Through Road, No Wither
by Greg Bear
At a writers’ conference in Manhattan, KS, I was fortunate enough to sit beside the
very kind and knowledgeable Greg Bear at the conference dinner, and I’ve enjoyed every
piece of his fiction that I’ve read—but I simply didn’t understand this story any
better than I understood its title. The story is set in an alternate version of 1984
where Hitler was victorious, and two lost SS officers come across a hag who (I think)
sends them back in time.
Your cities in flame, your women and children shriveling to black dolls in the heat of
their burning homes. The death camps found and you stand accused of hideous crimes.
“Through Road No Wither” by Greg Bear, in Far
Frontiers, edited by Jim Baen and Jerry Pournelle (Baen Books, January
1985).