It is a fact that history is often made by those who never wanted to get wrapped up in the course of human events. But snared by circumstance, fate, divine providence, or whatever else one might call it, ordinary people have shaped eras that at first seemed far beyond their influence. Many of mankind’s most incredible figures started their lives defined by situations wholly out of their control. Consider Julius Caesar, whose life was nearly snuffed out in adolescence by a Roman dictator.

And consider Reed Barowe. He’s an agent in the Serpican Police, and beyond good at what he does. He’s augmented biologically and cybernetically, but he’d far prefer remaining in the shadows of the subjugated Earth forming the backdrop of my upcoming novel The Tyrant Strategy: Revenant Man. So of course, I though he’d be a terrific character to force some of those external stresses upon. The fact that he is an “agent” is a little bit of semantic fun. Read the rest of this entry →