What do you think?
Rate this book
Primitive War Dispatches: The Hunting of Stalker Force
At the height of the Vietnam War, a search and rescue squadron known as 'Vulture Squad' discovered dinosaurs existing within the confines of an isolated jungle valley north of the DMZ. A year has passed since the American Forces quarantined the primeval valley, and a new Special Forces team known as Stalker Force has been created to track the most dangerous dinosaurs of all time - the utahraptors - and destroy them. The mission proves to be more than the fledgling team can handle when they come face to face with mysterious new predators, clandestine para-military operatives, and a cunning alpha male utahraptor known as Sobek; the nihil river god. The Hunting of Stalker Force is the first volume of Primitive War Dispatches, a series of serialized short-story anthologies meant to link the flagship novels of the Primitive War series. The Hunting of Stalker Force takes place between Primitive War I and Primitive War II - Animus Infernal.
- GenresHorrorWarScience Fiction
164 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 23, 2019
107 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
About the author
Ethan Pettus
8 books76 followersEthan Pettus is a didgeridoo-playing degenerate from the green hills of Kentucky. He spends most of his free time day-dreaming.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 5, 2024
Awesome short sequel to Primitive War, the dinosaurs are learning, they are escaping the jungle.
Gory deaths and scary smart dinos evading death. Love these books, can't wait to start the third one.
Gory deaths and scary smart dinos evading death. Love these books, can't wait to start the third one.
December 24, 2020
The first book really bowled me over, I’ve read pretty much all there is to read in Dinosaur fiction, nothing is anywhere near as good as Crichton’s jurassic park novels! But the Primitive war series is the perfect successor to this genre! This book bridges the events between book one and book two, abs as soon as you finish, the ending will make you want to move straight on to the second!
The characters have so much depth and emotional weight, that you end up just enjoying the humans just as much as the dinosaurs:....which are written very well! The dinosaurs behave like animals and not monsters. The species in this book are incredible! And there’s one chapter in particular that really really evokes Dino crisis vibes!!!
Cannot wait to start reading the sequel (which is out now)
The characters have so much depth and emotional weight, that you end up just enjoying the humans just as much as the dinosaurs:....which are written very well! The dinosaurs behave like animals and not monsters. The species in this book are incredible! And there’s one chapter in particular that really really evokes Dino crisis vibes!!!
Cannot wait to start reading the sequel (which is out now)
February 20, 2025
Magnificent
Coming right after reading Primitive War this was a nice direct sequel. It was shorter but just as good and impactful.
The human characters like Andrei, Nyguen, and Xavier are all still wonderful and the new cast are rather interesting.
The dinosaurs always snag my attention, especially Tyranosaruas. I loved seeing the new additions and how they acted just as how you’d expect an animal too. And Sobek was a treat to follow, you feel empathy for him.
Amazing read overall, can’t wait to read Primitive War 2.
Coming right after reading Primitive War this was a nice direct sequel. It was shorter but just as good and impactful.
The human characters like Andrei, Nyguen, and Xavier are all still wonderful and the new cast are rather interesting.
The dinosaurs always snag my attention, especially Tyranosaruas. I loved seeing the new additions and how they acted just as how you’d expect an animal too. And Sobek was a treat to follow, you feel empathy for him.
Amazing read overall, can’t wait to read Primitive War 2.
March 12, 2025
Alright book 2 in the series! This one was also amazing, the dinosaurs were actively participating in their ecosystem instead of just hunting humans this time and it was awesome to see! One thing I particularly liked were the dinosaurs(and pterasaur) turning and attempting to flee once they realized they were losing the fight.
Sobek the Utahraptor fled when confronted with two Yutyrannus, the quetzal fled once it started losing to the humans, and the cryolophosaurus flee once they think they're about to get killed. I also loved the inclusion of successful herbivore defence in this book, it's surprisingly rare in dino media but amazing when it does appear! I also liked the carnivores no longer roaring as they hunted. They stalk and lunge, but they don't really roar. Realistic change.
