From rec.arts.sf.written Mon Aug 10 13:25:24 1992 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!mcsun!Germany.EU.net!news.netmbx.de!zrz.tu-berlin.de!Sirius.dfn.de!darwin.sura.net!mips!decwrl!csus.edu!netcom.com!dani From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) Subject: Joe Haldeman: Worlds Enough And Time Message-ID: Date: Fri, 07 Aug 92 05:20:39 GMT Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Lines: 40 Joe Haldeman's long-delayed "Worlds Enough and Time", the third book in his 'Worlds' trilogy, was worth waiting for. If it's not the best science ficiton novel I've read this year, it's one of them. Telling a story of apocalyptic times from the viewpoint of a single character is one of the staples of science fiction. The Worlds trilogy turns this on its head: The character is the object of the story, and it is the apocalyptic times that are the plot device. In this third book of the trilogy the focus is almost entirely upon the character. If momentous events occur, they usually occur offstage. In "Worlds", the most nearly conventional book of the trilogy, we see the young Marianne engaged in non-stop adventure. In "Worlds Apart", the older Marianne is more involved with people and politics than with high drama. And in this book, the middle-aged Marianne's activities focus almost completely upon family and friends, work and play. But it works. It works because the character is so engaging. (She also has a well-defined voice which is not Haldeman's own -- a significant writing accomplishment in itself.) Not that the science-fictional aspect should be discounted. The story is interesting and -- a key test of science-fictional integrity -- is not one which could be transposed to a non-sf setting by changing the props. The highly-improbable ending is not the flaw it would be if the book were *about* the colonization of Epsilon Eridani: It's about one of the colonists, and occurances which add to the portrait which the author is painting add to the story. One of the best science-fiction novels to appear this year, then, is a character study of a middle-aged woman. (That's not the sort of thing you'd expect to sell. I seem to recall someone on the net saying that the only way it Haldeman *was* able to sell it was as part of a trilogy which began with the *young* Marianne O'Hara.) The author pulls it off remarkably well. ----- Dani Zweig dani@netcom.com Aphorism is better than none. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Thu Oct 30 14:01:23 1997 From: "Evelyn C Leeper" Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: FOREVER PEACE by Joe Haldeman Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 20 Oct 1997 14:38:16 -0400 Organization: Software Agents Group Lines: 67 Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.34 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!genius.dat.hk-r.se!news.lth.se!feed1.news.luth.se!luth.se!feed1.news.erols.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!netnews.com!newsswitch.lcs.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!not-for-mail Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:1564 FOREVER PEACE by Joe Haldeman Ace, ISBN 0-441-00406-7, 1997, 326pp, US$21.95 A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1997 Evelyn C. Leeper One, this is not a sequel to THE FOREVER WAR. Two, the title of this is FOREVER PEACE, not THE FOREVER PEACE. Haldeman has claimed that FOREVER PEACE is part of a triptych of thematically connected novels containing THE FOREVER WAR and 1968. This is true, but only to the extent that they are all about war and what makes us fight and kill each other. While the idea of FOREVER PEACE is that there may be a way to end the killing, most of it is devoted to descriptions of battles and attacks and killing. One problem is that the pacing is off. We spend half the novel following Julian Class, the operator of a "soldierboy" -- basically a remote-controlled robot soldier. Then suddenly within a few pages, we find out that there is something happening that can destroy the universe, and that there is a way to convert humanity to a non-aggressive state. Another problem is that while the first plot twist is moderately believable, the second I found completely unconvincing. All the problems that are introduced are solved with a wave of the hand. It's as if we have a solution to world hunger that involves getting to Proxima Centauri in an hour, and then on the next page someone says, "Oh, by the way, we just discovered how to travel faster than light." While we're at it, Haldeman also postulates the miracle of nanotechnology, which can provide for all material needs. Another problem was the foreshadowing, where you would read some first-person narrative from Julian, and then a third- person omniscient would break in to say, "But Julian had no way of knowing how wrong he was," or some such. But FOREVER PEACE is still worth reading. Haldeman is at his best when he is describing everyday life in the "permanent war footing" of the future, with all its restrictions and "acceptable" dangers. If THE FOREVER WAR was the Vietnam War transposed to the future, then FOREVER PEACE is Nicaragua, Kuwait, and Oklahoma City. It's a world full of security precautions that don't work, but which are followed because they make people feel better. (Exactly what purpose does showing a picture ID serve when you fly somewhere now?) It's a world of elaborate rules of friendship based on who gets paid what, and when, and how. Haven't you heard of someone picking up a dinner check by explaining that they can claim it as a business expense? One of the aspects of science fiction I like is the way it looks at the near-future and consequences of our current politico-economic situation. Had Haldeman just written about nanotechnology and the war between the haves and the have-nots, it would have been far more satisfying. As it was, there was too much going on here for any one thread to be given sufficient space. As I said, I think FOREVER PEACE is worth reading, though not for the plot so much as for the setting. The obvious comparison will be to THE FOREVER WAR, and it doesn't stand up to that--but then, that is very high standard. %T Forever Peace %A Joe Haldeman %C New York %D October 1997 %I Ace %O hardback, US$21.95 %G ISBN 0-441-00406-7 %P 326pp Evelyn C. Leeper | eleeper@lucent.com +1 732 957 2070 | http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824 We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another. -- Jonathan Swift