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The Forever War

(The Forever War #1)

Joe Haldeman

4.14 · Rating details · 143,350 ratings · 6,000 reviews

The Earth's leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand—despite the fact that the fierce alien enemy that they would oppose is inscrutable, unconquerable, and very far away. A reluctant conscript drafted into an elite Military unit, Private William Mandella has been propelled through space and time to fight in the distant thousand-year conflict; to perform his dutie ...more

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Paperback, 278 pages

Published September 2nd 2003 by Voyager (first published December 1974)

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Jul 02, 2008 Kemper rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: famous-books, sci-fi, war, favorites, space, military

This book is a military style space opera with …..Wait! Where are you going? Get back here. I hadn’t got to the good part yet. Give me a second to explain. Geez…

OK, so yes, there is an interstellar war with human troops in high-tech armored suits battling an alien enemy on distant planets. I know it sounds like another version of Starship Troopers or countless other bad genre sci-fi tales that copied it, but this one is different. Hell, when it was published in 1975 it won the Hugo, the Locus an This book is a military style space opera with …..Wait! Where are you going? Get back here. I hadn’t got to the good part yet. Give me a second to explain. Geez…

OK, so yes, there is an interstellar war with human troops in high-tech armored suits battling an alien enemy on distant planets. I know it sounds like another version of Starship Troopers or countless other bad genre sci-fi tales that copied it, but this one is different. Hell, when it was published in 1975 it won the Hugo, the Locus and the Nebula awards for best novel so you know it’s gotta be pretty decent.

William Mandella has been drafted as one of the first troops that will be sent to fight the Taurans. There are points in space called collapsers that are like wormholes that will transport your ship to a distant area in the universe instantly, and humanity is fighting the Taurans to use them. Both races like to build bases on nearby planets to establish control of the area around the collapsers.

Unfortunately, most of the planets out there aren’t anything like what we’re used to seeing in Star Wars. They’re usually cold lifeless rocks, and just training to use their suits in these environments is dangerous, let alone trying to fight an alien race they know little about. Mandella gets through training and manages to survive the first battle with the Taurans.

That’s where the book gets really interesting.

While the collapsers provide instant space travel, the ships still have to get to the nearest one and that means months of travel at near light-speed. It turns out that Einstein was right about relativity and traveling at near the speed of light makes time do some funky things. So while the troops on the ship feel like a journey only took months, years have passed for everyone else. When Mandella returns to Earth after his first battle, he’s only aged two years, but ten years have passed on Earth.

Since Mandella has to do more and more light speed journeys, centuries pass on Earth even though it’s only been a few years for him. Mandella will return from missions to find that humanity has changed so much that he has almost nothing in common with the rest of the people, and since he manages to survive several campaigns when almost everyone else dies, he’s quickly becoming one of the oldest men in the universe during his ten year (subjective) enlistment.

Another quirk of the time differences is that when the humans meet the Taurans, they can’t know if they’re battling alien troops who are centuries ahead or behind them in terms of military intelligence and weapons technology. So Mandella and his fellow soldiers may have a huge advantage or be severely outgunned. It just depends on if the Taurans they’re fighting started their light-speed journeys before or after they did.

As the war drags on for century after century, it is both sustaining and draining Earth’s economy. Mandella finds himself losing all his family, his friends and his lovers to war or age. He is increasingly out of touch with Earth and the rest of humanity. The army continues to promote him, mainly because his seniority has reached ridiculous levels after centuries of service.

One of the things that isolates Mandella is that homosexuality becomes the norm due to Earth overpopulation. In an ironic reversal of don’t ask-don’t tell, Mandella is the outcast that disgusts many of his fellow soldiers due to his unenlightened ways. Even the slang spoken by other soldiers becomes incomprehensible to him. Increasingly lonely and out of sync with everyone around him with almost no chance of surviving his enlistment, Mandella nurses the hope that the war will someday end during the large gaps of time he skips as he travels to his assignments.

Joe Haldeman is a Vietnam vet, and this is an obvious allegory for that war with a weary soldier stuck in a seemingly endless conflict and realizing that even if he makes it home, he won’t fit in to the world he left. While Haldeman’s science and military background gives the book its detail and depth, it’s the tragedy of Mandella’s predicament that makes it a sci-fi classic.
...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Lyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-most-favorite-books

First published in 1974 and winner of the 1975 Hugo and Locus awards, Forever War by Joe Haldeman kicks ass.

More than just a book about a futuristic war, Haldeman describes a society built around the codependency of the industrial military complex and with a fluid dynamic socio-economic culture that is fascinating to watch unfold.

And the welfare recipients get a bag of dope with their check.

Haldeman’s protagonist, William Mandella, is in an elite military group that travels light distances to ba ...more

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Mar 28, 2018 Emily (Books with Emily Fox) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2-star-y-am-i-doing-this-to-myself

Maybe a generous 2.5? Just for the overall concept.

Let's start with the positive... I enjoyed following a main character struggling to adapt to the changes on Earth while he's at war. 2 years for him end up being 26 on Earth due to time relativity. It only gets worst as the war progresses.

