Weird World War: ChinaEdited by
Sean Patrick Hazlett
(Baen, January 2024, pb, 320 pp.)
“Eldritch Ops” by Larry Correia and Steve Diamond
“Lurking Death” by David Drake
“Empty Your Cup, Or Dry It?” by Nick Mamatas
“Flawed Evolution” by Brian Trent
“Lunar Asylum” by Martin L. Shoemaker
“Ricochet” by Blaine L. Pardoe
“The Greyhound’s Gambit” by Kevin Andrew Murphy
“Project Blackworm” by Julian Michael Carver
“The Virus Duet” by D. J. Butler
“The Midnight Horde” by David J. West
“Radioaktivität” by Sean Patrick Hazlett
“Sp1k3” by Deborah A. Wolf
“The Keeper” by Stephen Lawson
“Tunnel Vision” by Erica L. Satifka and Rob McMonigal
“Do Dragons Text?” by Brenda W. Clough
“Scion of the Southern Cross” by Kevin Ikenberry
“The Last Ohio” by Brad R. Torgersen
“It Takes Time to Grow” by T. C. McCarthy
“Dispatches from Kredo” by Nadia Bulkin
“Duplicate” by Freddy Costello and Michael Z. Williamson
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
The latest volume in the Weird World War series offers twenty new stories involving conflicts with China, combined with elements of science fiction or fantasy. Some tales concern open warfare, some deal with other forms of conflict. Settings range from the past to the future to other realities.
“Eldritch Ops” by Larry Correia and Steve Diamond features soldiers who are thrust into a large number of parallel worlds, often being reanimated when killed and jumping back and forth in time, due to the unleashing of cosmic horrors by the Nazis during World War Two. In each version of reality, they face unnatural menaces. Their current battle involves monsters of a particularly frightening nature, created by the Chinese from experiments with a mythical being.
This is a gruesome horror story mixed with violent military fiction. Fans of both genres are likely to appreciate its visceral details. The most effective aspect of the plot may be the nature of the victims of the experiments, but some very sensitive readers may find this overly disturbing.
“Lurking Death” by David Drake is a brief tale about a hunter who kills what is thought to be a man-eating tiger, but turns out to be something else. The revelation of the true nature of the beast leads to alarming implications.
This very short story depends almost entirely on its plot gimmick, although there is also a vivid description of the hunt. The twist ending is very sudden, as if the author rushed to the conclusion.
“Empty Your Cup, Or Dry It?” by Nick Mamatas takes place after Americans and their allies prevailed in an invasion of China. Two Americans are present in the nation. One fights Chinese opponents who use traditional forms of martial arts, the other records, trains, and manages the fighter. A battle involving family honor causes them to learn more about their opponents.
The presence of a great deal of advanced technology adds a sense of verisimilitude to the background. By concentrating on the relatively peaceful aftermath of the war, only describing the conflict in flashback, the author creates an unusual and subtle slice-of-life of the future.
In “Flawed Evolution” by Brian Trent, three alien vessels, apparently unoccupied, land at various sites on Earth. The extraterrestrial objects, possibly living, turn out to have highly advanced technology, the knowledge of which can be downloaded into human minds. It also enhances those who are connected with it in an unexpected and profound way.
Although competition for the alien technology leads to all-out war between the Americans and the Chinese, both sides using nuclear weapons, the story is really about the implications of the enhancement for humanity. The premise is unique and interesting, with a compelling vision of the future.
In “Lunar Asylum” by Martin L. Shoemaker, refugees from crop failure on a gigantic Chinese space station seek shelter on the Moon. A few of the new arrivals are other than what they seem to be. One has a vital secret; the others try to keep it from being revealed.
Mixing hard science fiction with espionage and suspense, this fast-paced yarn has enough action to satisfy readers of thrillers. Other may find it a typical example of this kind of adventure story.