My favorite addition though is the dinosaur combat. The scenes are all realistic and really creative, and they're amazing to read! Theropods use every part of their body from their jaws to their arms to their feet to even their tails, and herbivores use all of those in addition to their crests and frills whacking predators. It's amazing watching all of the different strategies used and the creativity behind each one!
Now onto the individual dinosaurs! Going (mostly) in order of appearance;
Utahraptor: The classic, not much to add from last time. I do think the book humanized them a bit too much, but that's the only change I really noticed. The Utahs in the valley had a tragic end, right as they'd finally knocked down the yutys and had a chance at a future they were bombed and stomped out regardless. Poor guys, I'm glad that wasn't the last of their species at least.
Yutyrannus: An amazing addition to the roster! I found the duo hunting really interesting, and I appreciate how it wasn't written as organized pack hunting. The mated pair just kind of threw themselves at the Utahraptors together. I do find their rivalry with the Utahraptors interesting, competition between animals of the same niche is common but their constant attempts to completely eradicate the Utahraptors are a bit excessive. It's similar to the lion and hyena dynamic, but the yutys are quite a bit more bloodthirsty than the lions are irl. Another detail I especially appreciated was their coat. They were feathered-ish, with their coat more being described as a matted mess of pycnofibers than any well developed feathers, which is accurate to their fossils. I also liked the lion's mane defense where their feathers helped by just trapping their opponents claws when they were attacked. The tiny bit of sexual dimorphism is also neat, just a slightly brighter crest. Small detail, but good addition. I loved the combat used by these guys specifically, they kick, tail swipe, bite, and claw and it's amazing! I also liked the addition of the classic tyrannosaur weakness, they're so massive their weight crushes their own bones when they fall. I find it unlikely the yutys fall would have enough force to break its femur of all bones, even with the Utah slamming into it, but it was still a cool addition and other leg bones easily could've snapped.
Amargasaurus: I loved the inclusion of this theropod! I did find the bioluminescent frills a bit unrealistic since that's not really a thing in tetrapods, but it was cool! I also liked that the Utahs backed off when the sauropods started shouting at them.
Deinonychus/Quetzalcoatlus: nothing new to add here
Parasaurolophus: I loved seeing these guys! Their symbiotic relationship with the triceratops was cool, and I found their rex-roar mimicry really interesting. I find that kind of unlikely because we've done sound analysis on their frills and they probably couldn't really roar with them, but "roar" could be being used here to just describe extremely loud vocalizations which would apply to this. I also found the membrane between their frill and neck interesting, it's clearly for display in the book and an interesting piece of speculative biology. One of the main things I liked was their herd using the zebra defense, where their patterns break up their silhouette and make it hard to focus on any of them when the whole herd is moving.
Triceratops: The other part of the symbiosis, and a really cool addition! I loved how they actually fended off and won against a few carnivorous dinosaurs, which is surprisingly rare in dino books. In that fight scene they were described as having scales thick enough the cryo could barely get through them(accurate), having osteoderms(inaccurate), and using their frills as a defensive weapon to whack the cryo when it got too close(probably inaccurate). That could potentially work since it was just a whack, but ceratopsian frills were mostly for display so probably not. I did really appreciate the change in terms from "alpha" to "bull" when referring to the male though. I also really liked the bull participating in opportunistic scavenging once the cryos were gone. A niche bit of biology and a really cool addition!
Cryolophosaurus: I loved these guys! An unfortunate inaccuracy is the organized pack hunting of course, but other than that they were really solid! I especially liked the sexual dimorphism displayed in their species, with the males being smaller with proportionally larger crests and the females being much larger overall but more dully colored and with proportionally smaller crests. If compared to predatory birds, dinosaur's direct descendants, that size difference is accurate! I also love how they had a matriarch with several male suitors that followed her lead, really cool dynamic! And as much as I love their portrayal, I highly doubt they'd be going after triceratops if they ever met irl. That triceratops was very clearly out of their league in terms of defenses and combat experience, which made a cool fight but a predictable end. Their tiger colors were very pretty though, and their opportunistic scavenging was a neat detail.
Also kind of unrelated but I really liked Andrei in this book compared to the previous one!
