Target Rich Environment: Volume 2

Target Rich Environment #2

by Larry Correia

Hard-hitting Stories from the Creator of Monster Hunter International. The second volume of short stories from nationally best-selling author Larry Correia.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Anthologies, Horror

1 pages, Audio CD

First published December 3, 2019

About the author

Larry Correia (born 1977) is the New York Times bestselling author of the Monster Hunter International series, the Grimnoir Chronicles, and the thriller Dead Six.

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of shorts by Larry Correia, some in shared universes and some in collaboration. Now, there are those who take against Correia's work on the basis of his politics, or on the basis of his issues with the Science Fiction awards process, or both. To be honest on the awards point I think he has a case. Award winning science fiction has become it's own genre, and far too often I come across 'award winning books' that are written just as that. They may or may not have artistic merit, but they are definitely not entertaining. Read to be seen to be reading rather than to actually enjoy. Meanwhile I really can't agree with much of his politics, but to be fair his books are didactically light and there isn't too much of a tendency to preach.
Now, this collection is entertaining. All bar the last two stories are solid five stars and I absolutely love his forays into Jonathan Maberry's Joe Reacher/DMS universe crossed with his own Monster Hunter International milieu ( a pairing that works remarkably well). The last two let the collection down. One, based on a D&D universe that he admits caused him problems in making anyone in the protagonist race vaguely sympathetic – I have sympathy for him because everyone in the story is pretty much an obsessive psychopath, nevertheless he does fail in my estimation. I'm probably being even less fair on the last story because humour is so subjective, but I'm afraid that his tail of interdimensional insurance loss adjusters just didn't make me smile.
So, the best I can do is four stars, but the first batch of stories are absolutely excellent and well worth reading, particularly if you like action/adventure or any of Correia's (or Maberry's) work.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology of short stories by Larry Correia. While some are set in the Monster Hunters universe several are not. I was quite happy to see that one was set in his Grimnoir Chronicles series which I like just as well as I do the Monster Hunter series. He also noted that he would be writing more books in the Grimnoir Chronicles series at a later date. All of the stories were entertaining in their own ways. I won't attempt to review each story but I do recommend this book to fans of Larry Correia.

[Jeffrey Schmieder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most anthologies, you won't love all the stories, but I loved the Grimoire series so I was just happy to get more of these. I would love to see the author let some other authors make up more short stories for the Grimoire timeline, especially in the between wars period.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always fun. And this time convenient bite sized morsels.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5
This was a good collection of stories but the downside was that most of the weakest stories were also some of the longest.

[Steve Leitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stories overall, but I’m really not a fan of Tom Stranger.

[Heinz Reinhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth the price alone just for Tom Stranger 2, but a couple others really stood out, too: Three Sparks, Tokyo Raider, and Episode 22. All in all, damned fun.

[lili.darknight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Americký spisovateľ Larry Correia napísal takmer tri desiatky kníh. Mnohé z nich sa dočkali českého prekladu. V jednotlivých „kúskoch“ ukazuje, že sa dokáže prispôsobiť v podstate čomukoľvek. Spomaľuje tempo, ak si to dej vyžaduje. Očividné však ostáva, že mu najväčšmi vyhovuje dynamika, svižnosť a akcia so zbraňami. Takže aj teraz sa aktéri vo väčšine prípadov spoliehajú na guľky. No cudzie im nie sú ani meče, bez ohľadu na to, či sú japonské.

Podobne ako v prvej zbierke, aj v tejto autor približuje rôzne témy a aj rôzne univerzá. Z tých svojich sa raz pristavil v noirových Grimnoirských kronikách. Aj tentoraz čitateľa vopred upozorňuje, že si čítaním daného príspevku môže pokaziť pôžitok z pôvodnej trilógie. Neskôr zablúdil do Ságy zapomenutého válečníka k Ratulovi. Jedna z vedľajších postáv tu podáva svedectvo o svojom živote.

Pravdou je, že tento text o čosi viac ocenia tí, ktorí prečítali minimálne prvý diel Syn černého meče. Ratul je síce dôležitý, ale skôr v úlohe komparzu. No aj niekto neznalý života na kontinente Lok si čítanie môže vychutnať. Ratul spomína na prežité, no zároveň tým vysvetľuje aj fungovanie okolitého sveta. To môže oceniť niekto, kto sa ešte len rozhoduje, či dá sérii šancu. Neskoršia zastávka u lovcov monštier je skôr voľnočasová. Je ale podobne akčno-cynická ako aj zvyšok celého monštruózneho univerza.

Correiova pozornosť okrem toho skĺzava aj k svetom iných autorov. Alebo scenáristov, keďže sa hneď dvakrát venoval predátorom a votrelcom. Aj tu dokazuje svoju všestrannosť a hlavne schopnosť spojiť na prvý pohľad odlišné prvky. Takými predátor a samuraj rozhodne sú. Svoj spisovateľský um a aj lásku k zbraniam dokázal zase tým, že písal o konkrétnej puške. Niečo medzi reportážou a recenziou. Text, ktorý sa líši, a predsa niet pochýb o tom, kto ho napísal.

Neprekvapivý je aj návrat Joea Ledgera. Meno tejto postavy zaznelo aj v predchádzajúcej zbierke. (Ide o hlavného hrdinu série, z ktorej v českom preklade vyšla prvá kniha Pacient nula.) Tentoraz dokonca spolupracoval s Jonathanom Maberrym, ktorý Joea stvoril. Aby mu nebolo smutno, pridal sa k nemu agent Franks od lovcov.

Spolupráca rôznych spisovateľov na jedinom texte je vždy zaujímavá. Hlavne ak sa čitateľ má možnosť dozvedieť aj niečo zo zákulisia. Aj keď ide len o maličkosti. Vďaka tomu omnoho viac vyniknú niektoré súvislosti. V tomto prípade napríklad Correia priznáva, že práve tejto spolupráci vďačí za Maberryho neskorší príspevok do zbierky Paměti lovce monster. V ňom sa predviedol už spomínaný agent Franks.

Šancu druhý raz zažiariť dostali aj prastarým vírusom nakazení upíri z V-Wars. Autor dokonca rozširuje aj herný svet Warmachine. Hoci čitateľ sa minimálne s niektorými svetmi stretne po prvý raz, nebude tápať. Každý text obsahuje aj stručné zoznámenie sa so svetom, spojené s uvedením do tematiky a terminológie, ak je to nutné. Navyše bez toho, aby to negatívne ovplyvňovalo tempo rozprávania jednotlivých dejových línií. Pomyselnou čerešničkou na torte je už potom len objavenie sa Toma Strangera. Interdimenzionálny poisťovací agent zažíva občas výstredné dobrodružstvá. Jeho humorom presýtené trampoty sú výbornou bodkou tejto zbierky.

Poviedkový výber Lovecká sezona 2 len dokazuje, že Larry Correia je všestranne nadaný. Akčné a bojové texty mu síce svedčia najviac, no nestratí sa ani v pomalšie ladených okamihoch. Čitateľa navyše zaujme aj ďalšími internými detailmi o tom, ako jednotlivé poviedky vznikali. Inými slovami ide o výborne namiešaný reprezentatívny mix, ktorý predstavuje autora v tom najlepšom svetle.


viac v recenzii: https://www.fandom.sk/clanok/recenzia...

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four plus, maybe five until I got to the last two stories.

Seeing that the last story has two sequels one has to assume that it is simply my lack of taste for that genre.

Can’t wait until Volume 3 comes out, hopefully with more of the the first types of stories.

[Fandom SK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recenziu pre Fandom.sk napísala Martina Urbanová. Úryvok z recenzie:

Poviedkový výber Lovecká sezona 2 len dokazuje, že Larry Correia je všestranne nadaný. Akčné a bojové texty mu síce svedčia najviac, no nestratí sa ani v pomalšie ladených okamihoch. Čitateľa navyše zaujme aj ďalšími internými detailmi o tom, ako jednotlivé poviedky vznikali. Inými slovami ide o výborne namiešaný reprezentatívny mix, ktorý predstavuje autora v tom najlepšom svetle...

Celú recenziu nájdete na Fandom.sk https://www.fandom.sk/clanok/recenzia...

[Chris Hodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story collection with some excellent authors. I'm not usually a big fan of short stories. Primarily this is because I prefer a larger story. But in some collections, like the two TRE books, I have an additional reason to dislike them. They give me too many other authors I feel the need to read. Each of the stories in the book left me wanting to read more from those authors, and I usually do.
As a bonus, this one has probably my favorite cover of any book.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't love short stories, and I think LC is a dick, but the writing is mostly good, and I enjoyed this collection. I will say that it ends with an especially terrible Tom Stranger "story." That's redundant, since ALL Tom Stranger stories are terrible. The conceit of this one is worse than usual. Quite obnoxious. I wouldn't give LC a penny of my own dough, but since the library had this, no harm done.

[Br1cht · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually loathe Collection and anthologies with a passion but Larry Correia always delivers a non-stop action combined with an exquisite imagination so I can´t resist reading it.

A fun collection with SS in Cross genres.


Some kvetch about the author's politics but he doesn´t put any in his books and I´m not a US citizen so I do not have the emotional investment/baggage that some have so I can enjoy the stories for what they are, escapism.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy Larry Correia, you will find things to enjoy here. There is a Hard Magic Story, a couple of Agent Franks stories, a story in the Son of the Black Sword series, a samurai vs Predator tale, and a tale set in the Alien universe. And an over the top Tom Stranger, Multiverse Insurance agent story to end the volume. So plenty of fun to choose with the typical Correia explosions and mayhem!

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second volume of Larry Correia's short stories. Some of them are set in the continuum of his other series (my favorite involves Agent Franks from Monster Hunters International). Others dip into the sandboxes of other writers and creators. There is a great story about a samurai versus the predator from the Arnold Schwarzenegger series. Mostly, however, this is just a look at Correia's vivid imagination which always turns up an interesting, fast-paced tale.

[Martin Tunney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Book

Volume 2 did not disappoint. Often the sequel doesn't live up to the First in a line of works but not in this book, and yes, there was a story or two I have in other books but they are of such calibre (see what I did there) it was a pleasure to discover them again ☺

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not often enthused with collections, but this book is an exception.

Really enjoyed the read, the diversity of the different parts, and am eager for Volume 3.

Also eager fir more writings of the different characters.

Well done and a fun read!

[Frank Goes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun creepy exciting all in one

Creepy historical and imaginative classic good versus evils with full on fight to the death just because...loved the surprise dead ending of some of the short stories . Good humor in the ending stories a bit Strange... ha ha

[Mike Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never been a fan of short stories. My bad! This was a great book and I enjoyed all of the stories. I find Larry Correia one of the great writers of today. Easy reading, great plot lines and keeps you interested from start to finish. Keep up that great writing style.
Lo.ve it

[Vaclav Kocian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fajn sbírka povídek. Některé jsou lepší, některé horší. Za mě jsou top Tokyo raider, Shooter ready, Weaponized hell, V-Wars: absence of light, Psych eval a především Instruments of war. Doporučeníhodné čtení!

[Joseph Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved most of the stories especially the new generation of the grinmoire knights. And Tom stranger andevntures deserves its own book, video game, breakfast cereal, and restaurant chain. Wendell's warfare scared me through the text

[Scott S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was putting this one off because it has short stories set in some Correia universes I haven't explored yet, but I saw that it was free to listen to on Audible just as I was finishing my last book.

The alien vs samurai story was really good. I need to pick up the Alien anthology it came from.

Tom Stranger will aways be awesome, we're overdue for a new one.

Excellent narration.

[Dawn Paris · Rating 5 out of 5]

:)

[dennis miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok now I have to get Tom Stranger

Very good set of short stories over a wide range of settings. But the last one had me laughing so hard I snorted taco filling.

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good but I struggled getting through the last two stories. I seem to recall enjoying the Tom Stranger audiobook but it doesn’t work for me in print.

[Edward Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

The action is great and characters are hardcased. If you don`t like satire then Tom Stranger may not be your cup of tea.

[Cynthia Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

collection of stories across several universes. Interesting comments by the author. Several stories with the underlying theme of family in them.

[Brice Ligget · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories

Probably the hardest medium for an author to work in. I love long form fiction, but Larry does a nice job in this medium as well.

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great entertaining collection of stories as expected from Mr Correia

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable group of short stories, even better than the first one