The rest was a mess for me. This book is often mentioned as a "classic sci-fi" and is on so many "best sci-fi of all time" lists... To me a classic has to survive the test of time and this book did not age wel ...more

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Jul 03, 2015 J.L. Sutton rated it really liked it

While it reminded me of Heinlein's Starship Troopers and Avatar (especially the beginning where recruits are told about all the things that could kill them and how they likely wouldn't make it back alive), Haldeman's Forever War takes a different turn. Haldeman's book focuses on a soldier fighting an interstellar war. Because our character is traveling to his battles at near-light speed, when he returns to earth between missions, decades pass. Haldeman speculates about the social changes taking ...more

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Jan 12, 2009 Manny rated it liked it

Shelves: lists-glorious-lists, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, science-fiction

In case any movie producers are listening in, ten reasons to film The Forever War:

1. Gratuitous sex and nudity.

2. Social relevance (it's about Vietnam, stoopid!)

3. Evil aliens.

4. General relativity.

5. Wormholes. Interstellar, Joe Haldeman was here first!

6. Freaky high-tech zone where you can only fight with swords.

7. Unexpected twist! (view spoiler)

8. Hive minds.

9. Feel-good happy ending.

10. Gratuitous sex and nudity.
...more

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Dec 28, 2013 Emily May rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, 2014

Yeaahhhh! I'm ready for some hard science fiction!

Look! I got my glasses on all serious-like. ...more

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May 20, 2013 Piotr Reysner rated it it was ok

I bought and read this book based upon the many glowing reviews I saw on the internet. It's heralded as a classic and one of the best Sci-Fi books of all time. I have to disagree.

I liked the concept. Scientifically, it was intriguing. However, the story was repetitive and slow. The exact same thing kept happening over and over again. Set up base. Boring Battle, many people die. Get back on ship. Stay in space for a long time. Get bored. Return to base. Go back out. Repeat.

There were long, long s ...more

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Mar 27, 2020 Adrian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: zz-owned-books, sci-fi, sf-time-travel, sf-space-opera

Review to follow

This was a book which I had been wanting to read for a long time, and then as part of March's Bossy Book Challenge (Time Travel for one of the SF groups I belong to - Apocalypse Whenever, the person I was paired with gave me this novel as one of my choices , and so I jumped at it.

Was it a good SF novel, well yes, for certain, would I class it as Time Travel, erm no. Yes it had time passing (ultra quickly) whilst the hero (and heroines) were travelling just sub-light (Time Dilatio ...more

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Jul 30, 2014 Leonard Gaya rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Joe Haldeman, a Vietnam veteran, wrote The Forever War in the seventies, and his novel soon became a classic of the so-called “military science fiction” genre, in keeping with (and way better than) Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. The book tells the story of an intergalactic war with an alien race, that spans well over a millennium, as seen from Private Mandella. It starts with drill instruction and training on a freezing satellite of Pluto, expanding further on until the conflict reaches the Great Joe Haldeman, a Vietnam veteran, wrote The Forever War in the seventies, and his novel soon became a classic of the so-called “military science fiction” genre, in keeping with (and way better than) Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. The book tells the story of an intergalactic war with an alien race, that spans well over a millennium, as seen from Private Mandella. It starts with drill instruction and training on a freezing satellite of Pluto, expanding further on until the conflict reaches the Great Magellanic Cloud, away from our galaxy.

As expected from a novel such as this one, there are some very thrilling and sometimes disheartening combat scenes. The minutiae of military life, its protocol, language and techniques, are vividly and more often than not ironically described. And in the midst of all this, there is a (forever) love story with Private Marygay — it is touching to think that this female character bears the name of Haldeman’s wife.

But a few things struck me in particular:

First, there is a very clever (and knowledgeable) use of physics, especially the theory of relativity: the war takes place in such a large setting that travelling from one place to the next at nearly the speed of light produces stunning time distortions. In so doing, the main character lives and witnesses the evolution of mankind through the centuries. (This device has later been reused in science fiction, for instance in Nolan’s 2014 movie Interstellar.)

Second is that, in this vast period of time, human economics, language, way of life and, particularly, gender politics and sexuality evolves in unpredictable ways.

Last, and certainly not least: when (around the middle of the book) Mandella comes back to Earth and civilian life after his first campaign away from the Solar System, life on Earth feels more alien to him than the distant starfields. I suspect that this feeling of subjective time distortion is shared by many war veterans when, after a time in Vietnam, in the Middle-East or any other “forever war”, they finally come back home.

The novel ends with these ironic words: “The 1143-years-long war had begun on false pretenses and only continued because the two races were unable to communicate”. It is not at all improbable that this could be said of quite a few wars in history. ...more

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Jul 26, 2008 Scurra rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction

Catch-22 is often cited as one of the great books about the futility and inherent paradoxes of war. I think this is easily its equal, but is often overlooked because it is dismissed as "just" science fiction.

