The Forever War
Encyclopedia
The Forever War is a science fiction
novel
by American author Joe Haldeman
, telling the contemplative story of soldiers fighting an interstellar war
between humanity and the enigmatic Tauran species. Its exploration of the inhumanity of war and of bureaucracy, and of the psychological effects resulting from time dilation
space travel (a soldier returns home after centuries away), won the Nebula Award
in 1975, and the Hugo
and the Locus
awards in 1976. Moreover, Forever Free
(1999) and Forever Peace
(1997) are, respectively, direct and thematic sequel novels; the latter also thematically related to the novella
A Separate War (1998), occurring simultaneously to the latter portion of The Forever War. Informally, the novels compose The Forever War series
; the novel also inspired a comic book and a board game.
The Forever War is the first title in the SF Masterworks
series.
is a physics student conscripted for an elite task force in the United Nations Exploratory Force being assembled for a war against the Taurans, an alien species discovered when they apparently suddenly attacked human colonists' ships. The UNEF ground troops are sent out for reconnaissance and revenge.
The elite recruits have IQs of 150 and above, are highly educated, healthy and fit. Training is gruelling first on Earth, in Missouri
, and later on Charon (not Pluto's moon
, which had not yet been discovered at the time of the novel's writing, but a hypothetical planet beyond Pluto's orbit), which results in a number of casualties mainly due to accidents in hostile environments but also due to the use of live weapons in training. The new soldiers then depart for action, traveling via wormhole
-like phenomena called 'collapsars' that allow ships to cover thousands of light-years in a split second. However, traveling to and from the collapsars at near-lightspeed has massive relativistic
effects.
Their first encounter with (unarmed) Taurans on a faraway planet turns into a massacre, with the unresisting enemy base wiped out. Mandella melancholically reflects on how typical the encounter was for humanity's previous record in interaction with other cultures. This first expedition, beginning in 2007, lasted only two years from the soldier's perspective, but due to time dilation
, upon return to Earth a decade has passed. On the long way home, the soldiers experience future shock
first-hand, as the Taurans employ increasingly advanced weaponry against them while they do not have the chance to re-arm.
Mandella, with soldier, lover and companion Marygay Potter, returns to civilian life, only to find humanity
drastically changed. He and his fellow soldiers have difficulty fitting into a future society that has evolved almost beyond their comprehension. The veterans learn that to curb overpopulation
, which led to worldwide class wars caused by inequitable rationing
, homosexuality
has become officially encouraged by many of the world's nations. The world has become a very dangerous place due to widespread unemployment
and the easy availability of deadly weapons. The changes within society alienate Mandella and the other veterans to the point where many re-enlist to escape, even though they realize the military is a soulless construct. Mandella attempts to get an assignment as an instructor on Luna
but is promptly reassigned by standing order to combat command. The inability of the military to treat its soldiers as more than highly complex valuable machines is a theme of the story.
Almost entirely through luck, Mandella survives four subjectively experienced years of military service, which time dilation makes equivalent to several centuries. He soon becomes the objectively oldest surviving soldier in the war, attaining high rank through seniority, not ambition (he is an eternally reluctant soldier, who acts mostly from talent and a melancholic sense of duty). Despite this he is separated from Marygay (who has remained his last contact with the Earth of his youth) by UNEF's plans, despite the fact that many of the people who he would command had not yet been born. As the commanding officer of a 'strike force', Mandella commands soldiers who speak a language largely unrecognizable to him, whose ethnicity is now nearly uniform and are exclusively homosexual. He is disliked by the soldiers because they have to learn 21st century English to communicate with him and other senior staff, and because he is heterosexual.
