The Forever War

[Zbyszek]

Written by Joe Haldeman.
Have you ever wandered about real space travles? and about war campaigns in other stellar systems? In reality I mean; forget StarTrek and other movies. There are relativistic effects, speed of light is the highest speed in universe.

Ships to other stars have been send. Some of them dont return. Military men have send also probe. Probe has returned and shows alien ship. Societes have aim, Earth has to be defended!!!

Military ships are send, new ones after new ones. First alien base - is taken without any problems but captives dies. Noone was able to communicate with them. But the longer distance your ship has to travel, the more ancient it is. Enemies had years, centuries to learn about their lost battle, to build newer, better ships, to test new strategies.
Your troops. Mission is short: month or a few of flight, short fight and if they won the same time to flight back. In this time on Earth whole years has passed, sometimes centuries.
You return and everything is different, new technologies, new planets have been inhabited by people. You get know that your side is probably winning, new aims are selected according to simulations to counter probable enemy moves.
People are different, fashions, habits, even sex. Because of overpopulation, and other reasons, heterosexual times are over. New generations are created artificially. Then, after centuries, the optimal entity has been choosen and is cloned.
Main character survived three missions. After first one only 30 years has passed on Earth but the planet was completely alien to him, he could not understand people. So he came back to army. After second mission he didnt return on Earth. Third mission - as a veteran he has been chosen to be a chief. What the hell to do this that ancient guy?, maybe he will die in next mission (the death rate was high).
His troops dont know him, dont understand him, dont trust him.
Third mission - almost completely catastrophe. Remains return after centuries and get know - war is over. Ships with clones were able to communicate with aliens:
- Why have you started that war?
- We?, we havent.

Lack of communications, politics and economy - reasons why we have to fight.
Book for pacifists and that ones who love interstellar wars.

[Merkin]

I loved Forever War, read it a long time ago. You start out thinking you're reading an average science fiction galactic war story, but he gets you to really think about war, whats behind it, and what it does to people and what can stop it. Much in the same vein as Enders Game, by Orson Scott Card.