The Forever War (S.F. MASTERWORKS) [Paperback]

"Today we're going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man." The first line of this 1974 sf war story still grabs hard: The Forever War, winner of both Hugo and Nebula awards, is a fine choice to launch Millennium's "SF Masterworks" series of classic reissues. Future soldier William Mandella's service in the interstellar "Forever War" chillingly echoes Vietnam, where Joe Haldeman was severely wounded and won the Purple Heart. Afterwards, many real-life veterans found themselves distanced and alienated from US society: thanks to starflight's time dislocations, Mandella returns from weeks or months of combat duty to an Earth which after centuries of change is no longer his home. Though armed with increasingly futuristic weaponry--laser fingers, nova bombs, stasis fields--the infantry still suffers the long agonising waits, the sudden flurry and horror of battle, the shock of loss in a futile war without glory or glamour. But there's still room for tenderness, and for a satisfying ending as the cruel equations of relativistic time finally work in Mandella's favour. Incidentally, this is the first full British edition. When The Forever War was serialised, the magazine editor vetoed one section; it was omitted from the 1974 novel and is now restored. Highly recommended. --David Langford

"Reissued by Gollancz as one of 10 key SF texts, 'The Forever War' remains as hard-hitting as when it was first published in 1974. The anger of soldiers forced to fight an unwinnable war is as relevant as it ever was." (Jon Courtenay Grimwood THE GUARDIAN ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

¿It is to the Vietnam War what Catch-22 was to World War II, the definitive, bleakly comic satire¿ Thomas M. Disch

Private William Mandella is a reluctant hero, drafted into an elite military unit to fight in a distant interstellar war against an unknowable and unconquerable alien enemy. Mandella will perform his duties and, as he survives, rise through the ranks, but his greatest test will come when he returns to Earth. Because of the effects of relativity, every time he comes home after a few months¿ tour of duty, centuries have gone by on Earth, making him and his fellows ever more isolated from the world for whose future they are fighting.

SALES POINTS * #1 in the Millennium SF Masterworks series, a library of the finest science fiction ever written * Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Award as best sf novel of the year * ¿Faultless advanced military technology, fascinating aliens, and a dangerously believable future Earth ... a book that¿s damn near perfect¿ -- Peter F. Hamilton * ¿If there was a Fort Knox for science fiction writers who really matter, we¿d have to lock Haldeman up there¿ -- Stephen King