There were also LOTS of editing errors. It may just be the Kindle version but the chapters aren't separated at all, you get wall of text -> chapter title -> more text all on one page, lots of words don't have spaces between them, and a good amount of words had an odd space in the middle of them. Good book but it could've used a bit more editing.
Sobek the Utahraptor fled when confronted with two Yutyrannus, the quetzal fled once it started losing to the humans, and the cryolophosaurus flee once they think they're about to get killed. I also loved the inclusion of successful herbivore defence in this book, it's surprisingly rare in dino media but amazing when it does appear! I also liked the carnivores no longer roaring as they hunted. They stalk and lunge, but they don't really roar. Realistic change.
My favorite addition though is the dinosaur combat. The scenes are all realistic and really creative, and they're amazing to read! Theropods use every part of their body from their jaws to their arms to their feet to even their tails, and herbivores use all of those in addition to their crests and frills whacking predators. It's amazing watching all of the different strategies used and the creativity behind each one!
Now onto the individual dinosaurs! Going (mostly) in order of appearance;
Utahraptor: The classic, not much to add from last time. I do think the book humanized them a bit too much, but that's the only change I really noticed. The Utahs in the valley had a tragic end, right as they'd finally knocked down the yutys and had a chance at a future they were bombed and stomped out regardless. Poor guys, I'm glad that wasn't the last of their species at least.
Yutyrannus: An amazing addition to the roster! I found the duo hunting really interesting, and I appreciate how it wasn't written as organized pack hunting. The mated pair just kind of threw themselves at the Utahraptors together. I do find their rivalry with the Utahraptors interesting, competition between animals of the same niche is common but their constant attempts to completely eradicate the Utahraptors are a bit excessive. It's similar to the lion and hyena dynamic, but the yutys are quite a bit more bloodthirsty than the lions are irl. Another detail I especially appreciated was their coat. They were feathered-ish, with their coat more being described as a matted mess of pycnofibers than any well developed feathers, which is accurate to their fossils. I also liked the lion's mane defense where their feathers helped by just trapping their opponents claws when they were attacked. The tiny bit of sexual dimorphism is also neat, just a slightly brighter crest. Small detail, but good addition. I loved the combat used by these guys specifically, they kick, tail swipe, bite, and claw and it's amazing! I also liked the addition of the classic tyrannosaur weakness, they're so massive their weight crushes their own bones when they fall. I find it unlikely the yutys fall would have enough force to break its femur of all bones, even with the Utah slamming into it, but it was still a cool addition and other leg bones easily could've snapped.
Amargasaurus: I loved the inclusion of this theropod! I did find the bioluminescent frills a bit unrealistic since that's not really a thing in tetrapods, but it was cool! I also liked that the Utahs backed off when the sauropods started shouting at them.
Deinonychus/Quetzalcoatlus: nothing new to add here
Parasaurolophus: I loved seeing these guys! Their symbiotic relationship with the triceratops was cool, and I found their rex-roar mimicry really interesting. I find that kind of unlikely because we've done sound analysis on their frills and they probably couldn't really roar with them, but "roar" could be being used here to just describe extremely loud vocalizations which would apply to this. I also found the membrane between their frill and neck interesting, it's clearly for display in the book and an interesting piece of speculative biology. One of the main things I liked was their herd using the zebra defense, where their patterns break up their silhouette and make it hard to focus on any of them when the whole herd is moving.
Triceratops: The other part of the symbiosis, and a really cool addition! I loved how they actually fended off and won against a few carnivorous dinosaurs, which is surprisingly rare in dino books. In that fight scene they were described as having scales thick enough the cryo could barely get through them(accurate), having osteoderms(inaccurate), and using their frills as a defensive weapon to whack the cryo when it got too close(probably inaccurate). That could potentially work since it was just a whack, but ceratopsian frills were mostly for display so probably not. I did really appreciate the change in terms from "alpha" to "bull" when referring to the male though. I also really liked the bull participating in opportunistic scavenging once the cryos were gone. A niche bit of biology and a really cool addition!
