Radio Hope Post-Apocalyptic Novel is a Free Download!

For the next five days, through March 14, my post-apocalyptic science fiction novel Radio Hope is free on Amazon. This is the first of the Toxic World series, which has three books and a spin-off novella. Book Four is coming out in the early summer. Radio Hope, however, can also be read as a standalone novel. I'm not pulling you into some sort of crack dealer arrangement. :-) A blurb is below.

In a world shattered by war, pollution and disease. . .
A gunslinging mother longs to find a safe refuge for her son.
A frustrated revolutionary delivers water to villagers living on a toxic waste dump.
The assistant mayor of humanity's last city hopes he will never have to take command.
One thing gives them the promise of a better future--Radio Hope, a mysterious station that broadcasts vital information about surviving in a blighted world. But when a mad prophet and his army of fanatics march out of the wildlands on a crusade to purify the land with blood and fire, all three will find their lives intertwining, and changing forever.

Radio Hope is available on Amazon, Amazon UK, and all the other Amazons. Enjoy and please spread the word!

My latest post-apocalyptic novel out now!

We Had Flags, the third in my Toxic World series of post-apocalyptic novels, is out now. The series starts with Radio Hope and continues with Refugees from the Righteous Horde. The Scavenger is a novelette in the same world.

In We Had Flags, the residents of New City face their biggest challenges yet. For those of you familiar with the series, the main characters in this volume are the Doctor, Pablo Cruz, and someone you haven't met yet. A blurb is below.

A law doesn't work if everyone breaks it.
For forty years, New City has been a bastion of order in a fallen world. One crucial law has maintained the peace--it is illegal to place responsibility for the collapse of civilization on any one group. Anyone found guilty of Blaming is branded and stripped of citizenship.
But when some unwelcome visitors arrive from across the sea, old wounds break open, and no one is safe from Blame.

We Had Flags is available via Kindle's Prime program, so if you're a member you can read it for free!

The Rat Killer and other Weird War Tales out now!

My latest short story collection, The Rat Killer and other Weird War Tales, is out now on Amazon and Smashwords. It's going through the Smashwords system of Premium distribution and will soon be available in all major online retailers. The cover is, as usual, done by my talented brother-in-law Andrés. It looks a bit different form his regular stuff and I think it works well. The book retails for $2.99. A blurb is below.

A rat hunter on the Western Front suspects his prey are plotting against him…
A routine trip through the trenches leads to an unexpected insight…
A soldier discovers the most dangerous enemy can't be killed…
A bereaved woman performs a forbidden ritual to avenge her father’s murder…
A doomed militia is offered a path to victory that leads to damnation…

Here are five tales of war from the pen of military historian and novelist Sean McLachlan. From the bushwhackers of the American Civil War to the trenches of WWI, these stories walk the line from the strange and paranormal to the frighteningly real.

My new WWI novel now available for preorder!

My latest World War One action novel, Digging In, is coming out December 5 and is available for preorder. The story takes up where Trench Raiders left off and continues the adventures of Crawford, Willoughby, and Thompson, while introducing some interesting new characters. Here's the blurb.

October 1914: The British line is about to break.
 
After two months of hard fighting, the British Expeditionary Force is short of men, ammunition, and ideas. With their line stretched to the breaking point, aerial reconnaissance spots German reinforcements massing for the big push. As their trenches are hammered by a German artillery battery, the men of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry come up with a desperate plan--a daring raid behind enemy lines to destroy the enemy guns, and give the British a chance to stop the German army from breaking through.
 
Digging In is the second in a new series of World War One action novels that will follow the brave men of the BEF through the major battles of the First World War a hundred years after they happened. The Battle of Ypres was the first of many great slaughters on the Western Front, and it was there that both sides learned the true horror of the world's first global conflict.

It's now available on Amazon, Amazon UK, and all the other Amazons. It's also available on Smashwords and will soon be at all other major ebook outlets.

(By the way, if you're still following this blog, head on over to Midlist Writer, that's far more active)

Free Post-Apocalyptic Ebook

Hello from Worldcon! I'm in London at the world's largest, and oldest science fiction convention. I'll be turning 45 here on Saturday, surrounded by science fiction fans. There are worse places to to grow old.

In honor of Worldcon and my oncoming decrepitude, I'm running a special promotion for two of my Toxic World titles of post-apocalyptic books. Radio Hope is on a Kindle Countdown deal. It's usually $3.99 but for August 13-14 it will be 99 cents. On August 15-16 it will be $1.99. On August 17-19 it will be $2.99.

Also, my short story The Scavenger will be free August 14-18.

Grab these titles while they're cheap, and tune in next week for a full convention report and plenty of photos!

Trench Raiders now available!

Just in time for the WWI centenary, I've come out with Trench Raiders, the first in a series of World War one action novels. Here's the blurb:

September 1914: The British Expeditionary Force has the Germans on the run, or so they think.
After a month of bitter fighting, the British are battered, exhausted, and down to half their strength, yet they’ve helped save Paris and are pushing toward Berlin. Then the retreating Germans decide to make a stand. Holding a steep slope beside the River Aisne, the entrenched Germans mow down the advancing British with machine gun fire. Soon the British dig in too, and it looks like the war might grind down into deadly stalemate.
Searching through No-Man’s Land in the darkness, Private Timothy Crawford of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry finds a chink in the German armor. But can this lowly private, who spends as much time in the battalion guardhouse as he does on the parade ground, convince his commanding officer to risk everything for a chance to break through?
Trench Raiders is the first in a new series of World War One action novels that will follow the brave men of the British Expeditionary Force through the major battles of the First World War a hundred years after they happened. The Battle of the Aisne was the start of trench warfare on the Western Front, and it was there that the British and Germans first honed their skills at a new, vicious brand of fighting.

Trench Raiders is available at Amazon, Smashwords, and within a few days will be available at all other online outlets.

Refugees from the Righteous Horde out now!

Book Two of my Toxic World post-apocalyptic series is out now! Refugees from the Righteous Horde picks up where Radio Hope left off. Here's the blurb:

When you only have one shot, you better aim true.
In a ravaged world, civilization’s last outpost is reeling after fighting off the fanatical warriors of the Righteous Horde. Sheriff Annette Cruz becomes New City’s long arm of vengeance as she sets off across the wildlands to take out the cult’s leader. All she has is a sniper’s rifle with one bullet and a former cultist with his own agenda.
Meanwhile, one of the cult’s escaped slaves makes a discovery that could tear New City apart. . .

Refugees from the Righteous Horde continues the Toxic World series started in Radio Hope, an ongoing narrative of humanity’s struggle to rebuild the world it ruined.

The book is available on all the Amazons and will soon have a print edition. If you could help me out by tweeting, blogging, and sharing this info, that would be awesome!

I'm moving blogs!

As you might of noticed, this blog has been a bit quiet of late. That's because I've revived my old Midlist Writer blog. While I still write Civil War stuff, and the sequel to A Fine Likeness will come out in the next couple of months, I've been writing more post-apocalyptic fiction lately, and recently started a novel set during World War One.

So this blog no longer fully reflects what I'm doing. I'll keep it up to repost announcements and anything Civil War related, but if you want Sean McLachlan's blog, go to Midlist Writer.

My post-apocalyptic story The Scavenger is free on Amazon until April 8

In honor of the Post-Apocalyptic A to Z blogfest I'm doing over at Midlist Writer, I'm offering my post-apocalyptic story The Scavenger for free on Amazon for the next five days.

This story is a 67-page teaser for my Toxic World series, which starts with the novel Radio Hope. The Scavenger a standalone story, but it gives a different perspective on some of the places and characters that appear in Radio Hope.

The blurb is below:

In a world shattered by war, pollution, and disease, a lone scavenger discovers a priceless relic from the Old Times.
The problem is, it's stuck in the middle of the worst wasteland he knows--a contaminated city inhabited by insane chem addicts and vengeful villagers. Only his wits, his gun, and an unlikely ally can get him out alive.
Set in the Toxic World series introduced in the novel Radio Hope, this 10,000-word story explores more of the dangers and personalities that make up a post-apocalyptic world that's all too possible.

I'd like to get it in front of as many eyeballs as possible. So please, between now and Tuesday, April 8, feel free to share, like, tweet, etc. Here are some tweets after the jump you can use if you are so inclined.

My next Toxic World story is out!

I've just released The Scavenger on Amazon. This 10,000-word story is set in the same Toxic World as Radio Hope and explores some more of the personalities and dangers of that world. I've priced it at 99 cents as a teaser for the series. Enjoy!

Refugees from the Righteous Horde, the second novel in the series, is progressing well. I'll be taking all next week off while I'm on a press trip in Belgium. The country is gearing up for the centennial of World War One and I'll be visiting many of the important sites of the Western Front. Once I'm back I'll be doing a spate of nonfiction writing before sitting down and getting to the end of the novel.

Have a great weekend!

Military History Photo Friday: Elaborate Renaissance Arms and Armor

Here are a couple of fine pieces from The Wallace Collection, one of the best private collections of art in London. They have an especially good arms and armor gallery. It's well worth checking out if you're in London.

On the top we have, according to the signage, "a mace of the morning star type, damascened in gold with arabesques and emblematical figures within cartouches of silver piqué." Well that clears that up. It's from Milan c.1560.

Below are some fine parade helmets from the same century, also made in Italy and of the type known as "antique armor", which imitated the styles of parade armor from ancient Rome.

The Scavenger cover reveal, plus I need input on my blurb

My brother-in-law Andrés Alonso-Herrero has come up with another fine cover for me. This is for a 10,000-word novelette called The Scavenger. It's going up soon as a promo for my Toxic World series and is set close to the action in Radio Hope. Here's a draft of the blurb below. I'd love your input!

In a world shattered by war, pollution, and disease, a lone scavenger discovers a priceless relic from the Old Times.
The problem is, it's stuck in the middle of a contaminated city inhabited by insane chem addicts and vengeful villagers. Only his wits, his gun, and an unlikely ally can get him out alive.

Military History Photo Friday: Senegalese Troops in World War One

Hello from Tangier! Actually I'm writing this several days early and scheduling it ahead of time because I'm happily without Internet for a few days so my better half and I can enjoy our 14th anniversary in the Casbah.

To keep with the African theme, here's a photo of the Tirailleurs Sénégalais in World War One. What is now Senegal was a French colony during the war and like many other colonies they sent troops. Senegalese fought with distinction throughout the war on both the Western Front and the Dardanelles.

Recruits also came from Morocco, Indochina, and other colonies. More than 72,000 colonial soldiers died during the war.

Below is a closeup of the middle two guys with their flag commemorating some of the battles they fought in. You can see they've earned some medals too.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Military History Photo Friday: The Battle of Dogali

I was chatting with science fiction author David Drake this week and he mentioned a recent visit to Italy, where he got to see this splendid painting. It's by Michele Cammarano and depicts the Battle of Dogali on January 26, 1887.

This was an early engagement during Italy's attempt to colonize Abyssinia, modern Eritrea and Ethiopia. The Italians had taken the coastline, modern Eritrea, and the Emperor Yohannes IV sent an army to push them back. After the Abyssinians unsuccessfully attacked an Italian fort, the 10,000 warriors ambushed an Italian relief column headed for the fort. The column consisted of 500 Italians, 50 native irregulars, and two machine guns. The machine guns soon jammed and the Italians were overrun.

The Italians quickly vacated the region, but came back in 1896 intent on taking the entire country and regaining the honor they lost at Dogali. Instead, they were defeated at the famous Battle of Adowa, the subject of one of my books.

The detail below certainly makes it look like the Italians are winning. Note the curved shotel sword the Abyssinian to the left is carrying. These were fearsome weapons and were especially good against shield-carrying African warriors.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons, where you can see a large format copy of this painting.

I'm over at Unicorn Bell today, and a comment on sexism in the writing industry

My virtual book tour for Radio Hope continues with an interview over at Unicorn Bell today. Sales have been steady but not stellar, but hey, it's only been out less than three weeks. Indie publishers have to learn patience as they build up a reputation.

Luckily, some readers are helping with that by giving me very positive reviews. Several have said they've read the book in one or two sittings. The word "inhaled" has been used more than once.

Be careful of inhaling, ladies and gents, there's a lot of nasty stuff in the atmosphere of the Toxic World! This French soldier is well kitted out for reading my novel. Make sure you are too!

Oh, and if you want to breathe some more toxic air, read this Black Gate post about the continuing mudslinging over at the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America because a few female writers dared to point out the rampant sexism in the industry. Guess what happened? Yeah, the usual nonsense.

We like to pretend that the smarter sections of our society are free of sexism and racism, but that just ain't so. Just ask a female scientist, or a female doctor, or a female writer. Will things improve in the future? I hope so. Pushing down half the intellect of the human race is just not the best way forward. Please don't make my novel come true. Respect everyone!

Book Review: The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918

The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918 by Holger H. Herwig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The popular academic study of World War One in English has long suffered a deficit in the number of publications that use German sources. Herwig's hefty tome comes as a welcome change to this. At 450 dense pages, only serious history buffs need apply.
Those willing to make the effort, however, will find their understanding of the war enriched and changed. While we are long accustomed to hearing criticisms of the Entente's General staff, the commanders of the Central Powers are shown to have made many key blunders and to be grossly out of touch with the reality on the ground.
Herwig goes through each year and campaign in detail, backed up with a wealth of primary sources. I could have used some more personal accounts--the ones he gives are gripping--but that's not really the focus here. He shows how the high command was influenced by politics, posturing, and unrealistic expectations. The incapacity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to wage war is well drawn, and Herwig knows just when to bring out a telling detail. For example, rubber was in such shortage that in 1917 the Hapsburg government requisitioned the pockets from all billiard tables!
Herwig takes us step by step through the evolving political, strategic, and tactical situations. A glossary of terms and key figures and some more detailed maps would have been helpful, but I can't bring myself to give this book fewer than five stars. It's essential reading for anyone who wants to truly understand the Great War in detail.

