Red Phoenix Burning

Authors’ Note

This book is a sequel to the novel Red Phoenix, written by Larry Bond and Patrick Larkin, and published by Warner books in 1989. It described a hypothetical invasion of South Korea by the North, an oft-discussed scenario on that troubled peninsula.

The world has changed in many ways since Red Phoenix was published, but the two Koreas remain, a fossilized relic of the Cold War and the East-West polarization that touched many parts of our lives before the fall of the Soviet Union.

At the end of Red Phoenix, the invaders were defeated by UN forces and retreated back across the 38th parallel, with the cooperation of the Chinese, who supervised a caretaker government. Kim Jong-il, the “Dear Leader” who had ordered the invasion was assassinated, and his young son Kim Jong-un was installed by the Chinese as the new leader of the country under the tutelage of his aunt and uncle who acted as regents.

Thus, the North Korea described in the world of Red Phoenix does not differ too much from our real world, except that there was no invasion of South Korea in late 1989.

With this bit of fictional background, you can read this story without having to have read Red Phoenix first. If you have read it, you will find familiar names, both of original characters and the next generation.

We hope you will enjoy their story.

This time, I worked with my long-time partner, Chris Carlson, to describe a different but equally dangerous scenario. Chris’ knowledge and storytelling ability were vital in making this the best story we could, and the only reason my name comes first is that “B” precedes “C” in the alphabet. I will refuse to claim any passage as mine, or point to one and say Chris wrote it. We could have each written a story based on the same scenario, but together, we’ve created one much better than either of us could have done alone.