Engaging in combat thousands of light years away from Earth, Mandella and his soldiers need to resort to medieval weapons in order to fight inside a "stasis field" which neutralizes all electromagnetic radiation in anything not covered with a protective coating. They battle to survive what is to be the last conflict of the war. During the time that has since passed on Earth, humankind has begun to employ human cloning, resulting in a new, collective species calling itself Man. Man has developed a means of communication unique and inherent to clones, which allows them to communicate with the Taurans, leading to peace. When Man finally gains the ability to communicate with the Taurans, it is discovered that the Taurans were not responsible for the millenium-old destruction of the colonial vessels in question. The futile, meaningless war that lasted for more than a thousand years ends.
Man establishes several colonies of old-style, heterosexual humans, just in case the evolutionary change proves to be a mistake. Mandella travels to one of these colonies, named 'Middle Finger
' in the definitive novel adaption. There he is reunited with Marygay, who had been discharged much earlier and had intentionally used time dilation to age at a much slower rate, hoping and waiting for Mandella's return. The epilogue is a news item from the year 3143 AD announcing the birth of a "fine baby boy" to Marygay Potter-Mandella.
, and has been called an account of his war experiences written through a 'space opera
' filter. Other hints of the autobiographical nature of the work are the protagonist's surname, 'Mandella', which is a near-anagram
of the author's surname, as well as the name of the lead female character, Marygay Potter, which is nearly identical to Haldeman's wife's maiden name. Importantly, if one accepts this reading of the book, the alienation experienced by the soldiers on returning to Earth here caused by the time dilation effect becomes a clear metaphor for the reception given to US troops returning to America from Vietnam, including the way in which the war ultimately proves useless and its result meaningless. He also subverts typical space opera clichés (such as the heroic soldier influencing battles through individual acts) and "demonstrates how absurd many of the old clichés look to someone who had seen real combat duty."
It has also been considered to be a critical response to Robert A. Heinlein
's Starship Troopers
, a book with a similar setting, often considered pro-military. For his part, Haldeman has played down this claim in several interviews, even going so far as to praise Heinlein's work on its own merits and to name him as one of his own favorite authors. There are also certain profound differences between the two novels. Whereas the characters in Starship Troopers were all volunteers, the characters in The Forever War were conscripts (Heinlein had stated his opposition to conscription on several occasions). The Forever War also broke from many military traditions of which Heinlein was fond. Haldeman, however, noted that he received a letter from Heinlein congratulating him on his Nebula Award which "meant more than the award itself" and author Spider Robinson
claimed that Heinlein approached Haldeman at the award banquet and said the book "may be the best future war story I've ever read!" In August 2003, Haldeman was elected by unanimous vote to the board of directors for the Heinlein Society
.
The 1991 edition restored many expurgated sections, primarily dealing with the changes that befall human civilization over the course of William Mandella's life. This version's cover "has a futuristic soldier who looks like Robin Williams
in a funny hat," as Haldeman notes, "But alas, not all of the changes got in, and the book has some internal contradictions because of things left over from the [earlier version]."
In 1997, Avon published the version that Haldeman called "definitive," with "everything restored" and "a less funny cover illustration." This version was republished twice, first in October 2001 as a hardback with a cover showing spaceships in battle over a planet, and again in September 2003, with the cover art depicting a device worn over the eye of a soldier.
In 1999 it was republished by Millennium, an imprint of the Orion Publishing Group
, as part of the SF Masterworks
series. It featured as the first novel re-printed in the series, and the cover features a close-up of Marygay Potter with soldiers and spaceships in the background. This is the same version as the 1997 Avon publication and features the same Author's Note.
In 2006 an omnibus edition containing the books Forever War, Forever Free and Forever Peace was published by Gollancz
. The cover depicts a futuristic gun barrel stuck into the ground with a smashed spacesuit helmet placed on top. The author's note at the start of the book describes the edition as containing the definitive versions.
Also in 2006 Haldeman, at the request of Robert Silverberg
, wrote Marygay's first-person account of her time of separation from Mandella. It included not only the military details but also the difficulty of coping as a lone heterosexual woman with a society where same-sex relations are the inflexible norm. The story was included as the title story in the collection A Separate War and Other Stories (2006). In his "Notes on the Stories" for that collection, Haldeman commented that, "it was fun to write her story, both as a bridge to the sequel (Forever Free
) and as an oblique commentary on The Forever War, twenty years later."
