The Forever War by Joe Haldeman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Forever War
Book Review: AWESOME!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Very cruel, very blunt, totally believable view of a possible future. The scientific details make think for a long time after reading it.Book Review: Absolutely Brilliant.
Summary: 5 Stars
"Tonight we're going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man."
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman won both the Hugo an Nebula Awards for Best novel, and its easy to see why. It is truly a masterpiece of hard Sci-Fi. Written as an allegory to the author's own experience in the Vietnam War, the book follows the story of one young conscript and his time served in the never ending war with the Taurans.
Private William Mandella was drafted due to his unique skill set, and trained to fight in the far reaches of space. However due to relativity each mission while taking mere months subjectively can take years or even centuries back on Earth. Haldeman uses this to explore radical social and economic possibilities in our future.
I absolutely loved this book. The Science is hard enough to dazzle you, but not so hard as to leave you scratching your head in confusion. The story is wonderful. The author uses his experiences well to demonstrate not only the dangers a soldier faces in combat, but those he faces off duty, and while trying to reassimilate into the public. If you haven't read this book, and you at all enjoy Sci-Fi pick it up now.
9.5 out of 10
Book Review: Action, Romance, Politics... and a page turner!
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book 25 years ago as a young teen, and it blew me away. The sexuality, graphic action, sci-fi tech and simple literary style made the book a wonderful treat. What a surprise that a book my father recommended (he was a Vietnam Vet) was so darn entertaining. I was a tough teen, but I cried at the ending.
I read it again about 5 years ago, and it blew me away. But for entirely different reasons. The sex and violence is nothing compared to an episode of anything on TV, but that is not what interested me. The main character is real and engaging. I saw through his eyes, and was empathetic to his emotions. While the story creates a natural message against war, it is more about the natural strength of human character. I cried at the end... again.
How can I recommend this book any more? It works on multiple levels, and is one of the most deserving Hugo Award winning novels I have ever read.
Book Review: An SF classic
Summary: 4 Stars
...especially if you're into battle stories, as well as SF. To my mind, heads and tails about Heinleins Starship Troopers (because, well, there's character development). A very good read - highly recommended for SF fans...Book Review: An allegory for both war and aging...
Summary: 5 Stars
(Note: This is a review of the author's "preferred edition". It's not called that, but in the Foreward, Haldeman describes previous iterations and why they didn't include the elements he reintroduced here)
Most people who review this novel seem to focus on the allegory to various wars, particularly the Vietnam War. But having been thinking about how parts of the world feel strange to me (technologically and socially - I had an epiphany regarding Facebook and the similar online networking sites recently), I think the novel works just as well as an allegory for aging.
While the war scenes are quite well done, I found I was looking more forward to what changes would be seen to humanity after every 'tour of duty', in which the main protagonist would age very little as centuries pass on Earth.
I'm not sure I buy that humanity would ever fight a war such as the one in this novel, though it would certainly be a fascinating one. The novel brings home Einstein's relativity paradoxes in a way that none other has yet done for me, although once or twice it appeared as though Haldeman hand waved to make sure that something came out the way he wanted, when if it had been reality the situation wouldn't have been anywhere near as likely to occur.
That doesn't really detract from the novel, as it's really about one man who becomes more and more separated from the people he knows, and even the world he once thought he knew. And in this context, it's one of the best books I've ever read.