Every week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.

Able-Bodied Soldier #4 – J. N. Chaney and Jason Anspach

Suit up and move out.

Ten years after saving humanity from the Thephari threat, legendary MOCOM instructor Titus Briggs discovers his elite pilots are failing against an enemy that’s learned their weaknesses.

When a grizzled Ranger Staff Sergeant with uncanny tactical brilliance reminds Briggs of his own infantry roots, they forge an unlikely alliance that challenges the technological superiority the MOCOMs have come to rely on.

With time running out to stop a devastating anti-MOCOM weapon from deployment, Briggs must remember who he was before the machines—a soldier who succeeded not because of technology… but despite its absence.

Literary Outlaw #13 – edited by Literary Outlaw Press

Literary Outlaw is a modern pulp fiction magazine featuring both original fiction as well as classic stories and comics from the public domain.

This issue includes classic stories by Mark Twain, H.P. Lovecraft, Hergé, a serialized novel by Booth Tarkington, and 30+ pages of uncanny comics!

In This Issue:

• Personal Recollections Of Joan Of Arc by Mark Twain
• Ghost Rider: The Blasts Of Doom! by Gardner Fox & Dick Ayers
• Legendarium II: The Wrath Of Bob by Michael Bunker & Kevin G. Summers
• Black Cat: Black Magic by Lee Elias
• Penrod And Sam by Booth Tarkington
• Tintin In The Land Of The Soviets by Hergé
• Medusa’s Coil by Zealia B. Bishop & H. P. Lovecraft
• Escape From Hell by Author Unknown
• An American Epic by Robert E. Howard

Strange Company #3 – Nick Cole

Caps to pop and bodies to drop.

As intergalactic civilization collapses and descends into chaos, the Strange Company must journey to the edge of human-controlled space to board and destroy the last ship of the corrupt Monarch Empire–in order to both satisfy a debt and salvage what remains of their reputation as hard-bitten and dangerous private military contractors.

But things are never easy for mercenaries. Plots to kill one of them abound, eccentric warrant officers are running amok–when they can be found– and a bad case of serious PTSD about what lies ahead for Sergeant Orion plagues his waking nightmares as the Cult of Hot Soup grows. The company must “get gud” or die trying as they master boarding operations and prepare for the worst kind of combat a space marine can get their kill on in: compartment-to-compartment fighting on a ship so advanced in technology, it’s almost… alien.

Stinkeye, Hauser, Chief Cook, Sergeant Orion, and new and old Strange Company brothers are here for the violence with a ticket to ride the lightning and settle accounts with the fallen tyrants as they get their stack on and get paid. If they can make it back to their ship and a safe world beyond the limits of the known, then perhaps the company can avoid the tragedy they’ve been sucked into.

The only way out lies beyond a praetorian guard of heavily armed commandoes, emplaced guns, and enigmatic psy-powered operators. The Heart of Darkness waits at the Oblivion Gate, for the Strange Company to make one wrong move and disappear forever.

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Every week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.

EngineMasters: Retribution – Gus Harris-Reid

A Nation divided. An endless civil war. A pilot who can end it all.

Newly graduated EngineMaster Dawn Fletcher is eager to take the fight to the rebel Islanders alongside her clan-mates. But when tragedy strikes, she has no choice but to team up with the proud, stubborn Cal Bassoli, a veteran Pilot who is no stranger to pain and loss.

With no time to prepare before the next Islander attack, Dawn and Cal must quickly set aside their differences and learn to trust one another if they want to master their battle engine, survive the engagement, and perhaps even discover what the Islanders are really up to.

If they fail, it could spell disaster for the entire Nation.

The Forgotten Ship – J. N. Chaney and Terry Mixon

Somewhere in the universe, a forgotten starship is waiting.

Drake steals artifacts so they can benefit all of mankind. They belong in a museum, after all, not hoarded by a select few in their private vaults. It’s a dangerous life, but someone has to do it.

Then he learns of a map to the location of a lost mega-freighter once belonging to the ancient royal family. Drake, like so many before him, can’t resist the siren’s call. After all, it’s the find of a lifetime.

All he needs to do is steal the map, right?

Except nothing is ever easy for Drake. The map is housed inside a super vault, surrounded by guards ready to shoot on sight, and now there’s a woman with an eyepatch and a vendetta. And all of that could end up being the easy part.

Getting the ship and keeping it will be much more difficult.

Experience a riveting, brand new science fiction saga from USA Today Bestselling Authors J.N. Chaney and Terry Mixon. If you’re a fan of the Last Hunter, Renegade Star, or Backyard Starship, you’ll love this tale of science fiction intrigue, galactic exploration, and unfathomable discovery.

Magus Reborn – Extra26 and T. C. Liyanage

A regression ritual gone wrong. A mage reborn in an ancient era. A world to rebuild.

Kai of the Sorcerer’s Tower was one of the last Mages left, barely surviving in a world contaminated with dead mana and ruled by creatures of the dark.

To save his world and fulfill his master’s last wish, he puts himself through a forbidden ritual, risking his soul being ripped into pieces to make his way into the past, to a golden era with abundant mana.

But things go wrong. He overshoots and finds himself in an ancient time thousands of years earlier, within the body of a young lord named Arzan.

All is not well, though. The young lord was murdered by mysterious forces before Kai took over, beasts are rampant, and even larger threats loom on the horizon.

There’s a lot to do for Kai to regain his former strength in this time of primitive technology. Then again, he might just be able to change that and makes things even better than they ever were.

The Masked Marksman #4 – Emile C. Tepperman

Meet Ed Race who made his trade as a vaudeville gun-juggler supreme, known on stage as “The Masked Marksman” and for handling six loaded .45s to the delight of the crowds. But when this line of work became too tedious, Race took advantage of his multi-state P.I. licenses to solve crimes across the country. This collection includes :

• Murder Misses Its Cue: Those Jordane killers set out to ruin Blountsville’s first citizen, and kill his only son, to boot, but overlooked one little detail. Ed Race, the Masked Marksman, was performing hair-trigger tricks at the local theater-and was more than willing to give those thugs a command performance!
• The Corpse Takes a Curtain Call: As the Masked Marksman, on the stage, Ed Race had been called upon to perform miracles with his .45s-but none as hair-raising as the time, in real life, when he faced a killer who blasted men into eternity before he had even fired a shot!
• Top Billing for Murder: Ten thousand dollars was what “Lucky” Linsey planned to collect from a corpse’s check-until Ed Race, the Masked Marksman, horned in and canceled that check in hot lead!

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Every week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.

Apocalypse Healer – Hideous Grain

Fight. Heal. Survive.

The Integration didn’t just change the Earthen Union—it tore it apart. Monsters, mayhem, and madness turned civilization into a battlefield.

Yet, while the world crumbled under the weight of despair, David felt something unexpected: he felt at home.

Even after being forced into the [Cleric] Class, David refused to yield. He adapted, turning his unwanted gifts into tools of both healing and destruction, forging himself into a battle-hardened healer unlike any before.

Forsaken Outpost (First Colony #18) – Ken Lozito

Stranded thousands of light-years from home after a hyperspace experiment goes catastrophically wrong, General Connor Gates faces a brutal reality: their ship is failing, supplies are dwindling, and home is an impossible distance away.

Their only hope lies with a manipulative alien prisoner who offers a dangerous bargain. Freedom in exchange for guidance to an ancient outpost with technology that could save them all… or doom the galaxy if weaponized.

Every step deeper into uncharted space reveals new perils. The massive alien station they discover—a relic adrift in the void—hints at a universe far grander and more treacherous than humanity ever imagined.

Meanwhile, across the stars, a dormant threat awakens—silently calls to those who can hear it. The Vemus nearly exterminated humanity once. Their return could mean the end of everything.

As Connor races to unlock the station’s secrets before time runs out, he realizes the true danger may not be the vast emptiness of space, but what followed them into it. Some enemies are too dangerous to leave behind, even five thousand light-years from home.

