2026 SEP: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman > Likes and Comments
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I did enjoy this, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting.The central idea -- relativistic time dilation -- worked very well indeed, I thought, and was woven nicely into the 'human' story. On the other hand, the pace of the narrative was pretty slow. I think I was anticipating a much bigger 'scale' of activity, with far more battles, and a kind of galaxy-wide, strategic perspective, necessitating a brisk tempo. What we got was more plodding, with a lot of non-combat 'down time', and somehow more parochial. Very few actual battles, with no sense of the big picture of the conflict.
Of course, the author can't really be faulted for ignoring my own prejudices about how I thought the story should go. Much of the travel to and from 'collapsars' (wormholes) is painfully time consuming, not withstanding the magic (tachyon) drive systems, and the pace of the narrative reflects this. And the central protagonist is carried along by events, nowhere near the centre of decision making, so we don't have a POV on the big picture. We therefore share his confusion. It's meant to be an allegory of the Vietnam War, after all.
On that point, I'm not really a fan of allegory, but in this case I didn't really feel I was having my face rubbed in it. If I hadn't already known it was supposed to be one, it probably wouldn't have occurred to me.
All in all though, I can see why it's regarded as a classic. With the possible exception of one particularly bizarre battle scene, which takes place in a magic ('stasis') field, I found the whole thing to be well written, compelling and a smooth read.
Some of the satire may be of its day (1978), to the point that I can imagine some younger and more sensitive readers finding it offensive, but I just found it amusing -- apparently the author's intention.
Finished it. A re-read. I thought it was a relatively easy. Will come back for more words later.I’m glad you enjoyed it Chris. Sam sure didn’t. Wow!
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1974)
Pages: 278 | Rated: 4.14 | Ratings: 184K
Why? It’s well rated. I read it some time ago and was entertained. I keep get it conflated with Old Man’s War. They are both fairly entertaining, perhaps along the lines of say Ender’s Game.
Publisher’s Summary
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 duties without rancor and even rise up through military ranks. Pvt. Mandella is willing to do whatever it takes to survive the ordeal and return home. But "home" may be even more terrifying than battle, because, thanks to the time dilation caused by space travel, Mandella is aging months while the Earth he left behind is aging centuries.