This is my second year in which I
have a summer reading list. Last year I had four books on the list, they were: The Commitments (Roddy Doyle), The Wasp Factory (Iain Banks), One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest (Ken
Kesey), and Dune (Frank Herbert). I
loved all these books, my least favorite being The Commitments. I have decided to make a summer reading list every
summer, but this year I am challenging myself, because there are six books on
the list. This year’s list consists of: The
Forever War (Joe Haldeman), Childhoods
End (Arthur C. Clarke), The Virgin
Suicides (Jeffrey Eugenides), The
Mote in God`s Eye (Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle), Children of Dune (Frank Herbert), and finally Enders Game (Orson Scott Card). So I have just finished reading The Forever War and this is a review of
it. As I read the rest of these books, I will write reviews for them all.
The Forever War was written in 1974 by
Joe Haldeman, a Vietnam veteran. This book is the first book in the SF Masterworks, a compilation of books
published by Gollancz, but it was
started by Millennium. This book
follows the character William Mandalla. He is a soldier in a war against the
alien species the Taurans. The book follows his military career as he rises
through the ranks in this war. The war takes place all throughout space and due
to time dilation the Earth is aging centuries while William is aging days.
That’s all I can really talk about without going into too much detail and
spoiling anything.
I loved
this book. The futuristic society is so interesting. One reason it is so
interesting is that it keeps changing because technically the Earth is aging
centuries, so every time we see the Earth, it is so different. By the last
battle, William can hardly understand his fellow soldiers because the English
language has changed so much that their dialect is so strange for him. When we
first see Earth in this book, its population is at 9 billion, and 5-6 billion
are unemployed. Currency has changed to kilocalories, because resources in the
form of food are so low. The main form of birth control is what`s called
‘homolife’. Heterosexuality is actually outlawed for a while, and then it
becomes so rare that by the end of the book, William is effectively one of two
heterosexual people left, from his generation.
Anyway, great book. It is considered one of if not the best science
fiction war novel ever written, and I can believe that.
