With Larry Correia announcing he would be launching a Kickstarter for his new Ark Press venture, a Baen Books insider reached out to Fandom Pulse to vent how similar the series seemed to their hit with him, Monster Hunter International.
It will certainly be an interesting test. I'd only point out that MCI incorporates Larry's style, but it's just one of several influences. The reason is that you can't have a Gamma protagonist if Larry is the only literary influence.
First, you clearly don't understand how AI works. Nothing is being stolen.
Second, I already have a bigger name than Larry Correia and I'm a better writer. I'm not dependent upon coasting on the tails of someone else's video game.
To the first: AI can't create anything; at best it's a tool to aid one's own creation, at worst a tool to copy digital bits and combine them into a new whole that, no matter how different on the surface, still relied on other peoples' creativity to do what it's done.
The article says you trained the AI to write in Correia's style; how is that not you boosting your own public project by directly relying on someone else's work? You can't point to parody laws and claim fair use, or fall back on the fact that you aren't *directly* making money off of it. He has enough of a style to copy, and you "borrowed" it to do this. I mean, we can argue over the legal and moral meanings of the word "steal", but I think this meets the bar of a dishonorable act. You may not; whatever.
Second: Yes, I know your name is bigger than his, and maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but is this an attempt at a justification? If so, it doesn't work. Elon Musk has a bigger name than you do, but if he stole your work or ideas, I bet you'd complain. In fact you'd probably be justified in complaining even more, since someone bigger than you took your sh*t, and then justified it by saying they're already bigger than you and therefore not dependent on your piddly contributions to the medium to boost their own work, when that's exactly what they just did.
Third: My bitterness over AI isn't personal to you; it's "big picture" stuff, but then I think that's the only picture actually worth considering, if we're going to avoid being short-sighted. AI is a really useful tool; I've used it myself. Still, its potential to destroy human creativity, dignity, and motivation on a large scale is obvious. Technology is always putting people out of work, but manual labor isn't the same thing as artistic media, the creative urge that drives cultures and inspires all of us on some level. We love the art that we love because it touches some human impulse to feel, but all AI can do is be assigned, at varying levels of complexity, to copy someone else's work. It's too easy, and mankind doesn't thrive under luxury and ease.
Have we really created all that we're ever going to, as a people? Are we going to rely on AI to simply combine ad nauseum all that's come before? That's what will happen if we don't set down some boundaries about how and when we approve of using it, and we can be damn sure governments can't be relied on for this. If we do take the path of least resistance and eventually end up with AI creating most of our entertainment -- upstream of culture -- then what impetus does anyone have to create, and spread their creations? What unites us then? If AI becomes the popular way to create content, it won't be used for our good; it'll be used to enslave us to the most base instincts we have.
And that doesn't even address the problem of AI replacing human interaction, or the fact that the effort put into a work of art, music, or literature improves both the artist and the audience in subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) ways. Using AI to make art is kind of like kids using AI to write their papers for school; the work is technically done, but the doer didn't improve in any way. It's all efficiency and no humanity. If those things don't make you a little bitter and a little scared, than I don't know what to tell you.
I appreciate what you (and Larry Correia) did for the industry, and I don't think you're an irresponsible guy. But tell me this: how are you taking action to make sure you're being responsible with AI, when you use it and promote it its use? You can say I'm making a big deal over nothing, but history teaches us that shrugging our shoulders and letting things "just work themselves out" is a path to disaster.
I don't know about this whole American Paladin thing. You look at the comments and people want Monster Hunter not, "Monster hunter like." Sure Larry has a lot of shut up and take my money fans but I'm not sure how big his non MHI books really are. None of his later 3-6 Saga of the Forgotten warrior books have seem to have same engagement on Amazon or Goodreads that Book 8 in MHI series. Larry himself admitted Gun Runner didn't sell well for him. I never heard but Servants of War also has low engagement. Look at audible and engagement looks to be down there too.