The most recent print edition was released in 2009 with an additional foreword by John Scalzi
. The cover art depicts a soldier in a spacesuit in a jungle environment.
An ebook version was released in July 2011 by Ridan Publishing
and also contained the foreword by John Scalzi
and introductions by Joe Haldeman
and Robin Sullivan (President of Ridan Publishing). The cover art depicts a soldier in a war torn setting looking down at the helmet of a fallen comrade.
has, in cooperation with Haldeman, created a graphic novel
trilogy of The Forever War. With some very minor changes and omissions to storyline and setting, it faithfully adapts the same themes in visual style. The series was translated into various languages, and had a follow-up trilogy connected to Forever Free
.
confirmed that after a 25 year wait for the rights to become available, he is making a return to science fiction with a film adaptation of the book.
In March 2009, Scott confirmed that the film would be in 3D citing James Cameron
's Avatar as an inspiration for doing so. "I'm filming a book by Joe Haldeman called Forever War. I've got a good writer doing it. I've seen some of James Cameron's work, and I've got to go 3D. It's going to be phenomenal."
In the summer of 2010, Scott revealed that State of Play
scribe Matthew Michael Carnahan
, was currently on the fourth draft of a screenplay originally written by Blade Runner
scribe David Peoples
.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by American author Joe Haldeman
Joe Haldeman
Joe William Haldeman is an American science fiction author.-Life :Haldeman was born June 9, 1943 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His family traveled and he lived in Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Bethesda, Maryland and Anchorage, Alaska as a child. Haldeman married Mary Gay Potter, known...
, telling the contemplative story of soldiers fighting an interstellar war
Interstellar war
In fiction, an interstellar war is a war between combatants whose respective headquarters lie in different planetary systems. It is a popular plot device in science fiction, especially in the space opera subgenre. An intergalactic war refers to war between combatants of different galaxies...
between humanity and the enigmatic Tauran species. Its exploration of the inhumanity of war and of bureaucracy, and of the psychological effects resulting from time dilation
Time dilation
In the theory of relativity, time dilation is an observed difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from gravitational masses. An accurate clock at rest with respect to one observer may be measured to tick at...
space travel (a soldier returns home after centuries away), won the Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
in 1975, and the Hugo
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
and the Locus
Locus Award
The Locus Award is a literary award established in 1971 and presented to winners of Locus magazine's annual readers' poll. Currently, the Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet...
awards in 1976. Moreover, Forever Free
Forever Free (novel)
Forever Free is a science fiction novel by American author Joe Haldeman, the sequel to The Forever War. It was published in 1999.-Plot summary:...
(1999) and Forever Peace
Forever Peace
Forever Peace is a 1997 science fiction novel by Joe Haldeman. It won the Nebula Award, Hugo Award and John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1998.-Plot:...
(1997) are, respectively, direct and thematic sequel novels; the latter also thematically related to the novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
A Separate War (1998), occurring simultaneously to the latter portion of The Forever War. Informally, the novels compose The Forever War series
The Forever War series
The Forever War series is a series of science fiction novels by Joe Haldeman. Not all of them take place in the same future universe.Forever Peace, while thematically linked to the previous novel The Forever War, is an entirely separate work...
; the novel also inspired a comic book and a board game.
The Forever War is the first title in the SF Masterworks
SF Masterworks
SF Masterworks is a series of science fiction books started by Millennium and currently published by Gollancz ....
series.
Plot
William MandellaWilliam Mandella
William Mandella is the main character in Joe Haldeman'sForever War series, the soldier protagonist of the The Forever War and Forever Free novels, who also is the main character of the Forever War graphic novel...
is a physics student conscripted for an elite task force in the United Nations Exploratory Force being assembled for a war against the Taurans, an alien species discovered when they apparently suddenly attacked human colonists' ships. The UNEF ground troops are sent out for reconnaissance and revenge.
