Julian Class is a full-time professor and part-time combat veteran who spends a third of each month virtually wired to a robotic "soldierboy." The ...
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Feb 06, 2012
Stephen
rated it: 
4.5 stars. Not an actual "sequel" to Haldeman's brilliant, award-winning novel The Forever War, but rather a further exploration of the themes explored in the earlier novel (the disconnection of soldiers to the society they are fighting for and the effect of war on those who fight them). That said, this is an excellent novel in its own right and I highly recommend it.
Winner: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner: Nebula Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
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Winner: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner: Nebula Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
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Apr 02, 2008
Amy
rated it: 
This is an science fiction story with a fascinating premise: the eradication of war through sensitizing individuals to powerful empathetic connections. Yeah, I know, but what is more intriguing to me is two opposing feelings that I took away from the book. One, I was overwhelmed and utterly convinced of the good in the idea. Two, I felt intensely guilty for witnessing the brainwashing of an entire (albeit fictional) world population. A thought-inspiring story that made up for in ideas what i
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Nov 26, 2011
Ran
rated it: 
I read this novel in the summer of my internship in DC. Haldeman writes a novel soaked in a vietnam war era cynicism worthy of Oliver Stone.
It delves with the ethics of 'free choice' 'transhumanity' and post traumatic stress issues that arise from a soldier fighting a war in the future.
In the novel, first world countries such as the US have long since delegated front line combat to robots called 'soldier boys' These machines are remote operated by soldiers hooked to neu More...
It delves with the ethics of 'free choice' 'transhumanity' and post traumatic stress issues that arise from a soldier fighting a war in the future.
In the novel, first world countries such as the US have long since delegated front line combat to robots called 'soldier boys' These machines are remote operated by soldiers hooked to neu More...
Oct 23, 2011
Saphirablue
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Sep 09, 2011
Mike
rated it:
This book starts slowly, then builds up a formidable foundation of ideas and possibilities before devolving to a fairly silly conclusion. In some ways I found it similar to works by the likes of Crichton or (Neal) Stephenson that build a fascinating world on an engaging premise, then rapidly and artificially generate and resolve a crisis to stand as a plot. I often wish that these authors could take the course of books that exist without plots of deadly peril or fearsome crisis... books like s
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Aug 18, 2009
Scott
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This book is either the best "bad book" or the worst "good book" in science fiction, depending on your perspective. Its plot and structure are a jumbled mess: It basically reads like two separate novellas forced together into a single storyline. The first storyline revolves around the technological as well as psychological needs for fighting a near-future worldwide guerilla war, in which the powers behind a globalized World System must suppress desperate peasants who are on
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Jul 22, 2011
Angela
rated it:
For a book with "peace" in the title, and its prominent theme, this book has some scenes of phenomenal violence. I'm talking splattering gore, "Did that really just happen? Holy God" violence. The final scenes definitely left me shaken.
But Haldeman's a badass, and he hits on so many smart ideas, that I'm willing to forgive the violence and even entertain the prospect that he's making some other, grander point with it. Anyway, it's near future Earth, and America is More...
But Haldeman's a badass, and he hits on so many smart ideas, that I'm willing to forgive the violence and even entertain the prospect that he's making some other, grander point with it. Anyway, it's near future Earth, and America is More...
Apr 23, 2011
Andreas
rated it:
In the bleak future depicted in this novel, the USA and nations allied to it fight a seemingly endless low grade war against a loose coalition of other countries and organizations (sound familiar?). Terror and lies are the norm on both sides. The US uses “Soldierboys”, robots under remote control from soldiers that are “jacked in” (neurally connected) to them from a remote location. The concept of neural jacking is central to the novel, and the effects and side effects are explored at length. Th
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Aug 11, 2011
What if you could remove mankind's instinct for war ?Would you do it,and would there still be a role for the small minority that could not be "cured" ? Joe Haldeman asks some interesting questions in this "thematic sequel" to The Forever War.He's already proved that he can write exceptional military sci fi ,and this novel upholds that reputation.It' can't be easy to write a pacifist military SF novel that still has such detailed descriptions of how future war might be fought.
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Jan 07, 2011
Katie
rated it:
I think this book is a great example of the way speculative fiction can be. The technology was intriguing and easy to grasp, the characters were well-developed and interesting, and the book's pace kept me interested (but was slow enough I could keep track of what was going on easily). The book raises some thought-provoking questions about what it really means to be human. It also presents some interesting (and scary) ideas about the mixed blessing of a world where whole countries of people do
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Nov 22, 2010
Tom
rated it:
Haldeman's award-winning The Forever War has long been one of my favorite novels, and in Forever Peace, I was looking for a similarly powerful read.
Unfortunately, Forever Peace - which is not a sequel (or prequel) to Forever War - is a good book, but not a great one. Set in a post-scarcity world, Forever Peace lacks the jaded sensibility - and the wit - of Haldeman's earlier masterpiece, it does offer an interesting exploration of another kind of war - one fought remotely.
Gi More...
