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Summary: Classic SF war novel
Review: 'Forever War' is one of the classic SF war novels, often compared to RAH's 'Starship Troopers', which seems to take a completely different point of view on war, but then RAH and Haldeman served during different types of wars, too. (RAH, btw, is said to have called 'Forever War' one of the best books on war.)Though 'Forever War' defiitely is not a novel of 'Vietnam in Space', the book does draw on Haldeman's war experience in Vietnam. In his career as an infantry soldier, the protagonist William Mandella encounters the enemy only three times in actual ground combat and participates in only four campaigns - in a war that lasts from 1996 all through the 3rd millenium. During that period human civilization and mankind itself change beyond comprehension for Mandella. The description of the campaigns and the little actual combat that takes place and of the growing alienation between Mandella and the civilization he is supposed to be fighting for taken together make this novel a true classic.
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Summary: Bang, another best-of-genre example.
Review: Yeah, I said Neuromancer could make a strong case for best-of-genre. This one has better action, less story, and still holds up in the year 2k. Probably the best sci-fi war novel I've ever come across: it certainly doesn't make you want to join the Marines, but you'd buy a video game based on this book in a heartbeat.
Rating: 
Summary: The best work of an overrated writer
Review: Sure, there are notable, surprising themes of homosexuality present, but all in all, the novel starts out promising with its ideas and rather shockingly with its military edge, which begins to dull as the story goes along. No need to simply write a sci-fi Vietnam with the outmoded issues of that times prevaling. The test of good sci-fi is timeless. And this novel fails that test. But it's an okay read.
Rating: 
Summary: a very cool book
Review: This book is simply cool. Most people have dreamed of what it would be like to basically preserve yourself in a time capsule, and this is essentially what Mandella does, sometimes for hundreds of years at a time. The societal changes are very interesting to read about. WHen I purchased it, I did expect that more time would be spent on acutal combat. But overall, a very fun book to read.
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Summary: I liked the ending the best.
Review: I would not consider this book as the best, only one of the excellent books. The story----the time period it crosses, the way soceity and people changed----is very intreseting. It is pretty graphical, I can vividly recount the scenes still now. You will like it!
Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: Joe Haldeman's _The Forever War_ has been imitated by lesser authors, but never surpassed. It is a classic novel of interstellar war and the experience of being a soldier ever more alienated from his society by relativistic time dilation.
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Summary: Two immutable laws
Review: Conflict and physics. Humanity is ever plagued with the urge to wreak havoc upon itself but when the stakes are star-spanning empires, you have relativity to contend with. In Haldeman's Forever War, faster-than-light travel has not solved the riddle of relativity. Therefore, soldiers who fight in one battle and then fly off hundreds of light years for the next find themselves decades or sometimes centuries in the future to fight their battle, in many cases with outdated weaponry and tactics. Haldeman tells an imaginative tale, exploring humanity's unquenchable lust for warfare despite the immutable laws of physics that make waging armed conflict across the stars extremely difficult.
Rating:
Summary: Only So-So
Review: I had mixed feelings about The Forever War. As military sci-fi, it fell somewhat flat for me, the action lacking intensity and punch, the technical details being vague, and the nuts and bolts of warfare and space flight in his universe being less than the sum of their parts. The speculation about the future, aside from being dated, also struck me as a bit too outlandish - but then again, one is given the impression that the book was never meant to be taken all that seriously. So on those counts, I was disappointed. However, it is an easy read, and the central gimmick - the effects of time dilation - was enough fun to get me through it in just a couple of days. If you do read it, enjoy it as broad comedy.
Rating:
Summary: Draws you in
Review: This was reminiscent of Heinlein's book, Starship Troopers, but it stands on its own as a great story. If you liked Troopers, though, you'll like this one too. Both books really drew me in, making them very quick reads. I waited over 20 years to read this book, and it hasn't lost any of its power. This is one of the great futuristic war novels, like Heinlein's Starship Troopers, Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, and Arthur C. Clarke's Earthlight. I wish there were more like them, but few Sci-Fi writers can describe a futuristic war scene or a battle like Haldeman and Heinlein can.
Rating:
Summary: Pity the book doesn't go forever...
Review: Without a doubt my favourite SF novel, Haldeman takes Starship Troopers, gives it a better storyline, and throws in a heap of well thought out physics, to create a novel that is virtually impossible to put down. There are plenty of other reviews here that detail the storyline, so I won't do more of the same. Haldeman has a gift for providing just enough description so that the reader can fill in the rest of the details themselves, and this allows for a great deal of plot in a relatively short book. Add in his Vietnam War experiences, and obvious science background, and it's pretty hard to go wrong. Some of his other books may be a bit below par, but Forever War totally deserves the 'masterpiece' tag it is often given. If only they would make a movie...
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