Monster Republic (Monster Republic)

by Ben Horton

[Jo]

As you’ll know from the books I review, I’m a huge fantasy fan, but when it comes to sci-fi, my attitude towards it, in a word, is pretty much "meh". However, when Carolyn enthusiastically reviewed Monster Republic on her blog Book Chick City, it sounded awesome! So when I was offered the chance to review the book myself, I jumped at the chance. And it wasn’t a mistake! Monster Republic is amazing! The premise is just incredible, the imagery is fantastic, and the action is just wow!

I’m saying this fairly often lately, but I’ll be saying it again; Monster Republic is very much the first book in a series. We’re introduced to the main characters, namely Cameron, and the important members of the Monster Republic, Rora, Slater, Smarts, and Tinker, and the evil mad scientist, Dr. Fry. We also find out about what the Monster Republic is, and follow Cameron as he comes to terms with what has happened to him, and with who he is now. Saying that, there is quite a lot of action, which I loved, and there’s a great set up for a sequel!

If I had to criticise the book, I would have preferred a bit more story in between the action scenes. There was story, don’t get me wrong, I just would have liked a bit more. There are a few days that are mentioned have passed, and although we’re told what happens over those days, I just feel there should have been more page time showing Cameron coming to terms with the huge changes that have happened in his life. The action shouldn’t change, it was great, just a few more pages could have been added for the internal monologue, in my opinion, but it’s not a huge deal.

Monster Republic’s tagline is X-Men meets Terminator, and I couldn’t agree more! I have to say, the description and imagery is cleverly done; it’s not exactly graphic when it comes to describing what Cameron now looks like, but the images your imagination conjures from the description is what’s disturbing – it’s brilliant! This would be a great book for YA male readers! The press release advertising the book says, "Written with a teen readership in mind, Horton set out to write a book that would steal young people’s imaginations from Xbox, MSN and i-phones," and I think it’ll do just that. This is an amazing book for those who spend their time sitting in front of a TV screen playing computer games and turn their noses up at books. My brother is one of them, he hates reading and gets really annoyed when I talk books with my parents, yet when I got this book, he saw it, read the blurb and said, "I might have to read this myself." Points for Mr Horton! My brother never reads!

This book would also make an awesome movie! It would look amazing on the big screen, I seriously wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up being optioned. And what’s more, I don’t think there would need to be anything cut from the book – it’s a pretty quick read, and the plot is very tight, I could literally see the whole book on the screen.

To sum up, Monster Republic: The Divinity Project is an awesome book, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!