History Literature / TheForeverWar

* MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness: Fairly hard. Yes, there's FasterThanLightTravel, but there's a lot of conditions on it, and TimeDilation is a bitch. The work is also is very realistic about the Pluto-orbit-range planetoids much of the action takes place on. Piles of powder in bins marked 'oxygen.' And the weakness in the super-powerful powered armor implied below is because the suits have radiators on their backs - the effect of even a body-temperature radiator landing on a chunk of frozen gas is "like a hand grenade going off between your shoulders."
** They've also got "tachyon bombs", and a "tachyon drive" on their space ships that never seems to run out of fuel. In 1997.
** Actually, '''very''' hard. Given that the author explicitly stated that it was set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture (as he wanted it plausible that senior Vietnam Vets could still be in the military), there's very, very little speculative science. The aforementioned tachyon bombs and tachyon drive are perhaps mislabled or misnamed, but nonetheless the effects are very much in line with enhanced nuclear weaponry and ion drives. The primary new science is collapsars and using them for FTL, but even that is based on realistic extrapolation of the theory of travel via black holes. Given the time scales dealt with between chapters, additional technology shown is entirely reasonable.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: While the Taurans aren't exactly "villains," their alleged attack on a UN spaceship not only started the war but also sparked humanity's return to militarism. It's mentioned that up until that point, Earth was in the process of growing more pacifist. Ironically, the war also provided a justification for unifying humanity.

** The bombs they use are described as several hundred microtons, though, not singles. This might be a revision in the text.

* WarIsHell: We're fighting them because they are fighting us because we are fighting them because...

* CompoundInterestTimeTravelGambit: Subverted. The soldiers get quadruple pay for being away in a combat zone for the equivalent of twenty years. By the time the soldiers get back from their first tour of duty, their money is worthless due to hyperinflation and chronic shortages caused by the war and a world-wide famine while they were away. And the size of their compounded pay puts them in a 92% tax bracket [[hottip:*:which is a lie told to try to get them to reenlist, they only have to pay tax rate on income earned per year, not on final lump sum given on return]]. [[spoiler: At the end of the novel, most other humans are clones who do not use money, so all of their combat pay is worthless. [[hottip:*:Elsewhere, there are still colonies where people are normal.]]]]

* EveryoneIsGay: Literally. After a world-wide famine, TheGovernment encourages homosexuality ("homolife") as a means of population control. Gradually, as such people get drafted into the military and the practice expands, this makes Mandella one of the few straight men left in the service, and the human race.\\
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The work bizarrely [[CureYourGays self-subverts]] this trope when [[spoiler: Charlie, by far the most prominent representative of all-homosexual Earth, accepts a heterosexualization treatment at the end of the novel, his cultural and technological distinctiveness absorbed into their own.]] Although it might be unfair to claim that that's representative of a gay-is-a-disease attitude on the author's part, since [[spoiler: it's pretty clear that through biological and social engineering homolife-era Earth had turned sexual orientation into a more or less manipulable quantity anyway; it's hard to shout "Ex-gay programs are crimes!" when they're being consensually chosen by a member of an ex-straight society.]]\\
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However, in the sequel ''Forever Free'' [[spoiler: it is mentioned that even after heterosexualization he had an affair with another man. And Marygay and Cat, the woman with whom she had a lesbian relationship during her final UNEF mission, still have strong feelings for each other even though Cat had herself heterosexualized as well.]]
** It's a strange combination of poor research and government control, because gay people can have children. Females can conceive with artificial insemination, unless the government is somehow willing to restrict that but not restrict natural insemination. The same "logic" is used to [[spoiler:CureYourGays at the end, where it is claimed that gays should go through heterosexualization to keep the population of non-genetically altered humans alive. The author seems to be using that as an excuse, when artificial insemination works fine for that. Gays and lesbians have no problems with raising children]].

* InTheFutureHumansWillBeOneRace: When Mandella returns to Earth its thousands of years after he left, everyone on Earth is a nice even tan, with dark hair and eyes. This was done deliberately through eugenics, in an attempt to remove racial conflict. Plus, they are now a cloned unified conciousness, so the need for individuation is gone anyway. One doesn't need every one of one's fingers to look wildly different, does one?

* KnightInSourArmor: Mandella.

* NiceJobBreakingItVillain: While the Taurans aren't exactly "villains," their alleged attack on a UN spaceship not only started the war but also sparked humanity's return to militarism. It's mentioned that up until that point, Earth was in the process of growing more pacifist.

* IKnowKarate: Mandella learns military history and how to kill using all sorts of mundane objects and weapons this way.

* TakeThat: Some considered the novel to be an attack on Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''StarshipTroopers''. However, The Old Man himself once went up to Haldeman and congratulated him for writing "the best future war story I've ever read!"

