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scheu's review
3.0
The good: interesting SF concepts and commentary on the effects of war from a different perspective than _[b:The Forever War|21611|The Forever War (The Forever War, #1)|Joe Haldeman|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1167322714s/21611.jpg|423]_ (to which this novel is not a sequel)
The bad: Haldeman switches from first-person to third-person narration for no apparent reason several times. It was very annoying. There's simply no excuse for that.
The bad: Haldeman switches from first-person to third-person narration for no apparent reason several times. It was very annoying. There's simply no excuse for that.
teachinsci's review
3.0
Not A Sequel!!
Now that is out of the way... the two books are related in theme. "war is bad and often fought for obscure and false reasons.". In this book, however, the war is just a backdrop to the larger story of saving the world and, why not... bringing peace forever.
The action was exciting, and the characters were mostly believable. I am not entirely sure what bothered me about this book. It could be the idea (which I appreciated the realism of) that people become useless sheep if they don't have to work for a living... It could be the notion that conflict can be completely abolished and everyone will quickly agree (even as bringing that peace kills huge numbers). It may have been the dark, unrealised, fatalism of the main character who contemplated suicide as a matter of course. Most likely it was the almost deus ex machina necessities that brought the book to a close (that was, for me, somewhat unsatisfying).
Overall, lots of amazing ideas, the author deserves his accolades, just not a book I would want to read again.
Now that is out of the way... the two books are related in theme. "war is bad and often fought for obscure and false reasons.". In this book, however, the war is just a backdrop to the larger story of saving the world and, why not... bringing peace forever.
The action was exciting, and the characters were mostly believable. I am not entirely sure what bothered me about this book. It could be the idea (which I appreciated the realism of) that people become useless sheep if they don't have to work for a living... It could be the notion that conflict can be completely abolished and everyone will quickly agree (even as bringing that peace kills huge numbers). It may have been the dark, unrealised, fatalism of the main character who contemplated suicide as a matter of course. Most likely it was the almost deus ex machina necessities that brought the book to a close (that was, for me, somewhat unsatisfying).
Overall, lots of amazing ideas, the author deserves his accolades, just not a book I would want to read again.
matthewbrand's review
3.0
I might have liked this more if it weren't associated with The Forever War #1. I'm horribly confused why they're part of the same series, they don't seem to have anything to do with each other and kind of contradict each other.
blairconrad's review
2.0
Disappointing. Poorly written, I thought, with a grab bag of concepts (robo soldiers, mind melds, sex, replicators, racism, PTSD, cults, kumbaya) thrown together without a unifying theme, or even coherent direction. Maybe it suffers by comparison to the other entries I've been reading (written by women, and a few years later), but the book feels like one of the earlier entries in my "joint Hugo/Nebula reread" list, to the point where I had to constantly recheck that this was written in 1997, and I wasn't just reading the 25th anniversary reprint.
(Also, what's with the 1st person/3rd person switches? Confusing, and I couldn't see the point of them.)
(Also, what's with the 1st person/3rd person switches? Confusing, and I couldn't see the point of them.)
reddirtrenegade's review
1.0
The first third was great. The second third was boring. I didn't read the third third.
jurassicreader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
neonrabbit's review
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lakecake's review
3.0
The concept is interesting, and the characters are pretty engaging, but there seemed to be a lot of early stuff in this book that was unrelated to the end game, and kept my wondering why it was in there.