J.L. Sutton's Reviews > The Forever War

“The 1143-year-long war hand begun on false pretenses and only because the two races were unable to communicate. Once they could talk, the first question was 'Why did you start this thing?' and the answer was 'Me?”



While it reminded me of Heinlein's Starship Troopers and Avatar (especially the beginning where recruits are told about all the things that could kill them and how they likely wouldn't make it back alive), Joe Haldeman's The Forever War takes a different turn. Haldeman's book focuses on a soldier fighting an interstellar war. Because our character is traveling to his battles at near-light speed, when he returns to earth between missions, decades have passed. Haldeman speculates about the social changes taking place, changes that our character has difficulty adapting to or fully accepting. Despite social changes, there is one constant; the war continues. The Forever War still resonates.