The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Although this is an unconventional way to start a blog post about a book, I just have to say this here and now: The Forever War was one of the best books I've ever read; and if you know me, then you'll know that I read a lot of books. As William Gibson, the author of Neuormancer and Spook Country said, "To say that The Forever War is the best science fiction war novel ever written is to damn it with faint praise. It is, for all its techno-extrapolative brilliance, as fine and woundingly genuine a war story as any I've ever read." Do you wanna know why The Forever War is such a great book in my eyes, William Gibson's eyes and the eyes of others? Well, obviously you have to read the book for that. But you can get a short glimpse now, just read on.

First off is the most noticeably great thing about The Forever War is the main character, William Mandella. The story is told in his point of view, his voice resonating with every word on the page; he's brought to life in the pages, and brings the story to life along with him. As you're reading the book you can almost imagine yourself in his place, thinking and doing as he does while he battles through the unusual circumstances of his life--whether it's a connection through his emotions or the war, William hooks the reader on a personal level. You follow his story as he goes from Private to General, being the one of the only people to survive the war from start to finish. When he finds his lover, Margay, you feel his happiness and when he looses her, you feel his anguish. When he becomes a general, you feel his unrest and when the book ends, you see how he's changed. This is William's story, this is William's book, Joe Haldeman was just his voice. However, William wasn't the only thing that made me reread this book 3 times which yes, I actually did.

The ideas presented in the book are so controversial, so interesting, that the reader has to stop and think about them. What if we colonized other planets? What would happen if the entire world came under one government? As the population grew larger, what would be used as population control? Questions such as these present themselves in the book, and while Joe Haldeman provides his answer for each question and William gives his opinion, the reader faces mind-bending ideas.

In addition to these fantastic features about the book, The Forever War has even more to offer. While it is a Science Fiction book, written in 1974, the story and ideas present are timeless. However, more so than those, the metaphor is a more important aspect of the book. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, The Forever War is a giant metaphor for the Vietnam War; placing it in the future just broadens its effect. Each page, each word, can be directed back towards the Vietnam War. Just for that reason, and that reason alone, the story takes a new meaning. Seeing it in the light of a futuristic metaphor allows the reader to really think about life and war, as William proves that war holds no glory, just as the Vietnam War didn't.

While some pages of the book seem boring, as in every book, The Future War by Joe Haldeman is a fantastic science fiction war novel. In fact, fantastic isn't a good enough word for this book. I highly recommend this book to science fiction lovers, war novel fans, idealists and just about anyone who likes to think.