Hello again, GunsAmerica family! Clay Martin here, you may remember me from such educational films as “Pour Your Own Lower” and “224 Valkyrie- Rounds On Steel at 1 Mile.” Today, the bosses gave me an opportunity to talk about something close and personal instead. Namely, my newest novel, “Sword of the Caliphate.” Which, if you like my gun reviews, is going to blow your socks off!!!
The novel was written for you all for a number of reasons. First, I’m a gun guy. You are gun guys and gals. And I think it is probably refreshing to have characters using weapons that make sense for the story. I know I am not the only one that yells at movies getting it wrong or has chucked a book across the room when the hero hits the target with the 16th round from his P220 mag. The truth is the vast majority of writers don’t know squat about weapons. They pick something they heard of once or something that looks cool in pictures. I do gun reviews. Lots of them. In fact, almost every weapon in the book has a review featured right here on GunsAmerica. Such as…..
Barnes Precision AR-15 upper receivers. Still one of my favorites, especially in terms of bang for the buck.
TikkaT3 Tac A1 my 2017 pick for precision rifle of the year.
Bushnell 1-6.5 SMRS. An optic I would gladly take to war.
Springfield Armory XDM 9. Hero’s gotta have a sidearm, and this one is an absolute winner.
Now guns are cool, but they don’t make a story. The themes of the book will also resonate, hopefully, with the GunsAmerica faithful. All of us, to some degree, spend our lives preparing for catastrophe. Prepping 101 articles are among our most popular. The seeds of my novel were actually planted years ago when I was still rotating overseas on the regular in Special Forces. Prepping at home is one thing. But what would you do if you happened to be on a far away middle eastern assignment when the apocalypse started in earnest? Be in deep trouble, that’s what.
And that is where our story begins. A group of veterans turned contractors are on a less than exciting job, manning a fuel point in Eastern Iraq, circa 2021. They go to ground in a sandstorm, and wake up to a different world. An ISIS like organization has struck hard with a biological weapon, tuned to genetic variances, and wiped out 80 percent of the non-Arab population of the world. U.S. military power is decimated in an instant, and a mild policing action has become an epic fight for survival.
The second reason for writing the book the way I did is not for you per se, but for your maybe not so prepared friends and family. All of us, I would wager, have people in our lives that won’t open their eyes. People can be really hard to reach, often choosing to bury their heads in the sand about what is going on around us.
One of my major concerns in life has been the slow Sharia takeover of Europe, and what that means for the United States. I mean, we have a sitting U.S. Congresswoman that took the side of Somali militias over Task Force Ranger via tweet. Which I still find shocking. A lot of the problem, in my opinion, is that the majority of our people just cannot fathom how bad things can get. The easiest way to illustrate this was to create a scenario where an ISIS like organization instantly gains parity with us in military power. A flight of fancy in instantaneous terms, but not outside the realm of possibility in decades.
This, I hope, can serve as a wakeup call to people that otherwise ignore the news. I didn’t have to make up any terrible scenarios for the book, I took them all from personal experience fighting in the GWOT. The idea of the Caliphate having real power is horrifying. Generationally, we must teach all of our people to resist such an eventuality at all costs. And I hope, via fiction, to be able to help you show that.
“Sword of the Caliphate” is available on Amazon as a paperback, e-book, and audiobook. It is too much story for one book, and was planned as a seven book series. New volumes will be coming out every 6-9 months, provided it has enough support to keep the publisher interested. Currently sitting at a 4.6/5 stars, I think it is one you will enjoy. And then buy some ammo, because it isn’t all that fictional.
Just finished Sword of The Caliphate… enjoyed! And although the ostrich is not actually burying head in the sand many folk do seem to do so…even in a ‘good’ neighborhood on any given day it pays to be a bit on guard…and good folk on here know it is not paranoia…just good sense.
Great book! First, Clay, I wish you would get back into the training sector, spending a couple of days with your knowledge and background would be off the charts. Second, we still have your (uncensored) article regarding a certain pro sports person, the person not recognizing our National Anthem. We distribute this to our friends, guests, family, and fellow firearms constituents. We miss your firearms reviews as they are straightforward, honest, and helpful. Regarding your book….in the beginning of your book…. one cannot imagine being in a sandstorm. Great beginning! As a civilian, we cannot comprehend what our veterans went thru in any deployment. This book provokes some of those thoughts. We gave it a 5 star review on Amazon, and please keep them coming. We need more firearms and accessory reviews as well!!!
I have been missing you on the gun reviews lately and was wondering why someone else is doing it. Not that I don’t enjoy anybody reviews a gun but I like the way u do it, down to earth as if we were in person w/ you. I did see your new book and plan on getting it. Miss your gun reviews.
Excellent! Glad to see a new book. It’s on its way from Amazon.
If there is one “clip” change by some guy with a Glock, I’ll never read you again.
completely fair.
I previously purchased Last Son of the War God and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had already picked up your latest book mentioned above a week or so ago and it is in my queue to read.
Keep them coming!
Sounds interesting. I’ll give it a look.
Audible! Clay, please read your books for us.
Just bought it online at Amazon. Love the way you write and your reviews. Let us know when you produce your first sniper movie–judging from the other ones out there I bet one from your perspective would be a BIG winner.
To be fair, Clay, Brad Taylor and Mark Greaney get it right and both have incorporated the .300 Blackout into their novels. You’re right, though. Some writers have a ridiculously funny lack of knowledge about guns and other things, like glass, big trucks, refrigeration, the list is a mile long. Bottom line, if you can spin a good yarn, I’ll buy your books.