Success only flourishes in perseverance -- ceaseless, restless perseverance.
--Baron Manfred Von Richtofen

Monday, February 1, 2010

February Story Feature: Casualties of War

"Casualties of War" first appeared in AlienSkin magazine in their April/May 2005 issue. Previous to that, the story won third prize in the Science Fiction Writers of Earth contest in 1998, which was my first real success as a writer.

SFWoE reviewer, Dilip Agarwal, had this to say:

"Casualties Of War", establishes itself quickly and draws steadily to its conclusion. The war . . . is an interstellar crisis, and in this case, of the diplomatic, rather than military variety . . . This is economics imagined in the language of combat. And it is combat, one of the most vicious where populations are exhausted through slow starvation and civil unrest rather than by bombings and battlefield weapons.

Called by Ed Bryant, "a heart-felt examination of culture clash," "Casualties of War" tells the story of Joshua Parrott, a trade negotiator from Earth, and the dilemma he faces when a young woman comes to him begging for help.

I hope you will enjoy "Casualties of War." Click on the story title to download the PDF. Be sure to leave a comment here to let me know what you think.