The Forever War

While pretty simple in plot and prose style The Forever War is without a doubt the best military SF novel I've read to date. Told through the eyes of conscripted private William Mandala, who is sent through a wormhole across the universe to fight an enemy he knows nothing about, and leaves behind everyone he has ever known thanks to the time dilation effect of getting to the front lines.

It's a very straight forward allegory for the Vietnam war, and all of the horrors that soldiers experience during training, battle, and returning to civilian life. It's the detail, subtlety, and care that goes into this exploration that sets it apart from a lot of it's contemporaries in the Military SF sub-genre. The main characters themselves are named after Joe William Haldeman and his wife, Mary Gay. It felt extremely personal to dive so deeply into his experience during the war, and upon his return to the US. The Forever War make it clear just how alienating and isolating it is to sacrifice so much, watch your only friends die during routine training, confront an enemy that you're not even sure is an enemy in the first place, and return to your home shattered by the experience only to find that your culture and society have changed so much that you feel compelled to return to the front line.

The science fiction elements of the story were so interesting and well thought-out. I love the deep exploration of the ramifications of time dilation, creating a dynamic and inconsistent battlefield while also complicating supply lines and military logistics, let alone the psychological consequences. The ending of the novel is super dense with science fiction ideas that made sense within the context of the world, and made for interesting lingering ideas to mull over upon finishing.

I mean, what can I say. There's a reason why this is such a classic in the SF genre. I'm glad to have found that the hype surrounding it did not oversell it. The only thing that I can really fault it for is that simplicity that I mentioned earlier. Had Haldemen been a better craftsman of prose at the time, this could've easily been a 5/5, not that it's far off at it is. Plus that simplicity makes it super approachable for young/newer readers, even if the themes are complex and dark. It's just nice to see some military SF that paints a realistic picture of war. It's amazing that the pulp adventure style to the action, which is sufficiently fun to read, combines so well with his exploration of the themes.