Tag: Castalia House

Yumiko Moth has discovered her name, but she still does not know who, or what, she is. What she has learned is that her mother is dead, her master has disowned her, and her beloved has vanished. And she also knows that the Day world is a very dangerous place for a Twilight girl, especially when the dark forces of Night are hunting her.

To discover the truth she seeks, she must infiltrate the enemy’s citadel. In New York City, that is The Cobbler’s Club, home to the world-famous Peach Cobbler Girls. But how can a girl who stalks the shadows hide herself in the bright lights of the stage? CITY OF CORPSES is the fifth book of MOTH & COBWEB, an astonishingly inventive series about magical worlds of Day, Night, and Twilight by John C. Wright.

John C. Wright is one of the living grandmasters of science fiction and the author of THE GOLDEN AGE, AWAKE IN THE NIGHT LAND, and IRON CHAMBER OF MEMORY, to name just three of his exceptional books. He has been nominated for both the Nebula and Hugo Awards, and his novel SOMEWHITHER won the 2016 Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction Novel at Dragoncon.

CITY OF CORPSES is available from Amazon and from the Castalia House bookstore. Reviews of the first five books of the MOTH & COBWEB series:

1. Coming of age story written by of one of the greatest wordsmiths of our times. It is a story of a young man who doesn’t fit into society because he is morally upright for the decadence that infests modern society. The young man, who will being morally upright isn’t the most introspective fellow or overtly gifted with prudence, follows his path to squirehood and my what a road it is. 
2. Outstanding! I really don’t know how else to characterize it besides simply outstanding! I enjoyed Swan Knight’s Son, devoured it in fact, but this one transported me in a way I haven’t been since I was a boy and could read a new book every weekend. The setting is feels like all the best parts of Tolkien, with that same depth lent to it by its roots in classical and Christian lore. The story is, as always, deeply moving and wonderfully worded and paced. I am not being hyperbolic when I say that The Green Knight’s Squire is shaping up into one of those series a boy could read and find that it deeply shaped his life for years to come.
3. An excellent book, and worthy sequel to both Swan Knight’s Son and especially Feast of Elfs. Mr. Wright continues to amaze with his command of the Western canon and English language, to say nothing of his superlative storytelling. These are books I wish I’d had growing up, and find the wonder diminished not at all by reading them as an adult.
4. Another must-read from John C. Wright. I didn’t know where Wright was going with his “Moth and Cobweb” series, but now I think I have a clue: Perpendicular. As in, still connected but shooting off 90 degrees. With a new female protagonist, a new mystery, new discoveries and new challenges, Daughter of Danger has enough in common with books 1-3 to hook you in, and then goes on it’s own storyline. If you’re familiar with Wright’s style of writing, you’ll be pleased to know that he hasn’t lost a single bit of talent.
5. Wright again does an excellent job of incorporating the medieval understanding of the “elfs”, presenting their perspective as something alien to humanity: glorious and mighty, but also cold and cruel and haughty. The Christian symbolism he includes is strange to modern ears, but wrapping it in the spy-action story helps to draw the modern reader in to introduce him to a style and focus once more common in the best literature…. Overall, I enjoyed this book (and its predecessor) a great deal and indeed prefer this cycle to the first three books in the series. Wright keeps getting better!

We’re pleased to announce that The Ames Archives Book 2, Rocky Mountain Retribution, is now available in audiobook. Narrated by Bob Allen, it is 8 hours and 40 minutes long. Book 1, Brings the Lightning, is 7 hours and 56 minutes:

Walt woke from an exhausted stupor to find Isom shaking him relentlessly. “Lewis and Sandy are headin’ back, boss. They must have seen them coming.”

He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs from his brain as he sat up. “Thanks.”

They splashed water on their faces, then made sure the spare horses were still securely picketed. When Lewis and Sandy arrived, they formed a line inside the trees on the west side of the creek, their guns ready in their hands. Walt favored his Winchester rifle and Isom his shotgun, while the other two relied on revolvers.

