The Forever War (The Forever War, #1) in The Alternative Worlds

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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Mar 22, 2015 Kara Babcock rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015-read, space-opera, time-travel, science-fiction, nebula-winner, own, posthuman, hugo-winner

So I’m on a relativistic shuttle, waiting for you…. I never found anybody else and I don’t want anybody else. I don’t care whether you’re ninety years old or thirty. If I can’t be your lover, I’ll be your nurse.

Hey kids, you know how people keep using that word allegory, and you’re never really sure what they mean, and they probably aren’t even sure what they mean?

This. This is an allegory.

If there’s a reason we have the phrase “deceptively slim” in our book reviewing vocabulary, it’s for books ...more

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Feb 13, 2011 Kevin Xu rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, re-read

Just what the people needed, coming out of Vietnam when the book was first published!

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Apr 02, 2012 Wealhtheow rated it liked it

Shelves: pocmaincharacters, sci-fi, queer-characters, grand-masters

William Mandella is drafted to be part of the first strike force against a mysterious alien threat. He has the dubious luck of surviving not only training (which kills half the trainees) but also their first encounter with the enemy. As it turns out, despite being a pacifist who formerly trained to be a physicist, he's actually pretty good at warfare. When his service is up, Mandella returns to Earth, but finds that although only 2 years have passed for him, more than twenty have passed for thos ...more

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Mar 29, 2011 Sarah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sf

An eerily prescient cautionary tale about the machinery of war and the human cost. The novella that was edited out of the original version reminded me a little of Woman on the Edge of Time: Haldeman's imaginings of the future - our present - have a distinct 1970s tint to them. I often enjoy reading what science fiction expected us to have by now, and I'm often very grateful they've been proved wrong, though jet packs would still be fun. Despite the inaccuracies of his 1996 and 2007 projections, ...more

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Feb 05, 2011 Simon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, sf-masterworks

An exceptionally well written and fascinating book. We follow William Mandella through his military career in a war that spans centuries of time and many light years of space. Due to the time dilations associated with near light speed travel, it is perfectly possible for one individual to be around for just as long, assuming he can survive the exceedingly high casualty rate of their battles.

One of the most interesting things about this book is learning about the social and cultural changes that ...more

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Mar 29, 2011 Nicky rated it liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, queer

The Forever War is pretty pacy, easy to read. Sometimes the long descriptions of technology or warfare get a bit wearing, and there isn't enough of the human angle, but by about halfway through, I was starting to care without realising it, and by about seventy percent of the way through, I felt like I got a kick in the stomach when one of the few things that seemed like it was going to be a constant stopped.

I know very little about the Vietnam War, so I know very little about the climate this bo ...more

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Apr 26, 2011 Suz rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club, award-winner, science-fiction, borrowed, grand-masters, military

If I were a guy, or younger, or at least less feminist inclined, I probably would have liked this book a lot more.

The Forever War is incredibly dated. It's not just old ("old" sci fi, even with dates we have already lived through isn't necessarily dated), but feels dated and almost irrelevant.

It is heavily influenced by the Vietnam War, which the author took part in, and it's almost the Vietnam War In Space. The war lasts forever, it was pointless, lots of good people and resources are wasted. I If I were a guy, or younger, or at least less feminist inclined, I probably would have liked this book a lot more.

The Forever War is incredibly dated. It's not just old ("old" sci fi, even with dates we have already lived through isn't necessarily dated), but feels dated and almost irrelevant.

It is heavily influenced by the Vietnam War, which the author took part in, and it's almost the Vietnam War In Space. The war lasts forever, it was pointless, lots of good people and resources are wasted. In the end a "peace" is declared, but the war is never won, and you don't get the satisfaction of anyone "beating" anyone else.

The main character, William Mandella, is drafted (along with many others) because he has a high IQ, into the military for training and to be shipped out to fight aliens which have attacked humans, and are seen as a threat.

Due to time dilation effects, the war is sloppy and slow. It takes years for the military to get anywhere (and back home, and back out again), so Mandella ages normally while time flies by. After his first tour, he comes home to an Earth society drastically changed, only to re-enlist and get trapped into another tour. He again comes back to another time, a different society, and this cycle happens repeatedly. In the end, he gets a "happily ever after" ending, which I would have enjoyed more if the author had cut it shorter (his companion, who has been with him through all of these time dilation effects, has chosen to use spaceflight and relativistic effects to 'wait' for him to come back to her).

Several things were very good about this book. While I'm too young for the Vietnam war, I grew up with family and around those that were involved, and many of the things/feelings/over-arching situations in the book rang true.

Unfortunately, the author's bizarre focus on sexuality (and homosexuality) in particular were just odd and felt forced. While there is an interesting (and enlightened) take on the forces that society can place on what it considers "normative" behavior is awesome, the fact that he makes state sponsored rape A-OK doesn't sit well with me (women were required by law to give in to sexual advances, at least in the military).

In the end, it's always good to read an award winning book, but I was thankful and happy it was relatively short and a quick read. ...more

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Sep 25, 2007 bsc rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2008, fiction, science-fiction, hugo-award

I had not read this sci-fi classic until now. I enjoyed it...a bit more than Starship Troopers. I have not read much military sci-fi but this has been the best of the lot (much better than the cheesy Old Man's War). I did expect it to be more explicit in the details due to what Haldeman experienced in Vietnam, but it was surprisingly tame. However, it still accomplishes its goal of showing the horrors of war, and in no way makes it look attractive (as Starship Troopers did). ...more

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