JOE HALDEMAN - THE FOREVER WAR (1974)
(This review contains spoilers)
Classic science from the 1970s.
Haldeman’s novel at first doesn’t seem anything unusual for the genre, but as the story unfolds it becomes clear why this is regarded so highly.
The story revolves around a future in which humanity is fighting a war against the mysterious Taurians, an alien race. The plot follows one William Mandella, a soldier who is involved from the start of the conflict.
What makes this take unique is the way time matters are handled : because troops have to be moved at near light speed to the battles, in coming back, if they survive, possibly hundreds of years have passed, with all the complications which that involves.
In addition there is the problem that information regarding the enemy and the dispatch of troops to combat their moves are also subject to time dilation effects: depending on the distance the enemy has traveled to the combat zone relative to humanity’s, their technology could be behind that of the humans or way ahead, without any way to tell beforehand. The concepts are quite mind blowing, and like all the best science fiction, the author seems to have a good grasp of the Einsteinian physics behind it.
Towards the end of the thousand year war, Mandella, one of the few to have fought all the way through, has difficulty understanding the English of younger people, since the language has changed so much over the centuries.
Societal norms change too - in a slightly tongue-in-cheek commentary on the norms of the Vietnam War era USA in which the novel was written, we see a future in which overcrowding on Earth gradually leads to compulsory homosexuality, which adds to the sense of alienation and bewilderment felt by Mandella.
In the end the war is shown to have been caused by the two sides not being able to communicate, with corrupt Earth politicians dekiberately keeping it going for gain.
A highly innovative and gripping read, which is still surprising readers fifty years in after its publication.
I rated it 10/10.