The elite recruits have IQs of 150 and above, are highly educated, healthy and fit. Training is gruelling first on Earth, in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, and later on Charon (not Pluto's moon
Charon (moon)
Charon is the largest satellite of the dwarf planet Pluto. It was discovered in 1978 at the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station. Following the 2005 discovery of two other natural satellites of Pluto , Charon may also be referred to as Pluto I...
, which had not yet been discovered at the time of the novel's writing, but a hypothetical planet beyond Pluto's orbit), which results in a number of casualties mainly due to accidents in hostile environments but also due to the use of live weapons in training. The new soldiers then depart for action, traveling via wormhole
Wormhole
In physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that would be, fundamentally, a "shortcut" through spacetime. For a simple visual explanation of a wormhole, consider spacetime visualized as a two-dimensional surface. If this surface is folded along a third dimension, it...
-like phenomena called 'collapsars' that allow ships to cover thousands of light-years in a split second. However, traveling to and from the collapsars at near-lightspeed has massive relativistic
Special relativity
Special relativity is the physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in the paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies".It generalizes Galileo's...
effects.
Their first encounter with (unarmed) Taurans on a faraway planet turns into a massacre, with the unresisting enemy base wiped out. Mandella melancholically reflects on how typical the encounter was for humanity's previous record in interaction with other cultures. This first expedition, beginning in 2007, lasted only two years from the soldier's perspective, but due to time dilation
Time dilation
In the theory of relativity, time dilation is an observed difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from gravitational masses. An accurate clock at rest with respect to one observer may be measured to tick at...
, upon return to Earth a decade has passed. On the long way home, the soldiers experience future shock
Future Shock
Future Shock is a book written by the futurist Alvin Toffler in 1970. In the book, Toffler defines the term "future shock" as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies. His shortest definition for the term is a personal perception of "too much change in too short a period of...
first-hand, as the Taurans employ increasingly advanced weaponry against them while they do not have the chance to re-arm.
Mandella, with soldier, lover and companion Marygay Potter, returns to civilian life, only to find humanity
Human Race
Human Race refers to the Human species.Human race may also refer to:*The Human Race, 79th episode of YuYu Hakusho* Human Race Theatre Company of Dayton Ohio* Human Race Machine, a computer graphics device...
drastically changed. He and his fellow soldiers have difficulty fitting into a future society that has evolved almost beyond their comprehension. The veterans learn that to curb overpopulation
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
, which led to worldwide class wars caused by inequitable rationing
Rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
, homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
has become officially encouraged by many of the world's nations. The world has become a very dangerous place due to widespread unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
and the easy availability of deadly weapons. The changes within society alienate Mandella and the other veterans to the point where many re-enlist to escape, even though they realize the military is a soulless construct. Mandella attempts to get an assignment as an instructor on Luna
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
but is promptly reassigned by standing order to combat command. The inability of the military to treat its soldiers as more than highly complex valuable machines is a theme of the story.
Almost entirely through luck, Mandella survives four subjectively experienced years of military service, which time dilation makes equivalent to several centuries. He soon becomes the objectively oldest surviving soldier in the war, attaining high rank through seniority, not ambition (he is an eternally reluctant soldier, who acts mostly from talent and a melancholic sense of duty). Despite this he is separated from Marygay (who has remained his last contact with the Earth of his youth) by UNEF's plans, despite the fact that many of the people who he would command had not yet been born. As the commanding officer of a 'strike force', Mandella commands soldiers who speak a language largely unrecognizable to him, whose ethnicity is now nearly uniform and are exclusively homosexual. He is disliked by the soldiers because they have to learn 21st century English to communicate with him and other senior staff, and because he is heterosexual.
