"Enemy Mine" is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

novella by American writer Barry B. Longyear. It was originally published in the September 1979 issue of ''

Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publicatio ...

''. The novella's plot concerns two soldiers, one human and one reptilian-like alien, who find themselves stranded together on a hostile

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

. The story won the 1979 Nebula Award for Best Novella, as well as the 1980

Hugo Award for Best Novella The Hugo Award for Best Novella is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novella award is available for works of fiction of between ...

, and was included by Longyear in his 1980 collection ''Manifest Destiny''. It was followed by two

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

s, "The Tomorrow Testament" and "The Last Enemy"; all three stories were included in Longyear's 1998 anthology '' The Enemy Papers'' (the version of "Enemy Mine" included in ''The Enemy Papers'' was labeled as "The Author's cut" and was significantly revised). "Enemy Mine" was adapted into the 1985 film of the same name, directed by

Wolfgang Petersen Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for the World War II submarine warfare film '' Das Boot'' (1981). His other films include '' The ...

, starring

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...

and

Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of '' You Can't Take It with You.'' Shortly after he successfully ...

, and produced by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. A novelization of the film was written by Longyear and David Gerrold and published that same year.

Plot summary

Willis Davidge, a

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

fighter pilot, is stranded along with Jeriba Shigan, a Drac, on a hostile

. Dracs are a race of aliens which are reptilian in appearance and reproduce asexually. Davidge and Jeriba Shigan, whom Davidge nicknames "Jerry", initially attempt to kill one another but quickly realize that cooperation will be the key to their survival.

Awards and nominations

It won the 1979 Nebula Award for Best Novella and the 1980

Adaptations

In 1985, the novella was adapted into a film of the same name, produced by

.''

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''
"SCREEN: 'ENEMY MINE'"
Janet Maslin, ''December 20, 1985'' (accessed 01/10/10) The film is directed by

and stars

and

as Willis Davidge and Jeriba Shigan, respectively.

References

External links

* 1979 short stories Science fiction short stories Hugo Award for Best Novella winning works Works originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction Nebula Award for Best Novella-winning works Extraterrestrial life in popular culture {{1970s-sf-story-stub