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Charles
I would say that Forever War is more a "Hard" science-fiction, building from the concept of time-dilation ala relativity to dive into how societies, their technologies, and the stratagems of interstellar warfare change in a seemingly-abrupt way.
Old Man's War is more "flight-of-fancy" and not really grounded in too much hard sci-fi. Also, the depth of the characters in Forever War far-far-far outweigh the shallow development in Old Man's War. Actually this is my main gripe about Old Man's War, and that all the characters are pretty much the same person, just in different bodies.
Old Man's War is more "flight-of-fancy" and not really grounded in too much hard sci-fi. Also, the depth of the characters in Forever War far-far-far outweigh the shallow development in Old Man's War. Actually this is my main gripe about Old Man's War, and that all the characters are pretty much the same person, just in different bodies.
Matt Thomas
The Forever War was extremely impactful on me as a veteran. Haldeman did a fantastic job of portraying how people feel returning from a combat deployment, with the extended absence, life continuing on for those back home, having to readjust, etc. In that sense, I see The Forever War as hard science fiction as in the realm of psychology as physics.
"Old Man's War" is fantastic. But it's different. I agree with Charles to call it more of a flight of fancy. It's a great tale, it explores wonderful issues, and the characters are (mostly) three-dimensional. But other than being military sci-fi, I don't see the two as analogous.
"Old Man's War" is fantastic. But it's different. I agree with Charles to call it more of a flight of fancy. It's a great tale, it explores wonderful issues, and the characters are (mostly) three-dimensional. But other than being military sci-fi, I don't see the two as analogous.
Scott Baker
I am about 60% through this book and call tell you the two are very similar in theme. So similar that at one point I stopped to read a synopsis of The Forever War, which I read a few years ago, because I kept asking myself if I had read this before. Still, I am very much enjoying this book and (assuming it ends well) I plan to read other books in the series.
David Mortenson
The main difference you will notice between the two is the approach taken towards the idea of war itself. The Forever War condemns conflict and vilifies war itself and how it alters the mindset of those caught up in it, whereas Old Man's War sees it as a necessary evil. Asking the age old question how far are people willing to go for safety.
Sable
If you've read The Forever War and Starship Troopers, Old Man's War is more optimistic than the first but far less cheerful than the second. And there's considerable differences in theme. Haldeman wanted to say something about death; Scalzi wants to say something about life.
Petr Polovodov
There are similarities in the subject (military science fiction, fighting aliens). However, the books have different technological concepts that create unlike universes. From the last point of view, I do like both of them.
Tim
For me, this book is basically an answer to the question "what if The Forever was was boring?"
Tim Arnold
Very similar, but different enough in execution and tone that they are both on my favorites list. But yeah, a short enough synopsis of each would be identical. There is no funny in Forever War though.
W.K. Malone
No doubt Halderman has influenced this book and the others in the series. I believe the protagonist actually mentions Forever War by name in the series.
Keleigh Hardie
It's very similar to Forever War in structure and somewhat in subject, but the tone is much more optimistic. That the protagonist is a volunteer at the end of his life rather than a conscript at the beginning makes all the difference.
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