Unfortunately, Forever Peace - which is not a sequel (or prequel) to Forever War - is a good book, but not a great one. Set in a post-scarcity world, Forever Peace lacks the jaded sensibility - and the wit - of Haldeman's earlier masterpiece, it does offer an interesting exploration of another kind of war - one fought remotely.
Gi More...
Jun 12, 2010
Eric
rated it:
A sequel (not really??) to Forever War, this book is mostly about a new method of perfect mental interface. The army uses it to make mentally connected super soldiers who remotely control a group of kill bots. While mentally joined the soldiers have complete shared awareness, this reminds me of the rogue group in the movie Scanners. When someone in the group is killed it can be mentally devastating to the rest of them. Even the shared emotions of battle are very tough on the group.
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May 18, 2009
Jim
rated it:
The book starts off strong with intriguing concepts but gets lost in the second half and ends somewhat unsatisfactorily.
The setting is a future in which intense war rages, including limited nuclear strikes that have eliminated three cities. The story is told alternatingly through the eyes of the main character and a narrator. This main character, Julian, is an attractive character: an intellegent soldier-scholar with complex emotions.
As with much SF, this deals with larg More...
The setting is a future in which intense war rages, including limited nuclear strikes that have eliminated three cities. The story is told alternatingly through the eyes of the main character and a narrator. This main character, Julian, is an attractive character: an intellegent soldier-scholar with complex emotions.
As with much SF, this deals with larg More...
Jan 13, 2011
Thx1138
rated it:
..really liked 'forever war'..great idea that I think is being made into a movie now. Didn't like second book. To me it was milking something good for the wrong reasons. Jumpy, detail in one chapter and the next it skips over major plot points like nothing is happening. A war story or a love story or a spy story or what? To me it seemed like he used idea points from 'all my sins remembered' and the title of 'forever war' part 2 to sell books. I am suprized this won both Hugo and Nebula to tell t
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Dec 13, 2010
Kevin
rated it:
I read all three of Haldeman's "Forever" series, since two of them - this one and "Forever War" - are on my Hugo/Nebula reading project lists. Unfortunately, I like each one less than the one before it. "Forever Peace" is a muddle. Also, and this may be purely personal preference, I think the "tell a long complicated story and then wrap it all up in a big 5 page reveal" mode of storytelling is lazy and lacks skill. That's exactly what he does in this b
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Feb 20, 2011
Jeremy
rated it:
It took slogging through nearly the first half of this book before the story became at all compelling. I found it difficult to become attached to the main character, Jullian, and the story just wasn't very interesting until the fate of the planet was in the balance, well into the book. Also, the POV switches back and fourth between First & third person, and the transitions seemed clunky and somewhat arbitrary. When the major plot turn was finally revealed, this book did somewhat redeem itself by
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Mar 07, 2011
Andrew
rated it:
When people who are skeptical about the merits of Science Fiction ask me about a book I'm reading, I always use the following formula.
Good science fiction usually takes a world or universe similar to ours, introduce a few futuristic principals, and then examine social, political, economic, and/or emotional conditions in this world. The fabricated concepts are fantastical, but conceivable in today's exploding technological advancements. It is easier to earn the respect of Non-SF rea More...
Good science fiction usually takes a world or universe similar to ours, introduce a few futuristic principals, and then examine social, political, economic, and/or emotional conditions in this world. The fabricated concepts are fantastical, but conceivable in today's exploding technological advancements. It is easier to earn the respect of Non-SF rea More...
Oct 21, 2010
Jimmy
rated it:
Forever Peace is about as similar to Forever War as a Centrosaurus is to a Pliosaur. Where the latter two are similar, primarily and nearly solely, in that they are reptiles, the former are similar only in that they are books written by Joe Haldeman.
A Pliosaur mostly roams the seas venturing from place to place occasionally stopping to rip apart some unsuspecting...well...anything that's edible, much like Forever War where William Mandella roams open space from place to place occasi More...
A Pliosaur mostly roams the seas venturing from place to place occasionally stopping to rip apart some unsuspecting...well...anything that's edible, much like Forever War where William Mandella roams open space from place to place occasi More...
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May 24, 2010
Ashley
rated it:
This is the kind of sci-fi that my students would absolutely love, full of action and adventure packaged into bite sized sections. This is not a sequel to Haldeman's Forever War, which I did like a smidge more. The novel follows a black physicist turned military avatar-esque team leader as he and his friends try to disrupt a super-collider orbiting Jupiter before it takes out the galaxy and manage to find a way to re-program humans into pacifists. Ambitious, with a Haldeman happy ending to rival
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May 30, 2010
Ilia
rated it:
This is science fiction's best "worst book" (to steal another reviewer's quote).
There are some interesting ideas here, but most of them are only tangential to most of the book.
A video-game war, with one side fighting desperately with every person and the other using remote-controlled robots controlled, is simply an extension of our current realities. The idea that the population at home would tune in to these first-person feeds of massacre and destruction is bo More...
There are some interesting ideas here, but most of them are only tangential to most of the book.
