New Military Sci-Fi Series Reimagines 1928 Classic Buck Rogers

The Florida Campaign, published by Frequency99, returns to the public domain origins of science fiction's most famous man out of time

OCALA, Fla., Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- What if Anthony Rogers never left Earth?

Philip Francis Nowlan's 1928 novella Armageddon 2419 A.D. now in the public domain, introduced a WWI veteran who awakens five centuries later to find America conquered by the Han Empire. That story launched the character who became Buck Rogers, one of science fiction's most enduring icons. But Nowlan quickly sent his hero into space, trading occupied forests for asteroid belts and Martian adventures.

Author David Edward asked a different question: What if Rogers stayed to fight?

The protagonist's famous nickname has been changed from Buck to Rock, a deliberate choice respecting existing trademarks while grounding the character in Edward's grittier reimagining. As the series opens, Rogers earns the new name the hard way: by becoming the foundation others build on when everything falls apart.

Rock Rogers in the 25th Century: The Florida Campaign is a ten-book military science fiction series built on Nowlan's public domain foundation. It returns to the original vision of forest guerrillas with jury-rigged technology waging asymmetric warfare against an overwhelming empire. No space opera. No interplanetary detours. Just the brutal, tactical reality of resistance and liberation.

"Nowlan gave us something extraordinary in 1928," says Edward. "A premise with real tactical thinking, real stakes, real moral weight. I wanted to explore what that premise actually costs, in lives, in moral compromise, in the slow grinding work of building something worth fighting for."

The series follows Commander Wilma Deering's expedition into Kane's territory, where ancient technology and twisted lieutenants guard secrets that could reshape the war. Ten interconnected stories track one military operation from planning to devastating consequences, featuring tactical realism, a complete character arc for Wilma Deering as commander rather than sidekick, and enemies whose virtues have curdled into vice.

Edward's series joins a tradition of authors reimagining public domain works, bringing fresh perspectives to stories that belong to everyone. The Florida Campaign is both an homage to Nowlan's original creation and a conversation with it, asking what classic pulp looks like with modern storytelling and the moral weight that war stories demand.

Rock Rogers in the 25th Century: The Florida Campaign is available now on Kindle.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GD554NNC

https://frequency99.com

Media Contact: David Edward, Ocala, Florida, [email protected], 970.646.5865

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SOURCE Frequency99, INC.