Author of sci-fi/fantasy, horror and adventure/thriller fiction

KINGDOM, Season 2

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Netflix’s Korean historical zombie series KINGDOM rocked into its second season, building on the political intrigue and outbreak setup of the first season in six highly dramatic, action-packed episodes. It’s an example of how to tell a story with zombies right and proof the undead aren’t dead yet as a genre.

The season picks up right where the last lets off, with Prince Chang and a small force fighting back a horde of undead that no longer “sleep” during the day. Lacking the means to destroy the zombies, he decides the best way he can save the dying province is to finally attack his larger problems in the capital, and try to reclaim his throne.

While season 1 was a slow burn setting up a lot of elements that build toward a zombie climax, season 2 is packed with action sequences that build toward an even bloodier finale. The six episodes are remarkably tight, with every scene providing important backstory via a flashback or advancing the plot.

What makes KINGDOM work for me is the characters are likeable, the GAME OF THRONES political intrigue is lightly done but effective, and the history and culture provide a unique perspective and tools for a rising dead story. Unlike shows like THE WALKING DEAD, the characters don’t mull the loss of civilization and humanity, and instead focus on the material stakes of saving their country, while the bad guys are willing to sacrifice part or even all of it to hold onto power. This tight thematic and plot focus serves the story well and makes for compelling viewing.

At the end of season 2, everything is wrapped up neatly with a bow, while setting the stage for a possible season 3. I’m not sure the show needs it, but I’ll check it out just the same.

RIM OF THE WORLD (2019)

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Panned by critics but liked by a majority of viewers, RIM OF THE WORLD (2019) is a fairly standard coming of age story, this one set during the apocalypse, an alien invasion of Earth.

At a summer camp called Rim of The World, four misfit kids show up, either forced by their parents to come or fleeing something else to find something new. One kid is rich and stuck up but has the potential to put others first, another is a misunderstood criminal with the potential to be good, another is a recluse with the potential to find a family, and finally we have our main character, a boy who blames himself for his father’s death and is afraid of everything, but with the potential to be heroic. When aliens invade Earth and the kids discover the key to their defeat, they must take a road trip that involves self discovery, sharing, dodging death, conquering their fears, and finally becoming what they were meant to be.

The result is sort of like BREAKFAST CLUB meets INDEPENDENCE DAY, and it rolls out pretty much exactly as you expect it to, but it’s well done and charming, with great pacing and good acting among the kids, and I enjoyed the ride. It’s a classic story about youth, and a positive one. If you know what to expect and expect no more than that, it’s surprisingly fun.

OUR WAR Out in Paperback!

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OUR WAR, my dystopian novel about a second American civil war, is now out in paperback! Get it at your local bookstore or library.

“This gritty, horrifying tale of hate … sprinkled with moments of love, will leave readers with haunting memories.” – Publisher’s Weekly

“Presenting a dark alternate reality that touches the seams of current events and a possible future, DiLouie offers an uncompromising view of … patriotism in conflict.” – Library Journal

“DiLouie brings depth to his dark vision of America.” – Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, listing Our War as one of the best releases of August 2019

“Harrowing dystopia.” – Kirkus Reviews, listing Our War as one of the best speculative fiction reads of August 2019

“Craig DiLouie’s prose is eloquent, deeply compelling, and poses a possibility that alerts us to protect our world against such possibilities as depicted in this imaginative story. It touches many chords of recognition, and that is yet another trait of a brilliant writer. Highly recommended.” – San Francisco Review of Books

“This may be one of the most important books you’ll read this year. I say that without an ounce of hyperbole… A heart-breaking, terrifying novel which—I desperately hope—will only be a warning, and not someday viewed as prophetic… Highly recommended.” – Cemetery Dance

“Our War is a book that I just can’t recommend enough. It’s about love & hate & hope & despair. It’s like some fucked-up funhouse mirror version of America…but a version that is entirely too plausible at this point. This book is gorgeous, haunting, and it feels like an absolutely vital work of fiction right now.” – GrimDark Dad

