The Forever War - BOOK REVIEW 

I recently got the opportunity to interview Joe Haldeman and his wife and talk to them about the book! Click the link below if you'd like to check it out! :) Joe Haldeman Interview: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-g6zLeQg-WX0.html

I read this decades ago, and reread it on a regular basis. It's a brilliant book. Forever Peace and Forever Free were also solid reads.

Time dilation put him on another space timeline. To return to his love, in that other timeline, a solution to dilation had to be an EXACT protocol. IMO it's a SF love story.

This was probably the first military science fiction book I read in the mid 80's; and it is still my favorite. I thought, then, that I'd like to see it on the big screen or maybe a mini-series; but now, I'm afraid some film company is going to mess it up. 🙁

This is my second favorite stand alone military sci-fi book. In front of it is Armor and right behind it is Starship Troopers.

Recommend reading John Steakley's Armor. It left an impression on me when I read it and think its in line with Forever War.

"and it may become one of my favourite sci-fi books of all time!": welcome to the club. I read it thirty-five years ago and still recall so many of its incidents. It's almost at the top of my To Read pile for a re-read, then it's on to the sequel "Forever Free".

One of my all time favorites. Right along with Starship Troopers and Armor. Be sure to get the latest version which includes chapters that were edited out of earlier editions.

Every Vet goes through this sh*t; normally being on the butt end of both society and those who didn't have enough courage to join.

Reading this after serving in the marine corps definitely struck a cord with me

I read this in High School in 1980 and it blew my mind.I never thought we would end up living it.

The title reminds me of Orwells' 1984 taking place against a backdrop of forever war between shifting alliances of global blocks that result in history being constantly erased and rewritten ...

Now you need to read the very belated sequel Forever Free. I'm curious what you'll think of where the story ultimately goes after the end of the Forever War. I've read it, and the story delivered some plot twists that I was NOT expecting!

I read this in 2020 and enjoyed it. You've done a great analysis of it and have pulled out some good thoughts.

It is worth noting that Mr. Haldeman served in combat in Vietnam. He was sent there soon after marrying "Mary Gay Potter". Haldeman was wounded in combat and returned to a country that didn't recognize his experiences. This story has stayed with me for 45 years. I still have the original paperback that I read.

Still my favourite SF novel after decades. I re-read it periodically and contemplate my own life experiences.

I read this in my 20's. Parts of this has stayed with me throughout my life, particularly how accurate Haldeman is about the bureaucracy and blunders of a large government.

I read this right after *Starship Troopers* total bookends in a reflection on war. Excellent.

This book is worth reading, not just because it is well written, but because the reader gets two complete books for the price of one. It’s a book about interstellar war fought across wormholes. The “BEMs*” fought in the war are virtual foils for the experiences of the main characters. The time dilation creates a unique experience for the protagonist and his fellow soldiers as they age only marginally, while the society they return to after each campaign rapidly moves from the strange to the alien. The Forever War is also a book about aging. Even growing old in a world without wormholes is a world in which the environment in which one grows to maturity and lives their mature years will be at some point “untimely ripp’d” away from them as they decline. In the book all this is experienced by people who undergo massive changes in society while still young. This is one of my favorite S-F books on this account. *”Bug-Eyed Monsters”

I haven't reread it since the '90's and am rereading it now. Like going home to an old friend

This book and Heinlein's Starship Troopers were very early reads for me and as a result, I've read them more times than I can count! Both books are reflections of their authors' military experience, and I learned a lot about military leadership from them. During my military career, I recommended them to the junior enlisted that I was responsible for. Another great military SF book that I recommend is David Drake's Redliners. I was waiting for a mental health appointment at the VA and another vet noticed that I was reading The Forever War. He comes over, and we chat about the book and authors that we like. This other vet says, "Those books are good at reflecting time-in-service, but they don't talk about what the soldiers deal with afterwards." After my appointment, I stopped at my local bookstore and asked about Redliners. They were out of stock, but they ordered me a copy and called me when it came in a few weeks later. I sat in the parking lot and decided to read the first chapter. Before I realized it, the sun had gone down, and I had read half the book. I would highly suggest getting a copy of Redliners; I don't think that you'll regret it.

I love the concept of time dilation. But something no one ever talks about is that technology advances faster than the soldiers traveling. By the time they reached their destination, their opponents has advanced technologically thousands of years, making them equals, if not superior.

