War Short Stories

Running off to join the French Foreign Legion used to be every boy's dream of action and adventure. But for Lieutenant Bill Reilly - half Irish, half American, and like Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, a Westerner at war in the desert - the dream has turned into a nightmare. And it all begins with the gruesome delivery of a severed hand…

The Chinese city of Shunkien is under siege, the Japanese military laying it to waste. In the middle of the city sits the American consulate, a fragile sanctuary packed with refugees, threatened not only by artillery, but by the ravages of starvation and cholera. 200 miles away, on the USS Miami, stands their only hope - Marine Gunnery Sergeant James Mitchell. As tough as Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan - and just as stubborn - if anybody can negotiate a crucial supply of gold and medicine through 200 miles of bullets, bombs and butchery, it’s Sergeant Mitchell.

Pilot Terry Lee has taught Bill Trevillian everything he knows about flying, enough that Bill's know considered the ace of American test pilots just as war breaks out in World War II Europe. Unknown to Bill, Terry's also taught his own kid sister, Kip, who's now almost as good a pilot as Bill and quite the looker to boot.

In the last days of pre-World War II China and the rise of Communism, Jim Dahlgren, representative of the Amalgamated Aeronautical Company, has had enough of the fatalistic brand of diplomacy from other nations that claim to want a united China, one that can resist invasion from without and treason within - but which refuses to intervene and prevent it's demise. When Dahlgren disappears - purportedly to find a mysterious aviator, the man called "Wind-Gone-Mad" - he ignites a series of actions which just may spell disaster.

Barto is a genetically engineered soldier in a future war. He has body armor, enhanced reflexes, and a laser lance as a deadly weapon, but he can kill with his bare hands as well. His entire life has been designed for combat, to kill and die on the battlefield, to destroy the enemy. That is all he knows. He doesn’t have to worry about making complex decisions. But when he is cut off from the rest of his squadron, freed from the constant drone of commands, he is confronted with the most terrifying crisis - the possibility of peace.

Meet Lieutenant Flint: hard-edged and muscle-bound, radiating machismo - a bull of a soldier. In the opposite corner stands Captain Turner: with his pencil mustache and tailored shirts, he’s a Trick Soldier - smart, crisply-dressed, and always at attention. They’re fire and ice, oil and water. Ten years ago and a thousand miles away, they attended boot camp together. They didn’t get along then...and they don’t get along now. Reunited in the Haitian jungles, in the midst of a fierce rebel uprising, they confront the most dangerous enemy of all - each other.

Josh and Tony aren’t any great shakes on the basketball court—but with the fate of the planet on the line, they’re going to have to step up. A short story from Guys Read: Other Worlds, edited by Jon Scieszka...

American pilot Mike Malloy has learned his lesson: when you join the French Foreign Legion, it’s best not to wipe the floor with two French officers...no matter how richly they deserve it. And it appears he has all the time in the world to think about it. He’s been sentenced to five years in a Moroccan penal battalion - which is French for death sentence. But Malloy is about to get a reprieve...if he’s willing to fly into the heart of the Sahara and into the teeth of a Berber rebellion.

He’s a handsome American Lieutenant in the French Foreign Legion. She’s a beautiful woman who’s as fiery as the North African sun...and as mysterious as the far side of the moon. And she’s all his - bought and paid for in the village square. Put them together, and you’re sure to get fireworks.

Embittered by past failures and broken dreams, American fighter pilot David Duane believes in but one cause - his own. Europe is at war, and he’ll fight it for a price, selling his deadly flying skills to the highest bidder. Duane has come to the icy white wastes of Scandinavia to wage a private war in the skies. But he’s about to take off on a flight and undertake an unforgettable journey - On Blazing Wings - to a place beyond the imagination...leading to a revelation that will open his eyes and his heart.

The Japanese military has turned the once-thriving Chinese city of Nencheng into a reeking pile of blood and ash. And now the Japanese Rising Sun threatens to scorch the ancient - and oil-rich - Kingdom of the Silver Lake. Can the Chinese survive the onslaught? Do they have a prayer? The answer is about to fall out of the sky. He is The Falcon Killer.

American Ann Halliday is as fiery as the Sahara sun. And now she’s feeling some real heat, as the prize captive of the Berber leader Abd el Malek also known as “The Killer”. But Abd el Malek wants Ann alive - and in chains - subject to his every whim and fantasy. Dusty Colton, however, an American deserter from the French Foreign Legion, has a different idea, and he’s determined to give “The Killer” a taste of his own bloody medicine. The only problem is Dusty himself is wanted for murder.

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Johnny Trescott is as smart, tough, and fearless as they come. But he’s about to lose everything - his boat, his freedom, and his identity. Johnny’s mission is to track down drug runners in the Gulf of Mexico, and he’s got his eye on the biggest fish of all - Georges Coquelin. But an SOS from a downed plane that’s sinking fast leads him straight to disaster. Coquelin springs a trap. Stranding Johnny and the plane’s passengers on a deserted island, the drug smuggler commandeers Johnny’s boat and his name.

Fight demons. Fall in love. Save the world. Welcome to Angel Academy. Need to escape into a world of take charge heroines, hot angels, and a battle that rages between good and evil - and for Celeste’s heart? Look no further. My name is Celeste Venoix and I’m no angel. I never had a family, so I’ve been taking care of myself ever since I was a kid. One night, some creep follows me home, and I use my fists to put him in his place. After the brawl, a handsome stranger approaches me, saying that I might be an angel.

Winchester Remington Smith is a crack shot. Problem is, surrounded by roller coasters and merry-go-rounds, his talent is going to waste, knocking down ducks in a carnival shooting gallery. Win wants some real action, and he’s running off to join the US Marines to fight a guerilla insurgency south of the border. In the jungles of Central America, Win takes a different kind of roller-coaster ride. Quick and quiet, he’s now a runner. It’s a vital role, but he feels like a messenger boy, unable to put his rifle to good use.

He taught her to trust. He taught her to love. And then, he left her behind without a word. Tonight, he's back. Whether for a moment or forever depends on the turn of a card. Twenty-one to win - or to lose it all. Their future hinges on her dealing him the right card.

War is a serious business - or is it? Christopher Anvil turns his sardonic sense of humor loose on the subject. Hard-SF legend and Analog regular Christopher Anvil brings together mind-bending ideas and grim-but-true black humor in the face of war's utter destruction in this mega-compilation.

Thousands of short stories were published during the First World War, which coincided with the heyday of the fiction magazine in Britain. Much of this material has never been republished since the end of the war and is virtually lost to the modern audience. This new collection is an important work of recovery, introducing little-known magazine short fiction - which was primarily written for a civilian readership - by major writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle as well as more neglected authors.

These 12 stories reflect the combat infantry experience of the Vietnam War--in the gritty “Tanks”, “Called of God”, and “Incubation Period”. There’s also the woman’s perspective of Arlene, a naive Red Cross volunteer or “Doughnut Dolly” in “A Man’s World".

Kiev. 1942. Larissa is a renowned embroiderer, surviving in occupied Ukraine as a seamstress in her ruin of a workshop. When an SS officer arrives to order a traditionally embroidered Ukrainian shirt, Larissa uses the opportunity to create a piece of art from her handiwork. Threading together the history and the horrors between the two enemies, she finds a way to express her defiance toward the Nazis and the local collaborators. But at what price? Prepare yourself for an unforgettable journey behind the Second World War’s eastern front.