In the Shadow of the Wall is an unusual collection of short stories revolving around the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It's a mix of respected sci-fi writers and unknown authors, an eclectic list of contributors which includes veterans of the war itself as well as those who did not serve, those who were opposed to the war, and even some who were too young to remember it. The stories, even those written by those who oppose the war, are uniformly respectful of the men who fought it, and I think this somewhat oblique approach to the subject makes it all the more powerful, especially for those who, three decades later, know very little about the military conflict in Southeast Asia.

None of the stories are straightforward military fiction, and there is at least some supernatural aspect to almost all of them. The quality is high but somewhat irregular, although surprisingly, the lesser lights do more than hold their own here. Given the powerful subject matter, it's not surprising that the stories are more emotionally evocative than the average science fiction collection, but a few are particularly noteworthy in this regard.

Strong Stories: Orson Scott Card's "50 WPM" starts off the collection, and unsurprisingly, it is an excellent story about a man whose typing skills keep him out of the field, but not necessarily out of danger. I thought Michael Brotherton's "Blood Bone Tendon Stone" was the best of the bunch, and was probably the most original in turning the somber Wall into the basis for a thrilling occult-action story that doesn't sound as if it should work, but does. I disliked Nick DiChario's "The One-Half Boy", but the writing was excellent and there is one scene in particular that will make any father want to weep with remembered joy mingled with sorrowful nostalgia. The editor's own contribution, "The Angel of the Wall" is also quite good - I'm still not entirely sure that the plot worked for me, but the characterizations and general quality of the writing allows Mr. Tetrick to pull it off. I didn't want to like Linda Resnick's "Wallgate", but she succeeds in contributing a story that manages to be simultaneously respectful, irreverent and amusing. "Long Time Coming Home" by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough and Rick Reaser has a sweetness to it as well as a unique take on the military phenomenon of the combat buddy.

Weaker Stories: I could have done without the poems, to be sure. Having committed more than a little doggerel myself, I know that good poetry is very difficult and beyond the average prose author. Barry Malzberg's open, and by his own assertion, continuing hatred for the Vietname war does not come across very clearly in his murky "Getting There", and the far future sci-fi of L.E. Modesitt's "The Pilots" isn't very interesting and links awkwardly to the subject matter at hand despite the author's direct experience with the war. My least favorite was Robert Sawyer's "Black Reflection", which like so much genre fiction, simply doesn't handle the concept of religion comfortably or well.

Text Sample: "He lay flat on the ground, on his back." Jack's voice jars me. I'm lost in thought, still stunned by his story. "The sergeant's eyes were glazed, but I could tell that he could still see me because they followed me as I moved towards him. He knew he was going to die. He knew I had set him up and his eyes were asking, why? You know how a dog's eyes look when it's been hurt, and it looks at you not understanding the pain, and not understanding why you can't help it? Imagine a human being looking at you that way. I screamed for a medic, now desperate to save his life. I screamed again as his eyes lost focus and he died."

"I told you it was bad. Now you know why I go to the Wall... searching for the Angel... searching for forgiveness."

"What if she gives you a message from the sergeant and it's full of hate and no forgiveness?" I ask.

His answer surprises me, but it disturbs me even more. "That's OK, too, he says. "Then I'll know how much to hate myself."

That breaks my heart. I don't know what to say. I search desperately for words that will help. I can't find them. Instead, I say, "When do you want to go to the Wall?"

Jack smiles, then answers, "Tomorrow."

- from "The Angel of the Wall" by Byron Tetrick

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