After the War: Stories from the Next Regime is a collection of post-apocalyptic flash fiction written by some of the most famous internet personalities to emerge in the most interesting and dynamic corners of the web. I really enjoyed most of the stories in this book; the most successful ones were the one that succeeded in blending humor along with creativity. Here are a few that truly stood out for their narrative success.
“Pizza Boy” written by the internet’s favorite dietician Raw Egg Nationalist projects a future of his Man’s World magazine’s office and an encounter with a strange internet denizen pitching the same old stories we’re all fed these days.
“Vampire Island” authored by the notorious Bronze Age Pervert was quite funny: if you’re familiar with his outlandish Eastern European accent, you’ll pretty much hear it narrating it in your head as your read it. It’s a tale about a military platoon who finds itself in an idyllic tropical island and whose members start disappearing in mysterious and hilarious circumstances, no spoilers.
“School of Sol” by Abdullah Yousef is a funny romp through a futuristic Sol Brah university where the teachings of the internet’s favorite sun worshipper are not only the curriculum but also the source for the code of conduct for the student body.
But my absolute favorite was “Broken Arrow” by Marty Phillips. Not only was it written well and has the right dose of sci-fi – not too outlandish, not too shy; but it also seems like the most likely futuristic scenario. An astronaut wakes up from a decade-long space flight dormancy on a mission to find another inhabitable planet only to find out the country who sent him been overtaken completely by a woke administration. A reminder that the even on the face of an absolute triumph like successful space exploration and colonization, everything can be taken away again by the monsters on the margins.
The most controversial piece and possibly the one this collection will be known for is a story called “Sins of the Fathers” by P.C.M. Christ. It delves into the controversial eugenic debate set in a future where parents must decide whether to send away one of one their sons who has a severe congenital mental issue.
The Dissident Review is an exciting new publication has some very well-researched essays on history that you won’t find in modern day academia. From the ancient roots of Irish nationalism to the early history of XX century Japanese imperialism, it traverses a wide range of political and economic issues that shaped our world today. My favorite pieces were on the blowback from American interventions in Afghanistan and the beauty and glory of the poorly named “Dark” Ages in Europe.
Volume 2 of The Dissident Review is out, and it’s worth picking up. Some of the topics covered under the issues “Frontiers” theme include: the Congo Crisis (my favorite!), the French Indian Wars, William Shakespeare’s influence on America’s Founding Fathers, Chuck Yaeger (true blue American hero!), the history of the American rifle, and more! I was impressed by how well everything was written and researched, especially the opening essay on the Conquistadors. The only bit that was kind of boring was the essay on the Johnson County war, which had more stats on cattle rustling than I ever cared to read about.
