| Title | : | Monster Hunt NYC (Monster Hunt NYC #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 430 |
| Publication | : | First published May 20, 2018 |
Through the Monster Hunt App, Chase Knowles becomes the Alpha of two powerful Huntresses: one a half-dragon female fond of combat and banter, the other a cute warrior fond of reading spell books and wielding two killer blades.
Their goal? Hunt these mythological creatures in the parks, rooftops, and back alleys of New York City; build a fighting party to compete in brawls and tournaments in the city and beyond; earn money; and try their damndest not to get arrested.
Warning: Monster Hunt NYC contains a light harem with monster girls, augmented reality,fantasy violence, a ton of action, and GameLit/LitRPG concepts. It was inspired by the Persona Games, Pokemon Go!, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
Click download now to start reading the newest series by Harmon Cooper, Amazon bestselling author of Cherry Blossom Girls, The Last Warrior of Unigaea, Fantasy Online and The Feedback Loop.
Monster Hunt NYC (Monster Hunt NYC #1) Reviews
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Full Disclosure: I first reviewed this book in February 2019, where I gave it 1 star and a scathing review. In retrospect, this did not reflect well on me and wasn't fair to the author. I did not care for this book, but that doesn't mean I need to be disrespectful over it.
Over a year and a half later, it's interesting how this book started my decent into this entire genre, for better and for worse.
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At first glance, this seems like a fun but light take on the Shin Megami Tensai formula. Read past the first dozen pages and it reveals itself for what it truely is: a poorly written modern fantasy work inspired by Pokemon Go featuring the world's whiniest musician MC, his two cyber sidekicks-slash-Real Dolls, and The Girl He Wants But Not Enough To Ask Out.
I paid cash for the paperback version of this book. If I could get a refund for it, I could. It's worth noting that the physical version has the strangest paragraph issue. The ocean between America and England would fit neatly between each paragraph, sometimes with room to spare. This really pads the page count, and looks ridiculous when dealing with dialog. The author also chose to have each scene broken up with a creepy emoji face and it is the strangest choice I've seen in any book I've ever read, ever.
Are you the sort of person who likes to explore to world through the main character's eyes? Don't bother. The author spends more times in the main character's head wishing he could stop playing handsies with his female entourage than he does explaining or showing much of the world around him. We are told this story takes place in a New York City where The Internet of Things has been dialed up to 11, but this is explored and explained in such a way that the main character could be in 1990's Colorado and outside of certain set pieces no one would be the wiser.
The title says it is a Harem, and it is, in the same way you might have had a harem in third grade between two girls sat by you on the bus and you couldn't work out the courage to say hello. It is the most milquetoast use of the phrase I have ever seen. Outside of the main character working together to create music together (not so much to move the plot forward, but to sell the audio books) he can barely function as a team member, let alone a leader or a lover.
The main character uses his app to find, fight, and capture monsters which he then uses to fight against other monsters; he uses the help of the two women who are there but not really because they are part of the game to help weaken and capture the monsters proper. It is decisively standard, but also competent. There's a lot set up here as far as the game proper is concerned that I can see where a sequel might be of interest.
But I really, really hated pushing myself to finish this thing. I clearly am in the minority, but I feel this book at its best is "fair to average" and at its worst is in desperate need of a new main character (maybe one who doesn't, literally, pee himself on more than one occasion) and a stronger focus on where these events take place and not just the events themselves. -
4.75 stars
It's certainly as the author says Pokemon "Go! meets Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe!"
Cooper is certainly different from other authors in this genre, he clearly focuses more on the story and leave the bread crumbs of the future escapades here and there. It certainly goes swiftly, and more credit to him because he writes excellent action sequences, it written in very simple yet descriptive way we can imagine swiftly not hindering us with the intricacies of wordplay.
The banter between the girls and our Protagonist were funny and a joy to read, certainly a palette cleanser -
I am going to copy/paste this review for both books 1 & 2.
