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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.
- GenresHorrorScience FictionWar
200 pages, Paperback
Published January 24, 2019
About the author
Ethan Pettus
11 books101 followersEthan Pettus is a didgeridoo-playing degenerate from the green hills of Kentucky. He spends most of his free time day-dreaming.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 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.
September 29, 2026
Wow.
Not in a good way unfortunately...
However let me write this review in a way that suits my hangry self best.
May I present to you the positivity sandwich.
Nice bread, rotten filling.
I didn't exactly like Xavier in Primitive War 1 but this book made him a lot more likeable. Also, on top of that, I love the expansion on the cast of dinosaur species we got to see, even if only briefly. There were plenty more interesting dinosaurs in this book so if you are reading for more diversity in fauna give it a shot.
Now before we get to the rotten core of my sandwich: As far as I am aware, this book is sort of a filler between the main books, tying them all together, and that gives it a bit more leeway regarding Plot and cohesion but, and I cannot emphasize this enough, I think it was not a worthy filler book considering how much I truly loved Primitive War 1.
To keep this review mostly spoiler free I will say this: I felt like the episodic nature of the book was not well suited for the topics included in it. There were no good transitions, I felt tossed left and right while reading. There are chapters written from the Utahraptor perspective and my goodness did they rip me out of the narrative.
One second we're hiding from my all time favorite dinosaur, getting hunted, raising our rifles in the gloomy light of a lantern while serrated teeth invite you into the gaping maw of a murderous Theropod and-
✨The research station was covered in potted plants and baby dinosaurs sprinkled with pixy dust and hairless apes trying to scedaddle their way through a labyrinth of boxes towards a ded fren and I was so excited to hop out of my closet and get some primate snackies.✨
Now admittedly yes, I have an affinity for exaggerations but my reenactment is not _that_ far off and that should be concerning.
The ending was rather strange to me and did not feel fleshed out in the slightest. However, that too may be an issue connected to the glimpsy way the chapters were written...
Also, what the fork did they do to my boy Eli and why is he more of a duck while sober than he was being a drunken idiot... Although given his very brief appearance, that was of no consequence whatsoever, I guess it neither matters nor has any lasting effects on the narrative... Like a lot of other stuff in this book unfortunately...
To finish with another slice of bread:
It is not a bad book by any means, however it failed to grab my attention in any way close to the last one. We did have some nostalgia with cast members from the first book and it's a decent build up to the next one (I am saying this without having started the next one but it gives me the impression that it was decent build up), and in the end, it makes for a fun read if you want to know a little more about the world and what happened to the valley after the conclusion of Primitive War 1.
And to conclude, if nothing else, it didn't deter me from starting the next one in the series.
We'll see how that goes and I am still excited to read more even if this addition was mildly disappointing after my very good experience with PW1.
Not in a good way unfortunately...
However let me write this review in a way that suits my hangry self best.
May I present to you the positivity sandwich.
Nice bread, rotten filling.
I didn't exactly like Xavier in Primitive War 1 but this book made him a lot more likeable. Also, on top of that, I love the expansion on the cast of dinosaur species we got to see, even if only briefly. There were plenty more interesting dinosaurs in this book so if you are reading for more diversity in fauna give it a shot.
Now before we get to the rotten core of my sandwich: As far as I am aware, this book is sort of a filler between the main books, tying them all together, and that gives it a bit more leeway regarding Plot and cohesion but, and I cannot emphasize this enough, I think it was not a worthy filler book considering how much I truly loved Primitive War 1.
To keep this review mostly spoiler free I will say this: I felt like the episodic nature of the book was not well suited for the topics included in it. There were no good transitions, I felt tossed left and right while reading. There are chapters written from the Utahraptor perspective and my goodness did they rip me out of the narrative.
One second we're hiding from my all time favorite dinosaur, getting hunted, raising our rifles in the gloomy light of a lantern while serrated teeth invite you into the gaping maw of a murderous Theropod and-
✨The research station was covered in potted plants and baby dinosaurs sprinkled with pixy dust and hairless apes trying to scedaddle their way through a labyrinth of boxes towards a ded fren and I was so excited to hop out of my closet and get some primate snackies.✨
Now admittedly yes, I have an affinity for exaggerations but my reenactment is not _that_ far off and that should be concerning.
The ending was rather strange to me and did not feel fleshed out in the slightest. However, that too may be an issue connected to the glimpsy way the chapters were written...
