Rating: Summary: Interesting, yet lacking Review: Personally, I liked the ending. I thought it was rather heart warming, the last line especially."Alone, together. The way it always used to be." I guess you have to be sort of a philosopher and a hopeless romantic to really appreciate it. I will admit I felt that Haldeman could have gone into a bit more detail when creating the characters' personalities (he could have elaborated a little more on what caused Julian's suicide attempt as well) and that certain aspects of plot were a little underdeveloped. All things considered I thought the book was quite enjoyable despite it's vague descriptions and slightly familar scenario (in other words, the end of the world). However, I found the idea and concept of the furturistic technology mentioned to be both original and quite possibly a glimpse of what's to come. I would not recommend the book to anyone because that's just a part of my personality but it is an interesting story about loss, (in some distant way) love, desparation, and the voilent acts we all are cabable of. It accurately portrays the reality of human nature (it also displays the author's idealistic hopes of one day changing it). I must say that I look forward to reading "The Forever War" after reading "Forever Peace" and hearing the comparisons that others have made.
Rating: Summary: A definite page-turner Review: A interesting view of the near future. I thought it was a well told story. I liked the characters and the storyline made sense. Certain technical aspects were far-fetched, but I found if I suspended belief the book flowed well for me.
Rating: Summary: Great book Review: Forever Peace has now won the three highest honours that Science Fiction can bestow on a work. It has won the Nebula, Hugo and John Campbell awards as best novel. Something that only a rare work can manage. The Writers, Fans and Critics all gave it their highest honour. The reason for much of the critism from some corners seems to have more to do with the fact that it wasn't The Forever War Part Two. It is something different, with the sames aims maybe... but from a decidely different angle.
Rating: Summary: Another Haldeman fan, but found this one disappointing. Review: I'll keep this one short because most of it's been said in other reviews. I'm a *big* Haldeman fan and until now thought he could do no wrong. But _Forever Peace_ was a real let-down -- throughout the book it seemed that Haldeman was consciously trying to evoke the writing elements for which he's known without becoming *too* derivative of his past work. The result is tepid prose and a generally unappealing book -- annoying characters, laughable plot, weak science, useless and predictable "action" sequences. (And WHAT is with that ending?) I did thoroughly enjoy _1968_ (a newish non-SF Haldeman novel) -- it's apparent that he still knows how to write a compelling story. I got the feeling Mr. Haldeman was writing _FP_ under contract, or simply to get *something* out there without having to put too much thought into it. If this were my first Haldeman novel I doubt I'd pick up another one -- I've read better by less established authors. Granted, it probably isn't fair to compare this too strongly to his earlier work, but I *did* buy it simply because of the author's name on the cover.
Rating: Summary: A major stylistic advance over "The Forever War" Review: I am surprised by the readers who have compared Haldeman's new novel unfavorably to "The Forever War." That early novel's virtues notwithstanding, Haldeman's prose is much better in the books he wrote in the eighties and nineties, and I find his style one of his greatest virtues. (His plots can be, if anything, a bit too well-oiled and smooth-running. I tend to prefer his meditative works, such as "World Enough and Time," over the more thriller-like ones, such as "Tool of the Trade.") Narrative consciousness (what you would call "characterization") is better conveyed by a book's prose than by its plot, and I found the stoicism (and the descent into despair) of the protagonist very strong. Perhaps the final quarter of the novel has a bit too many precisely-timed entrances and exits; "The Long Habit of Living" (aka "Buying Time") is another one of Haldeman's better novels that can perhaps be faulted on these grounds. But I read the novel straight through, pausing to reread paragraphs that seemed especially good, and have no problem commending the novel.
Rating: Summary: Disappointing Review: How did this book win any awards? It was a major disappointment. I was expecting so much and got so little. Not only were the characters undeveloped, the plot was unbelievable. The author spent 95% of the story establishing the characters and their circumstances; 4% on setting up the big issue, (which happens to be the destruction of the entire universe); and 1% on the resolution (which involves nothing less then requiring the entire human race to undergo major surgery) If the people judging these major awards think this is good science fiction then we need new judges.
Rating: Summary: Not a Hugo Award caliber novel, but still a decent read. Review: I don't understand what was so great about this novel that it deserved the Hugo award. After having read Forever War, I was somewhat disappointed by this book. The character's are not very engaging and the antagonists are very one-dimensional and uninteresting. The resolution of "humanizing" the world through mind-to-mind interfacing was unsatisfying. This is not to say that the book wasn't entertaining. It just was less than what I had expected of a Hugo award winning novel by Joe Haldeman.
Rating: Summary: Not the caliber of "The Forever War", but not bad either. Review: I thought Haldeman did a great job early on of painting a bleak picture of the future with man-machines bullying third-world countries without the technology or money to keep up. As the novel continues, however, I wasn't as convinced with the evil religious cult out to destroy the world, with villians that more resemble bad guys from a James Bond movie than anything else. The ending itself was a little dissappointing to me as well, and seemed rather rushed with plenty of loose ends. All in all I can't rate this lower than 4 stars though, because I did find myself not wanting to put the book down.
Rating: Summary: Not in the same class as The Forever War! Review: Don't look here for another classic of the caliber of The Forever War. This is just another uninspired book among many that are out there. The soilderboy concept has promise but it was never developed in a way that captures the imagination.
Rating: Summary: Not Haldeman's best work... not horrible either.... Review: I really wanted this to be a good book.... really I did. And I can honestly say that it was very hard to put down for the last hundred or so pages. Still, I've read better. I can understand the possible need to switch from first to third person, but I really don't think it helped the book. It made the first hundred pages very hard to read and I think, kept me from completely enjoying the book. Too bad really. It started off really well. i loved the soldierboy concept.... Just wasn't enough.
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