miles_urbanus
August 12th, 2010, 08:03 PM
Greetings all. This is a question that has vexed me for years, maybe you can help.
I read a great short story back in high school circa 1996 in one of those military sci fi anthologies. I remember it was in paper back and was a military sci-fi anthology/compilation of short stories. Sadly I can't remember the editors name, nor publisher. It would have been out paper back between 1994-1998.
The name of the story was ________ 's War.
The blank was a Icelandic/Nordic sounding last name, that was the name of the main character in the story. I seem to vaguely remember that the it started with an "R".
The premise of the story was that _______ was a suburban everyman in the near future. In fact he was towards the end of selective service age (or maybe even past).
He is visited by two men from the selective service (who look more like secret service) that inform him he was been drafted.
He goes to a facility where he is put on a gurney and administered a drug. He awakens in boot camp and ends up a soldier in a high tech (cybernetics) war against a unnamed and unrelenting enemy.
The war gets worse and worse and the US is losing. He sees his once peaceful home in ruins. His family is lost/KIA. IIRC he loses his hand or arm and has it replaced with a cybernetic one.
The day dénouement happens when he wakes up and is paid and thanked for his service to his country. The whole thing was a virtual reality experiment to test the metal of the average American citizen in the face of terrible odds. Uncle Sam wanted to make sure that the average joe still has what it takes in the face of overwhelming odds.
That is about the best I can remember if anyone can tell me the author or what book(s) it has been in I would be much obliged. I have of course used google but without many hard keywords to go off, no luck.
I read a great short story back in high school circa 1996 in one of those military sci fi anthologies. I remember it was in paper back and was a military sci-fi anthology/compilation of short stories. Sadly I can't remember the editors name, nor publisher. It would have been out paper back between 1994-1998.
The name of the story was ________ 's War.
The blank was a Icelandic/Nordic sounding last name, that was the name of the main character in the story. I seem to vaguely remember that the it started with an "R".
The premise of the story was that _______ was a suburban everyman in the near future. In fact he was towards the end of selective service age (or maybe even past).
He is visited by two men from the selective service (who look more like secret service) that inform him he was been drafted.
He goes to a facility where he is put on a gurney and administered a drug. He awakens in boot camp and ends up a soldier in a high tech (cybernetics) war against a unnamed and unrelenting enemy.
The war gets worse and worse and the US is losing. He sees his once peaceful home in ruins. His family is lost/KIA. IIRC he loses his hand or arm and has it replaced with a cybernetic one.
The day dénouement happens when he wakes up and is paid and thanked for his service to his country. The whole thing was a virtual reality experiment to test the metal of the average American citizen in the face of terrible odds. Uncle Sam wanted to make sure that the average joe still has what it takes in the face of overwhelming odds.
That is about the best I can remember if anyone can tell me the author or what book(s) it has been in I would be much obliged. I have of course used google but without many hard keywords to go off, no luck.