Engaging in combat thousands of light years away from Earth, Mandella and his soldiers need to resort to medieval weapons in order to fight inside a "stasis field" which neutralizes all electromagnetic radiation in anything not covered with a protective coating. They battle to survive what is to be the last conflict of the war. During the time that has since passed on Earth, humankind has begun to employ human cloning, resulting in a new, collective species calling itself Man. Man has developed a means of communication unique and inherent to clones, which allows them to communicate with the Taurans, leading to peace. When Man finally gains the ability to communicate with the Taurans, it is discovered that the Taurans were not responsible for the millenium-old destruction of the colonial vessels in question. The futile, meaningless war that lasted for more than a thousand years ends.
Man establishes several colonies of old-style, heterosexual humans, just in case the evolutionary change proves to be a mistake. Mandella travels to one of these colonies, named 'Middle Finger
Middle finger
The middle finger or long finger is the third digit of the human hand, located between the index finger and the ring finger. It is usually the longest finger...
' in the definitive novel adaption. There he is reunited with Marygay, who had been discharged much earlier and had intentionally used time dilation to age at a much slower rate, hoping and waiting for Mandella's return. The epilogue is a news item from the year 3143 AD announcing the birth of a "fine baby boy" to Marygay Potter-Mandella.
Significance and critical reception
The novel is widely perceived to be a portrayal of the author's military service during the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, and has been called an account of his war experiences written through a 'space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
' filter. Other hints of the autobiographical nature of the work are the protagonist's surname, 'Mandella', which is a near-anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
of the author's surname, as well as the name of the lead female character, Marygay Potter, which is nearly identical to Haldeman's wife's maiden name. Importantly, if one accepts this reading of the book, the alienation experienced by the soldiers on returning to Earth here caused by the time dilation effect becomes a clear metaphor for the reception given to US troops returning to America from Vietnam, including the way in which the war ultimately proves useless and its result meaningless. He also subverts typical space opera clichés (such as the heroic soldier influencing battles through individual acts) and "demonstrates how absurd many of the old clichés look to someone who had seen real combat duty."
It has also been considered to be a critical response to Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers is a military science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published hardcover in December, 1959.The first-person narrative is about a young soldier from the Philippines named Juan "Johnnie" Rico and his...
, a book with a similar setting, often considered pro-military. For his part, Haldeman has played down this claim in several interviews, even going so far as to praise Heinlein's work on its own merits and to name him as one of his own favorite authors. There are also certain profound differences between the two novels. Whereas the characters in Starship Troopers were all volunteers, the characters in The Forever War were conscripts (Heinlein had stated his opposition to conscription on several occasions). The Forever War also broke from many military traditions of which Heinlein was fond. Haldeman, however, noted that he received a letter from Heinlein congratulating him on his Nebula Award which "meant more than the award itself" and author Spider Robinson
Spider Robinson
Spider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author.- Biography :Born in the Bronx, New York City, Robinson attended Catholic high school, spending his junior year in a seminary, followed by two years in a Catholic college, and five years at the State...
claimed that Heinlein approached Haldeman at the award banquet and said the book "may be the best future war story I've ever read!" In August 2003, Haldeman was elected by unanimous vote to the board of directors for the Heinlein Society
Heinlein Society
The Heinlein Society was founded by Virginia Heinlein on behalf of her husband, science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein, to "pay forward" the legacy of the writer to future generations of "Heinlein's Children."-External links:*...
.
Editions
The Forever War was originally written as Haldeman's MFA thesis for the Iowa Writer's Workshop. It was first published as a serial in Analog Magazine before its first book publication in 1974. Since then, many editions of The Forever War have been published. Editions published prior to 1991 were abridged for space by the original editor (omitting the middle section, a novella titled You Can Never Go Back). These early paperback editions have "a white cover showing a man in a spacesuit with a sword, with symbolic clocks all around," according to the author, with alternatively the first hardcover edition featuring a large hourglass with planets falling through it.The 1991 edition restored many expurgated sections, primarily dealing with the changes that befall human civilization over the course of William Mandella's life. This version's cover "has a futuristic soldier who looks like Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
in a funny hat," as Haldeman notes, "But alas, not all of the changes got in, and the book has some internal contradictions because of things left over from the [earlier version]."