''The Forever War'' is a science fiction war novel by American author Creator/JoeHaldeman. Considered one of the classics of MilitaryScienceFiction, alongside Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''StarshipTroopers'', the book is a post-modern, post-Vietnam take on the standard sci-fi war novel and as some critics note, a philosophical rebuttal/{{Deconstruction}} of Heinlein's work (though it's worth noting that Heinlein himself praised it). The book won the Nebula Award in 1975 and the Hugo and Locus awards in 1976 for Best Novel.

''The Forever War'' is a science fiction war novel by American author Joe Haldeman. Considered one of the classics of MilitaryScienceFiction, alongside Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''StarshipTroopers'', the book is a post-modern, post-Vietnam take on the standard sci-fi war novel and as some critics note, a philosophical rebuttal/{{Deconstruction}} of Heinlein's work (though it's worth noting that Heinlein himself praised it). The book won the Nebula Award in 1975 and the Hugo and Locus awards in 1976 for Best Novel.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: The soldier who tried to [[UnfriendlyFire frag]] Mandella dies on the operating table (after he attempted suicide) under the care of a doctor who has a covert attraction to Mandella. Unfortunately the suspicious timing of this death offsets the morale problems he avoided by not having him ThrownOutTheAirlock.

* FasterThanLightTravel: Falling through a collapsar will take you to another collapsar instantly, with no limit on the distance between the two. The whole galaxy can be crossed in this manner -- if you don't mind driving through normal space for a couple of years to get from your exit collapsar to the next entrance collapsar.
* AFatherToHisMen: Subverted. Mandella tries to be this but his 'deviant' sexual practises, the fact that he can't comprehend their language and culture, and the suspicious death of a soldier who tried to assassinate him, all exacerbate the normal tension the grunts feel towards their Commanding Officer. [[spoiler:Eventually most of his men end up getting killed because they ignore his order to evacuate a bunker. Mandella only succeeds in breaking down these barriers after he fights shoulder-to-shoulder with them against the Taurans and comes up with the plan that saves their lives (those that are left).]]
* FieldPromotion: Mandella starts as a private, and ends the war as a major commanding his own ground force. Not because he's particularly suited for command, but because he's adaptable, and it looks odd for someone who's been in the military for 500 years not to be an officer.

* InTheFutureHumansWillBeOneRace: When Mandella returns to Earth its thousands of years after he left, everyone on Earth is a nice even tan, with dark hair and eyes. This was done deliberately through eugenics, in an attempt to remove racial conflict.

* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler: The entire conflict is the result of a misunderstanding with the Taurans, who are a clone-based species that cannot communicate with humans. That is, until humanity becomes clone-based itself, and the two sides figure out that the entire war was the result of miscommunication and some asshole human generals eager to get their war on.]]

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Very, very cynical.

* StrangerInAFamiliarLand: Played to devastating effect. Mandella and Potter's return to Earth after their first tour of duty. [[spoiler: Mandella's father is dead; his mother is dying of cancer which TheGovernment's socialized medicine system refuses to treat because she is not worth it, and she has taken a lesbian lover. Potter's parents are forced out of their home for defying government regulations, and end up on an agricultural commune under assumed identities. They are killed while Mandella and Potter are staying with them by raiders looking for food.]] Needless to say, [[ButNowIMustGo the two re-enlist in the Army and get off the planet.]]

** It's a strange combination of DidNotDoTheResearch and government control, because gay people can have children. Females can conceive with artificial insemination, unless the government is somehow willing to restrict that but not restrict natural insemination. The same "logic" is used to [[spoiler:CureYourGays at the end, where it is claimed that gays should go through heterosexualization to keep the population of non-genetically altered humans alive. The author seems to be using that as an excuse, when artificial insemination works fine for that. Gays and lesbians have no problems with raising children]].

* HumansAreBastards

* CompoundInterestTimeTravelGambit: Subverted. The soldiers get quadruple pay for being away in a combat zone for the equivalent of twenty years. By the time the soldiers get back from their first tour of duty, their money is worthless due to hyperinflation and chronic shortages caused by the war and a world-wide famine while they were away. And the size of their compounded pay puts them in a 92% tax bracket. [[spoiler: At the end of the novel, most other humans are clones who do not use money, so all of their combat pay is worthless. [[hottip:*:Elsewhere, there are still colonies where people are normal.]]]]

!!This novel provides examples of:

* CompoundInterestTimeTravelGambit: Subverted, and hard. The soldiers get quadruple pay for being away in a combat zone for the equivalent of twenty years. By the time the soldiers get back from their first tour of duty, their money is worthless due to hyperinflation and chronic shortages caused by the war and a world-wide famine while they were away. And the size of their compounded pay puts them in a 92% tax bracket. [[spoiler: At the end of the novel, most other humans are clones who do not use money, so all of their combat pay is worthless. [[hottip:*:Elsewhere, there are still colonies where people are normal.]]]]

