Review of Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, 1974 St. Martin's Press hardcover first edition

Source: Guest9999 on Wikipedia

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As humans expand beyond Earth and begin traveling through space at nearly the speed of light to colonize other planets, they encounter and come into conflict with an alien civilization dubbed the Taurans. William Mandella, along with the rest of Earth’s most promising minds, is drafted into military service to be sent into deep space to engage and defeat the Taurans.

Given the physics of space travel, however, Mandella and his comrades hardly age at all while decades and even centuries pass on Earth and the colonized planets. With each campaign, Mandella realized he’s loosing whatever connection he had to protecting Earth as it becomes less and less recognizable over time, and the perpetual, senseless conflict with the Taurans never seems any closer to victory. Mandella desperately clings to the few vestiges of his life that give him any reason to continue even as the Earth government, the war, and physics work to rob him of those reasons.

Spoiler Warning

Jon Snow in HBO's Game of Thrones

Ned Stark and his Children: Who is Jon Snow's Mother?

Spoiler Alert

You should not go ahead and read this article about Jon Snow's mother if you are just beginning with George R R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire novels, or if you're currently watchingGame of Thrones season two on HBO- the article includes some information and Jon Snow theories that you will not yet have come across, and it would be a huge pity to ruin any of the surprises or story developments that you're going to relish deicovering while you read or watch this amazing work.

Jon Snow in HBO's Version of Game of Thrones

Jon Snow

One of the main characters in George R R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire sequence of novels, Jon Snow is the illegitimate son of Lord Eddard Stark, also known as Ned Stark of Winterfell. He is unfailingly morally correct and decent, even when he has to make impossible choices, and this as well as his courage, unwavering dedication, considerable conscience and prowess in battle tends to endear Jon Snow to the reader all the way through the books. Jon Snow's parentage is withheld from the reader all the way through the series of novels, indeed it is unkown even by the character himself; since Ned Stark is executed at the close of A Game of Thrones, he appears to take the tantalising secret of who Jon Snow's mother is with him to the crypts beneath Winterfell. This leaves the reader pondering over many Jon Snow theories. So what is Jon Snow's lineage? Who is Jon Snow's mother? The Song of Ice and Fire books leave the reader desperate to know, and there are several Jon Snow theories around that might help us hazard a guess.

What Happens to Jaqen H'Ghar?

Character Shifts

Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H'Ghar