We Shall Rise

by John Ringo, Gary Poole

Genres: Post-Apocalyptic sci-fi; Sci-fi Anthologies & Collections; Military Sci-Fi

Synopsis

ALL-NEW SHORT STORIES SET IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE BEST-SELLING ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE SERIES BLACK TIDE RISING, CREATED BY JOHN RINGO. Inculdes stories by Kevin J. Anderson, Brendan DuBois, Jody Lynn Nye, Michael Z. Williamson, Kacey Ezell, Mike Massa, and many more! LIFE AFTER THE APOCALYPSE The world has been brought to its knees by the “zombie virus.” Nations have fallen, cities have been overrun by the infected, and the human race has come perilously close to extinction. But with the first winter come and gone, the infected have been reduced to not much more than a background nuisance and survivors around the world are taking stock and vowing to rebuild and rise up stronger, better, and unafraid. All new stories from New York Times best-selling author John Ringo’s “Black Tide Rising” series: Kevin J. Anderson Brendon DuBois Jody Lynn Nye Michael Z. Williamson and Stephanie Osborn Kacey Ezell Mike Massa Christoper L. Smith Lydia Sherrer Jason Cordova Brian Trent Patrick Vanner Jamie Ibson About Black Tide Rising: “. . . an entertaining batch of . . . action-packed tales. Certainly, fans of Ringo’s particular brand of action-adventure will be pleased.”— Booklist “This anthology broadens Ringo’s  Black Tide world, serving up doses of humanity amid the ravenous afflicted. Comedy has a place in this harsh reality, and these stories stir adventure and emotion at a frantic clip throughout. Zombie fiction fans will be thrilled.”— Library Journal About the Black Tide Rising Series: “Not only has Ringo found a mostly unexplored corner of the zombie landscape, he's using the zombie frame to tackle a broader theme: the collapse and rebirth of civilization. The zombie scenes are exciting, sure, but its the human story that keeps us involved. A fine series.” —Booklist About Under a Graveyard Sky : “Ringo combines humor and horror in this strong series debut, the thinking reader’s zombie novel.”— Publishers Weekly About John Ringo: “[Ringo’s work is] peopled with three-dimensional characters and spiced with personal drama as well as tactical finesse.”— Library Journal “. . . Explosive. . . . fans . . . will appreciate Ringo’s lively narrative and flavorful characters.”— Publishers Weekly “. . .practically impossible not to read in one sitting . . . exceedingly impressive . . . executed with skill, verve, and wit.”— Booklist “Crackerjack storytelling.”— Starlog BLACK TIDE RISING SERIES: Under a Graveyard Sky To Sail a Darkling Sea Islands of Rage and Hope Strands of Sorrow Black Tide Rising Voices of the Fall We Shall Rise At the End of the World At the End of the Journey The Valley of Shadows River of Night

Release date: June 1, 2021

Publisher: Baen

Print pages: 400

Sample

Foreword

GARY POOLE

 

Just over seven years ago, Ringo and I decided to catch a movie at our local cineplex. It was a popular zombie apocalypse flick that featured a big name actor, had a big budget, and was based on a pretty interesting novel. And in true Hollywood fashion, the film proceeded to ignore almost all the good science of the novel to create a “Hollywood ending” that pretty much threw all semblance of science (and reality) out the nearest window.

To say we were disappointed was a bit of an understatement.

And in true Ringo style, when presented with something that offended his understanding of science and storytelling, he opened up his laptop and began to type.

A lot.

Three months later, he had finished the first four books of the Black Tide series. Because he really does write that fast when the muse is cooperative.

But he wasn’t just pulling things out of thin air. Far from it. He spent countless hours in e-mail discussions and phone consultations with a wide variety of scientists who have deep knowledge of the biosciences. John’s simple goal was to create a scientifically believable plague that didn’t involve what he likes to refer to as “hand-wavium.” The input from the various MD’s and PhD’s and graduate researchers was invaluable, and led to what I feel is one of the most scientifically strong bases for any plague-based post-apocalyptic series out there. And judging from the popularity of the novels and anthologies, I can safely state that I am not alone in this belief.

