"The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman; 8/10 [H]

 This is probably one of the best and most important science fiction novels published in the '70's, and it really struck a chord with me. 

There is important background for this book.  Haldeman majored in physics and astronomy, so his science background is fairly solid, and that will be something to consider if you read the book.  After graduating college he was drafted into the Army in '67, and sent to Vietnam, where he was in the shit and where he was wounded in action.  "Forever War" is, despite its being a work of science fiction, one of the greatest books about the Vietnam experience that I have ever read. 

It follows a soldier who is conscripted to fight against an unknown enemy for reasons he doesn't particularly buy on the other side of the galaxy, in horrible conditions.  The book is divided into segments, just like the segments of an conscript's term of service during wartime.  Between each of these segments he is allowed to return to Earth on R&R leave.  However, there is no faster-than-light travel, so to actually get to the planets where he is to fight and then to get home takes him subjectively a year or two, but in time on Earth it is hundreds of years.

This book is very dark and violent, but it feels like Haldeman really put his heart on his sleeve here, really put all that was wrong and terrible about war, and his war in particular, into the book.  It also is the fearliest science fiction novel I've read that uses the difference between subjective time and real time created by relativistic travel speeds (the Ender sequels draw heavily on this), and he uses it to chilling effect. 

Haldeman has also stated before that he views this book as a rebuttal to Heinlein's rah-rah "Starship Troopers."  I think it works remarkably well in that regard, and I find it far more compelling, particularly considering the fact that Haldeman saw combat and Heinlein didn't.  I think the film version of "Starship Troopers" actually drew almost as much on "Forever War" as it did on Heinlein's book, though I couldn't say whether it was intentional or not.

I don't really have much to complain about in this book, and I think it highly likely that I will like it even more the second time.  The characters were solid, though not superb, and the only thing that stands out as being particularly awkward are some of the bits where the protagonist is back on Earth.  If you read the book, though, you will see why these parts would be exceedingly difficult to conceive, and I think Haldeman did a pretty good job considering.  

This book is a must-read for the science fiction fan, a must-read as a War Novel for those who read them, and a must-read for the student of the history of the Vietnam War, which I happen to be.  It established Haldeman as a major name in the genre, but it transcends the genre in a way that few SF novels have ever done.  I commend it to your attention.