Catholic Space Marines

I've put up both of John J. Reilly's books that I publish in the Summer 2025 Based Books Sale. I've participated in the sale before, as there are a ton of authors I like who also participate, and I usually sell a few copies of John's books every time.

In this sale, one of the standout books is also a new book, Yuval Kordov's Orders of Magnitude [Amazon link]. I picked this up and loved it. Orders of Magnitude is a blend of adventure and horror with both demons and space marines that manages to be quite Catholic. This is quite an accomplishment as Kordov himself is not Catholic.

Kordov explains in an afterword why he chose this particular setting and character, as it allows for a short but multi-layered story that explores not only providence and redemption, but also complicated matters of personal and religious identity. I think Kordov deserves credit for doing his themes justice while still making an intense, even gripping horror story.

If that wasn't enough to induce you to try the story, you can also find the first chapter for free at Incensepunk magazine.

But this isn't the only Catholic space marine story I've come across recently.

Peter Nealen has been teasing a space marine book in the WarGate Books Substack. "Nightfall 25,000" doesn't hide it's Warhammer 40K inspiration, which is very much the WarGate brand: take a well-known convention and try to do it better. Although we ought to remember that the great-granddaddy of space marine stories is E. E. "Doc" Smith's Galactic Patrol, and this is the source of most every space marine literary convention.

Nealen's Ice and Monsters series was a combination of mil-sf, horror, and Catholic themes, so I expect much the same gloss on futuristic soldiers this time. This isn't even up for pre-order, but I would expect you could find further updates at WarGate Operator.