In the Field of Fire

by Jeanne Van Buren Dann (Editor), Jack Dann (Editor)

This is a book of dreams, of terrible nightmares, of sweet memories of times long gone, of bitter regrets, passionate beliefs, of lost innocence. Sometimes it is only within such dreams that we can approach the truth...find the true meaning of those years we call "the Vietnam Era". This is a collection of stories created out of the fire that seared a generation, that heated the crucible where our present reality was forged, that smolders still in the memories of everyone who lived through those turbulent years: Twenty-two brilliant offerings from the finest fantasists writing today--statements from the heart, bitingly honest, born in a genre that specializes in the creation of dreams, but reaching far beyond it with a perspective and a message that more conventional fiction cannot deliver. From the Central Highlands to the streets of Saigon to the refugee enclaves of Philadelphia, from the mid-60s to the mid-80s through a decade of denial, these are war stories from a war that was unlike any other--a war that in many ways has never ended.
Contents:

Introduction (In the Field of Fire) • essay by Jack Dann and Jeanne Van Buren Dann
The Memorial (1987) / short story by Kim Stanley Robinson
Delta Sly Honey (1987) / short story by Lucius Shepard
The Game of Cat and Eagle (1987) / novelette by Craig Strete [as by Craig Kee Strete]
Letters from Home (1987) / short story by Karen Joy Fowler
Across Those Endless Skies / short story by Robert Frazier
The Sheeted Dead (1987) / short story by Charles L. Grant
In the Season of the Rains (1987) / short story by Richard Paul Russo
Shades (1987) / novelette by Lucius Shepard
The Village (1973) / short story by Kate Wilhelm
Goats (1987) / novelette by Dave Smeds
Brothers (1987) / short story by Ben Bova
A Dream at Noonday (1970) / short story by Gardner Dozois
The Queen of Lower Saigon (1987) / short story by Barry N. Malzberg
Deathtracks (1982) / short story by Dennis Etchison
The Heavenly Blue Answer (1987) / short story by Ronald Anthony Cross
Dream Baby (1987) / novelette by Bruce McAllister
Covenant With a Dragon (1987) / short story by Susan Casper
The War at Home (1985) / short story by Lewis Shiner
Credibility (1987) / novelette by John Kessel
Basilisk (1972) / short story by Harlan Ellison
My Country 'Tis Not Only of Thee (1986) / novelette by Brian W. Aldiss
DX (1987) / poem by Joe Haldeman
Further Reading (In the Field of Fire) • essay by Jeanne Van Buren Dann and Jack Dann
Glossary of Acronyms and Selected Terms • essay by the editors

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Anthologies, Fantasy, Fiction

415 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Jack Dann]

Hi, folks,

Thought I might mention that this anthology was a collaboration, co-edited by Jeanne and myself, Jack Dann.

Cheers!

—JACK

[Ebenmaessiger]

“A Memorial” by Kim Stanley Robinson: 1 star
- You don’t expect KSR to phone one in, but here we are. And you don’t expect him to lack story ideas, but here’s amateurish reportage masking lack of inspiration. And you definitely don’t expect him to have nothing to say, but here he is full out admitting at spots that he knows very little about Vietnam(?!). He doesn’t even have the excuse of youth on his side. A head-scratcher. STORY: KSR contemplates the new Vietnam Memorial while thinking about what he can say for the anthology we're holding.

“Delta Sly Honey” by Lucius Shepard: 3 stars
- Potential. Some soldiers at isolated base start to go a bit crazy. One gets in contact with in-heaven squad of dead grunts, and they're not having his attempts to leave. Who knows? Actually, I was too tired while reading this to give a bankable take. Dismiss.

[Sheila Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book. Joe Haldeman's poem makes me cry every time I read it.

[Jay Schutt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Looked interesting a long time ago when I bought it, but I just couldn't get into it. Gave up on it early.