''The Forever War'' is a science fiction war novel by American author Joe Haldeman. Considered one of the classics of MilitaryScienceFiction, alongside RobertHeinlein's ''StarshipTroopers'', the book is a post-modern, post-Vietnam take on the standard sci-fi war novel and as some critics note, a philosophical rebuttal/{{Deconstruction}} of Heinlein's work (though it's worth noting that Heinlein himself praised it). The book won the Nebula Award in 1975 and the Hugo and Locus awards in 1976 for Best Novel.

The story is told from the point of view of William Mandella, a recent college graduate with a physics degree who is drafted into the United Nations Expeditionary Force (UNEF) and sent out to fight the enigmatic Taurans, who have been destroying human ships and colonies. The grueling training and enemy attacks are bad enough, but the worst part is the effect of TimeDilation caused by repeated travel at relativistic speeds, which causes the world around Mandella to age and change into something unrecognizable. Mandella's only remaining connection to his old life is his [[ActionGirl fellow soldier]] [[LoveInterest Marygay Potter]], and the two must fight a hostile species to save a world that has been lost to them.

* ShownTheirWork: Haldeman has a degree in astronomy, first hand experience as a soldier in wartime, and does the calculations on any math he deems important to the story.

* TakeThat: Some considered the novel to be an attack on RobertHeinlein's ''StarshipTroopers''. However, The Old Man himself once went up to Haldeman and congratulated him for writing "the best future war story I've ever read!"

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* TheSpartanWay: three recruits die in training on earth. The survivors are sent to continue their training on a DeathWorld, where the slightest mistake (or just bad luck) can be (and is) lethal, and any disobedience is punishable with summary execution. The final test involves surviving a surprise attack with live missiles. [[spoiler: Not everyone passes.]]

The story is told from the point of view of William Mandella, a recent college graduate with a physics degree who is drafted into the United Nations Expeditionary Force (UNEF) and sent out to fight the enigmatic Taurans, who have been destroying human ships and colonies. The grueling training and enemy attacks are bad enough, but the worst part is the effect of TimeDilation caused by repeated travel at relativistic speeds, which causes the world around Mandella to age and change into something unrecgonizable. Mandella's only remaining connection to his old life is his [[ActionGirl fellow soldier]] [[LoveInterest Marygay Potter]], and the two must fight a hostile species to save a world that has been lost to them.

* ActionSurvivor: It's debatable, but Madella and Marygay. Despite being nothing less than an elite super-soldiers in powered armor, their repeated survival in the unfathomably brutal combat zones is almost entirely through blind luck.

Haldeman, after graduating with a degree in Astronomy, was drafted into the U.S. Army and served as a combat engineer in Vietnam, where he was wounded. His experiences -- the terror of combat, the inhuman randomness of government bureaucracy, the sense of coming back to an unrecognizable world, and the futility of the war -- are all reflected in the novel. In a re-publication in the 1990s, Haldeman, in a foreward, stated that writing this book was his primary therapy to cope with the after effects of the Vietnam War.

Haldeman, after graduating with a degree in Astronomy, was drafted into the U.S. Army and served as a combat engineer in Vietnam, where he was wounded. His experiences -- the terror of combat, the inhuman randomness of government bureaucracy, the sense of coming back to an unrecognizable world, and the futility of the war -- are all reflected in the novel. In a re-publication in the 1990s, Haldeman, in a forward, stated that writing this book was his primary therapy to cope with the after effects of the Vietnam War.

''The Forever War'' is a science fiction war novel written by American Joe Haldeman. Considered one of the classics of MilitaryScienceFiction, alongside RobertHeinlein's ''StarshipTroopers'', the book is a post-modern, post-Vietnam take on the standard sci-fi war novel and as some critics note, a philosophical rebuttal/{{Deconstruction}} of Heinlein's work (though it's worth noting that Heinlein himself praised it). The book won the Nebula Award in 1975 and the Hugo and Locus awards in 1976 for Best Novel.

The story is told from the point of view of William Mandella, a recent college graduate with a physics degree who is drafted into the United Nations Expeditionary Force (UNEF) and sent out to fight the enigmatic Taurans, who have been destroying human ships and colonies. The grueling training and enemy attacks are bad enough, but the worst part is the effect of TimeDilation caused by repeated travel at relativistic speeds, which causes the world around Mandella to age and change into something unrecgonizable. Mandella's only remaining connection to his old life is his [[ActionGirl fellow soldier]] [[LoveInterest Marygay Potter]], and the two must fight a hostile species on to save a world that has been lost to them.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The tachyon bombs that the troopers are hurling around in Mandella's first assignment are "microton" weapons. A microton device would be something that has the same explosive yield as one one-millionth of a ton of TNT, or about 1 gram of TNT. This wouldn't be enough to blow open a locked wooden door, let alone excavate a crater.