By using the tropes of SF, Haldeman vividly illustrates not only the psychological effects on the combatants, but also the desperate disassociation wrought between the "soldiers" and the rest of society - his reference point was the Vietnam veterans, but it could apply anywhere and anywhen. ...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2019-shelf, sci-fi

Still a classic. Want a war-driven novel constrained by the limits of relativity but still as inexplicable, funny, and as sad as the regular kind?

How about a novel right out of 1977 that explores what it means when all of society transforms over millennia into something awfully strange... a world where the hetero norm has become a homo norm in response to overpopulation...

To where the old outdated concept of future-shock is dusted off and given new life...

To where it's only reasonable for old s ...more

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Jun 09, 2019 Kevin Kuhn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, science-fiction

With the anniversary of D-Day being just a few days ago, this was timely reading. Joe Haldeman’s book, “The Forever War” is engaging, well-written, and meaningful, originally published in 1974. It was a Hugo and Nebula winner. I read an edition published in 2010 which Haldeman identified as the ‘definitive edition’. I read the first edition back in college in the mid-eighties. While I remember greatly enjoying the book in college, this re-read was much more impactful. I don’t know if that is due ...more

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Aug 22, 2015 thefourthvine rated it did not like it

Shelves: sff, worst

Okay, K asked me to elaborate on why I hate this book, so. Here we go.

There was apparently a point in the distant, fortunately-gone past where all you needed to write science fiction was a good idea. Not a plot. Not characters. Not writing that was remotely competent or dialogue that sounded like human beings might say it or any sort of ability to extrapolate human society or even any understanding of what humans are like. You just had to have a good idea and you could write a classic! The Forev Okay, K asked me to elaborate on why I hate this book, so. Here we go.

There was apparently a point in the distant, fortunately-gone past where all you needed to write science fiction was a good idea. Not a plot. Not characters. Not writing that was remotely competent or dialogue that sounded like human beings might say it or any sort of ability to extrapolate human society or even any understanding of what humans are like. You just had to have a good idea and you could write a classic! The Forever War is that classic.

Here is the good idea at the core of this festering waste of words: war is hell, and relativistic war is extremely prolonged hell. Are you amazed? Are you awestruck? Are you stunned with Haldeman's brilliance yet? Well, you better be, my friends, as that is literally ALL HE HAS for you in this book.

The rest of it? Oh my LORD. The hero is -- well, if he had more depth or dimension, I would probably hate him, but as it is, he's just a cardboard cutout of a neckbeard's MMPORG persona. There's a girl. She is technically also a soldier, but obviously she is really just there as window dressing/the object for Our Amazing Hero to moon over. There are future societies, each more ridiculous than the last (my favorite bit of ridiculousness: in the future, tobacco is illegal because it's a waste of farmland, which, fine, but marijuana is distributed free by many governments, because -- I guess it does not require growing?) There's a plot that is barely coherent and a war no one, including the author, gives a single shit about.

And now I must issue a trigger warning; I will spoiler cut this for my friends who need to avoid descriptions of rape. (view spoiler)

So. Just to be sure no one ever feels they have to read this amazingly awful classic, I'm going to spoil absolutely everything of value about this book. Here we go:

War sucks. Don't have one or be in one if you can possibly help it.

The end! And now you never have to read this awful, awful book, you lucky person, you. ...more

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Feb 05, 2019 Montzalee Wittmann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman and narrated by George Wilson is a good old fashion sci-fi adventure! Space travel, aliens, action, battles, social changes, military intrigue, and a hint of romance! This book has it all in written expertly! I hung on every word! I loved this book! I read this in 1975 or about then and couldn't remember all the details only parts and that I enjoyed it. I wanted to revisit this now that I am older and wiser. Also to see what social changes time has come true from ...more

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Feb 12, 2020 mark monday rated it liked it

Shelves: scifi-60s-70s-80s

it is easy to see why this one is a bonafide classic of the genre. Haldeman succeeded in doing everything he set out to do, and he never loses focus: this is a story about the futility of war and the ever-changing yet ever-cyclical nature of humankind. his prose is straightforward, his ideas are clearly thought-out, his pacing is perfect, his protagonist is realistically and empathetically characterized. this is a smart, fast-paced, and very compassionate, humane book.

for me, the most important ...more

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Oct 11, 2011 Trudi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: on-my-kobo, science-fiction, classics, 2015, dystopia, outer-space

Well I think it's safe to say that I'm not the target audience for this book. This is hard sci-fi military space opera and I haven't even seen any of the Star Wars movies, or Star Treks, and only a handful of Doctor Who episodes (I only found out last year what a TARDIS is).

I probably shouldn't have even been *allowed* to read this. Somebody ~~Kemper~~ should have ripped it right out of my hands decrying: "You're not worthy!" and they'd probably be right. Despite my keenest efforts, The Forever War ...more

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Jun 05, 2019 Manuel Antão rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

Cliched SF: "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman

I remember when I read Haldeman's "The Forever War"; it was considered a critique of "Starship Troopers". I have heard an anecdote that Haldeman attended an event where he was going to be on a panel with Heinlein and was dreading the meeting, fearing Heinlein would take him to task. Instead, Heinlein thought Haldeman's book was a great read and take on that theme, much to Haldeman's relief. ...more

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Mar 12, 2017 Kyle rated it it was ok

I'm really surprised this has such a high rating. There's really not much to it.