It was ok. I've read both books so far so they aren't bad, but there are a number of things that really don't strike a chord with me.
1. I can't really deal with the fetishization of music. I like music, but I can't even understand the way the author/main character talks about it let alone relate to it.
2. Speaking of music: The nonsensical songs that the characters make up on the spot and sing. This is something that bothers me in any book. I am not a musician, so I have a hard time looking at nonsense words and imagining what beat/melody is supposed to go with them. I read somewhere that the audiobook actually sings these, so maybe that would be better, but if the words don't rhyme and aren't formatted in any obvious way, I have no idea what to make of the song other than the words in it. And the words in these songs are meaningless at best. It really breaks the immersion for me to try and figure out how those words make a song.
3. The "harem." Until the girls are all on the same page, it is less of a "harem" and more of a guy who is a dick and is two-timing the girls he is with. He either needs to pick one or have a group discussion about how they are going to proceed.
4. The game being 'illegal' and yet there are somehow enough players for him to make a living just playing the game.
5. Speaking of money: This book is supposed to take place about 100 years in the future, but it seems like there may have been 0 inflation. I did a quick search and found that $100 in 1918 would be equal to about $1,799.45 in 2018. Yet this far into the future, they are paying $8 for food and $50 to take a flying taxi across town. Apparently, most people are living on a 'universal basic income,' which a lot of sci-fi books have, but the price of things are never really explained in a way that makes sense to me. For example, he has a roommate because he can't afford the rent himself, but they never say how much the rent is. They do talk about the price of food and in-app-purchases, but I have nothing to compare this to. I don't know if he is spending what amounts to pocket change or if he is blowing a month's worth of rent on this game. I'm rambling, but the point is that the economy seems inconsistent to me, which then breaks my immersion.
I will probably read the next one just because I enjoy the escapism of the story, but I won't be waiting with anticipation for it to be released. -
Betamax
The MC is a penniless beta loser who has been friend zoned who almost vomits because he throws a single punch. All he wants to do is play his bass and dream about the girl he likes.
It never even occurs to our idiotic hero to get a job. He is too beta to even go to the police after a band member knocks him out and steals thousands of dollars worth of musical equipment.
His female friend is so overbearing she bosses him around without him batting an eye.
A harem? Hardly. He plays handsies like a teenager with a AI controlled character instead of the real human female lying next to him in a bed. -
Gladiators
Loved the concept...digital gladiators in the proximate worlds. Very cool and in excited to see how this develops. Already looking at book 2 -
I'm not a gamer. In fact, the only game I've ever played was a zombie one in an arcade many, many years ago. My hubby reliably informs me it was called 'The House of the Dead'. But you don't need to understand games to enjoy this book.
This is brilliantly written. It's an intense page turner where an illegal code means the game app actually shows the monsters in real time. Battling these monsters without looking like you belong in an asylum is tricky! The story flows well and the fighting is great fun. I loved the little connections to Cooper's other works, particularly his Proxima Galaxy. Little gems of prizes that made me smile when I came across them.
Harmon Cooper has impressed me so much with his creativity and talent since I first experienced 'Life is a Beautiful Thing' way back when. The fact that there will also be lyrical songs and music specially written for this book, just proves how far Cooper will go to ensure that his readers are fully entertained.
I received an eARC of this book, which I voluntarily read and reviewed. All opinions are my own. -
Not my style
Just not my style. I didn't like much about this.
It was well written, but the entire thing felt campy.
Some will like this, others wont.
You be your own judge on this one. -
The story opens with Chase joining this real-time on-line game where the characters are interactive. His tech allow him to see, hear, and sometimes feel everything that’s going on with the NPCs whether in the real world (near-future NYC) or in the computer world arena. His first step is to go find his hunters, which are near-AI level NPCs that will pick him as their alpha. Lady Cassandra (Lady C) and Aia quickly find him and they team up to walk the streets of NYC finding mythical creatures (mythcrea) to capture and add to their dojo. This first part goes by pretty quick and relies mostly on the action to explain a lot of how the game works.
