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adventurous
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Military sci-fi is probably not my thing, and this book was bogged down a bit with all the weapon/formation/tactical details, but the anti-war sentiment strongly shined through and made it apparent why this book is considered a classic. I could see vivid parallels between the Vietnam War and this future senseless war. These ideas are always going to be relevant, unfortunately.
The biggest thing that did not age well was the homophobia. Sure a character born in the 60's is going to have outdated views, but the author did not seem to really understanding human sexuality, based on his predictions for humanity. Looking past that I much as I could, it was kind of funny to entertain the thought ofthere being a day when someone would be considered "queer" for being heterosexual.
I'm not sure if it was intentional or just a style of writing but the protagonist barely had a personality for most of the book, which gave a real sense of a soldier's lack of identity as a person, merely being used as a pawn of war. But still, there wasn't much in the way of emotion that I would expect a character in Mandella's position to be feeling. Also, was his physics background only there so we could be given advanced physics explanations for space battles? I felt the fact that they purposefully drafted so many intellectuals should have been explored more.
Altogether I can see why this book is recommended so often, and I'm glad to have read it.
The biggest thing that did not age well was the homophobia. Sure a character born in the 60's is going to have outdated views, but the author did not seem to really understanding human sexuality, based on his predictions for humanity. Looking past that I much as I could, it was kind of funny to entertain the thought of
I'm not sure if it was intentional or just a style of writing but the protagonist barely had a personality for most of the book, which gave a real sense of a soldier's lack of identity as a person, merely being used as a pawn of war. But still, there wasn't much in the way of emotion that I would expect a character in Mandella's position to be feeling. Also, was his physics background only there so we could be given advanced physics explanations for space battles? I felt the fact that they purposefully drafted so many intellectuals should have been explored more.
Altogether I can see why this book is recommended so often, and I'm glad to have read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, War
Moderate: Homophobia, Medical content
Minor: Animal death
dark
reflective
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:
No
With the context of when The Forever War was written (the end of ‘Nam), this is an excellent metaphor for the futility of war, the disconnect of the ruling class/military leaders, and a soldiers struggle upon returning home. It doesn’t get much more obvious where Haldeman drew inspiration from, I mean the major love interest is literally just his actual wife in real life. Even outside of that context, it feels like a more realistic and depressing look at combat than Starship Troopers, another commonly cited pioneer of military scifi. (Not to mention without the weird focus on promoting fascism that novel had lmao)
That being said, it reads as very dated in a lot of ways. The technology described is dated and doesn’t really translate, however that’s fairly common with older sci-fi. What stands out even more is the focus on “homosex” and how unnatural the main character feels it is. I understand what Haldeman is going for in describing a disconcerting future that’s at odds with what the main character would feel, but wow does it feel wildly out of place with the rest of the novel. The whole story just seemingly keeps jumping back to it over and over until the very end,when the bioengineered gay soldiers decide to turn straight?? To become breeders on what’s essentially a reservation? Not only that, but the gay soldier questions how weird it is, and the mc repeatedly assures him it’s more natural and that he’ll love it. idk it’s just very out of place with the rest of the mostly very sober book on futuristic war.
Overall decent read, no regrets. Leave it to me to say I need a break from depressing existential sci-fi, and then pick up one of the quintessential bleak military sci-fi novels from the 70’s lmaoo
That being said, it reads as very dated in a lot of ways. The technology described is dated and doesn’t really translate, however that’s fairly common with older sci-fi. What stands out even more is the focus on “homosex” and how unnatural the main character feels it is. I understand what Haldeman is going for in describing a disconcerting future that’s at odds with what the main character would feel, but wow does it feel wildly out of place with the rest of the novel. The whole story just seemingly keeps jumping back to it over and over until the very end,
Overall decent read, no regrets. Leave it to me to say I need a break from depressing existential sci-fi, and then pick up one of the quintessential bleak military sci-fi novels from the 70’s lmaoo
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realise that the author is actually homophobic and not promoting homosexuality 😭
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Xenophobia, War
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
On the one hand, this was an extraordinary work of science fiction and a devastating critique of the Vietnam War, a conflict in which the author fought personally. On the other hand, one of the primary metaphors for the protagonist’s alienation from society (widespread, near universal homosexuality when he gets back from war) was, at best, alienating/disorienting, and at worst, kind of offensive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, War
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I loved this book and it is damn near perfect for what I look for in a sci-fi: Fantastical concepts of the impossible, allegory for real life struggles, deeply engaging writing that makes you FEEL what the character feels. The only reason I call it "damn-near" perfect and not just perfect is because I'm pretty sure the author (at least at the time of the book's writing) is a cartoonish level bigot.
Okay so the book is an allegory for the Vietnam War but it could work just as well for any of America's imperial wars. A bunch of kids are sent off to die in some war they don't care about and doesn't mean anything and come back to a home they don't understand.
The author does a really really good job of showing that the aliens we're fighting aren't the real enemy. I can't remember a single on-page death that is attributed to the aliens we're at war with until you get near the end of the book but there's all kinds of death and dismemberment from equipment failure and human error. Meanwhile, the audience's point of view is completely through the protagonist who has been so thoroughly indoctrinated (literally brainwashing) that he really holds no ill will for the army despite them constantly making his life worse. On the surface this is a defensive war but read between the lines and that statement is at the very least questionable.