I met Joe and his wife in the Galaxy Bookshop in Sydney back in 1979(?) and both signed my Forever War and Mindbridge paperbacks (I wish I had had the hardbacks). I highly recommend Mindbridge as an excellent follow up.

I'm going through it now and a couple of things have struck me as I've been reading it. This is without a doubt written by someone with personal experience with war and even without saying the Vietnam parallels are too obvious. Not that that's a bad thing, I like authors who have done soldiering as their military sci-fi has an authenticity you can feel. But Vietnam created the antihero and the "what's the point" trope so I'm on familiar ground. The promiscuity is understandable but for humanity, hmm the U.S establishment to become that open is a stretch I can't see it any future. I did question why they sent our best and brightest to do grunt work, seemed like they could have been standard marines. Finally smoking, it always amuses me how the old sci-fi masters never saw the demise of smoking as a social norm coming when writing about humanities future. Those are my queries but they don't detract from a good read and although I'm still waiting for the time this book transcends the mediocre I'm pretty sure it will happen.

One of my favorites and the rest of the author s works. Right up there with Robert Heinlein s works and David Drake s Hammer s slammers books.

I’m planning on reading The Forever War very soon. This was very interesting. Thanks

I’m kinda on a military science fiction book quest right about now. I recently finished Starship Troopers, and am now currently reading Armor by John Steakly. After that, Imma read Old Man’s War by John Scalzy. Maybe sometime in the future, you could take a look at Armor? It’s pretty good so far.

i read this book back in 1990 and loved it, allways remember on the back cover the interesting comparison to the blood and thunder of starship troopers which i had previously read in the 80s very good books.

You are correct in your review 👍 one of my long list of favourites.

RIP Commodore Antipol.

Thank you for your excellent review of this profound work of art. I read this novel when I was approaching draft age in the 1970s. I was absolutely certain that I would die face up in a rice paddy in Vietnam with "the enemy" silhouettes staring down at me as the light went out in my rain filled eyes. The "conflict" ended shortly before I turned 18. Say what you want about Nixon, and he was a bad guy (China), but he literally saved my life. Talk about mixed emotions. But, I digress. I have read this Haldeman novel at ten year intervals since then. (I am now in my 60s) Each reading reveals another deeper level I missed before and reignites the emotions I experienced back then. Talk about life long impact, eh? I guess its time to read it again.

Read it right after Star Ship Troopers. The juxtaposition between the books is fantastic.

I read this first time when I was maybe 14 or 15 and thought it to be great. It clearly is an anti-war book. Read it second time maybe a decade later. Should read it a third time too.

I'm here because I heard that the tv show Space-Above & Beyond was based on this book, and I'm in the process of re-watching it atm, which I've not seen since 1996.

May I suggest that you take a look at "The Eternity Brigade" by Stephen Goldin. I found some of it's ideas both prescient and chilling.

One of my favorite military sci-fi books.

Old Man's War is a fun read. I think the 1st 3 books work as 1 greater story.

I really enjoyed this book! I wrote a fan letter to Joe Haldeman. He wrote me a nice response which I treasured for years. I told him I enjoyed his book as much as The weapon shops of Isher. He said that was a different genre than his book but, that they shared what he called Sense of Wonder. I agreed \

Love the style of the video!

Excellent book. Simple but great ending

One of my favorites.

As I've got older this book has got better. There's nothing more I can say that you haven't said already.

Absolutely spot on with this! The rest of the trilogy is definitely worth checking out, even if neither is as great as The Forever War.

Excellent review. I recommend the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser

There's a sort of sequel - "The Forever Peace'. Not as good but disturbing.

I'm on my third copy 😁(if done correctly I would like to see this on the big screen.........if done correctly)

Is the book that shows that the space war trope is practically useless by time dilation

You want to read something extremely impactful? Not 1 book but 20+, I dare you .....: The Vorkosigan Saga

Hey Tom!! I would love if you could review my book SKUD: A visual diary of madness!! It’s a great action-packed thriller

Yes, really liked this book. Overall a brilliant book, but I think Haldeman lost the plot at one point. [SPOILER AHEAD] Where the characters realize that they and the Taurans are being manipulated by something beyond our universe and they start dying, I felt Haldeman couldn't think of how to end the war and was just killing off the characters.

The problem is it was written by an ex-American soldier about his experiences in an American war and the violence that has become both prevalent and the norm in American society, mainly due to the availability of weaponry and extremist right wing politics. I live in liberal Europe and both violence and right wing politics are at a much lower level. So the book is more a reflection of American values than those of western society in general.