Rating: 
Summary: This is no Forever War
Review: I found this short but fun novel something of a let down. It seemed to have far less depth than The Forever War.
Rating: 
Summary: I don't see any special merits in this one.
Review: Haldeman is good in creating believable characters, but after a writing a few books or so, you have the feeling that his methods seem formulaic. And there's nothing original in this one (not in the science fiction sense - as that is extremely hard - but in the literary sense). His writing seems deep when you first read them, but then, after a few books, you feel cheated, like after watching a hollywood love story, like Titanic. But, then again, science fiction has never been about literature in the first place. The 1-star rating here is given when I compare this novel with other literary greats. Compared to other science fiction novels, a 4 to 5-star rating is appropriate for this master.
Rating:
Summary: The ending really disappoints
Review: I loved Forever War and really liked Forever Peace. Forever Free is a terrible successor. Starts off great, then collapses (in the last 20 pages!) into a real Deus ex Machina the ancient Greeks would have been ashamed of. I think Haldeman reached the three-quarters point, got distracted, and just tied everything up as quickly as possible. Considering what he could have accomplished with this, it's even more disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Joe has finally written a bad book!
Review: First off let me state that I am a great fan of the Forever War and when I saw the Forever free I leaped at it. Unfortunatly, as life goes to show, sequels are not all that they are cracked up to be. The first three-forths of the book were actually pretty good (as far as build up goes). But the rest of the book was PURE DISJOINTED LET DOWN. It is like Joe wrote himself in a corner and said "lets introduce this race of beings that have been studying the Taurans and Humans for the last 10000 year" but realized that was not enough to explain some of the events he wrote earlier and said "Well then lets introduce God" and at this point it gets very bad. Though after reading the last quarter of the book I can see where Stephen King thought highly of it.
Rating:
Summary: How could Haldeman do it?
Review: I saw the book yesterday lunch-time at Sydney airport terminal and had a few hours to fill in. The Forever War is one of my very favourite hard sf books and I couldn,t believe my good fortune in spotting the sequel. ITS AWFUL. Starts off well then descends into soft fairy-tale fantasy. I can't describe how disappointing the book is. I read it straight through in four hours. It really came apart for me when the Time Warp strange events started and was all downhill from there. What about the unnatural origin of MF and its biosphere? Just mentioned and left. What about the derelict civilisation found by the Taurans? Just mentioned and left. What relevance have the Omnis? Go figure. Joe, how could you do this?
Rating:
Summary: Weak ending to an average series
Review: Though I remember the avid engagement in which the other books in the series held me, I am disappointed by this book. It is simply unconvincing in the way it lays the foundation for the revelation at the end of the story - quite frankly, there is very little meat to the storyline and I found the plot unconvincing and contrived. This seem to be an excuse to milk the fans hooked on the series and anyone looking for a good read will be sorely disappointed. The lukewarm interactions and unconvincing dialogue had me flipping pages in a hurry to find a reason for buying the book. For example, the group consciousness concept is pretty nifty but it is poorly explored. The Omni species was decidedly irrelevant to the story and the manner in which the true nature of human existence is revealed is simply bogus. I suppose this book is adequate for those who don't know any better, but if you're looking for a real SF epic, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: A fast, absorbing read, a most curious but intriguing ending
Review: It felt good to catch up with William Mandella once again and to observe his family life on the remote and bitter planet Middle Finger. Little remains of the intensity of his "Forever War" experiences, and his main focus now is coping with his growing kids and his craving for a worthwhile future. A rash attempt to escape the stolid civilization enforced by MAN and the Taurans by heading out in a pirated relativistic space ship suddenly turns strange indeed. Instead of returning in the far distant future, they return only 25 years later to find a mystery that defies the laws of physics. Like some of the other reviewers, I felt that the final chapters of this story were too rushed, but the ideas the Haldeman presents are stunning. I just couldn't turn off that light, in spite of the grumbles next to me in bed, and I was completely absorbed and delighted as I read through to the last page. Excellent realistic characters that we care about; a multi-level story with a great and curious ending. Definitely a hit!
Rating: 
Summary: What the HECK happened to the Forever War?
Review: I was pleased AT FIRST to find out that Haleman had written a sequel to _The Forever War_. What a disappointment! Great charcacters and dialogue completely wasted on a juvenile, self-indulgent plot. William Mandella deserved better. God is a dweeb in this book, Angels are reduced to Odo and Halemann trivialized his own excellent novel _The Forever War_ (which is justly regarded as a classic.) Some things are better left alone and Haldeman's time and IMMENSE talent would be better spent finding new characters and plots to explore.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Premise, but Loses Steam
Review: _Forever Free_ begins promisingly: The veterans who survived the _Forever War_ find themselves unable to fit into a peaceful, but thoroughly alien culture. They try to escape their situation by skipping history for a few thousand years. So far so good, and maybe it's a good idea that the author doesn't let them succeed in this project - I don't blame him for having no clear idea what sort of society the time travelers would find on their return, and even a well executed novel along these lines would appear to be overly derivative of _The Forever War_. The alternative that Haldeman offers, however - literally a "deus ex machina" - was pretty unsatisfactory and ultimately left me disappointed in the book.
Rating:
Summary: As good as sequels get
Review: First: There should be more SF authors like Haldeman. The man can tell a story succinctly and with feeling. In a few short pages he can challenge your intellect and your heart. Forever Free is a wonderful story and I can't understand why so many people didn't like it. Second: This is not a conventional sequel. If Haldeman wrote Forever War as a challenge to Heinlein's Starship Troopers, then Forever Free is simply a response to REH's Job: A Comedy of Justice. To say more would give away the ending. Beware, the cover summary of this book is slightly inaccurate and does not due the book justice. Maybe that's why so many shortsighted people were disappointed. I wholeheartedly reccommend this book. It's a great story, full of all of the material which got most of us hooked on SF to begin with. It was refreshing to read such a book again. I didn't think anyone could tell a good story anymore in under 300 pages. Of course, most of the stories nowadays are well over 3000 pages and are not very good. Just look at this websites "Best Seller" list. Keep writing, Joe.
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