Chase and his dojo are joined by his real-world friend Iris. It’s pretty clear from the beginning that Chase has a deep crush on Iris but for some reason he has never told her. They have been close friends for years and they have great chemistry in this book. But I did get a little laugh out of this whole ‘alpha’ thing as both of his female hunters hit on him often. In fact, Lady C takes it a little further than that but the book itself remains PG-13. And just an aside about Chase, he’s pretty broke, living in a small apartment he has to share with some guy he doesn’t really know. Iris is always lending him money. I did wonder why the guy didn’t have a regular, if pathetic, job. So Chase kind of comes off as a bit of a slacker. Yet he is still quite likable and I was rooting for him throughout the story.
I really liked Aia, who is a Thulian (don’t you dare call her a Dragon Lady! Ha!) and is kind of intimidating. I like her rough sense of humor too. Lady C, who supposedly reads a lot, really comes off as a daft flirt 90% of the time. On one hand, she’s fun and cute; on the other hand she’s dumb and annoying. But I’m glad to say the dojo is quickly joined by other mythcrea such as Rose (a bearadillo) and her cub, a wise monkey king, and others. There’s plenty of characters to enjoy by the halfway point of the book.
One of the things I sometimes don’t like about litRPG or gamelit is the time taken to explain the player stats, etc. I am happy to say that this story manages to keep all that to minimum and also sprinkle it throughout the story instead of giving it to you all in one big boring chunk. The tale also does a good a job of explaining game rules through action. This let the story keep up a swift pace.
All together, it was a fun story that left me on a win, but with the door open for the next adventure. 4/5 stars.
The Narration, Sound Effects, & Music: Soundbooth Theater put together a solid cast for this narration. I also liked all the sound effects and music. They were well timed and placed and never over-shadowed the narration. All sound effects were easily identifiable too. The narration cast was pretty good. Chase sounds like a young, the ladies sound like young ladies (even Aia with her Russian accent). I wasn’t that enamored with Lady C’s character and the choice of narration (dumb blonde valley girl) didn’t help me like this character more. I did find Lady C a bit annoying. All around, it was pretty well done and I’m tempted to pick up book 2 in the series. Soundbooth Theater has a choice in narrations when you buy from their site directly – narration only or what they call a Deep Dive (with all the sound effects and music). I think this is a most excellent thing to offer listeners. 4.5/5 stars.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Soundbooth Theater. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. -
The narrator of this book Jeff Hays called this his first real passion project since becoming a narrator and I can see why as the cast really brings it to life. It was so easy to visualize everything happening that it was more like watching a show on television. The story is both standard litrpg and unique at the same time. Overall it's a realistic interpretation of what an augmented reality game inspired by Pokemon-esque or ZanZarah: The Hidden Portal could become in the future. The technology used in the book is more believable than some used in many others of the same genre. The characters are semi-relatable and It feels like the roles were designed with these specific narrators in mind. I liked Chase the main character and his two hunters but I found myself both liking and hating Iris as a character probably because of how realistic she is written. The world building is minor but not really necessary since it mostly takes place in the real world for now. As i listened to the audiobook but haven't read it I can say I don't think I would have enjoyed reading it as much as it is heavily influenced and written with music in mind which the audiobook handled fantastically. I highly recommend this book especially in audio format unless you're one of those people who only enjoy a story read to you in the format of a newspaper without effects, music, or multiple voice actors. I can definitely see myself listening to this again.
