Deserts of Fire explores the concept of endless war and its impact, both personal and societal, through 21 speculative stories about living alongside terrorists, about citizen-soldiers enduring combat and suffering PTSD, and about the dehumanizing aspect of technological war.
In Norman Spinrad's "The Big Flash," following the U.S. government's overly successful attempt to get citizens enthusiastic about deploying nuclear weapons, a character remarks, "We'd all like to get it over with one way or the other." And in "The Sun Inside" by David J. Schwartz, set in the fictional kingdom of Pellucidar first created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, an imperialist general argues, "War isn't something people need; it's something we can't avoid. It's what we do. That being the case, it's imperative to be on the winning side, and not allow enemies--existing or potential--the opportunity to gather strength." In many of these stories, collected and edited by Douglas Lain, it is hard to escape the eschatological impulse, a certain nihilistic drive, that fuels much of war, suggesting that perhaps the only end to war is to end humanity.
In another standout, Ken Liu's "In the Loop," a software engineer, whose father committed suicide due to the stress from his job as a drone pilot, writes code for a new generation of killing machines. He makes them smarter, safer and prone to less "collateral damage," and comes to the realization that "fighting with robots meant that no one had to feel responsible for killing."
This is a fine collection of stories, covering big ideas and conveying thoughtful characterizations. --Evan M. Anderson, collection development librarian, Kirkendall Public Library, Ankeny, Iowa.