Okay, it presents a cool concept. What would it really be like to fight a war with an alien race across the vast reaches of space? Even with something that allowed you to "jump" vast distances you would have to get to these places. As the ship you travel in nears the speed of light, time for you slows down. So for the main character who was born in 1997, he returns from the war in 3143 having aged only a few years bu

...more

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Nov 08, 2020 Monica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, series-aargh, scifi-spaceopera, sf-challenge-2020, scifi-military, kindle_scifi_fan, popular, military, audible, pub_1970s

Every November (for the last few years) I try to read at least 2 books with a military theme. This year I chose the Forever War (which I had read before but did not remember). The Forever War is the much reputed analogy of the authors experience in the Vietnam War through a "space opera lens". So first, I'll put in the disclaimers. I read this as a war novel not a scifi novel. Of course the scifi elements are inescapable and in truth do detract from the book, but for me what Haldeman was saying Every November (for the last few years) I try to read at least 2 books with a military theme. This year I chose the Forever War (which I had read before but did not remember). The Forever War is the much reputed analogy of the authors experience in the Vietnam War through a "space opera lens". So first, I'll put in the disclaimers. I read this as a war novel not a scifi novel. Of course the scifi elements are inescapable and in truth do detract from the book, but for me what Haldeman was saying about war was far more compelling.

Private William Mandella has been drafted. He knows very little about the enemy nor the reasons for the war. The book follows him from basic training throughout his tours of duty in the war. The story chronicles the dangers, violence and destruction of war as well as the changes in society whenever he comes into contact with it. The scifi elements come into play because space travel to these various campaigns takes centuries. The war wages on, society changes but to the soldier very little time has passed.

I found the premise/plot to be compelling. An allegory for the unseen impacts of war both on society and the soldiers. Haldeman clearly hates war. The war in this novel is (view spoiler) The seemingly eternal issue that leads to war. Misunderstandings: Cultural. Linguistic. Physical. Geographical. History. And the actual treatment of soldiers is vicious from the very beginning. The indoctrination into the culture of war. The sacrifices. The requirement to turn off your critical thinking. The constant threat of danger. The violence. The fear. The muting of empathy. The acceptance of the new reality. A reality that creates a soldier but attacks their humanity. A fighting mechanism that doesn't question the effort, just reacts to survive. These soldiers exist in a bubble. The only real humans that exist to them are their fellow soldiers. They've lost connection to their communities and families. So much so, that when they return home, they feel like they no longer belong there. These elements are magnified in the book because space travel involves the significant passage of time. So a solder gone for a year or two is actually gone for decades to the community. A twenty five year old soldier comes home to an 80+ year old mother and a world that has changed significantly over the decades. (view spoiler) Coming back to a world he no longer recognizes, Mandella reenlists and as a grizzled war veteran, finds himself promoted in the military after surviving each campaign. A situation that I interpreted to imply that in the military in times of war, you sometimes get the leadership positions based upon those who survive, not those who are the most qualified, intelligent or skilled. And the nature of the campaigns were consistently escalated. They became more dangerous and more futile for humans. As the war rages, Mandella becomes more jaded but also more reticent. He has never had the desire to kill. So the conversion to soldier is never quite complete.

Haldeman's vision of the future was rather bizarre and is strangely intertwined with his understanding of love and sex. The future in this book reveals much more about Haldeman than it enhances the plot. (view spoiler) At this point, I am wondering what the heck went on out there in the jungles of Vietnam.

All in all this was a strange but compelling brew. A war novel bristling with a kind of unintended toxic masculinity but at the same time mocking it. Haldeman displays a hatred for war and for senseless killing. Interestingly, I did not pick up on a disdain for the military. Just that it was misused. All of this wrapped up in a kind of 70s sensibility which in my view worked for this novel. A bit of a unicorn I'd say. I actually liked the novel quite a bit. I will eventually pick up the sequel Forever Free.

4 Stars

Listened to Audible. George Wilson was outstanding!! ...more

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Sep 01, 2013 Bookwraiths rated it really liked it

Shelves: scifi, library

Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths Reviews

The Forever War is touted as one of the best science fiction military novels ever written. At least, that is how I’ve always heard it described, and so going into this one, I was expecting lots of gritty Vietnam-inspired fighting and combat. And I got that. However, what I also got was an amazing mixture of science and societal evolution that made the fighting even more entertaining and the story as a whole well worthy of its “One of the Best Sci-fi Nov Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths Reviews

The Forever War is touted as one of the best science fiction military novels ever written. At least, that is how I’ve always heard it described, and so going into this one, I was expecting lots of gritty Vietnam-inspired fighting and combat. And I got that. However, what I also got was an amazing mixture of science and societal evolution that made the fighting even more entertaining and the story as a whole well worthy of its “One of the Best Sci-fi Novels of All Time” tags.