View all my reviews

Military History Photo Friday: The Valentine Tank

Happy Valentine's Day! To celebrate the day where lovers are supposed to swoon over one another while gorging on chocolate, I'm giving you a photo of a tank. But not just any tank, the Valentine tank! Aren't I romantic?

The Valentine tank was produced in the United Kingdom at the start of World War Two. The story is that it got its name because the plans were submitted on Valentine's Day. There are several more prosaic explanations, such as the fact that a leading tank designer was named Valentine.

Anyway, these tanks were hugely popular, accounting for about a quarter of all tanks produced during the war in the UK. They were also the first tanks produced in Canada and saw service in the Soviet Red Army thanks to the Lend Lease program.

The Valentine tank owed its popularity to its good armor and durability and performed especially well in the North Africa campaign. Early models were armed with an underpowered 2-pounder cannon and the turret was cramped. The cannon was later replaced with a better six-pounder but by 1944 the Valentine was getting outclassed in the tank arms race. Heavier, tougher models became necessary, but the Valentine was still used as a backup.


Photo of Valentine Mark III with Scottish infantry in North Africa courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

More reviews, the importance of minor characters, and indie publishing news

Things are busy here. Sales for Radio Hope are steady but not stellar, but it's only been out two weeks so word is still spreading. Please help with that if you can!

I've received two new reviews. One on Goodreads, by a member of my writers group in Madrid saying, "I liked it, so much so that--faced with all those empty days until the next installment arrives--to satisfy my craving for radioactive scavenging and crumbling pockets of civilisation I've started playing Fallout: New Vegas again, after several years of twitchy abstinence. So thanks a lot, Sean: Radio Hope kicked me off the wagon."

The other is on Amazon and is titled: "It's a hard life if you don't weaken. If you do, you're dead." Gotta love a reviewer who paraphrases Sillitoe. From there she compares it with The Postman (I have a better ending, thank you for noticing) and to Stephen King.

I'm over at Amlokiblogs today talking about the importance of minor characters in writing.

Far more important than all this is that indie bestselling author Hugh Howey has teamed up with a statistician to analyze how well indie authors are doing compared with traditionally published authors. The data will surprise you. If you're a writer, or a reader interested in the future of books, check out his report.

A history post tomorrow. I'm getting bored with all this self-promotion!

Radio Hope gets its first review, and it's five stars!

Less that two weeks after its release, Radio Hope has received its first review! The reviewer, blogger Sioux Roslawski, says:

The author has painted a picture of a world that we might end up with--if we keep abusing our environment and we if keep being devisive about people, keeping the "have-nots" separated from the "haves." Although this story takes place in the future, it's easy to envision it being not too far into the future...which is the terrifying part.

I appreciate that the author has given his readers some credit. Too often, books like this are full of chunks of background information. Different terms and backstories are explained at the very beginning, which slows down the story. Sean McLachlan trusts that his readers have brains and he has ensured that things are revealed in a logical, natural way...as the story evolves. (He even made us wait until the last page for a tidbit I was wondering about throughout the entire novel. I was worried I'd never find out the answer, that it would be just a forgotten detail, but McLachlan did not disappoint...)

I gave this novel 5 stars because it is normally not the kind of book I would read. However, despite it being outside of my reading box, I inhaled it. I read it in two nights, anxious to get to the end.
Sioux isn't the only person who said they've read it in two days. I take that as a good sign!

My virtual book tour is continuing. Today I'm being interviewed by Paris-based blogger D.G. Hudson.

Book Review: Legionnaire from Texas

Legionnaire from Texas by Gordon Landsborough
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a reprint of a 1950s novella that was recently released by Piccadilly Publishing. The publisher specializes in old and new action tales, what used to be called "Men's Adventure Fiction."
And that's what you get here. A hard-bitten man from Texas joins the French Foreign Legion for mysterious reasons, and fights Arabs in North Africa while all the time trying to get something else done. . .
The story is well-written and fast-paced, as you'd expect from this kind of book. Landsborough wrote a lot along these lines and knows how to spin a good yarn.
There were some hiccups along the way, though. The story takes place just after World War Two, yet the Legionnaires are still using the Lebel Model 1886 rifle. I'm not sure that's accurate. Also, I found the characters to be a bit cardboardy. Perhaps they develop further in the series. In addition, this is not a complete tale, having a rather abrupt ending.
In the Smashwords edition I bought there were huge numbers of formatting errors. Paragraphs kept alternating in font size and there was a lot of missing punctuation, especially periods. Perhaps this was from scanning from an old pulp magazine. Whatever the reason, someone needs to proofread the ebook before clicking publish.
I'm intrigued with Piccadilly's line of books and have bought a few more. I don't think I'll continue with the Legionnaire series, however.

View all my reviews