Another came forth, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword.
-Revelation 6:4, World English Bible
Riding the Red Horse is online! This ebook, written in the tradition of Jerry Pournelle’s There Will Be War, is a collection of stories and essays concerning the evolution of war. Drawing lessons from history while looking into the future, Riding the Red Horse contains contributions from famous writers like Vox Day, Tom Kratman and Jerry Pournelle, and a smattering of lesser-known ones like Chris Kennedy, Thomas A. May and yours truly.
My contribution to the anthology is a fiction story titled War Crimes. On the joint colony world of Confluence, Lieutenant Desh Horvan stands accused of war crimes in the court of public opinion. Intrepid journalist Josephine Anders interviews him to learn what really happened.
Initial reviews of RIDING THE RED HORSE have been very positive. Quoting from Amazon:
“I am a fan of this type of material and Riding the Red Horse ranks among the best science fiction anthologies of any kind I have read. It is as good as the “There Will Be War” series and is a worthy successor to that series mixing fiction and non-fiction for fans who are looking for a great read. Two stories that standout above the others were Turncoat by Rzasa and War Crimes by Cheah. Excellent stories that illustrate humanity in inhumane and even entirely non-human protagonists and characters. If Castalia House can maintain this level of quality I’ll be reading this series for years to come.” — Michelle
‘“Riding the Red Horse” is a new military science fiction collection from editors Tom Kratman and Vox Day. If the reader is familiar with those two writer/editors than they know what they are going to get with this book; interesting, well-written and thoughtful military sci-fi stories.
‘“Riding the Red Horse” is a well done military sci-fi and military studies anthology, and frankly at $4.99 it is a helluva good value for your entertainment (and education) dollar.’ — Patrick S. Baker
“Easy 5 stars on this one. An impressive collection of fun and well-written military fiction interposed with essays by military thinkers/historians. I was both entertained and informed throughout… The essays are not navel-gazing; when their writers challenge conventional thinking on various topics, they do so with the voice of insight and experience. Their credentials are helpfully explained by an editor’s introduction at the beginning of each entry, for both the essays and the fiction.
“I found a few general “themes” emerging from the interposed essays and military fiction, which are balanced well. One is that the nature of combat is changing. 4th dimensional warfare is upon us. If you don’t know what that means, or if you don’t care but are interested in more exposure to talented military sci-fi authors, this collection would serve as an excellent introduction to both. Highly recommended.” — ‘Sensei’
“[T]his is a first rate collection, but more for the non fiction than the fiction. The non fiction essays by practitioners of various kinds can range from enlightening to quite frightening.
“For the non fiction alone, I would recommend the book as a buy. However little you may agree with them, they will provoke real thought in you… On the fiction side, the stories are consistently serviceable, and occasionally exceptional… I’d rate this a good 4 going on 4.5, and will be looking forward to more along these lines.” — ‘aralman’
Currently in ebook form, Riding the Red Horse can be purchased on Amazon’s Kindle store here. Alternatively, you can also buy it directly from Castalia House here.
I’m honoured to be part of such august company in the anthology. One day, in the not too distant future, I may even be half as good as my fellow contributors.
Leave a Reply