Turtledove
Register
Advertisement
"Black Tulip"  
Redshift
Author Harry Turtledove
First Appearance Redshift, Al Sarrantonio, ed.
Publisher Roc
Reprinted Eeriecon Chapbook #5, 2006;
When Diplomacy Fails, 2008
Genre(s) Fantasy, Military Fiction
Publication date 2001

"Black Tulip" is a short story by Harry Turtledove. It was published in Redshift, edited by Al Sarrantonio, Roc, 2001. The story has been reprinted in Eeriecon Chapbook #5 (2006) and When Diplomacy Fails (2008).

"Black Tulip" is a fantasy story set against the historical backdrop of the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s. It uses two POVs, Soviet soldier Sergei and Mujahideen fighter Abdul Satar Ahmedi, as they and their respective comrades prepare to battle over the Soviet-occupied town of Bulola. What neither side knows is that there is a dragon in the mountains outside the town. When fighting erupts, the dragon, long disturbed by the fighting in and around the town, fully awakens, and destroys the Soviet garrison.

Advertisement