So what happens when a fictional plague that began in the Far East and quickly spread around the world moves from fiction to reality?

Well, if your name is John Ringo, you get a lot of e-mails and social media posts along the lines of, “You predicted this!” And yes, the parallels between the Black Tide virus and the real-world COVID-19 virus are obvious. But, thankfully, the real-world pandemic did not involve people stripping off their clothes and trying to eat their friends and neighbors.

It has, however, been a very unusual period of time in which to put together a post-apocalyptic anthology. There’s something very surreal about watching the news and thinking, “I already read this story.” But, while the news focuses only on what is happening now, our goal as storytellers is to write about what happens next. To not get caught up in the minutia of everyday life but to think beyond. Beyond tomorrow, beyond our towns, beyond our countries. I have written in previous forewords about how I feel that for a post-apocalyptic universe with a mind-bogglingly catastrophic death toll, the Black Tide series is all about hope. As John so elegantly put it, “To hell with the darkness. Light a candle.”

As strange as it may seem, having been involved with the series since its inception, I was much more hopeful about how we, as a species, would handle a real-world pandemic. Because even though all of the many stories told in the novels and anthologies were fictional, I feel strongly that they were based on deeper truths. And the truth is that we overcome everything. Just look at how fast we were able to develop multiple vaccines (!!) using cutting edge mRNA technology that was in its scientific infancy less than a decade ago, which just shows you how resilient we are as a species. When confronted with a world-changing problem, we came up with world-changing solutions.

It’s what we do.

Before COVID-19 even existed, John and I had been approached by our publisher to put together a third anthology after the success of the previous two. We sat down and tossed around ideas of themes and came up with one we thought would work well from both a storytelling standpoint and as an intriguing challenge to the writers we invited to participate. The theme is, simply, resurgence. It’s not just a case a “what happens next,” it’s deeper than that. We wanted to delve into how humanity has always risen above whatever challenge the species has faced.

Back around 75,000 years ago or so, a great supervolcano in Sumatra erupted, sending thousands of cubic kilometers of magma and rock into the air, spreading ash as far away as Africa and China, dropping global temperatures by as much as 18 degrees. Mankind, which was still largely centered in Africa and Southern Asia, was nearly wiped out. Experts believe that homo sapiens, which had grown to a population of nearly a hundred thousand, fell to less than 10,000 individuals, with some putting the number at close to just 2,000.

So how did we not only survive, but overcome the devastation of our environment? Cooperation.

The few surviving members of humanity relied on their social skills to work together to overcome a global catastrophe. And that is the key to our survival as a species. By working together for a common goal, which in this case was nothing less than avoiding extinction, early humans were able to adapt and overcome to the point where 75,000 years later we have orbiting space stations and are in the development stages of human colonies on the Moon and Mars.

Not bad, eh?

And along the way, the race has been faced with countless challenges. Wars, pestilence, plagues, famine, natural disasters, and so forth. And we’re still here and stronger than ever as a species.

The other key trait that separates humanity is persistence. We’re arguably the most stubborn lifeform on the planet. From our days of hunting in the vast African savannas where we simply wore down our prey to our current civilization, we just don’t quit. Whatever the challenge is, we figure out a way to overcome whatever challenge is placed in front of us and learn to overcome and adapt.

So let’s extrapolate our real-world history into the fictional universe of the Black Tide series. The “zombie plague” has killed or turned somewhere along the lines of 90% (or more) of the human population around the world. Think for a second how you would react if nine out of every ten people you know suddenly were dead or reduced to being an unthinking (and often extremely violent) animal. How would you survive?

In Ringo’s world, the uninfected have survived by cooperating and refusing to give up. Not just family units, like the Smiths, but in larger groups. And not just survived, but thrived (for various values of thriving). Sure, civilization as we know it has collapsed, but we as a species are not the type to simply say, “Oh well, might as well give up and die.” No, we are inherently stubborn. We have a will and a spirit that drives us to go beyond mere survival. We look at the cards that we are dealt and bet the pot that we will not only survive but thrive.