In this gripping space epic, betrayal is almost certain, but survival demands risk. Ancient technologies beckon with salvation and ruin in equal measure.

Can humanity’s scattered defenders outsmart beings who think in centuries rather than moments?

Iron Blooded – Reece Brooks

A dangerous new fantasy world. A soldier in an eternal war. A champion rises.

Thrust into a new world filled with monsters and magic, Will’s life has become a war for survival. He has nothing more than a class called “soldier” and a strange leveling System he’s never seen before.

When he stumbles across a dying stranger, a mysterious questline activates.

Now Will must head to the front lines where humanity wages war against a ruthless Goblin Horde. There he will join the standing Kadian Army and forge his name from the fires of legend.

He’ll have to face goblins, hordes of the undead, cultists, and demons from Hell. And that’s just before breakfast…

Reversal (Kingdom Lost #2) – Chris Kennedy

The lost children of King Kotaro are reunited!

Well, Hellen, Andrew, and Jayme are together again, although the fourth child—Jonatan—remains an unknowing captive of Duke Alessio Valente, who has unjustly usurped the throne after killing the previous king and queen.

Now, however, isn’t the time for them to take back the kingship, as the war with the Algarians still rages. Worse, the Kotaro children have discovered that the war previously was a sham arranged by Valente and the Algarian queen… but now, it’s very much for real, and the Algarians are making a concerted effort to destroy the Narantean Kingdom.

If the children try to recover the kingship now, it will only lead to a civil war that will ensure the downfall of the kingdom. The war must be won first, and the siblings have found a way to do so—a secret wormhole that will give them access to the Algarian domain.

Can the siblings take the group of mercenaries they’ve amassed behind the lines to hit the Algarians from behind and win the war? If they can’t, the kingdom and their lives will truly be lost forever! Read More

The Bluecoats are Sergeant Chesterfield, a squared away NCO trying to do his best, and Corporal Blutch, who will do anything to survive the Civil War. Blutch is a bit harder to handle as he is not a coward or a sad sack or even a shamming E-4. There’s no risk of desertion here, but Blutch is not opposed to playing dead right before the cavalry charges. The old saw about the only brains in the cavalry are in the horses’ heads is not going to die any time soon.

Half the book is gag and contrivance, bouncing Chesterfield and Blutch from one branch of the army to the next, failing out of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, until they fall as far as any soldier can go:

They end up in the Navy.

The gags are rather innocent and bloodless, a sort of Looney Tunes meets Beetle Bailey innocent good humor that plays on dumb officer stereotypes with a real 20th Century Sunday Comics feel here.

And then, a shadow moves across the waves in pursuit…

It is the Merrimac, the Confederate ironclad. An unsinkable ship that claims three of the Bluecoats’. And then Sergeant Chesterfield and Corporal Blutch get assigned to the USS Monitor.

At this point, the goofy gags get shelved for the historical sea battle. Chesterfield and Blutch drift through the ship on their duties, allowing the reader to see the events and decisions made on the USS Monitor that day. These are played straight, with an admittedly Union-centered view, and the heroics of the real men unmarred by silliness. It is only after the two ships slink away from their stalemate that the humor returns.

I may be too cynical to review this, coming from the age of PVT Murphy’s Law and Terminal Lance, an age where it is not the officers that will ruin a soldier, but the whole ludicrous system that is the military. But with this look at American history from the Land of Asterix and Obelix, it may be that outsiders are doing a better job preserving American history than ourselves.

This isn’t my first encounter with such an inclination, as Japanese pop science fiction like Mobile Suit Gundam and Space Battleship Yamato actively homage long neglected American writers like C. L. Moore, and the tie between H. P. Lovecraft and Chuunibyou (8th Grade) Syndrome is worthy of a Connections episode. But it strikes me with more than a little melancholy that something of 1940s and 1950s American innocence is preserved in French comics as well as the history.

The Bluecoats: Navy Blues may be too innocent for some veterans, but younger readers may enjoy it. Be warned that The Bluecoats as a series won’t shy away from controversial aspects of the Civil War, such as military prisons and the draft riots, though.