Brandon Fisichella
The Corpse War of 1793
The Corpse War of 1793
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Britain is at war, and a young soldier dreams of glory fighting on the Continent. Instead, when his regiment is posted to a dull garrison duty, he fears that boredom shall be the worst of his fate. Yet rumours soon spread of an enemy more vile and terrifying than even the French. They speak of risen corpses that roam the night with a hatred for the living and a taste for flesh. When a sentry goes missing, leaving behind an unfired musket and bloody prints, the rumours can no longer be dismissed as rustic fancy. Will His Majesty's soldiers keep ranks before the undead tide, or shall their parade grounds become naught but a charnel pit?
Here stands the authentic account of a soldier who bore the whole of The Corpse War witness. Bound by duty and compelled by guilt, he sets down in gruesome detail all that befell him, his comrades, and his regiment from the first devilish outbreak to the Great Battle between the Living and the Dead. His tale is one of woe and unwanted laurels, amidst a field where courage rots more quickly than flesh, and zeal burns hotter than black powder.
Fans of 'Sharpe' and 'World War Z' will devour this debut novel of visceral military horror, in which a common British redcoat confronts unimaginable terrors and bears witness to the Army's desperate war against the risen dead.
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As a fan of both the World War Z novel and the Sharpe series, both written and film, it was expected that I would like this novel. However, I did not expect to be so thoroughly gripped and pleasantly surprised by a first foray into historical fiction! With a slow beginning that introduces the reader into regimental life, with our author's dreams of actions against the dastardly French on the continent, and the far off tale of an abhorrent beast at home that one may dismiss as the mere phantasm of an over-imaginative soldier or the creative excuse of a murderous rural man, to be then thrust into the gripping horror of a town alight and in the grasp of an unknown and seemingly unstoppable horror, the novel captures a readers attention straight-way and does not let it go for quite some time, with only mere respites before action picks up once more, culminating in a dramatic, thrilling confrontation with the flesh-tide. With a particular attention to detail and a wonderfully descriptive style that does not shy away from gore or grit, this novel is sure to please those with an eye for the finer details, or at least it did to such a casual as myself. This novel is sure to please fans of military history, fans of zombie media, or any who wish to read of the crack of musketry and the boom of guns against the mindless swelling ranks of the undead. I would heartily recommend this novel to any who share such interests. Overall, for a debut novel, it is well-written and captivating, and I would, with my obvious biases, rate it at an 8.5/10. Which would translate to the five stars.
Flesh-tide is such a cool way to describe a zombie horde, by the way.