American Paladin might be short term cash win for Corriea but I'm not sure his audience will follow since he seems to be bleeding audience already. Without hard numbers it hard to tell but outward signs point to things going in the wrong direction. I'm sure Larry with have a long Facebook rant about how he is making more money than ever without giving any hard numbers for number books he is moving. But its unclear one what his year to year total sales are doing.
I've always thought Larry was kind of a one-trick pony. I enjoyed three or four or so MHI books, but even then, I felt like they were getting repetitive, and were treading water. And while his "angry, overbearing Delta" online personality might be novel for a time, it wears thin pretty quick. Which is just me saying; yeah, your evidence is kind of circumstantial, but it tracks with my personal experience and "feels" true.
100% agree it is circumstantial but its constant in all areas
Check out number of audible reviews over last 5 years remember 2020 is a low for Larry from his own statements
Dec 2020 -6,881 ratings - Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, Book 3: Destroyer of Worlds
March 2021 - 1,445 ratings - Gun Runner
September 2021- 4,386 ratings - Monster Hunter Bloodlines
October 2021 - 4,699 ratings - Lost Planet Homicide 1
March 2022 -996 ratings - Servants of War
January 2023 - 1,774 ratings - Lost Planet Homicide 2: Ghosts of Zenith
January 2023 - 322 ratings - In Defense of the Second Amendment
October 2023 - 932 ratings - Monster Hunter Memoirs: Fever
December 2023 - 34 ratings - No Game for Knights
January 2024 - 48 ratings - Anthology - Down These Mean Streets
March 2024 -1,830 ratings - Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, Book 4: Tower of Silence
September 2024 - 1,009 ratings - Lost Planet Homicide 3: The Five Points Ripper
June 2025 - 757 ratings - Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, Book 5: Graveyard of Demons
The overall downward trend is across all planforms I can see. Yeah these are made up internet points but trends are trends and without real sales numbers not income its all we got.
It will certainly be an interesting test. I'd only point out that MCI incorporates Larry's style, but it's just one of several influences. The reason is that you can't have a Gamma protagonist if Larry is the only literary influence.
So you're stealing more than just one person's work to make a name for yourself, is what you're saying? Right, because that makes it so much better.
First, you clearly don't understand how AI works. Nothing is being stolen.
Second, I already have a bigger name than Larry Correia and I'm a better writer. I'm not dependent upon coasting on the tails of someone else's video game.
Third, what are you so bitter about?
To the first: AI can't create anything; at best it's a tool to aid one's own creation, at worst a tool to copy digital bits and combine them into a new whole that, no matter how different on the surface, still relied on other peoples' creativity to do what it's done.
The article says you trained the AI to write in Correia's style; how is that not you boosting your own public project by directly relying on someone else's work? You can't point to parody laws and claim fair use, or fall back on the fact that you aren't *directly* making money off of it. He has enough of a style to copy, and you "borrowed" it to do this. I mean, we can argue over the legal and moral meanings of the word "steal", but I think this meets the bar of a dishonorable act. You may not; whatever.
Second: Yes, I know your name is bigger than his, and maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but is this an attempt at a justification? If so, it doesn't work. Elon Musk has a bigger name than you do, but if he stole your work or ideas, I bet you'd complain. In fact you'd probably be justified in complaining even more, since someone bigger than you took your sh*t, and then justified it by saying they're already bigger than you and therefore not dependent on your piddly contributions to the medium to boost their own work, when that's exactly what they just did.
Third: My bitterness over AI isn't personal to you; it's "big picture" stuff, but then I think that's the only picture actually worth considering, if we're going to avoid being short-sighted. AI is a really useful tool; I've used it myself. Still, its potential to destroy human creativity, dignity, and motivation on a large scale is obvious. Technology is always putting people out of work, but manual labor isn't the same thing as artistic media, the creative urge that drives cultures and inspires all of us on some level. We love the art that we love because it touches some human impulse to feel, but all AI can do is be assigned, at varying levels of complexity, to copy someone else's work. It's too easy, and mankind doesn't thrive under luxury and ease.
