The Enemy Papers (Mass Market Paperback)

by Barry Longyear (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"The Enemy Papers" contains a newly edited and expanded-by-the-author version of "Enemy Mine" and its two sequels, "The Last Enemy" and "The Tomorrow Testament", published together for the first time. A battle between the Dracs and humans becomes personal when a fighter pilot from each side crashes on a distant planet. Survival means overcoming their greatest enemy--their own rage. .

About the Author
Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell Award winner, Barry Longyear is author of Enemy Mine, made into a major motion picture by Fox. Recent works include The Enemy Papers and Yesterday’s Tomorrow. Having completed training as a PI, he has entered the world of mystery writing with The Hangman’s Son. He lives with his wife, Jean, in New Sharon, Maine. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 655 pages
• Publisher: White Wolf Publishing; 1 edition (February 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565048598
• ISBN-13: 978-1565048591
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,622,151 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superbly written alien history with a dynamite ending!, February 2, 1999

By A Customer

Even if you have read the previous versions of Barry Longyear's books Enemy Mine and the Tomorrow Testament, buy this book! Besides definitive editions of those two books, Longyear adds the concluding volume, The Last Enemy, plus a fascinating alien Bible called the Talman and some humorous essays(such as what happens when you discover you have to invent an alien language.) As a three volume history of war and peace these books are tremendous science fiction. The ending to the last book was an unparalleled piece of writing that I cannot forget. Longyear is sometimes humorous,sometimes serious,and he writes about his aliens anthropologically so that by the end you understand their culture as well as their philosophy. It is a complete story, and well worth reading.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome aliens, March 2, 2002

By	JeSuisse - See all my reviews

This is the book that got me hooked on Longyear. Unfortunately he hasn't written too much, but what's there (and not out of print yet) is great.

The three stories, Enemy Mine, The Tomorrow Testament and The Last Enemy, are all great and fairly different in topic. The first one is about two enemy soldiers forced to rely on each other - a fairly basic plot but it gets to you, especially after the alien child Zamis is born. The Tomorrow Testament centers around a blind human (female) POW that is destined for greatness... and the story has one of the best plot twists I've ever seen. We're in the League of movies like The Sixth Sense and The Usual Suspects here (for lack of a better way to compare it). The Last Enemy tells us something about wars such us the one that rages in Palestine or in Northern Ireland, written from the perspective of a Drac Freedom Fighter who's fed up with fighting.

The aliens are beautifully rendered; they have their own culture that may well be the most finely worked out alien culture I've ever encountered. Even though a lot of it is borrowed from our own cultures and schools of philosophy, it still makes a beautiful whole.

The Talman, the alien bible, is a neat feature to add to the book and stands on it's own.

Science fiction that captures you, makes the book a page-turner and still manages to cut deep. You'll come away from these stories deeply moved and wishing for more.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Enemy Papers": two thumbs up!, March 25, 2004

By	K. Molnar "Chainreaver" (Greensboro) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rumor has it the tenitive title for this book was "Enemy Mine Omnibus", but in the long run I'm glad they didn't call it that.

"The Enemy Papers" is a collection of stories having to do with the war between the Dracs and Humans. The collection starts with an "abridged" version of the Draconian Talman or holy book.

A revised/extended author's addition of "Enemy Mine" comes next in line with contains a closer look at Shigan and Davidage's relationship and, later, the relationship Davidage has with the Jeriba family.

"The Tomorrow Testement" is the story of a human female soldier who gets taken to the Dracon as a POW and how she caught the eye of a leading Draconian offical and helped bring an end to the war. Bear this in mind; "Enemy Mine" and "Tomorrow Testement" occur at the same time.

"The Last Enemy" takes place around 30 years after "Enemy Mine", only this time from the point of view of a Draconian terrorist living on the planet that started the entire war. This unique view into the after effects of the peace treaty and the universal mindset of a war weary soldier is a nice addition to this collection.

The collection is completed with a set of essays about writing alien languages, Longyear's experiences writing the stories and a small Drac/English-English/Drac dictionary for those of us who are obsessed with these stories. Longyear does admite that, with a little persuassion, he might continue the series, complete the Talman and lenghten the dictionary.

With a little persuassion.