KAMN Show #38: The Forever War

Welcome to Show #38!

Yes, we put the promo at the beginning, because once we got rolling on the discussion, we never took a break. ‘Tis why we’re geeks.

Feature Discussion: Summer, David and Jen tackle Joe R. Haldeman’s The Forever War, which was first serialized in Analog magazine in 1972, then published in novel form in 1974. It was the Nebula Award winner in 1975 and the Hugo Award winner in 1976.

Brief Story Description: This is the story of William Mandella, a student who is conscripted into an elite force being trained to fight in Earth’s first extraterrestrial war. The problem is that while they age normally while traversing deep space, time is speeding by faster on Earth. How can you go home again when you’ve aged only a few months or years while the only home you’ve known has aged 50-500-1000 years or more?

Listener Feedback: You can leave comments here for the show, or at the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas Forum. You can also email all of us at ninjas-at-kickassmysticninjas-dot-com, and yes, you can also email in recorded commentary.

Books mentioned:

Link: Wikipedia: The Forever War
Link: We Read Science Fiction: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - Cams #4
Link: Joe Haldeman’s Tangled Website
Promo: Parsec Awards 2008

 

 KAMN Show #38: The Forever War [50:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3536)

Show #38: Pre-show Discussion

Show #38 will cover “The Forever War” by Joe Haldeman.

Originally serialized in Analog magazine in 1972, it was first published in novel form in 1974, and it won the Nebula Award in 1975 and the Hugo Award in 1976.

The original story as read in Analog, and the first two versions of the novel contain an abridged and “more upbeat” version, different from the author’s original vision for the middle of the story. In 1997, the “Author’s Preferred Edition” was finally published, and comprises the first part of a trilogy, followed by “Forever Free” and “Forever Peace”.

A discussion topic will appear in the forums soon.