Forever War -1- The Forever War

Amazon.com Review In the 1970s Joe Haldeman approached more than a dozen different publishers before he finally found one interested in The Forever War . The book went on to win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, although a large chunk of the story had been cut out before it saw publication. Now Haldeman and Avon Books have released the definitive version of The Forever War , published for the first time as Haldeman originally intended. The book tells the timeless story of war, in this case a conflict between humanity and the alien Taurans. Humans first bumped heads with the Taurans when we began using collapsars to travel the stars. Although the collapsars provide nearly instantaneous travel across vast distances, the relativistic speeds associated with the process means that time passes slower for those aboard ship. For William Mandella, a physics student drafted as a soldier, that means more than 27 years will have passed between his first encounter with the Taurans and his homecoming, though he himself will have aged only a year. When Mandella finds that he can't adjust to Earth after being gone so long from home, he reenlists, only to find himself shuttled endlessly from battle to battle as the centuries pass. --Craig E. Engler Review Mandella starts out as a foot soldier in man's thousand-year war against the Taurans and ends as a reluctant major. Spanning the stars at faster than light speeds, Mandella and his comrades age only months as the centuries zip by on an earth that becomes increasingly foreign. But few soldiers will return to the altered home planet; in battles fought with powered suits and other stranger weapons, the odds for survival approach zero. This war is the opposite of the one Heinlein glorified in Starship Troopers (1959) - bloody, cruel and meaningless. This is a splendid, thoughtful adventure. (Kirkus Reviews) "The legendary novel of extraterrestrial war in an uncaring universe comes to comics, in a stunningly realized vision of Joe Haldeman's Vietnam War parable epic war story spanning relativistic space and time, The Forever War explores one soldier's experience as he is caught up in the brutal machinery of a war against an unknown and unknowable alien foe that reaches across the stars" -- The monumental Hugo and Nebula award winning SF classic-- Featuring a new introduction by John Scalzi The Earth's leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand--despite the fact that the fierce alien enemy they would oppose is inscrutable, unconquerable, and very far away. A reluctant conscript drafted into an elite Military unit, Private William Mandella has been propelled through space and time to fight in the distant thousand-year conflict; to perform his duties and do whatever it takes to survive the ordeal and return home. But "home" may be even more terrifying than battle, because, thanks to the time dilation caused by space travel, Mandella is aging months while the Earth he left behind is aging centuries... Private William Mandella Is A Hero In Spite Of Himself -- A Reluctant Conscript Drafted Into An Elite Military Unit, And Propelled Through Space And Time To Fight In A Distant Thousand-year Conflict. He Never Wanted To Go To War, But The Leaders On Earth Have Drawn A Line In The Interstellar Sand -- Despite The Fact That Their Fierce Alien Enemy Is Unknowable, Unconquerable, And Very Far Away. So Mandella Will Perform His Duties Without Rancor And Even Rise Up Through The Military's Ranks ... If He Survives. But The True Test Of His Mettle Will Come When He Returns To Earth. Because Of The Time Dilation Caused By Space Travel The Loyal Soldier Is Aging Months, While His Home Planet Is Aging Centuries -- And The Difference Will Prove The Saying: You Never Can Go Home. Private Mandella -- Sergeant Mandella, 2007-2024 A.d. -- Lieutenant Mandella, 2024-2389 A.d. -- Major Mandella, 2458-3143 A.d. Joe Haldeman. The Author's Preferred Ed. Of The Groundbreaking Sf Classic. -- Cover. Originially Published: St. Martin's Press, 1974. Battling the Taurans in space was one problem as Private William Mandella worked his way up the ranks to major. In spanning the stars, he aged only months while Earth aged centuries Tonight we're going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man."