WarGate Books, the military science fiction and military fantasy publisher behind “Galaxy’s Edge” and “Forgotten Ruin,” has been acquired by Aethon Books. Co-founder Jason Anspach announced the deal to WarGate’s authors in an email obtained by Fandom Pulse:
“I’m excited to announce that WarGate Books has been acquired by Aethon Publishing.
Aethon’s success in publishing is exactly what WarGate needs to grow and reach larger audiences. They are second to none at finding success in the modern publishing world.
It is my firm belief that all of our authors will benefit from this move.
There are no changes to your existing WarGate contracts. Aethon is WarGate, moving forward. For convenience, you will still receive royalties from the old WarGate account through the end of the year.
If you have a work in progress, please send your manuscripts to [redacted]. We’ll keep those titles moving without a pause.
If you have any questions about the process, please reply to this email. I will be assisting Aethon with the full transfer of existing titles and with setting up new titles for success.
Best of luck, and thank you for your part in building WarGate to what it has become.
God Bless,
–––––
Jason Anspach”
What Aethon Brings To The Table
Aethon Books was founded by Rhett C. Bruno and Steve Beaulieu as a digital-first publisher built around science fiction, fantasy, and LitRPG titles, driven heavily by data analytics and targeted marketing rather than the traditional publishing playbook. The strategy produced some of the genre’s biggest independent hits, including “He Who Fights with Monsters,” “The Primal Hunter,” and “Drop Trooper.”
The company has expanded well beyond text publishing. Aethon became one of Webtoon’s largest Western publishing partners, producing original webcomic series including “Return of the Runebound Professor,” “Defiance of the Fall,” and “Beware of Chicken.” In May 2025, Aethon acquired a majority stake in Vault Comics, a Montana-based comics publisher backed by investors including Jeff Ubben, UTA, Crush Ventures, and Metallica’s Black Squirrel Partners. Vault CEO Damian Wassel and Chief Creative Officer Adrian Wassel kept their roles after the deal, with Bruno and Beaulieu joining Vault’s board. Wassel said the merger would bring “additional product categories and a significantly expanded marketing budget” to comics and graphic novels under the combined companies.
What WarGate Brings To Aethon
WarGate Books built its catalog around military science fiction, military fantasy, and biographies and memoirs, describing itself as “unapologetically pro-liberty, pro-2A.” Anspach co-founded the company with Nick Cole, and the two write the bestselling “Galaxy’s Edge” series together along with “Forgotten Ruin.” The catalog also includes Mark Sibley’s “Mongol Moon” and Blaine L. Pardoe and Brent Evans’ “LAND&SEA” trilogy.
Pardoe, who joins the Aethon fold through the acquisition, has built a career across multiple genres over several decades, best known for his BattleTech and MechWarrior: Dark Age novels, including “Hour of the Wolf,” Catalyst Game Labs’ bestselling BattleTech title. He has also written true crime, military history, and political thrillers, co-authoring the “Tenure” series with comic artist Mike Barron and writing the “Blue Dawn” alternate history series. His nonfiction work “Lost Eagles,” on Lafayette Flying Corps pilot Frederick Zinn, won the Military Writers Society of America’s Silver Medal in 2011, and he has spoken at the National Archives, the Smithsonian, and the U.S. Navy Museum.
Fandom Pulse reached out to Pardoe to see what his thoughts were on the new acquisition and the coming changes, and his only response was, “no comment.”
A Consolidation Play In A Market Where Few Are Growing
Aethon has spent the past year building outward through acquisition rather than organic growth alone, first into comics with the Vault Comics stake and now into military fiction with WarGate. For WarGate’s authors, Anspach’s email promises continuity on existing contracts through the end of the year, with manuscripts in progress routed directly to Aethon’s editorial team going forward.
The deal puts two of indie genre publishing’s more aggressive growth stories under one roof at a moment when much of traditional publishing has struggled to find its footing. Anspach framed the move as a scale play for WarGate’s authors rather than an exit. Whether Aethon folds WarGate’s military fiction catalog into its existing marketing machine the way it did with Vault’s comics line, or runs it as a separate imprint, will determine how much actually changes for the authors whose contracts just changed hands.
Do you think this kind of consolidation among independent publishers is the model that out-competes legacy publishing going forward?
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