“Ricochet” by Blaine L. Pardue takes place just after the Chinese attack American military bases at Pearl Harbor with a nuclear weapon. (The analogy with the start of American involvement in World War Two seems intentional.) The USA prepares to strike back with its own nuke. The pilot carrying the weapon has an encounter with a supernatural being, leading to an extraordinary change in the situation.
The author combines military realism with mythic fantasy in an effective way. The outcome involves a theme from science fiction that has been used many times before, and thus may seem lacking in originality.
“The Greyhound’s Gambit” by Kevin Andrew Murphy takes place in a fantasy version of the late twentieth century in which symbolic and heraldic animals are actually shapeshifting beings of Faery. The protagonist is the white greyhound that is one of the symbols of the British royal family. He engages in negotiations with the Dragon Emperor who symbolizes China over the fate of Hong Kong and the Crown Jewels of England.
A large part of the text consists of a detailed history of the monarchs of England and their symbolic creatures. This slows the story down considerably, although it reveals a great knowledge of history and heraldry. The plot is quite simple, and without all this background the story would be very short.
“Project Blackworm” by Julian Michael Carver features a team of Marines lost in a swamp in China as they prepare to evacuate after the war is over. What waits for them there is much worse than combat.
This is a bloody monster story, much like a gory horror movie. Although the menace has a scientific explanation, for all intents and purposes it might as well be a flesh-eating zombie or other supernatural being.
In “The Virus Duet” by D. J. Butler, a Chinese plot to invade the United States combines a computer virus that will ground military aircraft with a magic spell that will release demons. The engineer who worked on the computer virus becomes involved with the magic spell, in a way surprising to his employers.
The combination of technology with magic is intriguing, and there is an interesting parallel in the way both are used. The main antagonist is something of a stereotyped fanatical communist. The ending features a pair of characters conversing in great detail while dying of bullet wounds, which strains credibility to the breaking point.
The narrator of “The Midnight Horde” by David J. West is an American of Mongolian ancestry. During a war in which the USA and Russia are allies against China, the plane transporting him crashes in Mongolia. In the company of Mongolian rebels who rescued him from the Chinese, he journeys through the frozen steppes, encountering the supernatural along the way.
The scenes of desperate travel through snowy wilderness are vivid and exciting. The final scene requires knowledge of history to be fully appreciated. The story ends just before a major event occurs, as if it were only the first part of a longer work.
The protagonist of “Radioaktivität” by editor Sean Patrick Hazlett is a special agent of the American military, able to use psychic powers to view events from a distance. His latest assignment is even more bizarre, involving a pair of mysterious men and a box, said to be ancient but seemingly new, with a carving of his own face on it. His visions take him into the remote past and to possible futures. A journey to a remote part of the Sahara uncovers some mysteries but creates more.
A lot goes on in this story, from a flying saucer in Nazi Germany to an ancient reptilian civilization. Some readers may enjoy this mélange of fantastic themes, but others may find it overwhelming.
The main character in “Sp1k3” by Deborah A. Wolf is a cybernetic organism containing part of the brain of a dog. Its assignment is to track down and destroy any remaining Chinese troops on Taiwan after American forces have defeated their invasion of the island. A change in circumstances alters its behavior, even though it knows it may be punished.
This brief tale combines technological speculation with emotional appeal. The cyborg is a character with whom readers, particularly dog lovers, can easily empathize. The author does a fine job of writing from its point of view as both animal and machine.
In “The Keeper” by Stephen Lawson, the free citizens of the United States have been reduced to a handful of people living in a remote area after genetic manipulation via pharmaceuticals allowed Chinese overlords to control the population through telepathy. A young natural telepath uses a mixture of traditional drugs to contact a mythical entity in order to fight the tyranny. Their encounter leads to a change in history.
Starting in highly realistic fashion, the story quickly becomes psychedelic and surreal when the protagonist has her visions. One questionable aspect of the story is the main character’s love for a much older man, which is resolved in a way that seems like sheer wish fulfilment.
In “Tunnel Vision” by Erica L. Satifka and Rob McMonigal, the Chinese find a way to reach a parallel Earth in order to make use of its resources, thinking it uninhabited. Those who dwell there use wormhole technology to kill a huge number of Chinese. An ambassador from the other world arrives in the United States, offering an alliance against their mutual enemy.