Have we really created all that we're ever going to, as a people? Are we going to rely on AI to simply combine ad nauseum all that's come before? That's what will happen if we don't set down some boundaries about how and when we approve of using it, and we can be damn sure governments can't be relied on for this. If we do take the path of least resistance and eventually end up with AI creating most of our entertainment -- upstream of culture -- then what impetus does anyone have to create, and spread their creations? What unites us then? If AI becomes the popular way to create content, it won't be used for our good; it'll be used to enslave us to the most base instincts we have.
And that doesn't even address the problem of AI replacing human interaction, or the fact that the effort put into a work of art, music, or literature improves both the artist and the audience in subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) ways. Using AI to make art is kind of like kids using AI to write their papers for school; the work is technically done, but the doer didn't improve in any way. It's all efficiency and no humanity. If those things don't make you a little bitter and a little scared, than I don't know what to tell you.
I appreciate what you (and Larry Correia) did for the industry, and I don't think you're an irresponsible guy. But tell me this: how are you taking action to make sure you're being responsible with AI, when you use it and promote it its use? You can say I'm making a big deal over nothing, but history teaches us that shrugging our shoulders and letting things "just work themselves out" is a path to disaster.
Is his stiff explicitly Christian or just secular?
Larry Correia is a Mormon, so not explicitly Christian. MHI wusses out on that angle from the outset.
It's secular plus plus. Where Christianity appears, it's Hollywood Christianity.
I don't know about this whole American Paladin thing. You look at the comments and people want Monster Hunter not, "Monster hunter like." Sure Larry has a lot of shut up and take my money fans but I'm not sure how big his non MHI books really are. None of his later 3-6 Saga of the Forgotten warrior books have seem to have same engagement on Amazon or Goodreads that Book 8 in MHI series. Larry himself admitted Gun Runner didn't sell well for him. I never heard but Servants of War also has low engagement. Look at audible and engagement looks to be down there too.
American Paladin might be short term cash win for Corriea but I'm not sure his audience will follow since he seems to be bleeding audience already. Without hard numbers it hard to tell but outward signs point to things going in the wrong direction. I'm sure Larry with have a long Facebook rant about how he is making more money than ever without giving any hard numbers for number books he is moving. But its unclear one what his year to year total sales are doing.
I've always thought Larry was kind of a one-trick pony. I enjoyed three or four or so MHI books, but even then, I felt like they were getting repetitive, and were treading water. And while his "angry, overbearing Delta" online personality might be novel for a time, it wears thin pretty quick. Which is just me saying; yeah, your evidence is kind of circumstantial, but it tracks with my personal experience and "feels" true.
100% agree it is circumstantial but its constant in all areas
Check out number of audible reviews over last 5 years remember 2020 is a low for Larry from his own statements
Dec 2020 -6,881 ratings - Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, Book 3: Destroyer of Worlds
March 2021 - 1,445 ratings - Gun Runner
September 2021- 4,386 ratings - Monster Hunter Bloodlines
October 2021 - 4,699 ratings - Lost Planet Homicide 1
March 2022 -996 ratings - Servants of War
January 2023 - 1,774 ratings - Lost Planet Homicide 2: Ghosts of Zenith
January 2023 - 322 ratings - In Defense of the Second Amendment
October 2023 - 932 ratings - Monster Hunter Memoirs: Fever
December 2023 - 34 ratings - No Game for Knights
January 2024 - 48 ratings - Anthology - Down These Mean Streets
March 2024 -1,830 ratings - Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, Book 4: Tower of Silence
September 2024 - 1,009 ratings - Lost Planet Homicide 3: The Five Points Ripper
June 2025 - 757 ratings - Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, Book 5: Graveyard of Demons
The overall downward trend is across all planforms I can see. Yeah these are made up internet points but trends are trends and without real sales numbers not income its all we got.
When I found out Larry is an apostate, I couldn’t bring myself to ever pick up any of his books. I can’t help it. But I’m also not sorry. 🤷♂️