Also, what the fork did they do to my boy Eli and why is he more of a duck while sober than he was being a drunken idiot... Although given his very brief appearance, that was of no consequence whatsoever, I guess it neither matters nor has any lasting effects on the narrative... Like a lot of other stuff in this book unfortunately...
To finish with another slice of bread:
It is not a bad book by any means, however it failed to grab my attention in any way close to the last one. We did have some nostalgia with cast members from the first book and it's a decent build up to the next one (I am saying this without having started the next one but it gives me the impression that it was decent build up), and in the end, it makes for a fun read if you want to know a little more about the world and what happened to the valley after the conclusion of Primitive War 1.
And to conclude, if nothing else, it didn't deter me from starting the next one in the series.
We'll see how that goes and I am still excited to read more even if this addition was mildly disappointing after my very good experience with PW1.
February 21, 2026
3 stars.
Really enjoyable collection of short stories actually. We follow Stalker Force which consists of remnants of the original cast of characters from PW1, and some new ones too. I think the character work here is solid, with some meaty bits given to Sid and Nguyen. Some other characters could’ve done with a bit of fleshing out; Xavier doesn’t have nearly as much depth as Ryan did in the first book. And I say that, aware that he’s filling the same captain-sized shoes that Ryan wore in the first book.
The prose was actually really good this time ‘round. The locations are atmospheric, the descriptions of the dinosaurs are stronger here than in PW1 even. I also enjoyed the new additions to the species chart too, some very cool and overlooked dinosaurs get the spotlight.
Also I’m aware this is just a bridging book between mainline entries, but I can’t help but compare it to PW1. There’s some minor quality issues here - a couple typos, a couple editing errors. There’s a character name that’s prematurely dropped in an action sequence that left me scratching my head, only for them to be revealed a chapter later as a new-joiner. So clearly they were a part of this action scene in earlier drafts, but those sorts of errors pulled me out of the experience.
I’m also not a fan of the references to Jurassic Park. There’s a couple in here, by way of characters with specific names, lines of dialogue, and these aren’t subtle by any means. They’re REALLY on the nose, like the author was giggling and rubbing his palms together as he wrote them. After the first book, I’d come to think of Primitive War as its own unique thing, I don’t think these nods to the most popular dinosaur-related thing ever are doing this series any favours. In fact, most people reading this series are probably trying to escape the clutches of the Jurassic series.
Anyway, a nice short book. I’m debating whether I should read Dispatches 2 next, or Primitive War 2 then come back for the former.
Really enjoyable collection of short stories actually. We follow Stalker Force which consists of remnants of the original cast of characters from PW1, and some new ones too. I think the character work here is solid, with some meaty bits given to Sid and Nguyen. Some other characters could’ve done with a bit of fleshing out; Xavier doesn’t have nearly as much depth as Ryan did in the first book. And I say that, aware that he’s filling the same captain-sized shoes that Ryan wore in the first book.
The prose was actually really good this time ‘round. The locations are atmospheric, the descriptions of the dinosaurs are stronger here than in PW1 even. I also enjoyed the new additions to the species chart too, some very cool and overlooked dinosaurs get the spotlight.
Also I’m aware this is just a bridging book between mainline entries, but I can’t help but compare it to PW1. There’s some minor quality issues here - a couple typos, a couple editing errors. There’s a character name that’s prematurely dropped in an action sequence that left me scratching my head, only for them to be revealed a chapter later as a new-joiner. So clearly they were a part of this action scene in earlier drafts, but those sorts of errors pulled me out of the experience.
I’m also not a fan of the references to Jurassic Park. There’s a couple in here, by way of characters with specific names, lines of dialogue, and these aren’t subtle by any means. They’re REALLY on the nose, like the author was giggling and rubbing his palms together as he wrote them. After the first book, I’d come to think of Primitive War as its own unique thing, I don’t think these nods to the most popular dinosaur-related thing ever are doing this series any favours. In fact, most people reading this series are probably trying to escape the clutches of the Jurassic series.
Anyway, a nice short book. I’m debating whether I should read Dispatches 2 next, or Primitive War 2 then come back for the former.
