have the same doubts and fears, and then some.)

        One thing that I find a little different in this book is we see the whole thing from inside Julie’s head, and hear her internal monologue. I don’t think we’ve had more than a glimpse of that point of view through the rest of the series. Experiencing a character that intimately reveals things that we might find surprising.

        I haven’t listened to the audio book so I can’t comment on the narrator’s performance. But considering how disappointed I’ve been in movies made from my favorite books, it seems easy for a director’s vision to differ from my own enough to spoil the experience. I really have to try to judge a perfomance on its own merits, not as an extension of the book. That way lies madness.

        1. I’m thinking of those insurance commercials where they go back and forth with different people experiencing different situations with the exact same dialogue.

          “Really! Are you kidding me.”: Teenager getting a new car.
          “Really! Are you kidding me.”: Man sees his car on cinder blocks.

          Tone and pacing matter.

          Julie’s dialogue felt right. Julie’s choices felt right. And Sarah is to commended for that. Reading the sample chapters first, Sarah’s writing of Julie was great. I bought the kindle version and then the Audible add-on. Julie’s “voice” hadn’t changed between Larry and Sarah on the written page.

          Bailey Carr’s narration, however, wasn’t the “voice” I had in my head for Julie. The pacing and intonation felt a little more “reach out and touch someone” than “reach out and touch someone with a sniper rifle”. Perhaps this was always intended and my own head-canon is getting in the way. I enjoyed it, it was just different.

          I didn’t read Ashok’s voice as quite so stilted as Tim Reynolds’ portrays either, but now I quite like that characterization for a man who can’t really feel much of anything.

  5. I Kindle Fired my copy, I’m not into audio books so no idea if the voicing was good or bad. I just finished reading it and I thought it was a wonderful yarn. Any variation between Correia Julie and Hoyt Julie I put down as personality changes with motherhood; and believe me, women DO change once they’ve had a child.

  6. I plan to write a review on the audible site soon, but wanted to stop by here to see what other people where saying prior to that.

    First off: wow; it was *actually* a story that fleshed out Julie with her private observations and internal monologue. It wasn’t out of her actual character of rash actions and extreme emotional swings, just well-rounded. The choice of inhuman side-kick was brilliant, written in such a fashion that a reader or listener could really get into his antics. I about died laughing several times.

    Secondarily: The producers really dropped the ball on this audio recording. Bailey Carr was not a good fit for this book. I have listened to several things she has narrated: she gives it a good effort and reads with competence. However, she was allowed to change the pronunciation of a number of names, change accents, and change affect. Her performance on The Monster Hunter Files left a lot to be desired as well.

    Oliver Wyman really rounded out all of the MHI characters to the listeners, and while he may not have been seen as the right narrator to voice Julie’s internal monologue, or a story from her point of view, his narration of Julie from the previous works should have been the standard for a new narrator.

    Ultimately, while the story was great, the audio production was not consistent with the previous ones.

  7. Before I do an audible review I wanted to post here, I think it’s extremely important that you get this feedback as well.

    I really loved the story it self for Guardian. I really like Julie and it was a great story. I will probably get a paper copy to read it myself using the Wyman voices in my head. Thank you for writing and keeping the story moving, it is a fantastic world with great characters.

    Now the criticism. The narrator was awful. I don’t think she even listened to the other books before narrating this one. How can she pronounce Harbinger differently and think that’s OK. And she didn’t even try for a southern or German accent and only kinda tried for a french accent (and it was horrible). I’m actually OK having a female narrate instead of using Mr. Wyman, esp where it’s a book from Julie’s point of view. However, the narrator should at least try to keep consistency with what was done before.

    I won’t return the audio book since I do like the story and want a complete collection, but I do beg you to have it re-recorded using a different narrator. PLEASE! PLEASE! Pretty PLEASE! (Mr. Trash Bags would really want you to re-record it too)

  8. I think it might be a good idea to read the audible reviews, they speak for themselves. Larry you are a great writer, but this book sucks. I’m guessing you didn’t have much involvement. Please make MHI great again!!!

  9. I hate to join the bash-the-narrator party, but I strongly agree. As a person whose job has them driving for 10-20 hours a week on top of the 40+ hours I work, the majority of my “reading time” has shifted from written to audio books.
    The story was good, great even, when taken at the written word. However, the narration didn’t hold to the standard set by Wyman in the previous titles. I can understand and even agree that a female narrator would be a good choice given that this is Julie’s book, but the narrator did not do the book justice. The mispronunciations of characters names, the lack of some accents is almost preferable to the slaughtering of others, and the overall feel of the characters was just off. Instead of giving off a sense of a strong individual whose foundation has been rocked by family tragedy (kidnapping of a child and potential loss of her whole family), the narrator comes off more like a whiny teenager. Just doesn’t hold true to the character portrayed in all other installments of the series. Again, this is not a reflection of the writing, but how the writing is impacted by the audio performance.
    I have loved all things MHI, and would even consider buying another of the audio copies of guardian if it were re-recorded with a different narrator, but have been deeply saddened by this latest addition to my audio collection. While I love Wyman’s narration’s to date, even if he does not do any further books in the series, please have any further narrator’s at least listen to his portrayals of the characters so they could at least attempt to hold true to what your loyal listeners have come to expect.

Leave a Reply to John Fusek Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *