SNAFU Hunters | Author, editor, caffeine-addict, wannabe ninja

For your military horror dining delight, I bring you a big, fat course of SNAFU for your Festivus feast. Sit down, strap on (easy) your kevlar, and lock’n’load – it’s about to get messy. SNAFU (Situation Normal All Fucked Up) is the series put out through Cohesion Press that covers different takes on the military horror theme.

I’ve been lucky enough to be involved from the start as one of the co-editors of the series (with Geoff Brown), and having the pleasure of working with some truly amazing storytellers, both established and up-and-coming, and from here and overseas. But more than that is the calibre of stories on offer.

Cohesion has four SNAFU anthologies currently on the market – two print/ebook and two ebook-only offerings. All of the anthologies have brilliant Dean Samed cover art, with internal art supplied by the wonderfully-talented Monty Borror. This is seriously good monster art – you won’t want to miss it.

Let’s begin with the first in the series, the entre: SNAFU: An Anthology of Military Horror. War is hell, and this offering was Cohesion’s first foray into the military horror theme, and garnered a Bram Stoker Recommended Read and finalist for the Australian Shadows Award (edited publication), thanks to the talented writers.

Next up for tasting in the series is SNAFU: Heroes, which offers novellas and short stories from Jonathan Mayberry, James A Moore, Weston Ochse and Joseph Nassise. As the blurb says: ‘From demons to horrors from the deep, the battles keep on coming. Fight or die…’

SNAFU: Wolves at the Door, is the next to the table, where you will share your meal with… my, what big teeth you have! This ebook tells the tales of soldiers fighting against all manner of were-animals – wolves take precedence in this instalment, but the diversity is staggeringly good. Stories with bite! (How could I not say it?)

And check out the cover art…

But wait, there’s more! The next in the print series is SNAFU: Survival of the Fittest, which was released in August this year. This is survival horror where every bullet counts. Low on ammo, this is about soldiers trying to make it out alive against nightmares made real. And damn, if these authors don’t know how to wrangle some nasty enemies for their squads.

There are two more in the series on the horizon; I’m currently working on SNAFU: Hunters (think Grimm, Van Helsing, ‘Supernatural’s’ Sam and Dean), which will be published early next year. This SNAFU is all about the hunt, the thrill of the chase, and the uncertainty of outcome. Then there’s SNAFU: Future Warfare – military horror with a sci-fi bent (yeah, you know you want that!), which is due around mid-year. So keep your eyes and ears open for these, kiddies… well not literally kids, ‘cause unless you’re willing to shell out cash for some serious therapy, these books aren’t for them.

The beauty of the SNAFU series is that stories cover the gamut of historical to modern warfare; from Viking raids, the World Wars, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan… and all time periods and locales. And if you think you’ve read of every monster out there? Think again, my friend, oh yes, think again. There’s a diversity here that will keep you (or those you’ve gifted these treasures to) turning the pages.

Recommended for anyone who loves military stories, military horror, supernatural horror, straight messed-up horror… you get the picture. They’re brutal, they’re bloody, they’re awesome.

Yes, yes, I’m a bit late with the next instalment of Festivus Book Pimping, but I’m going to try and get as many authors/books pimped before I head away next week for my Christmas break. So, next up on the Festivus altar is another overseas author, all round nice guy, and hell of a writer, James A Moore. Round of applause!

Now Jim has quite a backlist of novels and short stories, all of which you should read. But today I’m going to focus on the fantasy series I’m currently reading: The Blasted Lands, published through Angry Robot. I’d been meaning to get these books for a while, but my laziness worked in my favour, with the latest book (third in the series), just released.

The series begins with Seven Forges, and the introduction to two races of people – those from the Empire of Fellein, and the fantastical, half-forgotten, and oh-so mysterious Sa’ba Taalor. And it’s those of the Blasted Lands that really held my attention – Drask Silver Hand, Swech, Tusk and their gods (and their magic), are vastly different from anything I’d read, and I was so very taken with them. Hell, I couldn’t get enough.

Told from the viewpoints of the major characters of Captain Merros Dulver, the Emperor, Desh – the emperor’s sorcerer, and those of the Sabar Taalor, you get to experience the lives and fears, the cultures and impending war of the two races. Moore handles it masterfully, and I couldn’t wait to get into the second book.

The Blasted Lands follows up with action, betrayal, amazing magic, gods and rituals, and a final understanding of why the Sa’ba Taalor hide their faces from those outside the Blasted Lands (and damn impressive this is). War is coming. Not if, but when, and the people of Fellein… well, it ain’t looking good. As a second book, they can sometime fall flat, but Moore just amps it up, and I flew through this reading as well.

City of Wonders is next, and while I’d love to tell you more about this one, I’m only three chapters in, but I’m hooked and wondering how I can steal time so I can read more. There’s a fourth in the series that Moore is currently writing, and I’ll be first in line to buy that baby.

Oh, and a shout-out to the cover-artist of these books – they capture the characters perfectly, and are just gorgeous.

Now I can’t have you leave without telling you about one of my favourite of Moore’s characters, Jonathan Crowley. There is many a story with the dark Mr Crowley, and I’ve had the pleasure of being the editor of a couple of Crowley stories in the SNAFU series put out through Cohesion Press. Crowley is a monster hunter, and quite possibly a monster in his own right, but damn if he ain’t fun to read. Moore’s Crowley stories are more supernatural horror, and one of my favourites is the short story, Cherry Hill. Addictive, this character is, and I’m always happy with a new Crowley story.

Oh, and I’ve just finished editing a new Crowley story for SNAFU: Hunters, and it’s a cracker!

Recommendation:

For the Blasted Lands series, anyone who loves epic fantasy, dark fantasy, magic and monsters and mayhem, oh my!

For the Crowley books, anyone who loves supernatural horror, horror, dark fiction, and monsters straight from your nightmares!

Festivus out!