Why Armored Piercing doesn't delve into real-world politics

With the Armored Piercing series, I don’t make references to real-world events or make commentary on social issues. The main reason is that I want this series to be an escape from reality. Many books offer social commentary and want readers to reflect on real issues. I’ve done a bit of that myself with The Invasion of Planet Earth, where I touched on issues like racism, police brutality, and morality. However, I’ve always written Armored Piercing with escapist entertainment in mind. I want people to be able to dive into these books and go on a gripping adventure with Sipho Morgess and his companions.

Another way I’ve made Armored Piercing escapist was by keeping out any mention of religion. You’ll easily find books in the military-fiction and spy-thriller genres with “Muslim extremists” as the villains. Religion can be a touchy subject, so I tend to avoid that with my books. I also don’t want to vilify any ethnic or religious group as terrorists (I don’t even include real terrorist groups). All of the insurgent groups in Armored Piercing, such as the Iron Clad and Free State of Iraq (FSI), were 100% made up by me and not based on any real group. This allowed me to have more creative freedom and helped avoid offensive stereotypes.

Armored Piercing may be set in modern times, but it has an alternative history. For example, the Iraq war is caused by different circumstances (i.e. FSI rising up to fight a tyrannical government) compared to how it played out in real life. The Red October attacks are the in-universe version of 9/11. I thought about having 9/11 be a precursor to Red October, but decided against it in favour of keeping the books detached from real-world events. 2014 Ukraine in Armored Piercing 1 is very different from 2014 Ukraine in real life.

I understand that my wanting Armored Piercing to be kept away from controversial subject matter makes it seem like I’m playing it safe, but I want this series to be a fun escape. Military books aren’t as popular as romance or fantasy books, perhaps due to the common jingoistic trope of “evil foreigners” wanting to destroy the West, which makes it hard to reach new audiences. The Armored Piercing books have made me more money compared to my other books. I believe Armored Piercing 3 will bring in new fans. However, I do wonder if I’d get more success if I focused more on other genres. People who’ve written off military books will likely avoid my books like the plague. I don’t want to write Armored Piercing in a way that’ll create outrage clicks. Even if controversy brings more royalties my way, I don’t want to ruin the escapism of the series to do it.