Forever Free - Joe Haldeman

When Joe Haldeman won the Hugo award for his novel _Forever Peace_ in 1998, a lot of people were disappointed that the book wasn't a sequel to his 1974 Hugo and Nebula award-winning classic, _The Forever War_. Both books have a similar thematic underpinning, though, and put across a strong anti-war message. As a Vietnam veteran, Haldeman is always at his best when he writes about his "core values". In _Forever Free_, he does return to the same characters he left behind in _The Forever War_: William Mandella and his wife Marygay. In _The Forever War_, the main characters are soldiers, fighting battles on distant worlds. Because of relativity, ...  Read the complete review

This book has a very good beginning, it cannot be denied. An interesting premise, and the strength of the Forever War make this book a definite turn pager initially, and in the beginning, the first half of the book is well written, and while not as fast paced as the Forever War, it has definite scope. The veterans of the Forever War have retired to a planet, promised as an Eden by Man (the linked mind that humankind has become), but in reality it is nothing more than a low-grade planet, and the veterans breeding stock; in insurance against the failure of Man. The veterans no longer want this, and decide they want to use relativity to go forward 40,000 ...  Read the complete review