In 1997, Avon published the version that Haldeman called "definitive," with "everything restored" and "a less funny cover illustration." This version was republished twice, first in October 2001 as a hardback with a cover showing spaceships in battle over a planet, and again in September 2003, with the cover art depicting a device worn over the eye of a soldier.
In 1999 it was republished by Millennium, an imprint of the Orion Publishing Group
Orion Publishing Group
Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It is owned by Hachette Livre. In 1998 Orion bought Cassell.-History:Full history of the group can be found on Orion Publishing Group is owned by -Imprints:...
, as part of the SF Masterworks
SF Masterworks
SF Masterworks is a series of science fiction books started by Millennium and currently published by Gollancz ....
series. It featured as the first novel re-printed in the series, and the cover features a close-up of Marygay Potter with soldiers and spaceships in the background. This is the same version as the 1997 Avon publication and features the same Author's Note.
In 2006 an omnibus edition containing the books Forever War, Forever Free and Forever Peace was published by Gollancz
Gollancz
Gollancz often refers to the British publishing house Victor Gollancz Ltd.Gollancz, a family name originating from the Polish town Gołańcz , is mainly known as the name of a prominent British Jewish family, including:* Sir Hermann Gollancz , rabbi* Sir Israel Gollancz , scholar of...
. The cover depicts a futuristic gun barrel stuck into the ground with a smashed spacesuit helmet placed on top. The author's note at the start of the book describes the edition as containing the definitive versions.
Also in 2006 Haldeman, at the request of Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
, wrote Marygay's first-person account of her time of separation from Mandella. It included not only the military details but also the difficulty of coping as a lone heterosexual woman with a society where same-sex relations are the inflexible norm. The story was included as the title story in the collection A Separate War and Other Stories (2006). In his "Notes on the Stories" for that collection, Haldeman commented that, "it was fun to write her story, both as a bridge to the sequel (Forever Free
Forever Free (novel)
Forever Free is a science fiction novel by American author Joe Haldeman, the sequel to The Forever War. It was published in 1999.-Plot summary:...
) and as an oblique commentary on The Forever War, twenty years later."
The most recent print edition was released in 2009 with an additional foreword by John Scalzi
John Scalzi
John Michael Scalzi II is an American author and online writer, and president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his Hugo Award-nominated science fiction novel Old Man's War, released by Tor Books in January 2005, and for his blog , at which he has written...
. The cover art depicts a soldier in a spacesuit in a jungle environment.
An ebook version was released in July 2011 by Ridan Publishing
Ridan Publishing
Ridan Publishing is a small, independent publisher working out of Fairfax, Virginia, in the United States. It was founded in 2007 by Robin Sullivan, initially as a vehicle for her husband, Michael Sullivan's science fiction novels. It has since expanded from a self-publishing venture to publish...
and also contained the foreword by John Scalzi
John Scalzi
John Michael Scalzi II is an American author and online writer, and president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his Hugo Award-nominated science fiction novel Old Man's War, released by Tor Books in January 2005, and for his blog , at which he has written...
and introductions by Joe Haldeman
Joe Haldeman
Joe William Haldeman is an American science fiction author.-Life :Haldeman was born June 9, 1943 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His family traveled and he lived in Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Bethesda, Maryland and Anchorage, Alaska as a child. Haldeman married Mary Gay Potter, known...
and Robin Sullivan (President of Ridan Publishing). The cover art depicts a soldier in a war torn setting looking down at the helmet of a fallen comrade.
