Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Interesting ideas about the future
Sci-fi, time travel, war, and love. I think this book has a really interesting premise--how relativity and its effects on time/aging would change the ways wars are fought. Unfortunately, I don't think that the author really executed the ideas as well as he could have. The second half of the book suffered from a lack of detail, and seemed a bit haphazard. Reminded me a bit of Ender's Game, so if you liked that you might like this too!
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Good writing and a decent plot but outdated in beliefs on sexuality. Since it was part of the world-building, it put a big hole into the world-building and destroyed believability for me.
4.5 maybe? I dont really give 5 star ratings but i really enjoyed it. A little dated but very enjoyable.
As a staple of military science fiction, “The Forever War” has all the usual superficial features of interstellar warfare, alien species, time travel, and high-tech weaponry. But while it has those features, at the core it is not science fiction, rather a war/soldier novel. Which is all well and good, but for me that core essence so changed the way the story read that I felt I was missing aspects that I usually enjoy in science fiction. I might read “All Quiet on the Western Front” if I want a war story, or especially “A Canticle for Leibowitz” (one of my favorites) for a science fiction anti-war message. But I felt the author’s true intention of commenting as a veteran of Vietnam, and his lack of almost any narrative description or character development, seriously impeded any significant world-building, emotional or intellectual engagement, or much higher-level thematic material to instead focus on the tried-and-true soldier’s story.
For what it’s worth the holistic development of the plot is interesting and makes some unique social observations. My only thematic issue with the plot is the obvious use of homosexuality as a means to make the main character (and thereby reader) alienated. It feels not only a bit homophobic 40 years later, but a bit antiquated to align a decrepit, derelict future with homosexuality. His points as to why homosexuality grew may pose an interesting premise in science fiction alone and would be worth exploring. But it’s hard to deny that its truer, underlying purpose is an easy trope to create a sense of fear and otherness at how society has changed. I can’t speak for the author’s intentions entirely, but we can (hopefully) account that to the times.
The plot itself is mostly action-focused, recounting the missions and events that occur, but without any impelling character development. Little is given to help us invest in the soldiers: it’s as if we’re watching a series of puppets that, while they do things and bad things may happen to them, we’re missing the pull of attachment or empathy to engage. We feel we ought to care because, well, that’s a bad thing to happen to anyone, but it’s more as if someone is reciting events, instead of telling a story. To me this is partly the fault of, again, the true intention being a soldier story, and not a science fiction novel or dramatic fiction. A veteran would probably not feel the need to dramatize their own events as their connection to them is already emotional and visceral. But for those of us without that connection, we need something more.
With his very brisk pace, Haldeman definitely doesn’t waste much time in describing anything. In fact, I found myself having to re-read parts in order to piece together as much imagery as I could from a sparse few words. Not that I don’t mind a quick read, but upon completion I feel I have only an outline, a sketching of a world, rather than any real depth in it. I can recall some highlights of interesting ideas or places, images that stuck, but overall I couldn’t connect them very well when reading. Some may attribute this to the time travel, but I have found other novels with time travel that still flow very easily (again see Miller’s “A Canticle for Leibowitz”). Personally, this jerky writing makes me a distracted reader as each sentence is so disconnected from the previous that I don’t feel any flow, and thus no need to block out distractions to still get the whole premise – essentially the “Family Guy” effect. But again this comes back to the central issue: this isn’t a science fiction novel interested in describing in detail humanity’s future, but is more focused on the soldier’s plight, contextualized in science fiction. To each their own, but it feels myopic, and a missed opportunity to explore beyond itself.
In general, I would still recommend for the sheer diversity and breadth of the action, and somewhat for the ideas. I’d also be interested to have a reaction from those who have soldier/veteran experience and can fill in the emotional and attachment gaps I felt I missed. But for me personally, I couldn’t feel invested because the terse writing style and lack of fleshing out details made the whole novel feel a bit stunted. Again, to each their own, and I can’t fault Haldeman for writing a very, very interesting science fiction take on a soldier novel. With all the awards it won it obviously had, and has, strong appeal, to which I can’t deny there is reason for acclaim. It is a great read for the right person, just maybe I’m not that audience.
For what it’s worth the holistic development of the plot is interesting and makes some unique social observations. My only thematic issue with the plot is the obvious use of homosexuality as a means to make the main character (and thereby reader) alienated. It feels not only a bit homophobic 40 years later, but a bit antiquated to align a decrepit, derelict future with homosexuality. His points as to why homosexuality grew may pose an interesting premise in science fiction alone and would be worth exploring. But it’s hard to deny that its truer, underlying purpose is an easy trope to create a sense of fear and otherness at how society has changed. I can’t speak for the author’s intentions entirely, but we can (hopefully) account that to the times.
The plot itself is mostly action-focused, recounting the missions and events that occur, but without any impelling character development. Little is given to help us invest in the soldiers: it’s as if we’re watching a series of puppets that, while they do things and bad things may happen to them, we’re missing the pull of attachment or empathy to engage. We feel we ought to care because, well, that’s a bad thing to happen to anyone, but it’s more as if someone is reciting events, instead of telling a story. To me this is partly the fault of, again, the true intention being a soldier story, and not a science fiction novel or dramatic fiction. A veteran would probably not feel the need to dramatize their own events as their connection to them is already emotional and visceral. But for those of us without that connection, we need something more.
With his very brisk pace, Haldeman definitely doesn’t waste much time in describing anything. In fact, I found myself having to re-read parts in order to piece together as much imagery as I could from a sparse few words. Not that I don’t mind a quick read, but upon completion I feel I have only an outline, a sketching of a world, rather than any real depth in it. I can recall some highlights of interesting ideas or places, images that stuck, but overall I couldn’t connect them very well when reading. Some may attribute this to the time travel, but I have found other novels with time travel that still flow very easily (again see Miller’s “A Canticle for Leibowitz”). Personally, this jerky writing makes me a distracted reader as each sentence is so disconnected from the previous that I don’t feel any flow, and thus no need to block out distractions to still get the whole premise – essentially the “Family Guy” effect. But again this comes back to the central issue: this isn’t a science fiction novel interested in describing in detail humanity’s future, but is more focused on the soldier’s plight, contextualized in science fiction. To each their own, but it feels myopic, and a missed opportunity to explore beyond itself.
In general, I would still recommend for the sheer diversity and breadth of the action, and somewhat for the ideas. I’d also be interested to have a reaction from those who have soldier/veteran experience and can fill in the emotional and attachment gaps I felt I missed. But for me personally, I couldn’t feel invested because the terse writing style and lack of fleshing out details made the whole novel feel a bit stunted. Again, to each their own, and I can’t fault Haldeman for writing a very, very interesting science fiction take on a soldier novel. With all the awards it won it obviously had, and has, strong appeal, to which I can’t deny there is reason for acclaim. It is a great read for the right person, just maybe I’m not that audience.
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Some very interesting ideas and I got a kick out of all the obvious Expanse inspirations. I didn't care about any of the characters though.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes