Review of "Forever Free" by Joe Haldeman

Joe Haldeman’s 1974 The Forever War and 1997 Forever Peace were huge successes for the author, winning many of science fiction’s most prestigious awards, not to mention garnering him a solid fan base in the process.  Though they share similar sounding titles and a military motif, little else between the two novels resembles the other.  When it was announced in 1999 that Haldeman would be publishing a true sequel to The Forever War entitled Forever Free, the sci-fi community was abuzz: William Mandella was returning.  Opinion in the aftermath could not be more divided.

Forever Free does indeed pick up the life of William Mandella, his wife Marygay, and the two children they've conceived since.  Living on a cold, dreary planet called Middle Finger (a none-too-subtle touch of symbolism by Haldeman), the Mandellas, amidst a larger group of veterans and Taurans, serve as untainted gene pools, kept in isolation for “protective purposes”.  Governed by a genetically perfect version of humanity called the Man, a posthuman group-mind, the Mandellas and others spend their days in bland, domestic rote on Middle Finger, life far from idyllic.  The monotony of the situation drives the Mandellas to plot a daring escape involving a space ship, 10 years subjective time/40,000 years time dilation, and a grand tour of the universe.  Their plans kicking off without a hitch, very soon, however, things start to go awry in ways that seem to defy reality, and getting at the heart of the issue may change the definition of “universe” for all.  

Review of "Forever Peace" by Joe Haldeman

Despite the similarities in name, Joe Haldeman’s 1997 Forever Peace shares nothing in common with his huge success, The Forever War, save the military science fiction motif.  Winning its own accolades (the Nebula, Hugo, and John W. Campbell Awards), Forever Peace is a novel less focused on the portent of war and more on the idea of universal understanding.  Not without its share of action, however, readers will find Haldeman back in The Forever War form, the novel containing both depth and entertainment.  

Forever Peace is the story of Julian Class, both scientist and operator of a mechanized robot called a “soldierboy” for the US military.  By jacking in to a device that collectively links operators to their soldierboys, teams are able to carry out covert missions in support of US economic, and by default, political interest.  The only fallback to the device is, when operatives link together for a certain period of time, they transcend to greater heights of human understanding and become passive, no longer interested in violence or war.  The US government’s usage of the soldierboys not always for altruistic purposes, it becomes up to Julian, and his girlfriend Amelia, to spread the word about the system’s abilities to pacify violent inclination and avoid major conflict in the process.

Review of "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman

Joe Haldeman’s 1976 The Forever War is one of those rare novels, like Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama or Pohl’s Gateway, that runs away with nearly every major American science fiction award the year it was published.  Winning the Hugo, Nebula and Locus, it is undoubtedly a combination of the book’s thematic elements and commentary on contemporary concerns (the Vietnam War) that won the book such high acclaim.  And it is all worth it.  Not the most stylistic or prosaic of novels, The Forever War nevertheless remains one of the best examples of how science fiction is capable of commenting on the human condition in relevant fashion.

The Forever War is the story of William Mandella, a student drafted into an extra-planetary war with the alien Taurans.  Before being sent to the front, Mandella undergoes training of severe duress, a la Heinlein’s Starship Troopers or Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket.  Though a number of his contemporaries do not survive the training, nothing can prepare them for the experiences of actual combat.  Returning to Earth years subjective time later, but decades, even centuries objective time later due to the dilatory effects of space travel, Mandella finds that what he left behind is not as it was.  And this is only the beginning of his troubles.  Civil hostility and locating gameful employment difficult, Mandella is soon back in the place he left, the military, and more war on the way.