The story follows along behind a young man named William Mandella, who finds himself “drafted” into the world’s military force to fight an unknown enemy from deep space. So, naturally, the first part of the novel highlights his training, integration into the military, and the initial combat with the enemy: all of which was very entertaining. What was even more amazing, however, is the story of the evolution of Mandella’s Earth, as this societal change turns him from a normal, red-blooded, twentieth-century man into a fossil of an age long gone. All due to the disruption of time from space travel!

There are lots of things to love about this novel, but I’ll restrain my enthusiasm to just two.

One, I really thought Mr. Haldeman did an excellent job of portraying societal change over long periods of time. We all know human society changes, but usually it is so slow that older people never live long enough to see themselves transform from the human norm to the exception to the norm. However, here Mandella experiences this very thing first hand, finding that he is an alien among his own kind and an object of ridicule from new recruits, who label him a fossil of a passed age – even though he is only in his late twenties. But Mr. Haldeman does not stop there, but shows how these new recruits are themselves relegated to the trash heap of societal change. Something that clearly highlights that no one’s role in society is safe from the slippage of time and keeps the narrative interesting throughout.

The other thing I love about this book is that Mandella is an ordinary soldier. He isn’t one of those quick-witted characters who suddenly become the general of the war; or the person outwitting all the lifelong diplomats and generals of the aliens; or some genetically modified killing machine with a super computer in his head. Rather, he is an ordinary man, who finds himself learning how to be a soldier and trying to do practical things to keep from being killed – including being lucky. In fact, Mandella never seems untouchable; his triumph readily anticipated; or his spaceship already fueled to carry him to his happily ever after. Nope, until the last page, I really wondered if things would turn out okay for this very real and very human soldier.

The only thing I had a problem with was the ending, because it was a little sappy. However, I can’t harp about it very much, since I really, really wanted a decent ending to the story. I never expected a fairytale, happily ever after ending, but what I did want was one that at least left hopes for some small portion of happiness for everyone.

As many reviewers have already stated more eloquently than I, The Forever War is a great sci-fi story. It is an experience that mixes testosterone-filled, military excitement with insightful, societal changes, adds in a bit of political corruption and warmongering before ending with a dash of hope. And my only regret is that I did not read it sooner in my life.

...more

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Apr 28, 2014 Apatt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I first read The Forever War a couple years ago in audiobook format, I quite liked it but to be honest it did not leave much of a lasting impression. I suspect the audiobook format is not suitable for this particular book, I don’t remember there being anything wrong with the narration, I just could not retain much of the details after finishing it, just a vague feeling that it is quite good. I love audiobooks, but I am beginning to think that short sci-fi books are not really the ideal for this I first read The Forever War a couple years ago in audiobook format, I quite liked it but to be honest it did not leave much of a lasting impression. I suspect the audiobook format is not suitable for this particular book, I don’t remember there being anything wrong with the narration, I just could not retain much of the details after finishing it, just a vague feeling that it is quite good. I love audiobooks, but I am beginning to think that short sci-fi books are not really the ideal for this format. Which brings me to the reread in print format, The Forever War often crops up in “favorite sf books” discussions and I feel as if I haven’t really read it and this won’t do.

As you might expect The Forever war belongs to the subgenre of “military science fiction”, a subgenre I normally avoid unless the author has interesting points to make about war or military life. Books that focus on the action or thrills of military campaigns are anathemas to me. This book is more of an exploration of the nature and principles of warfare than about details of battles (though there is some of that also); basically it is an anti-war novel.

The book I finished reading just before starting this reread of The Forever War is Brave New World, it is interesting to compare the two as sci-fi books. To me the Aldous Huxley book is not really sci-fi as the emphasis is on the social satire and the futuristic setting and sci-fi tropes are tools for the author to communicate his cautionary message. The Forever War is unabashedly sci-fi, certainly it is an allegory of the Vietnam War which the author Joe Haldeman served in. However, Haldeman’s knowledge of physics and engineering is clearly evident in the hard science parts, and the futuristic tech is clearly aimed at sci-fi readers. The only soft or handwavium sci-fi element is the FTL spaceflight through “collapsar jumps”; and this plot device is very cleverly and logically used to explore the implications of time dilation.

The book is very well written and the (first person) narrative tone gradually changes from a sardonic tone in the early chapters to a more matter of fact tone and then a melancholic tone towards the end. The book is too short and densely plotted or all the characters to be fully developed but the protagonist William Mandella and narrator is very sympathetic and believable. I also love the way the book suddenly switch from the war setting to a dystopian near future Earth, then back to the war and then a far future setting for the novel’s conclusion. The middle section set on Earth is really my favorite part of the book, with the drastically changed culture and social mores. If I have one complaint it is the overlong section which tells the story of the final battles with the aliens Taurans, personally I always find scenes of military engagements very dull, though you may feel differently. Fortunately when that is over we arrive at a wonderful twist and denouement, I do not find the eventual fate of Mandella and his girlfriend quite believable but it is by no means unsatisfactory.

