A Dry, Quiet War by Tony Daniel

“A Dry, Quiet War” is a 1996 science fiction novelette by Tony Daniel. It is about a hero from the war at the end of time who returns to his home planet only to find more trouble.

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:

“A Dry, Quiet War” follows Henry Bone, a man who for the past fifteen years has been serving in a future war – a big one at the end of time itself. He returns to his ranch on the planet Ferro and tries to start up a normal life once again. He begins distilling whiskey, and slowly gets re-involved with Bex, the woman he has always loved. It doesn’t take long, however, before he discovers the new local thugs – and although he tries to stay out of their affairs some things are just too personal to ignore!

I looked at it closely now. It was female, but that did not mean much in halandana splices. I could see it phase around the edges with dead, gray flames. I clicked in wideband overspace and I could see through the halandana to the chair it was sitting in and the unpainted wood of the wall behind it. And I saw more, in the spaces between spaces. The halandana was keyed in to a websquad; it wasn’t really an individual anymore. Its fate was tied to that of its unit commander. So the war-ghosts -­­ the glims -­­ were a renegade squad, most likely, with a single leader calling the shots. For a moment, the halandana glanced in my direction, maybe feeling my gaze somewhere outside of local time, and I banded down to human normal. It quickly went back to what it was doing. Bex made sure Thredmartin was all right, then came back over to my table.

“We’re not even in its time line,” I said. “It doesn’t think of us as really being alive.”

My Two Cents:

• The good:

• The idea of a big “be-all, end-all” war at the end of time itself was really intriguing – especially when I learned that the soldiers were drafted from all throughout human history.
• “A Dry, Quiet War” is very well written. It’s a good story told well – and that makes it great.
• Just like the old spaghetti westerns, this story is about mean old thugs who are constantly asking for a whoopin’! It doesn’t let you down either – the ending is extremely satisfying!

• The bad:

• There are some adult situations in “A Dry, Quiet War”. C’mon, he *has* been in a war for fifteen years, and getting back with his girlfriend – well, you can imagine what might happen.
• The ending gets a little bit violent – the thugs get what’s coming to them – and in a spectacularly funny way too.

Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 15

• Word Count: 9,011

• “A Dry, Quiet War” garnered the following awards:

• This story placed third in the 1997 Asimov’s Reader Poll for best novelette.
• It also placed seventh in the 1997 Locus Award poll.

Where you can find “A Dry, Quiet War”:

• This novelette first appeared in the June 1996 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction.
• “A Dry, Quiet War” is included in Gardner Dozois’s amazing collection The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year’s Best Science Fiction. (Read my review of this book.)
• You can read a free online version at Infinity Plus.

Some Interesting Links:

• Did you know that Tony Daniel attended film school? Yep, you can learn more about this science fiction author by reading the fact sheet about him at Infinity Plus.
• I’m not the only one who really likes this story. Apparently, Mike thinks it’s pretty cool too.

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you might also like Salvador, a story about a group of specially trained US soldiers using drugs to enhance their fighting abilities in Central America, by Lucius Shepard.

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