The Forever War
by Joe Haldeman · first published 1974
58% recommend37% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
Military sci-fi about an interstellar war where relativistic time dilation leaves a soldier out of step with Earth. Valued as a sharp answer to Starship Troopers, on propaganda and future shock, and for war-weary themes.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"The legendary novel of extraterrestrial war in an uncaring universe comes to comics, in a stunningly realized vision of Joe Haldeman's Vietnam War parable epic war story spanning relativistic space and time, The Forever War explores one soldier's experience as he is caught up in the brutal machinery of a war against an unknown and unknowable alien foe that reaches across the stars" -- The monumental Hugo and Nebula award winning SF classic-- Featuring a new introduction by John Scalzi The Earth's leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand--despite the fact that the fierce al
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2009–2026House of Suns
Alastair Reynolds, John Lee
Recommended by 26 · mentioned by 3526 recommend · 35 mention26 recommend · 3526 recommend
2008–2026Old Man’s War
John Scalzi
Recommended by 42 · mentioned by 8342 recommend · 83 mention42 recommend · 8342 recommend
2009–2026Revelation Space
Alastair Reynolds, John Lee
Recommended by 78 · mentioned by 12378 recommend · 123 mention78 recommend · 12378 recommend
2008–2026Starship Troopers
Robert A. Heinlein
Recommended by 57 · mentioned by 21857 recommend · 218 mention57 recommend · 21857 recommend
2010–2026Gateway
Frederik Pohl
Recommended by 22 · mentioned by 3422 recommend · 34 mention22 recommend · 3422 recommend
2022–2023Beautiful Country
Qian Julie Wang
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
2016–2017The forever war
Dexter Filkins
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
2010–2026Downbelow station
C. J. Cherryh
Recommended by 6 · mentioned by 76 recommend · 7 mention6 recommend · 76 recommend
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman Excellent science fiction.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading right now?” ↗It's interesting to see this topic brought up without a reference to Haldeman's seminal Forever War. I can't recall whether he specifically outlines the means of interstellar travel in his universe as Ramjets but the story heavily relies on this concept.
on “When Ramjets Ruled Science Fiction” ↗Even more so... Plus "Door into Summer" is unambiguously a good read. (Actually though I tell people who like Heinlein that Joe Haldeman set out to out-Heinlein Heinlein and was successful with "The Forever War" and "Worlds")
on “All You Zombies” ↗Go back and read "Repent, Harlequin" or The Forever War or or Make room! Make room! or "Solution Unsatisfactory" tell me that all sci-fi from that age is all up and up. Go read the Dangerous Visions anthologies compiled by Ellison. I think you'd be a bit…
on “Dystopian sci-fi is making us fear all new technology” ↗You should probably go back and read the books again, maybe with some more time between readings, and paying more attention to the people and less to the tech. The jaded, alienated Mandella in The Forever War has a lot more to say about the evolution of his society than Rico does. Armor is yet-another excellent contemporary to both of those books.
on “The Author of Our Best SF Military Novel Explains the Future of War” ↗…sorry for what he did afterwards... but that's afterwards. Unfortunately there are so many half-baked essays about the book online I've been unable to find this again. Do go and read Haldeman's _The Forever War_ as a counter to it, though. (It's also an excellent book.)
on “Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?” ↗I'd also recommend you read Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, which is very much a response to Starship Troopers: while Heinlein was writing from the perspective of WW2, Haldeman was writing from the perspective of Vietnam, and it shows. I haven't read Armor.…
on “Paranoid Android: The Divine Madness of Philip K Dick” ↗It can still be a good book with terrible politics. If you need a palate cleanser when finished, The Forever War by Haldeman is a direct rebuttal..
on “We have jetpacks and we do not care” ↗…* Martha Wells - The Murderbot Diaries * Peter F. Hamilton - Void Trilogy * Liu Cixin - The Three Body Problem (Starts on Earth but goes Interstellar) * Frank Herbert - Dune * Joe Haldeman - The Forever War (Earth-based dystopia)
on “Ask HN: Science Fiction Starter List” ↗The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
on “Ask HN: Which SciFi novel(s) would you want made into a TV series?” ↗"The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman, among others. The book will put the timeline of your life into context, outline your limitations, and provide a grandiose example on the importance of communication. ("Ender's Game"…
on “Ask YC: What's the most inspiring sci-fi book you've read?” ↗…"a constant 1 g acceleration would permit humans to travel as far as light has been able to travel since the big bang (some 13.7 billion light years)". So I would guess, hell, yes! (I recommend "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman for serious time dilation fun.)
on “ Starship pilots: speed kills, especially warp speed ” ↗Got to reply to myself here. I forgot to mention Joe Haldeman who still writes and is one of my forever SciFi heroes because of "The Forever War". And now I discovered that Ridley Scott (Bladerunner, Alien) is going to do "The Forever War" in 3D! So, yes, Sci-Fi is dying, but as long as true fans of the pure art like Ridley Scott are around, there…
on “Is science fiction dying?” ↗…natural. Still, I am not any kind of Luddite - if life extension and mind uploading etc. is perfected I won't oppose it - I'll just have a lot of misgivings as will a lot of other people. Joe Haldeman's "Forever War" has some good exploration of the nature of "Future Shock": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forever_War Actually, now that I think about it, if this whole scenario actually happens the best thing might…
on “Why aren't the oldest living people getting any older?” ↗"The Forever War" by Joe Haldemann. Possibly the best science fiction I ever read! "The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" and its video lectures[1]. Highly recommended! [1]: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput...
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012” ↗