About Black Sun, Red Moon

About Black Sun, Red Moon and Merdeka Rising

'Inspired by an article in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Black Sun, Red Moon: A Novel of Java with its second, concluding, part, Merdeka Rising, is an ambitious interpretation of the remarkable and tragic events in (now) Indonesia in 1945-46. The factual basis of Rory Marron’s story is astonishing, even explosive! His great achievement is the weaving of historical and cultural detail in an enthralling, fast-paced adventure of revolution, forbidden love, betrayal and murder.' (SBC)

Facts supporting the fiction:

• Within weeks of Japan’s surrender in August 1945 British and Japanese troops were fighting side-by-side against Indonesian revolutionaries.

• Over 80,000 European women and children became hostages in a clash between Asian self-determination and white colonial power.

• Japanese invader became unexpected protector and ally amidst a whirlwind of revolutionary terror and slaughter. In November 1945 a Japanese officer was recommended for a British Distinguished Service Order (DSO)….

• Hundreds of British, Indian, Gurkha and Japanese servicemen and thousands of internees died in this, the first of the ‘savage wars of peace’.


From the back cover of Black Sun, Red Moon


‘…deftly he withdrew the glowing steel from the hot coals and held it aloft. Against the dense black of the tropical night the keris blade pulsed like a blood-red moon.’


Alun MacDonald is fighting the Japanese in Burma. Yet the tide is turning, victory is only a matter of time.

For Kate van Dam, half-starved and a prisoner in a squalid, disease-ridden internment camp, time is fast running out. She faces a desperate, fateful choice…. comfort women

Surrender forbidden him by his military code, Kenichi Ota prepares for a suicidal last stand. With his own life already forfeit, he vows to save the woman he loves….

Lamban dreams of independence from the Dutch and for a new nation of Indonesia. He will sacrifice everything for the cause. His cry is ‘Freedom—or Death!

(For more information see 'Background'.)

© 2015, Seventh Citadel

End of page [gunto, WWII, WW2, war, novel, fiction


kris dagger, Imperial Japanese Army, Gurkhas, nihonto, keris,