Joe Haldeman

Just prior to reading this book, I finished a bloated two-book slog by a very famous science fiction author – a book that won (I believe) a Hugo and a Nebula. That may be enough for you to determine of which book I speak, but no sense dragging the author’s name through the mud in the review of another book. In fact, no review should start with a reference to another book.

However, I bring it up because this book was a cold, deep, crisp, cleansing drink of water after my previous show more experience.

There is much to recommend in this book. To start with, it is a good, fast read. Just under 200 pages, it is amazing to see the experiences and ideas Haldeman squeezes in with so little writing. (And, in this day when bloatedness seems to rule, that makes it so much better.) There is the idea of instant transmission of humans, with a flaw that means we can’t just galivant everywhere. There is the idea of a creature which can cause instantaneous esp between those touching the animal (again, with flaws that create problems.) And then there are aliens that look new and fresh (hard to pull off when so many aliens have already been describe). In addition, our understanding of these aliens shifts many times throughout the book. All done effectively, and all done in such short order.

In addition, Haldeman experiments with content and plotting. Some works; some doesn’t. But it makes for an even better exploration through reading.

This could easily have been a short story/novelette and been successful. But the way Haldeman has told and expanded the story brings dimensions we would have missed through any other delivery.

Finally, there might be some concern that this 1977 book might be dated. I didn’t think so. Maybe I’m reading it with an old man’s eyes, but it seemed as fresh and interesting and relevant as anything I see today. Which means, read it today. show less

A soldier fighting in the interstellar war between humans and an alien species must deal with the time dilation effects of space travel as well as the unending warfare.

I have to wonder why it's Starship Troopers and not this book that is the must-read military science fiction novel. The Forever War is much better written and more entertaining, and I appreciated its anti-war message more than Heinlein's jingoism.

I also enjoyed that the novel made relativity an important part of the plot, so show more that the book spans an incredibly long period of time, incorporating many technological changes and cultural revolutions, while still keeping the same main character. Many novels with light-speed travel seem to forget about relativity. At first, I was put off that the beginning of the book takes place so close to the present day -- it didn't seem realistic -- but once I realized how much time the story was going to cover, I forgave that discrepancy.

All in all, this is an entertaining read that deserves to be a science fiction classic. show less

I read this because Wikipedia said it's a response to Starship Troopers. And what a response it is! The best use of relativity theory in sci-fi I read so far. This book has so much more thought and feeling in it than Starship Troopers. Heinlein should have wrote a 10 page novella, he had so little to say. But this book takes its premise and does go places with it, and has places to go. Both society and war are far more interesting here. I thought I'd be bored by battle scenes but in the best show more possible sci-fi fashion they are new and interesting each the time.
I would give it five stars except I know this isn't of those books I will re-read 10 times. This book doesn't have conversations and details like my favorite books and won't change the way I look at things. But it's a great experience to read once, maybe twice when I forget most of it. And I can't wait to read the sequels :) show less

Some novels are deceptively small: short enough in page count that you can't imagine there will be much of a journey between the covers, only to be walloped by a torrent of events. Such a novel is The Forever War, fast-paced in the sense of "future shock". Alvin Toffler even gets a mention at one point. The potentially lethal combination of military jargon and technobabble happily never goes beyond the pale. The heart of this novel is its direct acknowledgement of time dilation, a phenomenon show more conveniently ignored by sci-fi derisively called 'space opera'. It holds out the hope that Mandella can eventually escape from a cold society that lacks for compassion and humanism whether he's serving with the army or dabbling in civilian life. It's never exactly a dystopia, but not a future to look forward to. It's little wonder that he struggles to find meaning in what he's fighting for.

There's an odd, two-way emotional distance between Mandella and his parents that's never explained, and a brother is suddenly mentioned out of the blue. Maybe this family is just that way - there's no emotion attached whatsoever to the news that his father died - but it comes across as weak characterization, particularly when his 84-yr-old mother is talking like a sociology professor. Mandella at least is well-drawn, particularly in the way his detachment ramps up with his experience: horrified at the rigours of war and peace, then horrified that he's no longer horrified. I'm disappointed with the ending. I feel something entirely different was called for, and I was very surprised not to get it. Dwelling on the ending that's provided would make this novel shallower. Like the time dilation its characters experience, I remind myself it's primarily the journey to get there that counts. show less