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A review by teachinsci
Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman
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.