“Never has a dystopian future been so well written and delivered such a powerful social commentary on our modern society, no matter what end of the political spectrum you find yourself falling on. A fascinating and almost painful read that I highly recommend.” – ScienceFiction.com

“Part epic war story, part cautionary tale, Our War is brutal, unflinching, and mesmerizing. DiLouie once again delivers an emotional body-slam of a book, one that’ll leave you shaken to your core.” — Peter Clines, author of Dead Moon

“Our War went well beyond anything I might have foreseen, hitting me with unexpected strength: there is such a heart-wrenching quality to the story being told here, that I too often felt breathless with the chilling impact of it all.” – Space & Sorcery

“Once again, DiLouie has managed to distill one of humanity’s greatest conflicts into a masterpiece of literature.” – The Fantasy Inn

“An instant classic that will join the ranks of dystopian futures that at times feel all too real.” – New York Times Bestselling Author Nicholas Sansbury Smith

“Where to even start describing this powerful and upsetting book? It feels all too real, as an increasingly factionalized and radicalized America is plunged into a brutal civil war… It’s scarily easy to imagine these events evolving from where we stand today… The writing here is raw and shocking and immediate, and makes for a completely gripping read.” – Bookshelf Fantasies

“A terrifyingly believable tale that recreates the landscape of a war-torn Somalia in the city streets of America. DiLouie captures the individual tragedy of people fighting a war that destroys the very things they are trying to save.” — David Walton, author of Three Laws Lethal

“This book forces you to dive into the uncomfortability of what was, what is, and what may be. It makes you confront these problems head on by throwing you into a cautionary tale that feels all too real… It’s about survival in the face of tragedy; it’s about hope when it feels like there is no hope left… This story is brutally intense, thought-provoking, deeply profound, and incredibly important.” – Grimdragon

“An unflinching look at what happens when politics fail and war truly comes home, powered by the narrative shock of truth-telling.” – Christopher Brown, Campbell and World Fantasy Award-nominated author of Tropic of Kansas

“Our War is a deeply moving merger of dystopian and war fiction, compelling in its realistic depiction of urban warfare.” – Inspired Chaos

“One of the most emotionally charged books I’ve read… The tale could be our future in the United States.” – The Reading Desk

“Intense, thought-provoking, and a compelling read.” – Forever Lost in Literature

“Our War further solidifies that Craig DiLouie is not only one of the best fantasists working today, he’s one of the best writers out there, period. This novel is harrowing and heartfelt, upsetting and, most of all, utterly compelling … far and away my favorite novel of 2019.” – Bracken MacLeod, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of Stranded

“DiLouie does a fantastic job of immediately grabbing the reader’s attention and holding it throughout, tearing at heartstrings and digging into the nitty-gritty of emotional connection with his characters and the messed up world they find themselves in.” – Fan Fi Addict: A Bookish Blog

“The best thing about Our War is that it explores how much of our posturing and auto-mythology of toughness can result in nothing more than the pain and suffering of the people we love the most.” – Swamp

“Five stars… A provocative thriller which hits very close to home.” – Top Shelf Reviews

“The story was just so interesting, so real to what could so easily happen. It kept you hooked from the very beginning.” – LFBooks Blog

“A gut-clenching tale of brutality, loyalties, and the destruction of the values they are fighting to save… Mr. DiLouie has created an eye-opening tale with some wicked sharp edges.” – Tome Tender

“I fully enjoyed this look into the possibility of another American Civil War.” – Paul’s Picks

“…one of my favorite songs, John McCutcheon’s exceptionally moving ‘Christmas in the Trenches.’ Its last line is, ‘on each end of the rifle, we’re the same.’ That truth is also the truth of Our War.” – Learning Strategies

“This novel was phenomenal… The character building and world building were amazing… a great read! I would definitely recommend it!” – The Book Dragon

“A roller coaster ride of emotions … Our War reminds readers what we as human beings take for granted every day and that we need to appreciate everything we have because, within a moment, it can all be taken away.” – Rollout Reviews

“Our War is one of the best books I’ve read in years! It’s dark, realistic, and very intense.” – The Raven Podcast

“DiLouie’s pacing is perfect, and it was very hard to put this book aside when I was forced to. The tension is palpable, the characters leap off the page, and I was terrified for each and every one of them… Readers who are looking for an emotional and complex story need look no further. This dystopia hits close to home.” – Books, Bones & Buffy

UZUMAKI by Junji Ito

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Junji Ito’s manga UZUMAKI is a weird and wild horror story about a Japanese town plagued by the “spiral curse,” which begins to spread until it threatens to devour everything. I absolutely loved the art, original story, and haunting strangeness of it.