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
May 19, 2026
4.5
I love these gore-y dinosaur books
I love these gore-y dinosaur books
August 13, 2026
I love Dinosaurs 🦖 🦕
February 10, 2026
So I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this book
I think the book’s narrative was an interesting idea. I quite liked how a lot of the book was like an ecological expedition. What annoyed me though was how the characters interacted with Andrei. It’s already been established that he’s part of Stalker Force so why do people still not like, make fun of, or trust him. It’s frustrating. Furthermore, at the end of Primitive War 1, there was this whole paragraph about how Andrei has recovered from his addiction and is in shape but throughout this book he lacked athleticism and was still a coward. Maybe I mistook his apparent character arc as something it wasn’t? I’m not sure, but it certainly took me out of the book.
I quite liked reading about Nguyen. I like his character arc. Because he’s quiet and kinda placid he’s overlooked and made fun of. It’s incredibly satisfying when he ‘takes his revenge’ on the Hyenas. I don’t know why every American soldier just hates him. Furthermore, some of the people in the Hyena Squad aren’t even of American descent, coming from the Middle East or Africa, so why are they hating on Nguyen? It’s crazy. Pettus does a great job at making those guys insufferable so Nguyen’s revenge was extra satisfying. But I don’t like how he disappeared at the end of the book and was suddenly relevant again at the end.
I already liked Xavier from the previous book so being around his character more was definitely a positive. I feel like he was one of the only members of Vulture Squad with his head screwed on properly. In contrast, I still hate and think I always hate Eli. How is his character more insufferable wtf. And he’s suddenly developed an accent? I hope he’s killed off.
One thing I enjoyed about the book was the increased inclusion of herbivorous dinosaurs. It was nice to read about the Triceratops. The fight between the Bull and the Yutyrannus was a highlight for me. One thing Pettus never fails at is his ability to immerse you into each scene with the dinosaurs. You can really imagine what they’re doing and how they interact with the environment and other animals in their vicinity. Linking the dinosaurs behaviours to that of extant animals was also really cool and made it more immersive (like with Amargasaurus and elephants).
I liked Sobek and his colony but sometimes his intelligence unnimersed me. I’m not sure if that’s me not believing or understanding how intelligent these dinosaurs were or if it was Pettus being unrealistic. If we take my scepticism out of account, it was really cool to see how calculated and methodical the Utahraptors were. Their ability to frequently trap both other dinosaurs and Stalker Force was really cool. I also enjoyed the inclusion of Yutyrannus. They’re one of, or maybe even, my favourite tyranasaurid and reading about how they outcompete the Utahraptors was quite satisfying. Furthermore, I liked their appearance.
I feel like the final “fight” against Sobek was quite lacklustre. It was cool to read about the fight between the Utahraptors and the Yutyrannus but the way Stalker Force dispatched of Sobek’s colony seemed so, idk, underwhelming. Building up to Stalker Force tracking them down and understanding how intelligent they are just make them napalm strike the colony was just quite boring. We didn’t even hear about how this plan came to fruition, it just happened. At least the epilogue was interesting. I’m excited to read about the escaped animals
Overall, I did enjoy this book but sometimes I was taken out of it. There seemed to be quite a few plot holes (like Eli’s sudden accent, the time skip at the end and Andrei’s lack of athleticism) but the book definitely wasn’t boring. My main reason for reading this book, the dinosaurs, didn’t fail to impress, immerse and entertain me and I love how Pettus paints an image of the Vietnamese landscape. I hope the next book is good
I think the book’s narrative was an interesting idea. I quite liked how a lot of the book was like an ecological expedition. What annoyed me though was how the characters interacted with Andrei. It’s already been established that he’s part of Stalker Force so why do people still not like, make fun of, or trust him. It’s frustrating. Furthermore, at the end of Primitive War 1, there was this whole paragraph about how Andrei has recovered from his addiction and is in shape but throughout this book he lacked athleticism and was still a coward. Maybe I mistook his apparent character arc as something it wasn’t? I’m not sure, but it certainly took me out of the book.
I quite liked reading about Nguyen. I like his character arc. Because he’s quiet and kinda placid he’s overlooked and made fun of. It’s incredibly satisfying when he ‘takes his revenge’ on the Hyenas. I don’t know why every American soldier just hates him. Furthermore, some of the people in the Hyena Squad aren’t even of American descent, coming from the Middle East or Africa, so why are they hating on Nguyen? It’s crazy. Pettus does a great job at making those guys insufferable so Nguyen’s revenge was extra satisfying. But I don’t like how he disappeared at the end of the book and was suddenly relevant again at the end.
I already liked Xavier from the previous book so being around his character more was definitely a positive. I feel like he was one of the only members of Vulture Squad with his head screwed on properly. In contrast, I still hate and think I always hate Eli. How is his character more insufferable wtf. And he’s suddenly developed an accent? I hope he’s killed off.
