Vietnam War Fiction

The peak of the hot season, 1942: The wars in Europe and Asia and the Japanese occupation have upset the uneasy balance of French Indochina. In the Vietnamese fishing village of Phan Thiet, Tuyet ekes out a living at a small storefront with her aunt Coi, her cousin Ha, and her two-year-old daughter, Anh. She can hardly remember her luxurious life in the city of Saigon, which she left just two years ago.

A scathing indictment of the corruption of the human soul by war, Kenneth Levin’s bracingly honest and harrowing debut is reminiscent of masterworks like Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and Bao Ninh’s The Sorrow of War. A decorated combat veteran whose his own experiences in Vietnam are combined with the personal interviews of North Vietnamese veterans, Levin deftly explores the nature of man amidst the chaos and horror of war. As illuminating as it is disturbing, Crazy Razor demonstrates with stark clarity that the real villain in war…is war itself.

Fifty years after the end of the Vietnam War, literary voices of the Vietnamese-American diaspora, as well as Vietnam-based authors, speak to the experience of those who left and those who stayed in THE COLORS OF APRIL, a collection of new short fiction curated by award-winning translators and editors Quan Manh Ha and Cab Tran.

Following the myths and legends about Nazis recruited by the French Foreign Legion to fight in Indochina, Eric Meyer's new book is based on the real story of one such former Waffen-SS man who lived to tell the tale.

In 1961, equipped with a master’s degree from famed Columbia Journalism School and letters of introduction to Associated Press bureau chiefs in Asia, 26-year-old Beverly Deepe set off on a trip around the world. Allotting just two weeks to South Vietnam, she was still there seven years later, having then earned the distinction of being the longest-serving American correspondent covering the Vietnam War and garnering a Pulitzer Prize nomination.

In the gripping novella “After the Inferno,” Sergeant Andy Carter and his squad are thrust back into the heart of the Vietnam War, mere days after surviving a harrowing ordeal. As they navigate the treacherous jungles and face a relentless enemy, the bonds of brotherhood are tested, and sacrifices must be made. Carter’s leadership is put to the ultimate test when an ambush leaves him wounded and separated from his men. With time running out and the enemy closing in, the squad must confront their deepest fears and summon the courage to rescue their fallen leader.

In 1980, the Vietnam War was a distant memory for Eddie Henderson. He has a loving wife, a beautiful home, and a good job as a teacher. He’s built a new life for himself in Austin, Texas. But when a local newspaper reveals that his most hated enemy still lives, he soon finds himself dragged back into the violence and bloodshed of wartime memories.

Author Glyn Haynie, a Vietnam veteran, draws upon his own experiences to create a vivid and authentic portrayal of the war, immersing listeners in the intense action, camaraderie, and sacrifices made by the soldiers on the ground. As Carter and his men face the constant threat of enemy fire and the unforgiving terrain, they are thrust into a harrowing battle for survival when a raging inferno engulfs the hillside.

A dedicated U. S. Army assault helicopter pilot in Vietnam just wants to do his job and return home to his wife and family. But to do so, he has to survive harrowing combat missions, bad weather, mechanical problems, human error, and a commander who is more interested in personal glory and promotion than his men’s well-being. Along the way, he participated in the last major American combat operation of the war—Lam Son 719, a major incursion into Laos, which lasted sixty days and was the costliest period of the war for helicopter pilots and crew members.

Loss of Innocence is a story of the early days of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. It is a story of one young man's journey into that covert world. Boots comes from a simple life, but he finds that the world is nothing like he imagined when he teams up with Silver, a career soldier and more, and learns what war is really about.

The perfect complement to the exquisitely wrought novels Ru and Mãn, Canada Reads winner Kim Thúy returns with Vi, exploring the lives, loves and struggles of Vietnamese refugees as they reinvent themselves in new lands. The daughter of an enterprising mother and a wealthy, spoiled father who...

Counting bodies in Vietnam. In this earthy war/peace novel, comedy frames grim pictures of war. Morris weaves combat, a love affair, and military satire—acted out by grunts, hookers, Vietcong soldiers, spies, heroes, and inane officers—into a story that is by turns terrifying, gruesome, and comic.

Though his father—a WW2 vet—tries to talk him into staying in college, young Andy Carter wants to follow his dreams. Dreams of serving his country and bringing communism to its knees. He joins the Army and after training finds himself due to ship to Vietnam.

Private Andy Carter and his squad redouble their efforts to hunt Ramsey down. The truth about Ramsey leaves the men reeling. He’s alive. The brothers in arms must hunt him down. They meet up with unexpected allies, reunite with German Shepard soldier Alice, and discover Ramsey’s whereabouts. When their unexpected allies pledge support for the squad, Carter finally sees closure on the horizon. But Ramsey might not come willingly. The men will be risking life and limb for one of their own, one who might not deserve their sacrifice.

The Vietnam War could have been called a comedy of errors if the consequences weren’t so deadly and tragic. In 1951, while war was raging in Korea, the United States began signing defense pacts with nations in the Pacific, intending to create alliances that would contain the spread of Communism. As the Korean War was winding down, America joined the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, pledging to defend several nations in the region from Communist aggression. One of those nations was South Vietnam.

The controversial Battle at Xa Long Tan was not only a critical episode in Australia's Vietnam involvement; it was also a textbook nightmare in the history of jungle warfare. Reconstructing this dramatic action from secret documents and the vivid recollections of many diggers who fought at Long Tan, Terry Burstall challenges the official army version.

One of the greatest Vietnam War novels ever written, by an award-winning writer who experienced it firsthand. Deployed to Vietnam with the U.S. Army's 1069 Intelligence Group, Spec. 4 James Griffin starts out clear-eyed and hardworking, believing he can glide through the war unharmed. But the...

Maine, 1969. After losing her parents in a car accident, aspiring artist Annalisa Mancuso lives with her grandmother and their large Italian family in the stifling factory town of Payton Mills. Inspired by her mother, whose own artistic dreams disappeared in a damaged marriage, Annalisa is dedicated only to painting. Closed off to love, and driven as much by her innate talent as she is the disillusionment of her past, Annalisa just wants to come into her own.

A gripping account of ordinary men with extraordinary courage and heroism who had one last chance to make good—and one helluva war zone to do it in. The new commander of the Company E, 52d Infantry LRRPs, Capt. George Paccerelli, was tough, but the men’s new AO was brutal. It was bad...

This work pertains to the Vietnam experience as it relates to young men performing duties in the Rear Echelon. These texts are farcical, ribald and, in some cases disturbing. No claim of objectivity in my reporting... I interpret through satire, political incorrectness, hyperbole, and profanity. Don't look for courageous deeds...in my group, heroic action didn't come without extreme prodding.