The Forever War

by Joe Haldeman

Paperback, 256 pages

English language

Published Nov. 24, 2022 by Orion Publishing Group, Hachette UK.

ISBN:: 978-1-3996-0778-0

(5 reviews)

Private William Mandella is a reluctant hero in an interstellar war against an unknowable and unconquerable alien enemy.

But his greatest test will be when he returns home.

Relativity means that for every few months' tour of duty centuries have passed on Earth, isolating the combatants ever more from the world for whose future they are fighting.

The Earth he knew is dead. The one he returns to . . . unrecognisable.

38 editions

Nano Book Review reviewed The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

A Decent Book for The Most Part

3 stars

A man is drafted into the space army and shipped around the galaxy fighting for galactic supremacy. He doesn't exactly love the war, but he doesn't seem to have many particularly strong opinions about most things. Pitched to me as the anti-war antidote to Starship Troopers, the main thing I took away was that Starship Troopers wasn't exactly pro-war either, only the protagonist was. Still, it was interesting to read both!

Dysmorphia reviewed The Forever War (The Forever War Series Book 1) by Joe Haldeman

Review of 'The Forever War (The Forever War Series Book 1)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

An allegory for the Vietnam war via alien encounters and the human consequences of near-light travel that tells more about the concerns of the seventies than about the future. It's a good piece of scifi but it's dated, and should be read, I think, as a historical document. Otherwise you'll get really annoyed about the homophobia implied in the future of mandatory homosexuality.