war that can't be won

[lesiur]

Hallo all.

Hope anyone on this forum can help me. I'm looking for the title of a sfbook that is about a war that is fought on the edge of time. The main character even thinks they are shooting at themselves, because when they intensivy the firing at the 'enemy' they get intensivite firing back. And nobody has ever seen the enemy. A couple of minutes at the warfront equals over 20 years when back home again. The main story is about this period back home, but I don't recall much of that. I remember he raises a family there, something like that. And when he goes back to the frontline he has stayed away only for a couple of minutes.

Does anyone know what book I mean and how it is called?

Thank you in advance for taking the trouble of answering.
~~
Maryon

[Vandervecken]

The description (a war so far away that significant time dilation takes place between battles and time on leave) reminds me of Joe Haldeman's The Forever War but it's been so long since I read them that I'm not certain how close to the request it actually is.

[lesiur]

... Joe Haldeman's The Forever War ...

Thank you for the reply. I thought earlier too that this was the book I was looking for. But reading the plot on wikipedia didn't ring any bell. So I think it might be another book. What me impressed was the thought of fighting ourselves, the main character in the book thought they were shooting to a kind of wall where time returned, the end of time, so to say. At least, that is how I remember it. In Forever War there is an enemy. The book I'm looking for they don't know the enemy.

[otistdog]

Maryon,

I've read this one, too, and it's definitely a short story that I came across as part of a collection.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, there were different time "zones" separated by some sort of visible boundary, but there was an overall direction towards faster layers, and the battle was being fought at the fastest layer the protagonist's civilization knew about. Does this sound right?

I can't recall the title at the moment, but I will look for it.

[livens]

Is it "A Dry, Quiet War" by Tony Daniel?

http://bestsciencefictionstories.com...y-tony-daniel/

[lesiur]

Is it "A Dry, Quiet War" by Tony Daniel?

http://bestsciencefictionstories.com...y-tony-daniel/

No, unfortunately, that is not the one I'm looking for. Thanks for trying.

[lesiur]

Otistdog wrote:
If it's the one I'm thinking of, there were different time "zones" separated by some sort of visible boundary, but there was an overall direction towards faster layers, and the battle was being fought at the fastest layer the protagonist's civilization knew about. Does this sound right?

My answer:
That sounds familiair, about the zones. Maybe you're onto something, hope you'll be able to find the title. Thx!!

[ian_sales]

Zones of Thought appear in Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky.

[lesiur]

Zones of Thought appear in Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky.

Reading the plot on Wikipedia I don't recognize it. This is not the title I'm looking for. Thank you so much for trying.

[otistdog]

OK, if this is the same one I'm thinking of, it is probably "Traveler's Rest" by David Masson. It may not be quite exactly as I remember it, but the items discussing it I've spotted online make me think it's definitely the one I was thinking of when responding earlier.

I haven't seen the text of the story itself yet, so if that's not it, post back to let me know.

[lesiur]

... "Traveler's Rest" by David Masson ....

Hi Otistdog,

I think you found it! I read this part on the internet, and I positively recognize it, this is the story I'm looking for:
”It was an apocalyptic sector. Out of the red-black curtain of the forward sight-barrier, which at this distance from the Frontier shut down a mere twenty metres north, came every sort of metioric horror: fission and fusion explosions, chemical detonations, a super-hail of projectiles of all sizes and basic velocities, sprays of nerve-paralysants and thalamic dopes.”
I also found the book that the story was in, it was Voyagers in Time, edited by Robert Silverberg. Now I know what to look for, thank you very much, it feels like finding back an old friend.



~~
Maryon