I recently picked up a compendium of Joe Haldeman's Forever War, Forever Free and Forever Peace. I loved The Forever War when I first came across it - a very neat riposte to military SF of the Starship Troopers mold, and picking up both the sequel and the thematic counterpart in one volume for £7 was too good to pass up.
Sadly, Forever Free turned out to be _completely_ pointless. It offered a few hints at interesting things in the background, started off in an interesting direction, and then fell apart into a complete mess, before finishing with the most ridiculous deus ex machina I've ever read.
Forever Peace won a Hugo, so I'm hoping it's better. If anyone can tell me I missed something in Forever Free that makes it all make sense I'd appreciate it. As it is, it looks like either a bad practical joke or a serious case of Heinleinitis.
Sadly, Forever Free turned out to be _completely_ pointless. It offered a few hints at interesting things in the background, started off in an interesting direction, and then fell apart into a complete mess, before finishing with the most ridiculous deus ex machina I've ever read.
Forever Peace won a Hugo, so I'm hoping it's better. If anyone can tell me I missed something in Forever Free that makes it all make sense I'd appreciate it. As it is, it looks like either a bad practical joke or a serious case of Heinleinitis.