“What did you see?” Walt asked.

Lewis handed him his spyglass. “Thanks for lettin’ us use that, boss. There’s four of them, drivin’ our seven hosses an’ a pack horse.”

“Four? Not five?”

“We only saw four, boss.”

“I hope the other one hasn’t turned off somewhere. You sure those horses are ours?”

“No doubt about it. I recognized at least four of ’em through that spyglass. I’ve ridden most of ’em before. Will’s hoss is still carryin’ his saddle.”

“That’s good enough for me.”

They tensed as the riders and horses appeared at the top of the gentle rise, heading down to the ford. Walt said softly, “Wait until they’re all in the water. Lewis, you and I will be on this side of the road. Isom, you and Sandy cross to the other side and cover them from there. Let me do the talking. If any of them show fight or try to run, shoot them down. Remember, they killed Will, so they don’t deserve any mercy.”

“Got it.” “Sure, boss.” “Yes, suh.” The replies came in ragged unison.

“All right. Let me make the first move.”

They waited, the tension ratcheting higher as the group drew nearer. Walt patted the shoulder of his horse as it moved restlessly under him. It wasn’t scout-trained, and he didn’t want it neighing or making any other noise that might warn the men.

He watched as the four riders drove the eight horses into the water, one of them on either side of the small herd and the other two behind it. He waited until they were in the middle of the stream, their mounts splashing and stumbling over the rocky bottom, all their riders’ attention fixed on controlling them and the horses they were driving, then said sharply, “Now!”

The four thieves jerked upright in alarm as they burst out of the trees, weapons leveled. “Nobody move!” Walt barked. “If you try anything, we’ll kill you. Get your hands up! Higher, damn you!”

“What the hell is this?” growled one of the strangers as he slowly, sullenly complied.

“You know darn well what this is. You stole those horses last night.”

“Huh?” The man strove to sound convincingly nonplussed. “We didn’t steal them—we bought ’em from a freight outfit outside Colorado City.”

“Suuuure you did. I daresay you’ve got a bill of sale for them, all nice an’ legal?”

“Well… not with me, I ain’t, but I got one back in Colorado City.”

“Like hell you have! That freight outfit is mine, and you stole those horses. You killed one of my men when you took ’em, too. Sandy, Lewis, fetch our horses out of the river, then, Lewis, you hold them clear of the ford. They’re leg-weary, so I doubt they’ll run off. Sandy, soon as they’re out of the way, get back here. Isom and I will cover these bastards.”

“Yo!” “Yes, sir!”

The two teamsters led the horses away from the ford, then Sandy hurried back. “What now, boss?”

“Cover them.” Walt raised his voice. “You four, ride slowly—real slowly—out of the water and line up here in front of me. Remember, you’re under our guns, and at this distance we can’t miss. Any tricks, and you’re gonna die real fast.”

He waited until they’d obeyed, then said, “All right, get your hands high again an’ keep them there. You lower your hands for any reason and we’ll shoot. Sandy, ride around behind them, keepin’ out of the line of fire. Take their handguns from their holsters and their long guns from their saddle boots. Put them on their pack horse for now.”

“Got it.”

It didn’t take him long to disarm them. He returned from the final trip to the pack horse asking, “What next, boss?”

Walt raised his voice. “One at a time, get off your horses, then hold your hands high again. Move real slow and easy.” He pointed with his rifle barrel. “You first. Move!”

The first thief dismounted very slowly and carefully, then raised his hands once more. Walt said, “Sandy, lead his horse clear of him. Take it to join the others with Lewis.”

“Yo!” The teamster gave the standard cavalry response as he moved forward.

The next two thieves dismounted just as carefully, and stood waiting as their horses were led away. The last man, still mounted, was growing more and more agitated. As Sandy led the third horse clear, he demanded, “What are you gonna do with us? Why take our hosses? You expectin’ us to walk wherever we’re goin’?”

Walt shook his head. “I’m going to tie your hands before I do anything else. It’ll be easier to do that with you on foot.”

“Like hell! You’re gonna kill us!” The man’s voice rose in a shrill, desperate cry as he whipped the hat off his head with his left hand and thrust his right into its crown. Instantly there came a deep, deafening boom as Isom fired one barrel of his shotgun. The man rocked back in his saddle as a hole appeared in the center of his shirt, which instantly turned a deep blood-red. He gurgled in agony, slumped forward, and toppled to the ground. As he did so, a small gun fell from his right hand. His horse jumped forward, startled.

The action was over almost before it started. The other three thieves stood rigid, their faces turning even paler than before, their hands still in the air. Walt and Isom covered them while Sandy rode after the horse, led it to Lewis, and handed him its reins.

The following is an excerpt from my new book, Collected Columns Vol. II: Crisis & Conceit, 2006-2009. It is 630 pages and retails for $6.99.

Who’s really riding the weaker horse?
July 31, 2006

When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse.
—Osama bin Ladin

In examining the events of the past five years, it is increasingly apparent that Western leaders and commentators alike have fundamentally misconceived the relative positions of the primary parties in this third great wave of Islamic expansion. While there are nearly as many grand strategic recommendations floating around the Internet as there are editorialists, it is intriguing to note that virtually none of the Western analysts have grasped the basic reality that from the perspective from which a clash of civilizations must be considered, it is the West that is the weak horse.

The overwheening confidence which so often colors statements from men such as bin Laden and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad always rings strange in Western ears. It stands so powerfully at variance with what we know of Western wealth, technology and military advantages that it seems to be indicative of false bravado at best, at worst, clinical insanity. The fact that this sort of thing sounds exactly like Baghdad Bob’s surreal rantings only makes it that much more difficult for anyone to take it seriously.

And yet, history is rife with examples wherein a wealthy or more technogically advanced society is defeated by its lesser rival. Despite its lack of a navy, the intrepid Romans defeated Carthage on both land and sea, while the technical superiority of its machine guns, tanks, submarines, rockets and airplanes were not enough to allow the Germans to overcome the allies in World War II. The knights of Western Europe lost numerous battles and a number of wars to Mongols, Magyars, Turks and Saracens even though none of their enemies could stand before an armored cavalry charge.

Neocon ravings notwithstanding, national will, (or more accurately, cultural will), is not the issue at hand here. The majority of Americans are largely indifferent to the Bush administration’s Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism while an ovewhelming majority of the rest of the West is openly against it. But most Muslims are similarly indifferent to this third round in the great clash of civilizations too. An anecdote from William Manchester’s biography of Winston Churchill is most informative in this regard:

During the early 1950s, when this writer was living in Dehli as a foreign correspondent, social scientists began a comprehensive poll of Indian villages to determine how many natives knew British rule had ended in 1947. The survey was aborted when it was discovered that a majority didn’t know the British had even arrived.

And while it might be tempting to dismiss those Indians as ignorant illiterates, it might be illuminating to ask your neighbor if he knows the name of his congressman, his state representative or his city councilman.

Christendom has twice previously endured periods of Islamic expansion and even managed to roll back Islamic gains with the Reconquista, and, more temporarily, during the Crusades. But that was when the Christian West saw Islam as an enemy and bitterly contested it on every side. Now, a secular West no longer sees itself as a player in the great game, but as a referee, and views Islam as being merely one of the various contestants.

The unavoidable challenge is this. In the same way that atheism provides no moral basis for an individual to resist evil, secular, religious-neutral government provides no practical foundation for opposing Islamic expansion. If Congress funds no mosques, neither can it prevent them from being constructed by militant Saudi Wahhabists. If the Supreme Court requires no one to pray towards Mecca, neither does it allow the banning of immigrants on the basis of a religious adherence to jihad. The range of options accessible to the leaders of the West are formidable; they are also irrelevant.

Bin Laden’s statement about horses can perhaps be best understood thusly: Unlike its Christian predecessor, the secular West is structurally incapable of resisting an Islamic expansion due to its demographic disadvantages and philosophical weaknesses. If this is an accurate characterization, one can only conclude, unfortunately, that bin Laden’s statement is logically, historically and psychologically sound. Certainly the actions of the West’s leaders, especially those of the Bush administration, have done nothing to disprove the assertion, the establishment of a modern-day Kingdom of Acre in Iraq notwithstanding.

None of this means that Islam cannot be turned back a third time; it does, however, suggest that the concept of Western secularism is doomed to failure one way or another. Secularism does not inspire, it enervates. The spirit which led to the sapping of British spirit and the decline of the Raj has been at work in America for decades, it should surprise no one that the lion’s heir is following the mighty tracks of its predecessor.

The impotence of secularism is only the first of several realities that must be recognized if the West is to survive its third test of character. Here are some other important verities:

• Democracy does not reduce radicalism or inhibit religion.
• Exposure to Western culture does not eliminate radicalism. Even complete immersion in it does not guarantee its elimination.
• Western shock and awe cannot impose permanant defeat upon an Eastern culture of retreat and regroup.
• Technological proliferation is inevitable. This includes nuclear weapons.
• Internal dissension, not external force, ends offensive expansion.

The West turned back the forces of an expansionary Islam twice before. Those hoping to see it turned back a third time would be wise to examine precisely how it was accomplished on the previous occasions.

Gilberic Parzival Moth is a strange and lonely boy who has grown up without a father, raised by a single mother who moves from town to town in fear of something she will not name. His only friends are animals, with whom he has always been able to speak. But when he awakens one night at the Thirteenth Hour, and sees for the first time the cruel reality of the secret rule of Elf over Man, he begins to learn about his true heritage, the heritage of Twilight.


And when his mother finally tells him the terrible truth of her past, he must choose whether to continue running with her in fear, or learning how to fight against ancient powers that are ageless, soulless, and ultimately damned. THE GREEN KNIGHT’S SQUIRE, the first volume of MOTH & COBWEB, is an astonishing new series about magical worlds of Day, Night, and Twilight by John C. Wright and consists of three books:

• Book One: Swan Knight’s Son
• Book Two: Feast of the Elfs
• Book Three: Swan Knight’s Sword

John C. Wright is one of the living grandmasters of science fiction and the author of THE GOLDEN AGE, AWAKE IN THE NIGHT LAND, and IRON CHAMBER OF MEMORY, to name just three of his exceptional books. He has been nominated for the Nebula Award, for the Hugo Award, and his novel SOMEWHITHER won the 2016 Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction Novel at Dragoncon.

But Malwyn has been driving the production elves hard, which is why we’re also pleased to announce a new ebook as well, namely, the second volume of my collected columns, which is entitled CRISIS & CONCEIT, 2006-2009.

Three-time nationally syndicated columnist Vox Day has been one of the most astute observers of the American political scene since the turn of the century. Known for successfully predicting the financial crisis of 2008 as well as the election of U.S. President Donald Trump in 2016, the iconoclastic writer’s work appeared regularly around the country in newspapers such as the Atlanta Journal/Constitution, the Boston Globe, the San Jose Mercury News, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press.


Beginning in 2001, Vox Day wrote more than 500 columns for WorldNetDaily and Universal Press Syndicate. CRISIS & CONCEIT, 2006-2009 is a collection of the columns published between the years 2006 and 2009, and addresses a wide variety of subjects, from economics and the financial crisis of 2008 to atheism and the history of war.



It is available at the Castalia House bookstore as well as from Amazon.

In the post-Civil War West, the railroads are expanding, the big money men are moving in, and the politicians they are buying make it difficult for a man to stand alone on his own. So, Walt Ames moves his wife, his home and his business from Denver to Pueblo. The railroads are bringing new opportunities to Colorado Territory, and he’s going to take full advantage of them.

Ambushed on their way south, Walt and his men uncover a web of corruption and crime to rival anything in the big city. And rough justice, Western-style, sparks a private war between Walt and some of the most dangerous killers he’s ever encountered, a deadly war in which neither friends nor family are spared. Across the mountains and valleys of the southern Rocky Mountains, Walt and his men hunt for the ruthless man at the center of the web. Retribution won’t be long delayed… and it cannot be denied.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN RETRIBUTION is the second book in The Ames Archives, the Classic Western series that began with BRINGS THE LIGHTNING. Author Peter Grant is a military veteran, a retired pastor, and the author of The Maxwell Saga and The Laredo Trilogy. Now in paperback for $12.99.

From the reviews:

• Great reading even if you don’t regularly read Westerns…. As with Brings the Lightning, the technical details of rugged living, especially regarding firearms, make the novel that much more immersive. Don’t give this one a miss!
• The second western by Peter Grant, it’s IMHO better than the first. I haven’t read many westerns since Louis L’Amour passed on, and none that were worth my time until these came along.
• A nice continuation of a great western saga. Mr. Grant does his research and it shows in his writing. love the storyline, character development and action scenes.
• This is the second of Peter Grant’s western series “The Ames Archives” and it’s fantastic. I never thought I’d like westerns, but this is a great book on grit and frontier justice. Grant takes pains to accurately portray life in that era using many real locations and historical events as backdrops to the story.
• Grant has crafted another excellent throwback to the golden era of western novels. But it’s more than a throwback, really. The two books so far in his Walt Ames series really stand on their own as a solid reads, any way you want to measure them today. What really stands out at the forefront of this novel (and its predecessor) is how well researched it is. Grant took painstaking measures to make sure that all of the details, from the geography to the firearms, are completely accurate for the era. And the amount of detail provided is excellent. He doesn’t overwhelm us with historical details or exposition that overly explains things, but there’s plenty of detail to bring the world to life.

From Hugo Award finalist David VanDyke and million-selling science-fiction legend B.V. Larson comes Book 2 in the epic military space opera adventure saga, Galactic Liberation. Commodore Straker’s rebellion grows in strength–but his enemies are growing even faster. Faced with a dozen rebel planets in their territory, the Mutuality finally takes notice of the upstart known as the Liberator, and they gather a vast fleet to crush him.

Preparing for a titanic interstellar battle, it’s clear Straker has no chance. His tiny enclave of free planets can’t survive the weight of a thousand worlds. His own officers realize this, and some of them begin to turn against him…

In a desperate attempt to halt their inevitable destruction, Straker and his team set out to capture the largest ship ever built. The monstrous vessel is well-defended and contains secrets no one suspects. Unleashing its power might turn the tide of the war–but it may also doom humanity.

BATTLESHIP INDOMITABLE is the second book in the Galactic Liberation series. The series starts with Book 1, STARSHIP LIBERATOR.

From the reviews:

• This second book picks up shortly after the first one (and is superior to it). While the first book was focused on mechsuit and ground combat, this second entry in the series returns to what VanDyke is extremely talented at: realistic space combat between huge armadas, backed up questions about political and philosophical superiority. Overall the pacing is better than the first, and we get to see more of Straker’s naiveté with field command come to the fore – meanwhile the Galactic Liberation continues on in wonderful glory with some pretty impressive weaponry and logical space battles that conform to real-world physics. 
• Straker and his team are faced with overwhelming odds. To combat this situation his decides to capture the largest ship ever built….it also has a weapon of unimaginable power……not to mention a surprise of its own! I very much recommend this book.
• BV Larson is one of my favorite authors. Great science fiction read that keeps you entertained with page turning suspense. Keep up the good work.

I thought this one was even better than the first one myself. Good, inventive space opera. Now available from Castalia House in both hardcover and paperback editions.