Mount Readmore Book Review, 2018 121/200
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Graphic Novel Edition
Finished on 7/31/2018
Genres: Graphic Novel, SciFi, Military SciFi
The Forever War Ends
Spoiler-ific review
This is the graphic novelization of the novel ‘The Forever War’ by Joe Haldeman, a Hugo, Locus and Nebula award winning novel. This is a Vietnam War parable.
I liked it. The plot of a never-ending war, where soldiers live thousands of years in order to fight over the vast spaces between the stars of the galaxy. You see how technology and cultures advance quickly in comparison to the slow-lifetimes of the soldiers who live life in what is essentially suspended animation for centuries. War is fast, brutal and short, and individual lives are meaningless grease to slick the machines of war, and back home on earth life has become so strange so quickly that the soldiers feel dispossessed and don’t want to go back, only feeling connected with their fellow soldiers.
I didn’t love it though. The art style really wasn’t my thing- something about the character’s faces just seemed weird to me. To be sure the art is WAY better than anything I can do, but it just didn’t click with me.
Also I didn’t connect to the main character, for he seemed like a blank slate without agency. I think this dislike isn’t merited, for as a meaningless cog in the machine of war he isn’t allowed to have a personality or agency. That said, I still thought he was bland.
Recommended for general audiances, and highly recommended for people who are strongly pro-peace (or pro-war). This story provides some good meat and potatoes for the mental diet.
Stay sunny!
John Mendez- Book Reviews and More 