While I was reading about the final battles in the later chapters I was speculating whether to rate this book at 4 stars because I found those battle scenes a little tedious, but after finishing it I feel a 5 stars rating is a more accurate representation of my esteem.
____________________________

Update May 2, 2015: The Forever War movie is coming! Reread anyone? ...more

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Jun 16, 2020 Gavin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi

I've not fared super well reading the sci-fi classics over the years but this 1975 Nebula and 1976 Hugo and Locus award winner was one of the few sci-fi classics I still had high expectations for since I enjoyed reading Joe Haldeman's More Than the Sum of His Parts short story in a Lighspeed collection years ago. The good news is this book did live up to my expectations and was pretty good! It is probably not quite so good as More Than the Sum of His Parts but there is no shame in that as that s I've not fared super well reading the sci-fi classics over the years but this 1975 Nebula and 1976 Hugo and Locus award winner was one of the few sci-fi classics I still had high expectations for since I enjoyed reading Joe Haldeman's More Than the Sum of His Parts short story in a Lighspeed collection years ago. The good news is this book did live up to my expectations and was pretty good! It is probably not quite so good as More Than the Sum of His Parts but there is no shame in that as that short story is one of my all time favourite short stories. The Forever War was an excellent sci-fi and well worth its accolades. It is the very best sort of sci-fi tale in that it provides both an entertaining and engaging story while also offering a lot of thought provoking ideas!

The plot was an intriguing one. Young physics teacher William Mandella has been reluctantly conscripted into the army. The enemy are a mysterious alien race known only as the Taurans. The twist on the average military sci-fi tale is the fact that a combination of portal jumping and near light speed travel meant that this galaxy spanning conflict resulted in a lot of time dilation for the participants. Willian might have been fighting for humanity but what did that truly mean when his stints in space travelling from battle to battle resulted in time on Earth passing a lot more rapidly for the people there than it did for him!

I thought it was a fascinating and engaging tale. Willian had his flaws but it was mostly easy enough to empathise with his plight and to root for him over the course of his journey through both space and time. Haldeman's story touched on a number of different themes (the horrors of war and those of personal traumatic injury, loneliness, alienation, loss, cultural indoctrination, and societal change over time) and a ton of cool sci-fi stuff like time dilation, bionics, futuristic weapons, and cool sci-fi tech that kept the humans alive in the hostile environment of space and alien planets!

I was not at all surprised to learn this story was heavily inspired by Joe Haldeman's own experiences as a conscript in the Vietnam War and his difficulty returning to civilian life afterwards. It was a major part of the story we got here that Willian struggled to adapt to the changing world he found himself in after each time jump. In general I think the book also provided a strong anti-war message and did a decent job of not glorifying the action scenes.

I could go on and on about the cool stuff Haldeman touched upon as it was that sort of book but instead I'll mention the fact that I've read a few updates and reviews over the years that hinted that this tale might contain a bit of racism, homophobia, and misogyny. Since this was published in the mid-70s I was actually expecting a lot of that stuff! That said, I never got that impression from the tale myself. This was actually fairly liberal for a mid-70s book. Sure Haldeman used a few outdated terms here and there that are considered offensive nowadays but there was very little in the way of active racism, homophobia, and misogyny. There were a few moments but considering the cultural context of the tale I was expecting a lot more and on the whole I felt like the story actively highlighted all those things as bad. Despite portraying quite a vaguely dystopian and economically crippled late 1990s "future" society (this was wrote in the mid-70s) as the starting location for the tale Haldeman was actually a bit too optimistic in his portrayal of where he expected/hoped society would be when it came to issues like race and gender as women where treated as equals and race seemed to have little significance to the characters. As time passed in the story those things mattered less and less! The use of sexuality as a major indicator of notable cultural change in society over time was a little weird but it was interesting in a number of different ways and despite how it made William feel it felt to me that the message Haldeman was trying to convey with the flipped sexuality was one of tolerance as the reader got to experience what it was like for William to be viewed as the one with the minority opinion on the issue. Not overly subtle for sure but this book was being marketed to a 1970s audience!

This book did have a few flaws. The storytelling style was a tad too detached for me to fully emotionally engage with the happenings and the characters but despite that it did still manage a few emotionally engaging scenes and Haldeman's writing style is pretty engaging so the story held my attention from start to finish. Some of the actual science may have gone over my head but I did not feel like that overly hurt my enjoyment of the story.

I'd have preferred if Haldeman had explored his bionics story arcs a bit more but what we got was fun enough. Sometimes Haldeman only touched upon some topics or concepts briefly but some of those ended up being quite fun parts of the story. I especially liked the way society kept changing over the years and was engaged by the way hypnosis and drugs were used to control people.

All in all this was a really good sci-fi classic and still something that is a relevant and fun read even today! This book felt like a stand alone story but I enjoyed it so I'll probably try the sequels at some future point.

Rating: 4.5 stars. I'll round up because it is not often I get to rate any classic 5 stars!

