The Corpse War of 1793

by Brandon Fisichella, Kyle Dunn (Illustrator)

Britain is at war, and a young soldier dreams of glory fighting on the Continent. Instead, when his regiment is posted to a dull garrison duty, he fears that boredom shall be the worst of his fate. Yet rumours soon spread of an enemy more vile and terrifying than even the French. They speak of risen corpses that roam the night with a hatred for the living and a taste for flesh. When a sentry goes missing, leaving behind an unfired musket and bloody prints, the rumours can no longer be dismissed as rustic fancy. Will His Majesty's soldiers keep ranks before the undead tide, or shall their parade grounds become naught but a charnel pit?

Here stands the authentic account of a soldier who bore the whole of The Corpse War witness. Bound by duty and compelled by guilt, he sets down in gruesome detail all that befell him, his comrades, and his regiment from the first devilish outbreak to the Great Battle between the Living and the Dead. His tale is one of woe and unwanted laurels, amidst a field where courage rots more quickly than flesh, and zeal burns hotter than black powder.

Fans of 'Sharpe' and 'World War Z' will devour this debut novel of visceral military horror, in which a common British redcoat confronts unimaginable terrors and bears witness to the Army's desperate war against the risen dead.

459 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2025

Reviews

[Jano Prahara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will not go easy on Fisichella because he is a youtuber I like and I will hold the author to higher standard, because this book also touch my favorite genre - Grimdark, and I want more quality grimdark books which are not just self-insert red mist power fantasy - which this book fulfills.

For a self-published debut, this is a very good book. Author has an excellent command of English, especially immersive use of 18th century British English. I felt like the story actually happened and I am reading an account of a survivor. The main character little bit falls flat (cudos on describing his emotional state tho) and perhaps this is how accounts look like - factually describing events not the witness himself, but throughout the book I know nothing of the character. Character's companions however compensate it and I grew attached to them - and in a true fashion of grimdark, they are also taken away from you. For a debut writer, Fisichella managed to create attachment to side characters in a very short span.

Author has occasional issues with pacing and few paragraphs (per whole book) had clarity issues. Be it about who is talking, or to whom something just happened. Could be prevented with perhaps beta and/or arc readers, which I won't forgive because this person has community for such resource. Occasional time passages could be conveyed better - few times I was lost about how much time passed between chapters, but it was not serious.

Worldbuilding is good enough for the story purposes and I would love to highlight how well Fisichella balanced explaining historical details without being it boring and had actually no affect on pacing (which had own issues described further). It is his job, he is good at it and he certainly managed to transfer such skill into writing.

In regard of pacing, it is an account and "world" does not care about gradation when shit hits the fan, so it is little bit forgivable, however it is a fiction and author could little bit more work on gradation for a better experience.

The book also feels very personal with a hand drawn charcoal illustrations - which was very fresh and I personally, think that this book would have even greater value if revised and turned into an audiobook.

I think Fisichella has a good grasp of writing and this work is better work than many of those "expert" booktubers, hence I am giving 3 stars, because it is a good book for a more than fair price, and author has a good potential to become from good to a very good - if he is not blinded by sycophant 5 stars and take notes of a criticisms

[John Racioppi · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the marketing has stated the book is World War Z, 18th century British version. Im not sure what all the author’s influences were but I sensed some Solomon Kane in it too. Anyway, Horrorhounds and history buffs will not be disappointed. The story begins at a furious pace and hardly ever stops.
Some might think the historical details might bog down the plot: it does not. If anything it enhances it. The weapons, clothes, strategy etc. it’s all there. As someone whose read 18th century writings(I recommend American Cookery by Amelia Simmons) I was ecstatic to read the author/publisher went even got the font correct, even bringing back the ‘long s’. The people portrayed, including their attitudes, truly are of their times(Apparently, the French are to blame for everything)…yet they are human. The descriptions of smoke, an often overlooked detail in other historical fiction, creates a hellish unsettling atmosphere. As for the “devils”? Make no mistake, these are not Romero’s zombies. They are something worse.
When the battles are over there are no cheerful celebrations. The aftermath seems just as horrific with some soldiers as worried about desertion as about the risen dead and others cursed to live in mangled bodies. There are no virtuous heroes to route for, only characters fighting to survive.

[Tim Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Debut novel. Zombie fiction is my guilty pleasure and this provides a unique addition to the genre. I would recommend to anyone on the fence.

Writing Style
The author’s writing style imitates the soldier’s campaign journals or diaries of the period. Personally I felt the pacing for a majority of the book was spot on but began to drag during the last 25%. While writing this review, I briefly consulted a few accounts by other soldiers of the time such as: Sergeant William Lawrence, Captain John Cook, and General Cavalié Mercer. I think my frustration with pacing stems from a disconnect between the author’s use of period language and diction to narrate a story featuring a character with contemporary self-reflection within a narrative plot arc. I fully acknowledge that is a personal hangup.


Setting: The time period predates Frankenstein by 20ish years, so the story sidestepped a contrivance for why the characters don’t mention zombies.

Napoleon and American revolution are occasionally mentioned as a backdrop for characterization.

[Neoson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful addition to the historical fiction genre. The writing is fantastic, the scenes are disgustingly (in a good way) written and the tension of one zombie, let alone the entire wave, is well executed. Many modern zombie stories, especially zombie movies, place the horror of the media in the anarchy which the zombies bring about, but this book centers it entirely on the zombie. It is an unfortunate pairing of this adaption of the zombie which is extraordinarily resilient against weapons which (afaik) were based a lot on morale and was to be fired within shouting distance of the enemy. This all is reinforced by the nicely done illustrations which helps fill in a few of the blank spots and deepens the dread of the battle.

The book only suffers from minor issues, namely grammatical (i.e. sentences with periods or even an instance where I think the font for a few words was wrong). But generally, the book is well written and highly enjoyable.