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The Forever War

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The Forever War

By: Joe Haldeman
Narrated by: George Wilson
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About this listen

 When it was first published over 20 years ago, Joe Haldeman's novel won the Hugo and Nebula awards and was chosen Best Novel in several countries. Today, it is hailed a classic of science fiction that foreshadowed many of the futuristic themes of the 1990s: bionics, sensory manipulation, and time distortion.

William Mandella is a soldier in Earth's elite brigade. As the war against the Taurans sends him from galaxy to galaxy, he learns to use protective body shells and sophisticated weapons. He adapts to the cultures and terrains of distant outposts. But with each month in space, years are passing on Earth. Where will he call home when (and if) the Forever War ends?

Narrator George Wilson's performance conveys all the imaginative technology and human drama of The Forever War. Set against a backdrop of vivid battle scenes, this absorbing work asks provocative questions about the very nature of war.

©1974 Joe W. Haldeman (P)1999 Recorded Books Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction War Interstellar Classics

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Critic reviews

"A vastly entertaining trip." ( The New York Times)
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i do love a happy ending. my only complaint is the somewhat overbearing focus on sexuality that crops up more often than its really needed. the themes are ALMOST progressive, but it still seems to matter over 1000 years in the future what your sexual preferance is. still abloody good story that really uses the time dilation of space travel to push the story forward in 3 neat acts.

it's a gay old romp across the universe

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I loved the story from the first to the last page. The narrator, however, could have made a little more of an effort in differentiating the various characters

Great story. Average narrator

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Who doesn’t love time travelling gays fighting aliens?
One of my favs. Highly recommended!

Glad 2007 didn’t turn out like how it is in the book.

Love the narrators gay voice

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Written in a different time but themes of pointless war, over population and gender are with us as ever, maybe some of the views are anachronistic as ours will no doubt be one day.

So last century but the themes never age

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Performance was great!

Story wise Being the original sci-fi I can see so many tropes that are common today but we’re super impressive at the time. Almost cliche but interesting to see where so many came from. He paints such an interesting picture. Author seems to be grappling a lot with homosexuality. Interesting take, maybe a bit too focused on, feels like he was working through some things.

Amazing for its time, a bit too obsessed with homosexuality

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This is one of the best audio books I have ever consumed. Unexpectedly funny and superbly delivered. Although nearly fifty years old the story has not aged or seems outdated. It is strangely relatable.

Original, super funny and clever.

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War is Hell... Coming back home is also Hell.

Mandella is conscripted into the army and unwillingly gets caught up in a war he never wanted to be a part of, for an army he doesn't want to fight for, and for a planet he knows that he will eventually no longer even recognise as home.
Mandella will have to forfeit his life and experience time dilation where earth will advance hundreds of years to his few. This means leaving behind his family, his home, his career and any anyone else he has ever loved. Will there even be a planet to go back to when his tour of duty is up? It's anyone's guess.

Forever War is an epic tale of intergalactic war, time travel (of a sort), and the human condition. A bleak and dystopian look at war, waged by governments and fought by men. Halderman has written a brilliant tale.

Jon Halderman's own military experience is evident throughout this book. I don't think his opinion of war, government, and the military is necessarily a great one. His own experience speaks volume, and lends real weight and depth to the story.

I almost couldn't believe this book was written in 1974, Halderman hits the nail on the head as he writes about a lot of modern societies problems and even predicts technologies! The writing has aged impeccably and could easily have been written today, never mind nearly 45 years ago.

Excellently narrated by George Wilson, the characters are really brought to life. His accents are spot on and he really nails the heavy emotional tone of the novel.

If you're a fan of Old Man's War or Starship Troopers you'll lap this one up. However, unlike those 2 books this takes a very grim view of war and does not glorify it the same way as these other novels.

This is Starship Troopers for the thinking pacifist. There is no glory in war, war is Hell.

Starship Troopers for the thinking pacifist

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This was a great reading of a fantastic book. It moved me emotionally much more than I expected and I kept making time to listen to this instead of doing other things. The text felt a bit dated at a couple of points but it's of its time and it wasn't anything major - especially in the context of when these moments occured.

In summary, it was thought-provoking, interesting and moving. I highly recommend it.

A true SciFi classic.

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One of the better ones I've read during the recent years. On par with Hyperion but very different of course.

Very good!

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Along with Starship Troopers this book pretty much invented military sci-fi - it’s definitely dated but I loved reading this so much many years ago so revisiting it now as an audio novel was great. I know some aspects really must seem strange but it’s a blast from my past and I loved it

Loved revisiting this classic

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