What happens when the government machine decides a man would make a good assassin, even if he is a self-professed pacifist? Haldeman's experience in the Vietnam War colors this novel with his anti-government attitude as much as it does "[b:The Forever War|21611|The Forever War|Joe Haldeman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167322714s/21611.jpg|423]". Set in the far future, man has spread out to diverse worlds & colonized them, no matter what the natives may think. It's a great action story as well as a condemnation of our foreign policy. ( )

Disappointing in some ways - a very cold war SF book. It was apparently constructed from short stories and it shows - they are patchily linked although have a single central character who is a double agent or spy using other people's personalities to achieve his ends. It is meant to show how amoral systems use and corrupt people (the central character was raised as a Buddhist) but is somewhat heavy-handed. ( )

This is a great book, that Orson Scott Card must of read. Because, aspects of Speaker for the Dead are lifted straight out of this book. But since most have not read it, since it is out of print, they wouldn't know. Most of it is short stories following the life of the main character, though his experiences as a spy.

Go to the Library and try to find this book. If you like speaker for the Dead, you'll enjoy this book. ( )

From human contact they absorbed a quirky and usually harmless assortment of ideas and things. They wore junk and jewelry. Hated Kept gerbils as pest. human music but collected recordings of city noises. Loved Hilbert, hated Euclid. Kept gerbils as pets; prized caterpillar hors d'ouvres. Did crossword puzzles without looking at the definitions.
I am the Resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, shall live . . .
Were suckers for a resurrection myth.

There were some very interesting alien species in this tale of a Confederacion spy who took on the appearance, personality and memories of other people in order to infiltrate situations where it was suspected that the rights of aliens or humans were being violated. Enjoyable science fiction with a conflicted hero. ( )