The Forever War

As a veteran of the Marine Corps, I tend to shy away from military science fiction. But so many people had recommended this book that I couldn’t ignore them forever.

Apparently, Haldeman was a Vietnam veteran and wrote this book as a scathing satire of the military. I don’t remember who said it, but “military intelligence is an oxymoron.” The book perfectly captures the bureaucracy, the nonsense, and the hurry-up-and-wait aspect of military life. Not to mention the difficulty of getting out of the military and trying to reacclimate to civilian life.

On the positive side, he does an excellent… show more.

I read this book in one sitting on a cold, rainy afternoon/evening, a good bottle of red wine by my side. It's a well-known classic that I'd read years before and only remembered a few vague details about, but it grabbed me straight away all over again. 

William Mandela is a reluctant soldier in a future war against an unknown alien enemy. After surviving his first early battles in far-flung space, the nature of relativity means that the world he returns to is not the same as the one he left. 

Inspired by the author's own history with the Vietnam… show more.

When I met Joe Haldeman, I was struck by how such an unassuming, witty person could write such a gritty, visceral novel about war. Haldeman served in Vietnam, and (by his own admission) his combat experience shines through in Forever War. Yes, this novel captures combat in unflinching detail, but I’m a former professor of war, so what I really care about is the intriguing interplay of time, space, and war. As captured so well in the short story version of the novel, “Time Piece,” this novel is less about fighting and dying and more about what… show more.

It’s one thing to go up against aliens, but it’s a whole other ballgame when both you and the aliens are suffering from massive time dilation effects. Haldeman took the confusion and alienation he experienced during the Vietnam War and transposed it into an interstellar conflict.

What’s so amazing about the action in this book is how it constantly changes as the time periods do. With every battle that William Mandella survives and returns from, generations have passed on Earth, meaning huge sea changes in technology and society. Each fight is with unfamiliar technology and tactics on both sides, making… show more.

Written as a reaction to Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, The Forever War is a fantastic depiction of warfare with no end in sight. Thanks to a propulsion system that ensures decades and even centuries pass in real time, we a follow a soldier’s endless struggle to defend his world and navigate the changing cultural developments of humanity, to a point that they become unrecogniseable.

Another must-read for any die-hard SF fans.

The Forever War was written as sort of a reply to Heinlein’s pro-Vietnam war screed, Starship Troopers. It’s the story of pacifist interstellar infantryman William Mandella. What’s not clear upfront is that traveling millions of light-years takes hundreds of real years. Each time he returns, society has drastically changed beyond his capacity to fit in.

I love the big picture social commentary about endless war, disposable veterans, and how society changes the rules for its fighting men and women. It’s also got aliens and explosions! There’s lots of cool action, thrilling battles, and interesting sci-fi concepts. It’s got your… show more.