Sometimes I think about what it would be like to live forever, or just to age slower than those around me. While the element of unlimited time holds a certain appeal, I cannot get past the difficulties. How hard would it be to deal with the constant changes of people and the planet? To see how history often repeats itself, and not always in a good way?
These are some of the questions Joe Haldeman deals with in his science fiction novel The Forever War. Young William Mandella is originally drafted as a foot soldier to fight in a thousand year war against the extraterrestrial Taurans. Transported through collapsars, soldiers are able to instantaneously travel vast distances, and barely age in the process. Mandella finds himself forced to fight unarmed enemies and engage in battles over a period of centuries. Earth becomes so altered and foreign, that Mandella chooses to stay in the military where he hopes he will never have time to actually think about the horror and carnage of war.
Originally published in 1975, The Forever War won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and continues to be a relevant science fiction classic. First in a three book series, the story continues in Forever Peace and Forever Free. For further reviews and recommendations look on Amazon and Novelist.
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