The plot largely deals with a military officer who is enthusiastic about the arrangement and one who is not. The reader is likely to figure out who is right long before the answer is revealed.
“Do Dragons Text?” by Brenda W. Clough takes place in rural China. An attack by an American space weapon disintegrates the top of a mountain, angering the dragon who dwells under it. It threatens to cause earthquakes if the locals do not figure out a way to eliminate the possibility of any other attacks. The answer comes from a relative who works in a big city as a video game designer.
Although not overtly comic, the story has a wry tone. The fact that the villagers, who are wise in the ways of dragons, rely on advice from a technician who doesn’t believe in such things adds a nice touch of irony.
The narrator of “Scion of the Southern Cross” by Kevin Ikenberry is an Australian pilot of a reconnaissance plane. He is forced to bail out in a part of the sea contaminated during the use of nuclear weapons during a war with China. While awaiting rescue, he encounters an incredible being.
Although the story suggests that the entity exists because of radiation, it is much more a creature of fantasy. The depiction of survival at sea is very realistic and convincing, perhaps more so than the fantastic premise.
In “The Last Ohio” by Brad R. Torgersen, the last remaining American submarine armed with nuclear missiles after a war with China receives a message that the President, missing for years, is alive and well on an island. The sub heads there and the officers and crew find a seeming paradise, where the President and other officials lead a life of luxury. It seems too good to be true, and of course it is.
It’s no surprise at all that the island is actually a trap, although readers may not predict the exact nature of it. As a horror story, fans of that genre may enjoy it, even if the premise is not completely original.
“It Takes Time to Grow” by T. C. McCarthy takes place a long time after a nuclear war devastated Southeast Asia. There was an ice age after the war, perhaps caused by a nuclear winter. After the ice retreats, nontechnological villagers live near what was once the southern border of China.
The narrator is the son of the leader of these people. He goes on a dangerous journey to ruins of a great Chinese city, accompanied by a girl who is one of the so-called “neebs,” those who can read and who preserve ancient knowledge.
Their journey ends with an encounter with a strange being.
This story fits well into the tradition of post-apocalyptic fiction, stretching back at least as far as Stephen Vincent Benét’s 1937 story “By the Waters of Babylon,” which the present work resembles. The culture of the villagers and the post-war landscape, full of mutated lifeforms, are depicted in a convincing fashion. The conclusion is a bit more melodramatic.
“Dispatches from Kredo” by Nadia Bulkin takes the form of news bulletins from the fictional island mentioned in the title. The island is the only place where a weird fungus, which produces both useable energy and deadly poison, is found. China and the United States vie diplomatically for greater influence with the island’s government.
The story can be seen as an allegory for current events, with the USA offering to build a military base on the island to protect the valuable resource and China offering to build infrastructure in exchange for it. The fungus, which is so deadly that throwing criminals into a pit full of it is a form of execution, is an interesting creation, but there is not much plot.
“Duplicate” by Freddy Costello and Michael Z. Williamson is a broad satire consisting of historical documents collected by a fellow living in a dystopian world dominated by China. The reason for the war that led to this was an absurd one, involving the smuggling of illegally cloned animals to be used as a source of aphrodisiacs.
This brief synopsis fails to capture the fact that the authors make fun of everything from politicians and the military to environmentalism and gender pronouns. There are also in-jokes for science fiction fans, such as a reference to File 770, Mike Glyer’s long-running fanzine, and a brief mention of a book burner named Montag, as in Ray Bradbury’s 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451. The resulting work provides amusement, but is perhaps too long to maintain its mood of frenetic farce.
Despite a theme that would seem quite limiting, the wide variety of stories found in this volume proves that imaginative writers can add sufficient variety to make every reading experience different. It is unlikely that any reader will like all of these stories, but any fan of fantasy or science fiction should find something to enjoy within its pages.
Victoria Silverwolf has never been to China.