Serpent's Walk is a neo-Nazi science fiction novel written by M. A. R. Barker, published under the pseudonym Randolph D. Calverhall.
The book features an alternate history where SS soldiers begin an underground resistance after the end of WWII; the protagonist, Alan Lessing, eventually becomes the Führer and worldwide dictator of the Fourth Reich, following a pandemic that eliminates millions.
As Serpent's Walk was published under a pseudonym, his authorship of the work was publicly unknown until 2022, though Barker's Tékumel Foundation found out after his death in 2012.
Prior to the reveal of Barker's authorship, one theory was that it was written by William Luther Pierce, the author of The Turner Diaries and the leader of the National Alliance.
The story begins with Lessing leading a heist on a supposedly deactivated base carrying a biological weapon called Pacov.
The SS, realizing the world is heading towards corporate control, slowly gain power through financial influence and company infiltration (including Indoco), slowly pushing their views in the media, planning to eventually wholly control and convince society of their views with the ultimate goal to ethnically segregate the Earth.
Lessing develops an attraction to SS member (and former prostitute) Anneliese Meisinger, and is torn between her and Jameela (who is actually a spy who had not intended to fall in love with him).
It continues, "A century after the war they are ready to challenge the democrats and Jews for the hearts and minds of White Americans, who have begun to have their fill of government-enforced multi-culturalism and 'equality.
[3][9] Prior to the revelation of Barker's authorship, some believed Serpent's Walk was written by the founder of the National Alliance and author of The Turner Diaries, William Luther Pierce.
However, Pierce had used a different pseudonym in writing The Turner Diaries and Hunter (Andrew Macdonald),[11] and the book was not listed in his authorized biography.
[10] In March 2022, the Tékumel Foundation confirmed Barker's authorship of Serpent's Walk and association with the Journal of Historical Review.
[8][9][13] Serpent's Walk is a dystopian[1] neo-Nazi science fiction story,[7][14] with plot elements including laser-armed mercenaries and artificial intelligence.
[16] Researcher Elana Gomel noted the book in 2000 to have "far more literary pretensions than the blunt Turner Diaries", describing it as "vascillat[ing] between crude eugenicist propaganda" and "apocalyptic scenes of mass dying", with the pandemic becoming the "artistic centerpiece" of the novel.
[10] It is frequently featured on the reading lists of far-right extremists,[1] and in 2004 John Sutherland of The Guardian named it as a novel "beloved by neo-nazis".
[1] Following the reveal of Barker's authorship of the work, author Stu Horvath excluded Barker's tabletop RPG Empire of the Petal Throne from his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground: A Guide to Tabletop Roleplaying Games from D&D to Mothership, saying that he was "not interested in having the work of a neo-Nazi propagandist on my shelves, and I am certainly not going to give space to one in my book.