Audio Note: George Wilson did a good job with the audio.
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Nov 20, 2014 Scott rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites, science-fiction

Conscript-to-brutal bootcamp-to-faraway-alien-war. Countless novels have followed this story structure, aping Heinlein’s Starship Troopers with mixed results.

Like me, you might be getting tired of encountering this storyline. Tired of reading what too often turns out to be Full Metal Jacket In Space - Minus The Social Criticism.

If that’s the case, borrow twenty bucks, get to a bookstore and order a copy of The Forever War. This is military-flavoured bootcamp-to-war Science Fiction in its fine Conscript-to-brutal bootcamp-to-faraway-alien-war. Countless novels have followed this story structure, aping Heinlein’s Starship Troopers with mixed results.

Like me, you might be getting tired of encountering this storyline. Tired of reading what too often turns out to be Full Metal Jacket In Space - Minus The Social Criticism.

If that’s the case, borrow twenty bucks, get to a bookstore and order a copy of The Forever War. This is military-flavoured bootcamp-to-war Science Fiction in its finest form, as refreshing and thought provoking as it no doubt was when it was released in 1974. Like Starship Troopers, this book is a template for the lesser works that have followed it.

The story is a simple one. William Mandella is conscripted and sent to fight in a brutal, bloody war with an alien species. The battles he must fight are so far from Earth that the time-dilation effect of high-speed space travel turns his subjective months at war into years on Earth, his years into decades. Each time he returns to Earth human society has changed further, and Mandella’s is less and less able to fit in, to feel welcome, to feel at home.

From this simple premise Haldeman spins a story of real insight and empathy, an extended allegory for Haldeman’s own war - Vietnam - and the tragedy of soldiers who return from conflicts to find both society and themselves changed so much that the only place they really belong is back on the front lines.

This isn’t a typical blazing-beam-cannons military SF novel. Haldeman doesn’t obsess over laser wattages or projectile calibres, instead focusing his keen writer’s eye on the impact war has upon its participants. Haldeman has explored this territory a number of times, most successfully in All My Sins Remembered and some of his short stories (there’s a real pearler – ‘A Mind of His Own’ in a collection of his work called Infinite Dreams), and he brings an authentic and sensitive voice to his SF. When I found out after reading this book that Haldeman was badly wounded in Vietnam I wasn’t surprised – he writes war in a way I have very rarely seen in SF, less pew-pew!/Kaboom!, and more understanding of the pain and suffering, both physical and otherwise, that soldiers go through.

Haldeman’s novel equals Heinlein’s classic in its social observations and intellectual heft, but in my opinion The Forever War is a more empathetic work, engendering genuine pathos for Mandella and his comrades. It really is a landmark classic of Science Fiction.
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May 23, 2013 Raeden Zen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

An Epic Satire of the Art of War

“‘Tonight we’re going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man.’ The guy who said that was a sergeant who didn’t look five years older than me. So if he’d ever killed a man in combat, silently or otherwise, he’d done it as an infant.”

The opening paragraph provides a glimpse into the most intriguing aspect of “The Forever War,” that of the affect of time dilation, officially defined as: the principle predicted by relativity that time intervals between events in An Epic Satire of the Art of War

“‘Tonight we’re going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man.’ The guy who said that was a sergeant who didn’t look five years older than me. So if he’d ever killed a man in combat, silently or otherwise, he’d done it as an infant.”

The opening paragraph provides a glimpse into the most intriguing aspect of “The Forever War,” that of the affect of time dilation, officially defined as: the principle predicted by relativity that time intervals between events in a system have larger values measured by an observer moving with respect to the system than those measured by an observer at rest with respect to it. This concept is explored in the 1953 novel, “Childhood’s End” by Arthur C. Clarke as protagonist Jan Rodricks travels to the Overlords homeland in a faraway galaxy; upon his return to Earth he has barely aged, while 80 years have passed for those who remain on Earth. In “The Forever War,” the concept is turbo-charged as we follow the travels of William Mandella between Stargate and phenomena called Collapsars (what we today would refer to as a black hole) and distant planets where a war with the Taurans rages for thousands of Earth years.

The novel is broken down into the parts of Mandella’s life as he ascends from a foot soldier to a leader in the United Nations Exploratory Force (UNEF), which was assembled for war against the Taurans. As someone who studied the history of Vietnam, including the French occupation of Indochina and the American involvement (which began well before LBJ escalated the war), the metaphors and irony vis a vis the Indochina Wars (fought between 1946-1979) were striking; that the smartest and strongest are sent against the Taurans (vs. the US draft where often those who were the poorest and less privileged were sent against Vietnamese); that the Earth to which Mandella returns, many decades or hundreds of years later is very different from the one he left, unwelcoming and undone (vs. the US soldier who returned from Vietnam to an often hostile and volatile America very different from the one he left); that the war is a supportive crutch to a failing Earthen economy (vs. the US contractors who during the age of Vietnam had much production in the US, especially the East and West Coasts where employees for the defense contractors supported the local and national economy); that the theory was that Earth’s economy would collapse without the war (vs. a US economy that did collapse after its involvement in the war ended – though admittedly more from an oil shock owing to the Yom Kippur war than Vietnam, doubtless the end of lush government spending and contracts had an impact overall).

