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To celebrate the release of Homefront: The Voice of Freedom, co-author Raymond Benson gives us the inside scoop on the world of Homefront and his experience working on this exciting new novel.
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The War at Home by Raymond Benson
Homefront: The Voice of Freedom, which I co-wrote with John Milius, goes on sale today! The book serves as a prequel and back story to the upcoming videogame produced by THQ, but it was also our intention that it be a stand-alone speculative thriller that can be enjoyed by non-gamers and readers unfamiliar with the game.
Milius (famed screenwriter/director whose credits include Apocalypse Now, The Wind and the Lion, Red Dawn, Conan the Barbarian, and more) is the man responsible for the creation of the Homefront universe. His premise: in the year is 2025, America is reeling from a drastic downturn in economic and military power over the previous fifteen years while, on the other side of the globe, North Korea has increased its stature and strength by first re-uniting with South Korea and then by bringing many other Asian nations within its sphere of influence. When America is at her weakest, North Korea begins its devastating attack, first striking with the explosion of an EMP over the contiguous states, completely frying any and every device that relies on circuitry. A cyber attack follows, cutting military and government communication abilities, leaving our troops scattered and leaderless. As if it couldn't get any worse, Korea then invades with the largest standing army in the world. Resistance is spirited, but ultimately futile as cities fall one-by-one . It isn’t long before America’s western states are under Korean control. The videogame, which begins in 2027, focuses on a homegrown resistance group that fights the enemy on our turf—our cities, our streets, and our neighborhoods.
[caption id="attachment_12658" align="alignleft" width="251" caption="The novel by John Milius and yours truly!"]Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.[/caption]
Our novel takes place at the onset of the attack, recounting the events of the previous fifteen years and the lead-up to the beginning of the game’s storyline. We follow the story of Ben Walker, a hack reporter in Los Angeles who is fed up with the depressed economy, the grossly inflated prices, and the general malaise and feeling of hopelessness that has taken over his country. When North Korea attacks, he sets out on a personal journey across America to document what he sees, temporarily joining different resistance groups along the way. By utilizing ad hoc radio equipment, Walker broadcasts guerrilla reports as “the Voice of Freedom,” ultimately becoming an underground hero and working to inform the growing Resistance of Korean troop movement and oncoming attacks. But Walker is being tracked by the deadly Korean operative, Salmusa, whose task is to hunt down the elusive Voice of Freedom and eliminate the threat he presents to the occupiers.
A few of the videogame’s characters even make cameo appearances in the story, including the incredibly cool "robot" known as Goliath. This monstrous machine is a cross between a six-wheeled miniature tank and a dune buggy that can travel smoothly over extremely rough terrain and overcome obstacles like man-made barriers, ditches, boulders, and even formations of invading troops! Goliath carries up to 8,000 pounds of payload and armor and is, quite simply, awesome.
Not only wasHomefront: The Voice of Freedom fun to write, but it was also quite frightening. The socio-political-economic events Milius, THQ, Kaos Studios, and I came up with are scarily possible. In fact, we predicted that Kim Jong-un would succeed his father as the leader of North Korea before this actual announcement recently appeared in the news!
I am very proud of Homefront and I am honored to share the credit with John Milius. We expect it to enthrall—and shock—readers everywhere! Check out Homefront: The Voice of Freedom, in stores today and find out how she fell, but more importantly, how she began to get back up.
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Check out the Homefront website for more information about the game, novel, and other media.
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