The Forever War

I read something today about gays and the military, and it reminded me of an old science fiction novel that I liked very much. The book was The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, which won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards. Below I've posted what Wikipedia says of the plot and I think it's worth a read ... our beliefs about both homosexuality and of war seem so colored by our culture, our times, our personal issues, etc., that it can be something between a slap in the face and a breath of fresh air to gain the different perspective science fiction can afford us ... let's take advantage of it :-) ......

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The novel tells the story of William Mandella, a university student conscripted for an elite UN task force being assembled for a war against the Taurans, an alien species discovered when they suddenly attacked human colonist's ships. They are sent out for what might be described as reconnaissance in force, though vengeance is also a major factor in the politics behind their formation.

Because of the unknown nature of the threat, many cadets are recruited for unique knowledge and talents, including telepathy and luck. Mandella believes that he is chosen for his understanding of math and physics. All the cadets, however, (who seem to be evenly split between men and women) are very intelligent and are close to perfect physically. This concentration of the elite of the elite, apparently supposed to represent the best of mankind, numbers only several dozen when the training enters the serious phases (where the story starts).

After a grueling training regimen on Earth and later on Charon, which results in a high number of casualties due to the use of live weapons including nuclear warheads, the recruits finally ship out to remote bases orbiting "collapsars", wormhole-like phenomena that allow travel to thousands of light-years away in a split second. However, travelling to and from the collapsars at near-lightspeed has massive relativistic effects.

This first expedition lasts only a few months from the soldier's perspective, but due to time dilation, upon return to Earth many years will have passed. The soldiers experience future shock firsthand, as the Taurans employ increasingly advanced weaponry against them while they themselves do not have time to return to Earth and re-arm.

Mandella, together with fellow soldier, lover and companion Marygay, initially returns to civilian life, only to find humanity drastically changed. He and his fellow soldiers have difficulty fitting into a future society that has evolved almost beyond their comprehension. The veterans learn that, to curb overpopulation, which led to world-wide food wars, homosexuality has become officially encouraged by the world government. The changes within society alienate Mandella and the other veterans to the point where many re-enlist simply to escape, even though they realize the military is a soulless construct. The inability of the military to treat its soldiers as more than valuable, highly complex machines is a major theme of the story.

Almost entirely through luck, Mandella survives four subjectively experienced years of military service, which time dilation makes equivalent to several centuries of combat and change. He soon becomes the 'oldest' surviving soldier in the war, attaining high rank through seniority, although not from personal ambition (he is portrayed as an eternally reluctant soldier, who acts mostly from natural talent and a melancholic sense of duty). Despite this he is separated from Marygay, who has remained his last contact with the Earth from his youth, by inexorable and impersonal military machinery. As the commanding officer of a 'strike force', Mandella now commands soldiers who speak a language completely unrecognizable to him, whose ethnicity is now nearly uniform, and are exclusively homosexual.

Engaging in combat thousands of light years away from Earth, Mandella and his soldiers battle to survive what is to be the last conflict of the war, which has already officially ended in the meantime. During the time that has passed on Earth, mankind begins employing human cloning, resulting in a new species calling itself Man. Man develops a means of communication unique to clones, which allows them to begin peace talks with the Taurans. It turns out the war was a colossal mistake - the Taurans are a naturally clone-based species and could not communicate with the pre-clone humans. Misunderstandings, especially by the trigger-happy human military, led to the conflict.

Man establishes several colonies of old-style, heterosexual humans, just in case the evolutionary change proves to be a mistake. Mandella travels to one of these colonies, named 'Middle Finger'. There he is reunited with Marygay, who had been discharged much earlier and had intentionally used the collapsar jumps' time dilation to age at a much slower rate, hoping and waiting for Mandella's return.

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