Price Daniel Jr Team #8 The Forever War Joe Haldeman 1974
Joe Haldeman was born in 1943. He lived in Puerto Rico and all across the country. In 1965 he married Mary Gay Potter. He later received a bachelor's degree in Astronomy from the University of Maryland. Shortly after receiving his bachelor's in 1967 he was drafted for the Vietnam War. He wrote his first novel in 1972 called War Year. It was inspired by his time in the Vietnam War. In 1975 he received his MFA in creative writing from University of Iowa. He wrote The Forever War in 1975 and it sparked a series of books. He has won several awards for his literature. Including the Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy, etc... The Forever War follows the life of a military man's journey through a war. The story follows his journey from a private to Major in a 1143 year long war. Mankind has begun colonizing other planets. During one of these colonizations an alien race named Taurans killed the colonists and thus started the war. When we first meet Private William Mandella he is on his way to train on a nearby planet. At the beginning of training there are 50 privates. By the end of training there are only about 30. The training was so harsh and difficult that they were forewarned that many would not survive. One of the first technologies introduced is at this point. To arrive to the training grounds a technology called a collapser is used to transport a ship full of people light years away in mere seconds. While training on the planet they are each given robotic suits. They have life sustaining system, weapons, and although strong are hard to maneuver and easy to break. In one instance while training a man falls backwards and breaks part of the suit. This causes it to overheat and he almost bakes alive. As the story continues Mandella moves up the ranks and begins touring in other places. His friend Marygay Potter, who he met during training, and he become much closer friends as time moves on. As it comes closer for the end of their tour of duty Marygay is severely injured by her suit. At this time their relationship begins to escalate into something more. On their leave from duty they found the Earth had changed a lot. The currency was now kilocalories and their new surroundings were too hard to handle. While on this stay both experience the loss of their parents and decided to go back to active duty.
While on duty this time they both lost limbs and were sent to a planet named "Heaven" to recuperate and wait for their next set of orders. By this point the money they were owed by the government had accumulated and earned interest. So it made them both billionaires. Since they were unsure if they would survive they live frivolously. When they received their next set of orders William was promoted to Major and Marygay to second Major. They were separated. William was given a unit to command and was sent to a far away planet to await the Taurans. While waiting there on of his men turns on him and makes an attempt on his life. Although he is stopped he later commits suicide and William prepares his unit for battle. The Taurans arrive and almost all of his men are lost. The war ends and it is revealed that it was all a big misunderstanding. Due to lack of communication neither side knew the others intent. By now humanity is cloned and Mandella and his new found friend Charlie themselves find travelling to a planet called "Middle Finger" to find Marygay. The technologies in this book are innumerous. Some of the technologies that frequently appear are: collapser, Body suit, robotic suit, logistic computer, ring (communicator), autocars, cyborgs, regrowable body part prosthetics, test tube babies, cloning, and robot drones. Several other technologies are mentioned but many are only briefly mentioned and not explained. One of the first technologies to be introduced is a collapser. It is a form of travel used to get several light years in a short amount of time. For example in the book collapser jump takes only a month, but in that time the Earth has aged somewhere around 250 years. There really isn't any technology of today that could match that kind of travel time. Although technology strives on that we can travel half way around the world in only hours, there is nothing really close to that. The second technology to be introduced is the robotic suit. This is interesting, because a person slips into a large robotic suit and it amplifies their strength. They can crush boulders, move longer distances in a shorter amount of time. The pressure exerted from the suits hand is 10x or more of what the operator is exerting. This is similar to the robotic arms that are used in manufacturing. They also exert much more strength than a human can. An interesting piece of technology was the prosthetic that were used in the war. These prosthetics were very different from the ones we have today. They also can function as arms and legs, but they regrow your lost limbs. The prosthetic is a skeleton of say a foot. It is made out of a metallic material and the skin, nerves and blood vessels grow right over it. They can regrow livers, kidneys, stomachs, arms, legs and just about any body part you are missing except a heart. Similar to the prosthetics we have today, a human can become a cyborg. If the limbs cannot be regrown the person can be suited with prosthetic body parts and bec...