Cryolophosaurus: I loved these guys! An unfortunate inaccuracy is the organized pack hunting of course, but other than that they were really solid! I especially liked the sexual dimorphism displayed in their species, with the males being smaller with proportionally larger crests and the females being much larger overall but more dully colored and with proportionally smaller crests. If compared to predatory birds, dinosaur's direct descendants, that size difference is accurate! I also love how they had a matriarch with several male suitors that followed her lead, really cool dynamic! And as much as I love their portrayal, I highly doubt they'd be going after triceratops if they ever met irl. That triceratops was very clearly out of their league in terms of defenses and combat experience, which made a cool fight but a predictable end. Their tiger colors were very pretty though, and their opportunistic scavenging was a neat detail.
Also kind of unrelated but I really liked Andrei in this book compared to the previous one!
There were also LOTS of editing errors. It may just be the Kindle version but the chapters aren't separated at all, you get wall of text -> chapter title -> more text all on one page, lots of words don't have spaces between them, and a good amount of words had an odd space in the middle of them. Good book but it could've used a bit more editing.
May 23, 2025
Dinosaurs in nam part 1.5
July 16, 2023
Pettus is back with a collection of semi-related tales from the lovechild of Jurassic Park and Predator (Uncle Apocalypse Now has partial custody). The atmosphere of the cover is that of the book from the dinosaur ridden valley. If you are a fan of dinosaurs, Vietnam War history, 80s action movie vibes, and looking for more after the first Primitive War novel, this book is screaming at you to be read.
Dispatches Vol. I covers the ground between Primitive War I and II. Although I have yet to read PW II, this certainly felt like an appropriate in-between. Readers will recognize old characters and dinosaurs, be introduced to several new ones, and enjoy plenty of fan service in between.
For me, Pettus’ greatest trait is his ability to create believable dinosaur antagonists that act as animals rather than Jason Vorhees. They are still monstrous, but in a biologically sensical way. The monstrous dinosaurs of Hollywood are insatiably hungry and have a counter-intuitive habit of dramatically announcing their presence, then attacking. Pettus’ dinosaurs are quiet, cunning, and feathered. I was thrilled to read passages from the perspective of a utahraptor driven by self-preservation, hunger, and even fear. When dinosaurs do something particularly gruesome or evil, Pettus has already prepared an explanation or parallel to modern wildlife.
The humans are just as gritty, young men of all backgrounds thrown into a horrendous war. The depiction of Americans in Vietnam and Laos is unflinching and brutal, both in their treatment of native people and quasi-native dinosaurs.
I can’t wait to read Primitive War II and look forward to the continuation of this series. Despite only being a spin-off, I am happy to rate this 5/5 for maintaining the highest bar for dinosaur-human violence and absolutely zero disappointments.
Dispatches Vol. I covers the ground between Primitive War I and II. Although I have yet to read PW II, this certainly felt like an appropriate in-between. Readers will recognize old characters and dinosaurs, be introduced to several new ones, and enjoy plenty of fan service in between.
For me, Pettus’ greatest trait is his ability to create believable dinosaur antagonists that act as animals rather than Jason Vorhees. They are still monstrous, but in a biologically sensical way. The monstrous dinosaurs of Hollywood are insatiably hungry and have a counter-intuitive habit of dramatically announcing their presence, then attacking. Pettus’ dinosaurs are quiet, cunning, and feathered. I was thrilled to read passages from the perspective of a utahraptor driven by self-preservation, hunger, and even fear. When dinosaurs do something particularly gruesome or evil, Pettus has already prepared an explanation or parallel to modern wildlife.
The humans are just as gritty, young men of all backgrounds thrown into a horrendous war. The depiction of Americans in Vietnam and Laos is unflinching and brutal, both in their treatment of native people and quasi-native dinosaurs.
I can’t wait to read Primitive War II and look forward to the continuation of this series. Despite only being a spin-off, I am happy to rate this 5/5 for maintaining the highest bar for dinosaur-human violence and absolutely zero disappointments.
September 6, 2025
**A decent, but disjointed micro-sequel**
One the one hand, I definitely had a good time with this one.
