# The Forever War by Joe Haldeman ebook on sale for $1.99 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-forever-war-by-joe-haldeman-ebook-on-sale-for-1-99/753777 "2016-05-03T14:36:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-forever-war-by-joe-haldeman-ebook-on-sale-for-1-99/753777/21 "2016-05-10T20:22:28Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > It’s been several years since I read _The Forever War_, but I had a paperback that I read at home and then an e-book that I read during lunch at work. I remember they were quite different. The e-book had a lot more filler in the middle. So seems to me there are a couple versions of the book. Yes, there are. Some editions of the book have a chunk edited out of the middle where William and Marygay return to Earth together. William stops a rape-in-progress when the pair goes sightseeing in London, and they meet Marygay’s parents on a farming collective somewhere in the American midwest. If you have Haldeman’s collection of short stories entitled [_Dealing in Futures_](http://www.amazon.com/Dealing-Futures-Joe-W-Haldeman/dp/B00071HTSI), the missing section is reprinted there as “You Can Never Go Back”. Additionally, Haldeman also penned a short story called “A Separate War” that deals with what Marygay went through when when the military reassigned both her and William following their return to Earth after their (disastrous) second tour. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > What does it [_Forever Free_] deal with? _Forever Free_ is the direct linear sequel to _The Forever War_. William, Marygay, and the other veterans living on Middle Finger are discontent with living under the direction of “Man”, and decide to use one of the mothballed battlecruisers left over from the war to travel 40,000 years into the future via time dilation. They hope that when they come back, things will be different … perhaps better. _Forever Peace_, even though it sounds like it _should_ be the sequel to _The Forever War_, is _not_. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-forever-war-by-joe-haldeman-ebook-on-sale-for-1-99/753777/22 "2016-05-11T01:46:21Z")
Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-forever-war-by-joe-haldeman-ebook-on-sale-for-1-99/753777/23 "2016-05-17T03:38:44Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I see parallels to the Vietnam war now that I did not see in the 1970s. Haldeman is a Vietnam vet (combat engineer, wounded in combat). It was clearly modeled on Heinlein’s Starship Troopers (although Haldeman is a huge fan of Heinlein and has denied that it is an “answer” to Starship Troopers.) When it first came out, the idea of a co-ed military unit was considered bizarre, as was the open homosexuality of the population in later years. It was also one of the first, if not THE first, novels to propose using black holes (called “collapsars” in the novel) as portals for crossing vast distances. Other novels (like Poul Anderson’s “Tau Zero”) have portrayed the effects of FTL travel, but the disorientation of changes in culture and technology was well-handled by Haldeman. I think it’s one of the best SF novels of the 1970s. Haldeman wrote an interesting non-SF, somewhat autobiographic novel about his Vietnam experiences, “War Year.” It has an unusual style, which was due to having been written on contract for an adult literacy program to teach illiterate adults with limited vocabulary, but with adult subject matter. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-forever-war-by-joe-haldeman-ebook-on-sale-for-1-99/753777/24 "2016-05-17T16:44:50Z")
_The Forever War_ is terrific, but I didn’t care for the sequel at all. The short story “A Separate War,” which **psiekier** mentioned, is very good, and a worthwhile tangent/supplement to the novel. If you like Haldeman’s military sf, you’ll also want to check out John Scalzi’s _Old Man’s War_ series. Great reads. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-forever-war-by-joe-haldeman-ebook-on-sale-for-1-99/753777.md?page=1)