Something real world soldiers report upon returning home is this sense of feeling disjointed from time. They were in combat for several years and life at home moved on without them. The way the author does this with the book is great because there's no ftl but they're traveling at relativistic speeds, they have to deal with time dilation. After their first tour of duty, they've aged only two years but twenty have passed back home. They get back to Earth (in the futuristic year of 2007) and it's a dystopia: food rationing, crime is so out of control that you need a body guard to go anywhere, and worst of all is almost unspeakable in how they've dealt with over population... (here's where we get to the cartoonish bigotry and minor spoilers to explain it) To deal with over population the UN has managed to successfully convince a whole third of the population to be... Home. Of. Sexual!
Dun duh DUUUNNNN!!!!!
Sorry for the dramatics but that's genuinely how the book treats it. And like, it ends up being kinda hilarious with how much the book wants you to be on board with this as a bad thing and just expects you to agree with it's conclusion that it is. He does another tour and by the 2400s EVERYONE is HOMOSEXUAL (humans are grown in vats) and he's just like "I'm the only normal human left" and it's like, you expect him to at least explain it but if you were to have a conversation with a book it would go like this:
"Everyone in the future is a homosexual."
"Well in the future we mostly just say gay, but alright."
"And that's bad."
"Oh?"
"Real bad."
"Doesn't seem like it would be that bad."
"No it's awful."
"Why?"
"Because it is!"
Like, I've read other books by bigots before and they at least try to explain to you why you should hate the way they do but he's so up his own ass about it that he just EXPECTS you to agree with him that it's as bad as letting old people die because of medical rationing. Anyway, as a certified homosexual, I found it funny because the rest of the book is so good so why is this part so glaringly awful?
Like, if the bigotry parts were written with as much skill as the rest of the book I would be offended but he's so inept at it that I'm just laughing at him.
Okay so the book is an allegory for the Vietnam War but it could work just as well for any of America's imperial wars. A bunch of kids are sent off to die in some war they don't care about and doesn't mean anything and come back to a home they don't understand.
The author does a really really good job of showing that the aliens we're fighting aren't the real enemy. I can't remember a single on-page death that is attributed to the aliens we're at war with until you get near the end of the book but there's all kinds of death and dismemberment from equipment failure and human error. Meanwhile, the audience's point of view is completely through the protagonist who has been so thoroughly indoctrinated (literally brainwashing) that he really holds no ill will for the army despite them constantly making his life worse. On the surface this is a defensive war but read between the lines and that statement is at the very least questionable.
Something real world soldiers report upon returning home is this sense of feeling disjointed from time. They were in combat for several years and life at home moved on without them. The way the author does this with the book is great because there's no ftl but they're traveling at relativistic speeds, they have to deal with time dilation. After their first tour of duty, they've aged only two years but twenty have passed back home. They get back to Earth (in the futuristic year of 2007) and it's a dystopia: food rationing, crime is so out of control that you need a body guard to go anywhere, and worst of all is almost unspeakable in how they've dealt with over population... (here's where we get to the cartoonish bigotry and minor spoilers to explain it) To deal with over population the UN has managed to successfully convince a whole third of the population to be... Home. Of. Sexual!
Dun duh DUUUNNNN!!!!!
Sorry for the dramatics but that's genuinely how the book treats it. And like, it ends up being kinda hilarious with how much the book wants you to be on board with this as a bad thing and just expects you to agree with it's conclusion that it is. He does another tour and by the 2400s EVERYONE is HOMOSEXUAL (humans are grown in vats) and he's just like "I'm the only normal human left" and it's like, you expect him to at least explain it but if you were to have a conversation with a book it would go like this:
"Everyone in the future is a homosexual."
"Well in the future we mostly just say gay, but alright."
"And that's bad."
"Oh?"
"Real bad."
"Doesn't seem like it would be that bad."
"No it's awful."
"Why?"
"Because it is!"
Like, I've read other books by bigots before and they at least try to explain to you why you should hate the way they do but he's so up his own ass about it that he just EXPECTS you to agree with him that it's as bad as letting old people die because of medical rationing. Anyway, as a certified homosexual, I found it funny because the rest of the book is so good so why is this part so glaringly awful?
Like, if the bigotry parts were written with as much skill as the rest of the book I would be offended but he's so inept at it that I'm just laughing at him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, Medical trauma, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia
The book pretty much just openly says "being gay is bad." Like as a literal quote. I don't want that one thing to dissuade you from reading the book because it's about a paragraph worth of material sprinkled in throughout the novel and it's so stupid and ham fisted that it's hard to take seriously and the rest of the novel is just amazing but you should know it's there.
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Gun violence, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, War
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is a classic sci-fi exploration of relativity mixed with Vietnam war protest.
Halderman explorers the difficulty inherent and being a soldier but also in returning to civilian life in this multi-century epic. I enjoyed it, but content warnings for some moments of pretty severe anti-lgbtq prejudice.
Halderman explorers the difficulty inherent and being a soldier but also in returning to civilian life in this multi-century epic. I enjoyed it, but content warnings for some moments of pretty severe anti-lgbtq prejudice.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Violence
RE: Homophobia, minor spoilers About halfway through the book to the end, the main character shows disdain and disgust at homosexuality, but is accepting that others are that way. There was also a period of essentially reverse conversation therapy mindset. I think it might have been intended as a means of showing how the returning soldiers return to a different society than they left, and fitting into an unfamiliar society is challenging. The sci-fi and space combat aspects of the story were all pretty good.