Despite its shorter length and year-long time jump, this book managed to carry the story along nicely (more or less). It refreshed past events as well as introduced new concepts/plot points. It's just as liberal with the dino gore as its predecessor and even dares to provide dinosaur POVs to shake things up a little bit. I didn't always love the sudden POV change from human to dino, but it didn't bother me overly much either. Kept things interesting, that's for sure. I was into it. I love the direction the story is going and I'm eager to know how it's all gonna work out in the end.
Annnd yet, on the other hand, there were definitely problems I couldn't get past.
Because this book is meant to be a springboard into the next book, it has to move rapidly. While this isn't always bad, it didn't help much either, especially when so many scenes now felt rushed with abrupt, sloppy, or unsatisfying resolutions. Furthermore, the formatting of this book in my Kindle was ATROCIOUS, with words crammed together "tolook likethis" and sloppy paragraph breaks. It was quite the ugly presentation, and I dunno if that's for every format or just Kindle. Either way, it was super unwelcome and tainted my experience of the thing.
At any rate, I mostly enjoyed myself despite my complaints and am ready to tackle the next one in this series. Looking forward to it.
One the one hand, I definitely had a good time with this one.
Despite its shorter length and year-long time jump, this book managed to carry the story along nicely (more or less). It refreshed past events as well as introduced new concepts/plot points. It's just as liberal with the dino gore as its predecessor and even dares to provide dinosaur POVs to shake things up a little bit. I didn't always love the sudden POV change from human to dino, but it didn't bother me overly much either. Kept things interesting, that's for sure. I was into it. I love the direction the story is going and I'm eager to know how it's all gonna work out in the end.
Annnd yet, on the other hand, there were definitely problems I couldn't get past.
Because this book is meant to be a springboard into the next book, it has to move rapidly. While this isn't always bad, it didn't help much either, especially when so many scenes now felt rushed with abrupt, sloppy, or unsatisfying resolutions. Furthermore, the formatting of this book in my Kindle was ATROCIOUS, with words crammed together "tolook likethis" and sloppy paragraph breaks. It was quite the ugly presentation, and I dunno if that's for every format or just Kindle. Either way, it was super unwelcome and tainted my experience of the thing.
At any rate, I mostly enjoyed myself despite my complaints and am ready to tackle the next one in this series. Looking forward to it.
April 23, 2025
I'm a big fan of anything dinosaur related, and am very lucky to have found the Primitive War series. What should come off as a gonzo pulp novel is a surprisingly meditative read on mans relationship with war, itself, and nature. I think the first Primitive War book is fantastic in the sense of "dinosaurs in the vietnam war" but The Hunting of Stalker Force really amplifies the heart of the series, in my opinion. I am still ruminating on the Agony sections of the book, and I think Ethan's style lends itself very well to these vignettes of soldiers trying to make sense of the dense jungle thats become filled with prehistoric monsters.
Another great section of the book is the Amargasaurus section where they mourn and dance in unison while their frills change colors. I was so gobsmacked by the beauty of that section, and it has been living rent free in my head.
Another great section of the book is the Amargasaurus section where they mourn and dance in unison while their frills change colors. I was so gobsmacked by the beauty of that section, and it has been living rent free in my head.
August 3, 2025
I wanted to like this instalment more than I actually did. The returning characters were great, while the newer ones were less interesting. The constant spelling mistakes and simple editing errors really marred the reading experience for me as well. I liked that it pushed the story along a little more, and I loved getting to see some new dinos (the Amargasaurus and Triceratops were particularly impressive.) Some scenes were downright intense too and I enjoyed them, but it’s not a patch on the first book unfortunately.
September 14, 2025
Book two in Primitive war quartet. This installment is a collection of sequenced short stories. The stories fallow Xavier from book one new team Stalker Force. This installment while shorter has more focus on the dinosaurs and the attempt to contain them in the valley. With it being a shorter book in short story format it is faster paced and the character development isn't as evolved. Still a good onstallment in the quartet.
October 28, 2025
Fire the Editor
Great book and good follow up to Prinitive War but for the love of God fire the editor. Almost every paragraph has something wrong with it. If the author is self editing he needs to pay someone to edit his stories because they're extremely difficult to get through due to all the mistakes. I really like the book and the setting, dealing with rampant dinosaurs and the horrors of the Vietnam war.
Great book and good follow up to Prinitive War but for the love of God fire the editor. Almost every paragraph has something wrong with it. If the author is self editing he needs to pay someone to edit his stories because they're extremely difficult to get through due to all the mistakes. I really like the book and the setting, dealing with rampant dinosaurs and the horrors of the Vietnam war.
October 15, 2019
Stalker Force
Book was mediocre to say the least. Too much internal strife and ideas and plans were too chaotic. Way too much cursing. I just read a dinosaur vs soldiers book with NO profanity so I know it can be done. Still..interested to see what Stalker Force will do with dinosaurs that escaped the valley.
Book was mediocre to say the least. Too much internal strife and ideas and plans were too chaotic. Way too much cursing. I just read a dinosaur vs soldiers book with NO profanity so I know it can be done. Still..interested to see what Stalker Force will do with dinosaurs that escaped the valley.
February 3, 2020
Pretty good
Didn't love this book. Not enough human action and gore. Too much Dino on Dino fighting. However, it was sad when some of them died. Sobek was definitely a neat character!
Still not a bad read though.
Loved the Season of the Witch chapter with the Triceratop scene. 😄😄
Didn't love this book. Not enough human action and gore. Too much Dino on Dino fighting. However, it was sad when some of them died. Sobek was definitely a neat character!
Still not a bad read though.
Loved the Season of the Witch chapter with the Triceratop scene. 😄😄
May 4, 2023
An awesome book that just needs more polish
A really enjoyable and satisfying coda of sorts to Primitive War, with great new characters, dinosaurs, action and drama. My only issue is that there were typos throughout the book, such as sentences running together. It would be an easy fix that really needs to happen, as this little book deserves to be the best it can.
A really enjoyable and satisfying coda of sorts to Primitive War, with great new characters, dinosaurs, action and drama. My only issue is that there were typos throughout the book, such as sentences running together. It would be an easy fix that really needs to happen, as this little book deserves to be the best it can.
September 2, 2024
I actually liked this book and enjoyed the stories within it. My issue is this: it is rather obvious the author didn’t proofread properly, or ask anyone else to read it before publishing. He is literally caught in a war with his space bar and let it affect the final product. That aside, it is a decent bridge between the first and second novels.
January 9, 2025
A little in between adventure set between Primitive War, and Primitive War 2. This one details what happened to the dinosaurs in vietname, and how they got to Africa for Primitive War 2. I like how detailed the dinosaurs are, and introducing new dinosaurs to the story, and the abilities they have.
March 14, 2025
please write about xavier forever 🙏
May 10, 2025
Every aspect of Ethan’s writing has improved so dramatically in this book compared to the first novel in the series. Reading this was an absolute joy.
August 28, 2025
Fun read for extra context between the first and second books.
Dino/War fans will enioy!
Dino/War fans will enioy!
October 30, 2025
While this lacks the immediacy and racing narrative of the first novel, this little side story does a great job of showing off some thrilling set pieces and new dinosaurs (my favorite Dinosaur, Yutyrannus shows up a lot, yay). The writing has improved exponentially and I found myself a lot more taken away by the prose because of it. It was also nice to see some nice quiet moments and character stuff that the first novel was admittedly missing. Nguyen and Andrei are now my favorite characters, and I liked a lot of the drama that was sparked here. There are even a handful of great chapters from the POV of the Utahraptors that I really fell in love with.
This was a nice break from the onslaught of the first novel, even though it was similarly packed to the brim with action and gore. I thought about rating it a 4, but I also loved reading it, and it was really nice to stay in this world with these characters. I’m excited about the next book, and even more excited about Primitive War II! My expectations for the movie adaptation in a few weeks are sky high, and I pray it pays off, cuz this franchise really deserves it.
This was a nice break from the onslaught of the first novel, even though it was similarly packed to the brim with action and gore. I thought about rating it a 4, but I also loved reading it, and it was really nice to stay in this world with these characters. I’m excited about the next book, and even more excited about Primitive War II! My expectations for the movie adaptation in a few weeks are sky high, and I pray it pays off, cuz this franchise really deserves it.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews