Combat Monsters - by Henry Herz (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Combat Monsters brings together twenty award-winning and bestselling speculative fiction authors who each bring their own spin on an alternate history of World War II.

New research has uncovered deeply buried military secrets--both the Allied and Axis special operations during World War II included monsters. Did the Soviets use a dragon to win the Battle of Kursk? Did a vampire fight for the Canadians in Holland? Did the US drop the second atomic bomb on a kaiju?

This collection takes real events from World War II and injects them with fantastical creatures that mirror the "unreality" of war itself. Each story--and two poems--feature mythical, mystical, and otherwise unexplainable beings that change the course of history. Dragons rise and fall, witches cast deadly spells, mermaids reroute torpedoes, and all manner of "monsters" intervene for better or worse in the global turmoil of World War II.

Together, Combat Monsters challenge the very definition of monstrous, with the brutality of war as a sobering backdrop.

Review Quotes

"The collection's premise is strong, its contributors varied, its stories uniformly good (with a few standouts), and its associational historical material comprehensive."

-- "Locus"

"There was so much to appreciate about this well-edited book...There is a great variety with stories featured from each theater of the last great war."

-- "FanFiAddict"

"Combat Monsters is fun. It adds the unexpected to history, creating new stories of the unknown that fit into the shadows and edges of the world's greatest conflict. The stories are tightly written, taking the reader all over the world to places and battles that are not just fought by human beings."

-- "Larry Bond, New York Times bestselling military thriller coauthor (along with Tom Clancy) of Red Storm Rising"

"Herz makes good on the fascinating premise of his latest anthology, bringing together twenty high-octane stories that add terrifying monsters to the battlefields of WWII...Fans of alternate history and military horror will want to check this out."

-- "Publishers Weekly"

"Combat Monsters is a challenging and rewarding read. War is always terrible, but the added dimension of supernatural creatures gives these stories a whole different slant on 'what if.'"

-- "Charlaine Harris, New York Times bestselling author of the Southern Vampire Mysteries"

"A beautifully wide-ranging look into a world of glorious monsters, set against a backdrop of battle that is at once familiar and transformed. A brilliant approach to the subject matter, filled with compelling, well-crafted stories. Please do not feed me to the kraken."

-- "Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of the October Daye series"

"Henry Herz's Combat Monsters is a beautifully curated assemblage of stories set in the many battles of World War II. Myths and monsters arise from all over the globe--North Africa, the Caribbean, Tanganyika, China, the Atlantic, Burma, Japan, and Europe--to battle, defeat, and save. Anchoring their stories with fascinating historical facts--the "Night Witches" all-female flight crew; an uprising led by a witch doctor; the horrors of Unit 731--seasoned slipstream authors and exciting new voices suit up, show up ... and astonish."

-- "Nancy Holder, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award"