Graphic novel
Belgian comic writer MarvanoMarvano
-Biography:Born in 1953 in Belgium, he studied interior architecture before working as an illustrator and starting to draw graphic novels. Probably his best known work is the collaboration with Joe Haldeman on the Forever War graphic novel, an adaptation of the award-winning The Forever War novel...
has, in cooperation with Haldeman, created a graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
trilogy of The Forever War. With some very minor changes and omissions to storyline and setting, it faithfully adapts the same themes in visual style. The series was translated into various languages, and had a follow-up trilogy connected to Forever Free
Forever Free (novel)
Forever Free is a science fiction novel by American author Joe Haldeman, the sequel to The Forever War. It was published in 1999.-Plot summary:...
.
Film
On October 12, 2008, Ridley ScottRidley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
confirmed that after a 25 year wait for the rights to become available, he is making a return to science fiction with a film adaptation of the book.
In March 2009, Scott confirmed that the film would be in 3D citing James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
's Avatar as an inspiration for doing so. "I'm filming a book by Joe Haldeman called Forever War. I've got a good writer doing it. I've seen some of James Cameron's work, and I've got to go 3D. It's going to be phenomenal."
In the summer of 2010, Scott revealed that State of Play
State of Play (film)
State of Play is a 2009 French-British-American political thriller film. It is an adaptation of the six-part British television serial of the same name which first aired on BBC One in 2003. The plot of the six-hour serial was condensed to fit a two-hour movie format, with the location changed to...
scribe Matthew Michael Carnahan
Matthew Michael Carnahan
Matthew Michael Carnahan is an American screenwriter who wrote the feature films The Kingdom , Lions for Lambs and the film adaptation of both the hit BBC television drama serial State of Play and the novel White Jazz. Carnahan wrote the screenplay for Lions for Lambs for United Artists...
, was currently on the fourth draft of a screenplay originally written by Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
scribe David Peoples
David Peoples
David Webb Peoples is an American screenwriter.-Life and career:Peoples was born in Middletown, Connecticut, the son of Ruth and Joe Webb Peoples, a geologist. He studied English at the University of California, Berkeley...
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See also
- Bill, the Galactic HeroBill, the Galactic HeroBill, the Galactic Hero is a satirical science fiction novel by Harry Harrison, first published in 1965.Harrison reports having been approached by a Vietnam veteran who described Bill as "the only book that's true about the military."...
by Harry HarrisonHarry HarrisonHarry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green... - Return from the StarsReturn from the StarsReturn from the Stars is one of the better known science fiction novels of Stanisław Lem, the most famous Polish science-fiction author. Written in 1961, it revolves around the story of a cosmonaut returning to his homeworld, Earth, and finding it a completely different place than when he left....
by Stanislaw LemStanislaw LemStanisław Lem was a Polish writer of science fiction, philosophy and satire. He was named a Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. His books have been translated into 41 languages and have sold over 27 million copies. He is perhaps best known as the author of the 1961 novel Solaris, which has... - Old Man's WarOld Man's WarOld Man's War is a science fiction novel by John Scalzi published in 2005. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2006. It was optioned by Paramount Pictures in 2011...
by John ScalziJohn ScalziJohn Michael Scalzi II is an American author and online writer, and president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his Hugo Award-nominated science fiction novel Old Man's War, released by Tor Books in January 2005, and for his blog , at which he has written... - ArmorArmor (novel)Armor is a military science fiction novel by John Steakley. It has some superficial similarities with Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers but concentrates more on the psychological effects of violence on human beings rather than on the political aspects of the military, which was the focus of...
by John SteakleyJohn SteakleyJohn William Steakley, Jr. was an American author, best known for his science fiction writing. He published two major novels, Armor and Vampire$ ; the latter was the basis for John Carpenter's Vampires movie... - Starship TroopersStarship TroopersStarship Troopers is a military science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published hardcover in December, 1959.The first-person narrative is about a young soldier from the Philippines named Juan "Johnnie" Rico and his...
by Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...