The Forever War by Joe Haldeman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Forever War
Book Review: A Classic Hugo Winner
Summary: 5 Stars
Reading this story, it is apparent why it won the Hugo and Nebula awards.
Haldeman takes on two journeys through time with William Mandella, the reluctant protagonist. Mandella is recruited into an elite fighting force in Haldeman's future tale of war with an alien race.
In an ingenious twist, as Mandella ages in months, due to time dilation the earth and everything he knows ages by centuries - a unique perspective on the displaced veteran coming home.
Haldeman fought in the Vietnam War - this book was written in that era and is a crticism on that conflict, and war in general. It is also alleged to be a response to Heinlein's pro-military (but a great read as well) Starship Troopers. The philosophies of the two writers is an interesting contrast.
The book is well written, gripping, with many clever story elements. I highly recommend it to all sci-fi fans, and those interested in military fiction.
Book Review: A Fantastic Piece of Military Science Fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is one of my favorite science fiction novels of all time. While it certainly takes a dismal view towards war, it isn't one of those "horrors of war" books where you can't enjoy the story in and of itself. The story is very compelling and exciting, while the message is subtle but omnipresent.Book Review: A Forever Book
Summary: 4 Stars
An unusual book in that it was copyrighted in the 70's, and isn't outdated in the least. A forever book about "The Forever War". Mr. Haldeman has written a classic that's withstood the test of time, and in a fashion that keeps the readers interest from beginning to end. A great story of unending love during wartime, with action, ingenuity, promise, and an excellent ending too. A star omitted because of minor editing flaws. This book is a keeper.Book Review: A Sci-Fi war story written by an actual veteran
Summary: 5 Stars
Most of the main themes of this book were taken from the authors reactions to changes in his homeland during his absence. At first reading, you would not think this was about Vietnam if only because the story takes place on planets far from earth and in a more and more distant future. Because Mandela travels so close to the speed of light, to and returning from battle, every time he returns to earth everything has changed drastically thus making him a living anachronism. It is easy to see how Vietnam veterans could feel the same way.
I got into this only because I have read a lot of Vietnam non-fiction. The battle scenes are realistic and Mendela mostly stays alive due to luck, which is the case in most Vietnam non-fiction.
A great read that I could not put down. I would highly recommend this to any sci-fi or Vietnam enthusiast.
Book Review: A Solid Product of its Time
Summary: 4 Stars
This slim military sci-fi novel won both a Hugo and Nebula awards following its publication in 1975, but readers today probably need a little context to understand why it was so well-received at the time. First and foremost, it was written as a direct response to the Vietnam War by Haldeman, who served a tour of duty there as a combat engineer and was severely wounded (he's also written several Vietnam-specific novels, including War Year and 1968). In the book, a young physics student named Mandella is drafted for a war against a mysterious alien race. We follow him through complicated and dangerous training, several violent battles, and his return home. Not surprisingly, Haldeman's portrayal of war is a brutal and messy picture, where long periods of boredom are followed by intense battles, death is arbitrary, and heroism nonexistent. Also not surprisingly, the war is revealed to be a misguided endeavor brought on by hawkish political leaders who lie to the public about the war. Needless to say, the public climate of the time was very receptive to such sentiments.The other main noteworthy element of the book is the treatment of interstellar travel, and the distortion of time that results. After his first battle, Mandella returns to Earth to find his loved ones aged 27 years and society largely antiseptic. Just as many Vietnam vets had a difficult time returning home, he and many of his cohort can't handle life of Earth, and re-enlist. The book continues with Mandella shuttling from battle to battle, rising rapidly in seniority as hundreds of subjective years pass to his own few. Haldeman is a physicist, and there's a lot of scientific jargon about relativity theory to explain everything, and for the time, it was pretty exciting stuff for sci-fi readers. However, I found those passages nearly incomprehensible and the need to explain things definitely bogs down the narrative at times. These leaps through time allow Haldeman to do some interesting speculation about the evolution of humanity, as he touches upon cloning, sexuality, and genetics. The emphasis, though, is on Mandella and his personal quest to just survive. This is solid work, with generally good pacing, and a very overt antiwar message that is the product of its times.