War is serious business — and so is war-themed science fiction. Your mind may be leaping to the movie version of Starship Troopers. But the genre doesn't have to be, writes Andrew Liptak, all about "bug hunts and unabashed jingoism."

You may know Liptak as the local guy behind Geek Mountain State. The holder of an MA in military history from Norwich University, he's written about science fiction for Kirkus Reviews, io9 and other publications. Now he's coediting an anthology of military SF called War Stories, which its Kickstarter page describes thus:

It's a look at the people ordered into impossible situations, asked to do the unthinkable, and those unable to escape from hell. It's stories of courage under fire, and about the difficulties in making decisions that we normally would never make. It's about what happens when the shooting stops, and before any trigger is ever pulled.

In other words, the kinds of issues that real soldiers face — in SF settings.

"Together, we're both connected to the military community through our lives and education, and we feel that now is the time for a modern, relevant look at the state of the world around us," write Liptak and coeditor Jaym Gates.

The two expect to look at some submissions from Vermont authors, Liptak says. They have a special interest in "stories from POC and female authors." Among the writers already on board are Joe Haldeman, Keith Brooke, Maurice Broaddus, Karin Lowachee and Yoon Ha Lee.

With a deadline of November 14, War Stories has currently received about $6000 in pledges toward its $10K goal. You can learn more about the project here.

And come to Dark Mountain State, a "Night of Horror and Dark Fantasy" organized by Liptak and featuring readings from local authors. It happens on November 16, 4:30 p.m. at Quarterstaff Games in Burlington. More info here.

Among the authors is Daniel Mills, whose creepy New England gothic novel I wrote about here. Geeks represent!

'War Stories' cover image by Galen Dara.