The manga is a collection of series of interconnected stories about Kirie Goshima, a teenage girl whose boyfriend, Shuichi Saito, believes their town is haunted by uzumaki, the spiral and mesmerizing secret shape of the world. Time after time, she sees people become obsessed or infected by spirals. As the incidents mount, the spirals grow until becoming a whirlpool threatening to consume everything.

In some ways, the story reminded me of PI, a 1998 film about a man who discovers a number that is one of the names of God and drives him to the brink of madness. UZUMAKI has the same level of originality and strangeness, though it takes its concept much farther, straight to an unflinching, very satisfying finish.

If you like graphic novels/manga and horror (or anything just plain weird), check out UZUMAKI. It’s a lot of fun.

WASTELANDERS by K.S. Merbeth

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K.S. Merbeth’s WASTELANDERS, which puts her novels BITE and RAID in a single volume, tells the story of Kid, a young girl struggling to survive another day in a post-apocalyptic American wasteland until teaming up with a band of misfit marauders straight out of the Frankenstein child of THE ROAD WARRIOR and the game BORDERLANDS.

The stories are packed with post-apocalyptic tropes and adventures with Kid finding her way in a marauding tribe, where morality has little survival benefit but where she does discover a personal code. Along the way, she toughens up to become a raider herself, as the gang plows through one problem and enemy after another. The fun is in the fact this gang are the bad guys, a mini version of Lord Humongous’s army, and they’re in it to survive and have a good time doing it. Merbeth does a good job making these raiders sympathetic if morally gray, prone to betrayal, and occasionally cannibalistic, largely by showing how worse everybody else is in this insane post-apocalyptic world.

While WASTELANDERS might have benefited with an overarching plot where by unlocking a dormant morality or through naked self-interest they make the world a better place, the stories offer plenty of fun romping around this Mad Max world trashing enemies and surviving by the skin of your teeth, with plenty of action. Overall, WASTELANDERS is just good fun.

THE ENGINES OF SACRIFICE by James Chambers

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“Lovecraftian” is a mythos that feels overly familiar to me and therefore has to be done really well for me to fall under its spell. By “done really well,” I mean take Lovecraft and portray it in a contemporary way that conveys the feelings of mystery, dread, and horror, without sounding hackneyed or borrowed. TRUE DETECTIVE played with the Yellow King mythos in just such a way. A more direct and just as powerful example is THE ENGINES OF SACRIFICE by James Chambers.

This novella collection tells four dark stories firmly rooted in the Lovecraft mythos but told in a rewardingly fresh, direct style. Imagine somebody took everything you loved about Lovecraft, pared out everything that made it boring or dated (like presenting male characters who are decidedly masculine but not toxic), and then made it fresh and contemporary; the result is James Chambers’ excellently poignant horror collection.

All four stories are remarkable, but my favorite hands down is the title novella, “The Engines of Sacrifice.” Like the other stories, it stems from Lovecraft’s mythos while taking it to an insane level and rolls out like a thriller with numerous psychological as well as physical twists and turns. In this story, writer Rowley Cray lives in a world slowly gone mad, controlled by a genocidal totalitarian government, and subsumed by Lovecraftian creatures. The dead tell him their stories to share, but they want more; they have a very special purpose for him. Unfortunately, so does the government. Navigating various parties who see his stories as the key to altering the reality they live in, Cray must capture the power of words and make the ultimate choice.

If you enjoy horror or Lovecraft in particular, there’s plenty in this collection to enjoy.