A video-game war, with one side fighting desperately with every person and the other using remote-controlled robots controlled, is simply an extension of our current realities. The idea that the population at home would tune in to these first-person feeds of massacre and destruction is bo More...
Dec 31, 2008
Rob
rated it:
Though not a sequel to The Forever War, it's similar name and same author force the comparison to be made.
The basic idea of Forever Peace is that implants in people allow them to control military equipment remotely by being jacked in. The controllers can die, so they're not entirely removed. People can also interact with each other while jacked in, and this allows for a deeper connection than is possible through normal interaction: speaking, touching, connecting. The theme is that t More...
The basic idea of Forever Peace is that implants in people allow them to control military equipment remotely by being jacked in. The controllers can die, so they're not entirely removed. People can also interact with each other while jacked in, and this allows for a deeper connection than is possible through normal interaction: speaking, touching, connecting. The theme is that t More...
Nov 13, 2008
Craig
rated it:
This novel follows protagonist Julian Class, an uneasy draftee into a war whose motives he is unconvinced by. Advances in technology have made it such that 'mechanics' such as him fight battles from thousands of kilometres away - in relative safety - controlling massive 'soliderboy' mechanized units. The real twist in the technology is that squads of ten 'soldierboys' are simultaneously controlled by a group of ten individuals who share one consciousness. The description and exploration of sh
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Sep 24, 2008
Elze
rated it:
Not only "Forever Peace" is not a sequel to "Forever War": it's not even set in the same future. The only thing they have in common is that there is an endless war going on in both, but in "Peace" it's confined to Earth. Oh, and "Forever Peace" actually has a plot, which alone puts it head and shoulders above "Forever War". It's also not ridden with anachronisms. More than that, the political and cultural picture of the world portrayed in "F
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Mar 31, 2008
Daniel
rated it:
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Mar 24, 2008
Bill
rated it:
Military sci-fi, with the exception of Enders Game, doesn't really float my boat. This one was pretty good, though I'm still not down with the first person vernacular narrative, especially when that vernacular mixes military terminology with terminology used to describe things that don't exist yet. I have as hard a time figuring out what the author is writing about as I do wrapping my arms around the futuristic plot.
What's particularly tough about this book: Haldeman abruptly and frequ More...
What's particularly tough about this book: Haldeman abruptly and frequ More...
Oct 21, 2007
http://www.nicholaswhyte.info/sf/forpeace.htm[return][return]Julian Class and his lover Amelia Harding are physicists at a Texas university in 2049. Julian is also a part-time conscripted soldier, fighting ten days a month in the Central American front of a war between the developed world and the developing world, but doing his fighting by remote control as the brains of a military robot. He and his platoon are linked by a neurological modification known as "jacking" which enables them
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Apr 29, 2009
Mark
rated it:
A disappointingly inept novel built upon a thin concept, and arguably the weakest of the '90s Hugo Award winners (even begrudging Bujold her exaggerated showings at the early '90s conventions). Forever Peace's central failure is not one of craftsmanship, but one of reach. Haldeman builds a premise that hints at a moral complexity that the novel brazenly ignores, discarding a compelling question of free will in favor of a simple game of good vs. evil. To sum up, without revealing the book's fe
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Jan 12, 2009
Erik
rated it:
I really liked the author's Forever War.
This one, however, not so much. It was, well, weird. Seemed very unfocused; starts out as an exploration into the future of modern warfare. Then into some sort of apocalyptic doomsday conspiracy thriller. Very superficial feeling.
From a sci-fi standpoint, I was never convinced he knew the science behind what he was talking about which is a big no-no!
Ah well. A basically enjoyable read, but I wouldn't seek it out.
This one, however, not so much. It was, well, weird. Seemed very unfocused; starts out as an exploration into the future of modern warfare. Then into some sort of apocalyptic doomsday conspiracy thriller. Very superficial feeling.
From a sci-fi standpoint, I was never convinced he knew the science behind what he was talking about which is a big no-no!
Ah well. A basically enjoyable read, but I wouldn't seek it out.
Dec 21, 2008
Matt
rated it:
A possible prequel to Forever Peace, whether it is or not is not important, it's a great novel. Haldeman is probably one of best American science fiction writers living today.
If I remember correctly, it is about future soldiers who link to their "Mech" like armor with jacks that go directly into their nervous systems. They can also link with each other. There is a plot that must have been inspired by CERN's Large Hadron Supercollider controversy.
If I remember correctly, it is about future soldiers who link to their "Mech" like armor with jacks that go directly into their nervous systems. They can also link with each other. There is a plot that must have been inspired by CERN's Large Hadron Supercollider controversy.
May 05, 2011
Nikki
rated it:
Forever Peace is an interesting book in itself, describing how the group mind from The Forever War/Forever Free could come about, but I didn't really engage with it very much emotionally. Partially because the main character, Julian, is self-destructive and emotionally off. It's self-defence, perhaps. It's not a headspace I want to spend much time in. At least it's reasonably well handled.
It isn't really connected to the other books very closely, either, which doesn't help, and the swi More...
It isn't really connected to the other books very closely, either, which doesn't help, and the swi More...
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