What I am reading

This edition contains the three novels The Forever War (1974), Forever Free (1999) and Forever Peace (1997) by Joe Haldeman, this review only deals with The Forever War since I haven’t read the other two so far.

The novel has a very plausible premise: mankind starts a war against the first alien species they come in contact with (although, of course, they claim that the Taurans started the war…), a war that literally drags on forever, mainly because it is very convenient for the government. First of all, it stimulates the economy  and secondly, it gives the people in power the excuses they need to gain even more power while uniting mankind against an abstract, yet common enemy – from an American perspective, it is sort of an interstellar Vietnam.
By taking the relativity of time into consideration, Haldeman takes interstellar fighting to a whole new level and this is exactly what makes this novel special. While one training and/or combat mission takes only a year or two, decades or even centuries can pass on earth and the returning survivors are not only traumatised by their experiences, but they are confronted with completely different social and political structures and friends and family are long dead. As if it wouldn’t be weird enough for any soldier to return into civilian society (which is a whole theoretical minefield on its own).

What’s really great about this novel is, that not unlike Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, it doesn’t focus much on action and actual combat, but mainly on human emotions and strains during times of waiting and travelling – which is what soldiers probably do most of the time. Not glorifying the few actual battles further emphasises the pacifistic intentions, but the most striking theme in my opinion is the increasing alienation and isolation of the veterans. The protagonist, who was in the war from the very beginning and is therefore centuries older than everybody else on his ship, has a hard time relating to anyone, basically because due to the changes in language, cultural background as well as social behaviour, the humans are as alien and incomprehensible to him as the actual aliens.

I must say that as a child of its time, The Forever War is pretty occupied with sex and especially the topic of homosexuality vs. heterosexuality (as if anyone cares…), but unlike for example Stranger in a Strange Land, this is a really great example of smart science fiction and I am pumped for the sequel!