Where the novel may disappoint readers is in the characterization of Mandella and his love interest, Marygay Potter. In the beginning, Mr. Haldeman ushers images that would make Ron Jeremy jealous, of orgies and fantasies; gratuitous love-making. “Actually, she was the one with the new trick. The French corkscrew, she called it. She wouldn’t tell me who taught it to her, though. I’d like to shake his hand. Once I got my strength back.” Unfortunately, we don’t get beyond this first layer and it takes away from the denouement.

The bottom line: “The Forever War” is an epic story of the pointlessness of war, the impact it has on the troops and their families, and the tendency for mankind to descend to chaos rather than order. Fans of speculative fiction will find the technology and its descriptions riveting, the social changes thought-provoking (forced homosexuality and the “cure” for heterosexuality) though I wonder if they will care enough about Mandella to witness his conclusion. ...more

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Nov 10, 2009 Mike (the Paladin) rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, science-fiction, military-science-fiction

Originally reviewed 2009, I just came back to put in a spoiler tag, which I didn't know how to do at the time...oops.

Interesting take on things. In a way in the end this is more an "anti-war" book than a stand alone novel. It unfortunately reflects the Utopian type views that came out of the 60s/70s reaction to Vietnam, the one that asks the question, "what would happen if they gave a war and nobody came?" Of course the unaccepted (but logical)answer to this question is, they bring it to you. Se Originally reviewed 2009, I just came back to put in a spoiler tag, which I didn't know how to do at the time...oops.

Interesting take on things. In a way in the end this is more an "anti-war" book than a stand alone novel. It unfortunately reflects the Utopian type views that came out of the 60s/70s reaction to Vietnam, the one that asks the question, "what would happen if they gave a war and nobody came?" Of course the unaccepted (but logical)answer to this question is, they bring it to you. See the Twin Towers in New York as a reference to what happens when someone gives a war and you don't come.

I always find the phrase "anti-war" rather pompous, like war is a place or a thing you can decide to avoid on your own. One side almost always wants to avoid any war. Just saying "war is bad" we won't participate" doesn't work, just ask Neville Chamberlain.

****************** I'm giving a spoiler warning here on this one as I want to comment on the way Haldeman ties up the book....so, spoiler beyond this point. ***************************************************

(view spoiler) ...more

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Dec 19, 2014 Steve rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2015, science-fiction, literature-classics

This is obviously a classic in the realms of sci-fi and of anti-war novels, and another book with thousands of reviews that I can't improve upon, but I'll just offer a couple of insights.

One of the primary concepts from the book is the main character returning from space travel (complete with Spacial Relativity) to an Earth that was completely foreign to him; it was a massive dose of culture shock which progressed deeper and deeper the further the story went. I was in the US Air Force for 22 yea ...more

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May 13, 2020 Baba rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, this-book-tho, sfmasterworks

SF Masterworks 1(!). That's right, this book was the first released under the SF Masterworks brand, so it's gotta be good then? It sure damn was! This book!

A star gate like natural phenomena has been discovered that allows man to roam the stars - but each journey albeit instantaneous seems and equivalent amount if time will have passed on Earth. As the UN-led Erath ratchets up space colonisation, aliens, the Taurans, destroyed Earth ships, thus sparking a war, a war that goes on for ever!

Enforce ...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Donna Backshall rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: anyone who loves the genre which includes Starship Troopers, Old Man's War and the like

Shelves: to-review, military, time-travel, by-rec-to-read, favorites, reviewed-goodreads, fiction, 058-in-2014, best-of-2014

Futility.

If I had to choose one theme for The Forever War, it would be futility. As a reader, I knew the futility the "but I'm no military leader" characters felt, as they were recruited to fight an alien race, for reasons they didn't understand, to protect a world and people they returned to find they could neither relate to nor appreciate.

To truly value this novel, one must realize it mirrors the issues faced by those who fought in Vietnam, and likely countless other wars and conflicts. (Hald ...more

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Nov 07, 2013 Rick Riordan rated it really liked it

The main character William Mandella is among the first recruits sent off to fight an alien species. The only problem? The distances are so vast that every faster-than-light jump means decades have passed back on earth. With each campaign that Mandella fights, his home planet changes until it is almost unrecognizable. As many readers have noted, Haldeman's book is first and foremost a great novel of war and its effects on society. You can tell it was written at the close of Vietnam, as it speaks ...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Nandakishore Varma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Hey! This is not about American intervention in the Middle East! Really!!!

...more

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About Joe Haldeman

Joe Haldeman

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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 pres ...more

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“The 1143-year-long war hand begun on false pretenses and only because the two races were unable to communicate.

Once they could talk, the first question was 'Why did you start this thing?' and the answer was 'Me?” — 81 likes

“Reality becomes illusory and observer-oriented when you study general relativity. Or Buddhism. Or get drafted.” — 40 likes

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