Last man to die in alien war

[caseym]

Fairly recent short story about a grunt soldier who is selected by the alien enemy to be the sacrificial last human to die to end an interminable war.

 

[otistdog]

Is this the one where the human has to choose to die along with the alien so that the aliens can end the war honorably, otherwise they will fight until extinction?

 

[caseym]

Is this the one where the human has to choose to die along with the alien so that the aliens can end the war honorably, otherwise they will fight until extinction?

Yes. The aliens are upset that the humans have fought with "proportionate repsonses" stringing them along until they now face extinction. Told from the human's POV. I remenber nearly everything about it but the author and title and it's really bugging me.

 

[tinkerdan]

Anne Wilson's Fearful Symmetry fits this bill. Its a novella and is available through many places that deal with creative commons offerings.

Fearful Symmetry / A Terran Empire novel by Ann Wilson

 

[Bick]

Crikey - I just read the first few 'pages' out of pure curiosity. It's not so great is it?

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Crikey - I just read the first few 'pages' out of pure curiosity. It's not so great is it?

Fearful may be too soft a word.

Actually, the premise sounds familiar to me, and the only place I would have encountered any recent short stories is in F&SF magazine, 2012. I got a subscription for Christmas two years ago (I believe it actually started with the October-ish issue), and it wasn't repeated this past Christmas, so somewhere in that year is the only recent exposure I've had.

My memory being what it is, however, I wouldn't guarantee it was in there. It could be something else entirely, from way back, that I'm thinking of.

 

[tinkerdan]

I would have to have more definitive information than that small snippet below.

Crikey - I just read the first few 'pages' out of pure curiosity. It's not so great is it?

Some writing is a matter of taste and though I've not read this one recently I don't recall it being that god awful; but I'm sure if you could elucidate on your reaction of 'not so great' with a more concise notion of what's not so great that I might be tempted to take a fresh look at it.(All that I know is it fits the bill.) I would like to know if there is a previous earlier work other than this from 1992 with the same plot though, because that would say even more along with the not so great.

 

[caseym]

Anne Wilson's Fearful Symmetry fits this bill. Its a novella and is available through many places that deal with creative commons offerings.

No, not it. That reads more like a parody. The one I'm thinking of is more a dialogue between the human and the alien, as the human comes to terms with his fate.

Otistdog is probably on point.

 

[caseym]

My memory being what it is, however, I wouldn't guarantee it was in there. It could be something else entirely, from way back, that I'm thinking of.

I believe it is recent, and I may have read it in an anthology.

 

[caseym]

Never mind. I have it.

Cherryh, "The Scapegoat" Alien Stars, 1985.

 

[otistdog]

I'm glad you found it! I knew the story but didn't recall the author or title any better than you. Thanks for posting the answer to your own question.