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The year is 2090. Through the courtesy of an expensive Monster Hunter app, our newbie hunter Chase Knowles becomes Alpha to two gorgeous monster hunting huntresses. The objective: hunt down and capture various monsters roaming New York City. The captured monsters can be sold for cash or used in a fight team to battle other alpha fight teams in a gladiator-style arena. Winners are awarded Proxima dollars and Tokens. Proxima dollars can be exchanged for U.S. dollars at a variable exchange rate. Tokens can be traded, sold, or used to level up. Chase continues to win brawls and tournaments increasing his Proxima dollars and Tokens. Chases’ partner and hopeful girlfriend Iris assists in research and team fights. Together with the two huntresses, Chase has his hands full managing (?) three women. The ultimate prize is access to Everlife, the mysterious plane where it all began. Will our team ever see Everlife? The interaction between the four characters is witty and humorous. Throw in a little romance and sex to satisfy the light harem aspect. A fun romp is had by all.
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Great new LitRPG format
What happens when you mix Pokemon Go with Proxima Galaxy chaos then you get an amazing new game where you can live for big prizes. This series has some serious competition from Harmons other Proxima world books but may be his most popular yet.
The main characters especially the potential harem style theme of his two main fighters Aya and Lady C are just ready for Audio and the excitement of the hunts and potential fights is just an excellent draw to keep the readers eyes glued to the pages.
Can't wait for book 2 and the audio versions all of which will be snapped up instantly -
Fun story built on a cool premise
Monster Hunt NYC is a fun take on the GameLit genre, and is unique (as far as I can tell) in that it compares to Pokémon go - and the direct comparisons are favorable for this story.
The story focuses on the journey of Chase and Iris, and the huntresses - with the emphasis on building up a team of characters for us to grow to enjoy. Each of the “monsters” have interesting personality facets - and add to the story.
Looking forward to a book 2! -
Look you can judge me all you want but I loved this ultra nerdy book. If you aren’t a nerd you may not realize that this is a parody of itself, and that’s partly why it’s so beautiful. I especially love the music bits and the audio acting and effects. So well done and pleasantly surprised me by playing with the tropes :) I look forward to the next ones in the series.
Not sure what all the bad reviews are on about. Maybe they take it too seriously? Idk. It’s playful and fun and realistic in the way the characters interact and think, which is more than I can say for a lot of other books. -
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I loved that the three main characters are so different but work so well together. I never felt that the book got boring at any point. The world the writer creates is fantastic. I can not wait to see more written by this author. He is one of my top ten favorites. If you are a fan of anime series such as Sword Art Online or Log Horizon I think you would enjoy this book.
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I gave this 2 hours to hook me in.
Production is amazing. Definetly reminded me of anime styled videogames with its overly sexualized women, campy story telling, clueless main character and weird world.
It had all the great concepts of being a great audiobook but It wasn't exciting.
Very bummed about just not having fun with it. It was taking too long to do something that could hook me in as a listener.
It felt filled with ideas but empty with its execution. -
Of course 5 stars
This is definitely one of my favorite Harmon Cooper books. Sexy, real, fun, not so dark. And pokemon for adults. I beta read this one and I enjoyed it just as much the second time. I'm also looking forward to the audio book. Buy this book and review it. I want a lot more of this series from Harmon Cooper. This one barely scratched the surface. -
The base concept reminds me a lot of a popular light novel series, but plenty of unique changes that it also distinguished itself fairly quickly apart from that one. Appreciated the fact that there wasn't much relationship building, nothing really specific at least, as the timeline was already packed with important events and deadlines.
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I really enjoyed reading this book, but the ending seemed incomplete. I believe the author was trying to follow a formula to end a book to make it go into a second volume instead of letting it come to it's natural conclusion.
The story as written very good and I will be looking for the next in the series. Recommended for anyone with an interest in gaming or futuristic virtual reality. -
As I’ve read more...
...of these types of adventures I’ve become more wary of their quality. Harmon is a great writer, good storyteller, and keeps his characters on their toes which, in turn, guarantees the reader will be as well.
Happy to recommend the book. -
Listened on audio. The performance aspect to this book was annoying and frustrating. Background music and sound effects were distracting. This book may be interesting as a read but is unbearable to listen to. Made it to chapter 7 before DNF.