One thing I enjoyed about the book was the increased inclusion of herbivorous dinosaurs. It was nice to read about the Triceratops. The fight between the Bull and the Yutyrannus was a highlight for me. One thing Pettus never fails at is his ability to immerse you into each scene with the dinosaurs. You can really imagine what they’re doing and how they interact with the environment and other animals in their vicinity. Linking the dinosaurs behaviours to that of extant animals was also really cool and made it more immersive (like with Amargasaurus and elephants).
I liked Sobek and his colony but sometimes his intelligence unnimersed me. I’m not sure if that’s me not believing or understanding how intelligent these dinosaurs were or if it was Pettus being unrealistic. If we take my scepticism out of account, it was really cool to see how calculated and methodical the Utahraptors were. Their ability to frequently trap both other dinosaurs and Stalker Force was really cool. I also enjoyed the inclusion of Yutyrannus. They’re one of, or maybe even, my favourite tyranasaurid and reading about how they outcompete the Utahraptors was quite satisfying. Furthermore, I liked their appearance.
I feel like the final “fight” against Sobek was quite lacklustre. It was cool to read about the fight between the Utahraptors and the Yutyrannus but the way Stalker Force dispatched of Sobek’s colony seemed so, idk, underwhelming. Building up to Stalker Force tracking them down and understanding how intelligent they are just make them napalm strike the colony was just quite boring. We didn’t even hear about how this plan came to fruition, it just happened. At least the epilogue was interesting. I’m excited to read about the escaped animals
Overall, I did enjoy this book but sometimes I was taken out of it. There seemed to be quite a few plot holes (like Eli’s sudden accent, the time skip at the end and Andrei’s lack of athleticism) but the book definitely wasn’t boring. My main reason for reading this book, the dinosaurs, didn’t fail to impress, immerse and entertain me and I love how Pettus paints an image of the Vietnamese landscape. I hope the next book is good
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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.
June 23, 2026
Leider war ich hier von eher enttäuscht.
Die emotionale Tiefe hat mir gefehlt (das hat mich beim ersten Band noch so begeistert)
Und der Schreibstil ist schrecklich. Sehr eckig und kantig.
Es gibt unfassbar viele Wiederholungen und würde man die weglassen und den Satz "richtig" formatieren, wären wir ganz schnell nur noch bei 100 Seiten ...
Ich hoffe, dass Dispatches 2 wieder besser wird ... 🥺
Die emotionale Tiefe hat mir gefehlt (das hat mich beim ersten Band noch so begeistert)
Und der Schreibstil ist schrecklich. Sehr eckig und kantig.
Es gibt unfassbar viele Wiederholungen und würde man die weglassen und den Satz "richtig" formatieren, wären wir ganz schnell nur noch bei 100 Seiten ...
Ich hoffe, dass Dispatches 2 wieder besser wird ... 🥺
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.
September 13, 2026
I could barely read this, and not because of the actual story line but the incredibly bad editing. Does anybody check before publishing. I will stand corrected if it is only an issue will Kindle, but to have multiple words joined together with no spacing made it an absolute horror to read. Feel like applying for a refund.
December 22, 2025
I dont like dinosaurs much, and most of the names played out as blank slates in my mind.
Pettus has a writing style that is beautifully descriptive without being flowery or overly wordy.
I'm basically reading for the writing style because most of the characters are Dino-chow or will become dino-chow.
I will likely finish the series, but Im not owning any physical copies.
Pettus has a writing style that is beautifully descriptive without being flowery or overly wordy.
I'm basically reading for the writing style because most of the characters are Dino-chow or will become dino-chow.
I will likely finish the series, but Im not owning any physical copies.
January 4, 2026
A bit disjointed at times but a cool sequel/novella nonetheless! Loved how strategic the utahraptors were in this one, Sobek was a certified baddie and I'm sad they had to die in the end. Will definitely keep reading this series.
March 13, 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!
February 2, 2026
This was acc better than book one. There’s more attention to developing the characters and the dinosaurs now the context has been set. Through sobeks eyes? Sick, I was rooting for them at the end
February 15, 2026
so much potential.
This book had so much potential. But the grammatical errors and spacing issues really need to be fixed. The run on words were really bad in some areas
This book had so much potential. But the grammatical errors and spacing issues really need to be fixed. The run on words were really bad in some areas
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