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Author Joe Haldeman booklist (click here)

Book Review By Kelly Affannato
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Earth is at war with a race known only as the Taurans, for no other reason that a human ship was destroyed in Tauran space. With no effective method of communication between the two races, a war known as the Forever War (because of the huge subjective time jumps through collapsars) begins. The antagonist is William Mandella, a young physicist drafted into the Elite Special Forces for his brains and athletic ability. The book chronicles the Forever War through Mandella's eyes, allowing Haldeman to paint a cynical quasi-satire of the Vietnam War that was raging when this title was written.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Training/Apprent. Yes
Working up the ranks of...
If an invasion, from Earth/human POV: - fighting overt invasion (attacking aliens)
War or Invasion Yes
Major kinds of combat: - lasers
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Cultural problems, alien culture Yes
Culture clash- - one person from different culture of other persons
Descript. of chases or violence - 10 %
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 %
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 40 %
Intense exploration of society's culture? Yes

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's

Main Adversary
Identity: - an entire race
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount

Setting
Terrain
Spaceship setting: - futuristic human warship - someone is depressurized - futuristic human freighter/transport
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a futuristic society - humans in a contemporary society - empty, or nearly empty world - very controlled society
Planet outside solar system? Yes
Takes place in spaceship? Yes

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - explicit references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only) - an average amount of scientific explanation
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references only - descript of kissing - descript of touching personal anatomy - orgies -
How much dialogue? - significantly more dialog than descript
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