The Forever War: The Best of the SF Masterworks

by Joe Haldeman

Genres: Science Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published November 24, 2022

About the author

Brother of Jack C. Haldeman II

Haldeman is the author of 20 novels and five collections. The Forever War won the Nebula, Hugo and Ditmar Awards for best science fiction novel in 1975. Other notable titles include Camouflage, The Accidental Time Machine and Marsbound as well as the short works "Graves," "Tricentennial" and "The Hemingway Hoax." Starbound is scheduled for a January release. SFWA president Russell Davis called Haldeman "an extraordinarily talented writer, a respected teacher and mentor in our community, and a good friend."

Haldeman officially received the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master for 2010 by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America at the Nebula Awards Weekend in May, 2010 in Hollywood, Fla.

Reviews

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

While "The Forever War" can be challenging to follow at times due to its non-linear narrative and complex concepts, the payoff is worth it. The novel culminates in a satisfying and thought-provoking conclusion, tying together its themes of war, love, and the human condition. Overall, despite its occasional difficulty in navigation, the ending delivers a fulfilling resolution, contributing to its enduring appeal.

[Steven Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic Sci Fi story and war story. Would be 5 stars but the way it treated the topic of homosexuality was... Uncomfortable. The main character returns to a dystopian world where everything is awful, including the government enforcing homosexuality as a method of birth control. Whilst that would be awful, I can't help but have gotten the idea that the author thinks it is awful because gay=gross and not because the govenerment controlling reproductive rights = gross.

Anyway, if you understand that the author may be a teenie weenie bit homophobic and are able to accept that as a flaw of the pov character and look past it, the book is fantastic.

[Tom Meadows · Rating 3 out of 5]

wildly overrated

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the most Boomer science fiction I've ever read.

Think Freud would have a thing or two to say about the author's transparent hang ups on sexuality.

But otherwise a great concept which has clearly influenced a number of contemporary sci-fi works

[Gary Daly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Forever War (1974) by Joe Haldeman a fantastic science fiction novel was written by Haldeman who served in the Vietnam War as a combat engineer which is a tough bloody job. Haldeman was wounded and received a Purple Heart during his service. Throughout the novel the reader can feel the authenticity of the role of the futuristic soldier fighting an alien species in alien environments that torture the soldier as much as the ignorance and arrogance any soldier will experience when taken from familiar surroundings and thrust into the total and absolute horror of a war the soldier knows nothing about, other than being told and forced to fight and kill. A great insightful and entertaining story that spans hundreds of human years yet, at the same time due to the interplanetary travel is merely a few years in human life. The society that Private Mandella returns is not the world he left. Much like young men returning from Vietnam to a society that has moved on and forgotten about him. An enjoyable and intriguing read. Stick with it and you’ll feel where the author wanted you to go. Bought at Kinokuniya for $22.99. Enjoy.

[Josh Perrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never read a book that’s given me such a feeling of impending doom with each page, or had me wishing death upon the protagonist for his own sake.

Joe Haldeman is able to explain so concisely the horrors of war with this Vietnam allegory, that uses the time dilation of space as a counterpart to the radical social change of 1960-70s America, making even home seem like an alien environment to the returning soldier.

Haldeman can make the reader understand the mentality of a 20th century soldier, and why a person who was drafted against their own will, would voluntarily re-enlist to escape a home which had vilified and forgotten him, just to face an enemy that could kill him at any point if he was in the wrong place on the battlefield.

The only reason this isn’t 5 stars is the ending feels cheap. Having Mandella go through a significant amount of trauma, in which he constantly acknowledges how death can come at any point, and if it didn’t, he would have to live on a planet that had outgrown his entire personality. Just as he’s coming to terms with the situation he’s in, thinking he’s the only soldier to have served the duration of the war, on the last page; it turns out his sweetheart is still alive after her death was guaranteed pages prior, and she hasn’t aged more than a few months and is living on a planet identical to the 20th century earth of over 1200 years ago? Thank god, that was lucky! It makes it seem like nothing has really changed, which the novel spent a long time explaining that it all had.

P.S. the main way Haldeman makes 21st-32nd century earth different is that the government made everyone gay, because that’s something they can just do.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

For someone that assures the reader he doesn't have a problem with homosexuality, he sure talks about it a lot!

Through time dilation fighting a distant enemy the protagonist finds himself far in the future (firstly in 2024!) trying to come to terms with social and economic changes over vast time periods.

50 years after publication we now know that we haven't followed Haldenans "prediction" of engaging in multi planetry war with an alien race starting in the '90s. This book does however act as an unintentional time capsule. While our 2024 looked markedly different to the one Haldenan describes in the forever war, the attitudes expressed by Haldenan feel as anachronistic to a 2025 reader as do those of William Mandella to the 2024 Earth citizens.

All in it's entertaining and apparently seminal, but I don't feel like it's aged particularly well.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story that is expansive in more ways than one. I never knew such a grand concept could be condensed into such a short book. It has great details in parts with strange new planets and creatures to understand as well as the damage of war. It leaves you asking 'why' or 'what' from time to time but by the end you feel like you are in this world. Some areas have very little time spent on them with maybe a chapter or less on very important plot points and other seemingly meaningless filler getting many, many pages. It feels like the author rushed to get back to the war or action and didn't give much insight into the down time. This may be as designed. A good read regardless.

[Jaap Ruurd Feitsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘The Forever War’ is an amazing book about the pointlessness of war and the alienation that comes with it when returning to a home you no longer recognize.

Drawing from his own experiences as a Vietnam veteran, writer Joe Haldeman uses hard science fiction as a powerful metaphor to explore the personal and societal impacts of conflict.

But at its core, it's a deeply felt human story about war, love and the human condition. All wrapped up in a brilliantly imagined future.

This book, sadly, remains just as relevant today as it was when it got first published in 1974.

[Therese · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting sci fi, I understand why this is a classic. The time dilation really was the highlight, a great way to highten the stakes. The war was a bit boring to read about sometimes, but maybe the book then achieved what it set out to do. That war is meaningless and the people fighting the battles have no clue what they are doing and who survive is mostly down to dumb luck. And the people fighting the war just get more and more disconnected from the world they where shipped out from.

That everyone on earth was gay at one point was truly not on my bingo card for this book.

[Rob Stevens · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Vietnam veteran writing an SF storey conveying his ideas about women, homosexuals, the army and politicians. It's rather bland, not much happens, the underlying message (war is useless) is dull.

[Tanguy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recognized masterworks for a reason, such a good book with a strong message but it’s most impressing feature is how relatable and up to date it is for a book published 50 years ago. You could tell me it was published in the last 5 years and I would believe it

[Pigfender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy crap, what a great book!

[Arturs · Rating 3 out of 5]

7

[Peanutz · Rating 4 out of 5]

idk man we out here eating icecream n shit