Monthly Archives:
sVox Day’s “A Magic Broken” takes us into the sordid brothels of Selenoth with an entertaining trick of a tale featuring assassinations, castrations, and revelations that most readers can probably plow through in under a half hour. The narrative is split between Lodi the dwarf warrior and Nicolas the battle mage while at cross-purposes in […]
The dean of the Castalia House authors, Mr. John C. Wright, explains one reason he enjoys working with us. The cover of his forthcoming themed collection is displayed below. For a larger, albeit preliminary version, please visit Mr. Wright’s journal. One reason (of several) why I am grateful to have Castalia House publishing me is […]
Speculative fiction is easily fragmented by both readers and the industry, and even the professionals are capable of causing enormous rifts between major wings: look no further than the mid-nineties’ hilariously unnecessary epic saga of the SFWA consideration for changing its acronym to SFFWA. But the truth is simple: of the three major genres, Science […]
We are exceedingly pleased to be able to announce that Castalia House will be publishing a new book by Martin van Creveld, the distinguished Israeli military historian, in the new year. If you have not read his influential The Transformation of War or his informative history of modern Israel, The Land of Blood and Honey, […]
I have discovered the secret to crafting an entertaining story. Forget plot. Forget character. Forget all that stuff. You want guaranteed success? Just make sure the title of your next masterpiece is “The Last [blank]”. Then, fill in the blank. Think about it. The Last of the Mohicans – terrific book (even better movie). Avatar: […]
Chatter Before the Coup – 1991 and The Future State of Science Fiction
Tuesday , 18, November 2014 Uncategorized 12 CommentsBy 1995 or so, it had become fairly evident that the science fiction market had begun to experience a significant shift, one that I have been struggling to put my finger on for quite some time now. The genre, of course, has always been one for whom change at a certain level should be something […]
Today we are pleased to announce the publication of two new works: Victoria: A Novel of Fourth Generation War by Thomas Hobbes and The Four Generations of Modern War by William S. Lind. Victoria is available for $9.99 here at the Castalia House store as well as from Amazon, while The Four Generations of Modern […]
Pink Shirt Propaganda vs. Blue SF/F Storytelling
Sunday , 16, November 2014 Uncategorized 11 CommentsPink vs Blue: Which side of the force are you? [Photo by Gerry Lauzon] Castalia blogger Daniel Eness has a great post breaking down the differences between Pink and Blue Science Fiction and Fantasy. If that sort of thing interests you, check it out and meet me back here. I would like to focus on […]
Introduction: Massive Assault is a turn-based war strategy game by Wargaming.net. Most of the mechanics of this game will be familiar to wargamers—infantry type units as cannon fodder (Light Attack Vehicles in the game), ranged artillery, air support, and an economy to purchase new units. Plot: Humanity has expanded to different planets and is nominally […]
The Glass Bead Game is thus a mode of playing with the total contents and values of our culture; it plays with them as, say, in the great age of the arts a painter might have played with the colors on his palette. All the insights, noble thoughts, and works of art that the human […]
Both of the stories in The Wardog’s Coin are a brisk read and a hell of a lot of fun. We was exhausted, outnumbered, battered, bleeding, and more than half of us was wounded or dead. The men was barely moments away from breaking and running. So, of course, we attacked. In the first story, […]
“I have great hopes that we shall learn in due time how to emotionalise and mythologise their science to such an extent that what is, in effect, a belief in us (though not under that name) will creep in while the human mind remains closed to belief in the Enemy. The ‘Life Force’, the worship […]