Sometimes it's OK to jump into a series without reading the books from the beginning, other times it not such a good idea. If you decide to check out Dave vs. the Monsters: Ascendance I strongly recommend starting at the beginning with Emergence and then reading Resistance. There were times, particularly at the beginning, where I had no idea what was happening. That I blame on myself for jumping in mid-steam.
Combine a Lovecraftian horror novel with an acid trip from the seventies and you might have some idea of the world created by novelist John Birmingham in his Dave vs. the Monsters series. The book certainly gets to the action quickly and barely lifts its foot from the accelerator until the very end.
Early on, I wanted to put this one down and move on to another book, but I really hate to do that. When I pick a new read it's always with a reason, a favorite author, interesting subject matter, a recommendation. In this case the following description for the book sold me...
"For fans of Jim Butcher and Kevin Hearne comes an exhilarating new urban fantasy series featuring monster-slayer Dave Hooper and his magical splitting maul.
Kids, there are no monsters under the bed. They’re in the front yard.
As a hardworking monster-slayer, Dave Hooper tries not to bring his work home with him. But nowadays it’s hard to keep them separate. Email, cellphones, empath daemons, they never let a guy rest.
The Horde has been raising hell and leveling cities from New York to Los Angeles, keeping Dave and his fellow monster-killer, Russian spy Karin Varatschevsky, very busy. But when the legions of hell invade the small seaside town his boys call home, Dave has to make a call. Save the world? Or save his family?
Not as easy a choice as you’d think, since Dave’s ex-wife expects to be saved too. And there’s no convincing her that the supersexy Russian spy isn’t his girlfriend. She’s just his sidekick—and an assassin."
Hell, I'm in. I'm not sure why I didn't like this as much as I wanted to. At times I found Dave vs. the Monsters: Ascendance very entertaining, laced with pop-culture and literary references, and ultra-violent. All things I like in my urban fantasy.
Dave vs. the Monsters: Ascendance will be available in paperback and e-book formats beginning June 30, 2015. Published by Del Rey Books, the Science Fiction & Fantasy imprint from Random House.
Recommended, but not for everyone.
I got Emergence kicking around that I'm hoping to check out sometime. Seems like the kind of UF I'd go for.
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