THE FOREVER WAR

Published in 1974, Joe Haldeman's Hugo and Nebula Awards winning novel, THE FOREVER WAR, is a science fiction version of CATCH-22 set in deep space. It's also a not-so-thinly veiled allegory for the about-to-come-to-an-end Vietnam War. 

THE FOREVER WAR is the story of one William Mandella, who begins his journey into combat as a private and ends up, some two thousand years later, as a major. Two thousand years? Yep, because the war between the Terrans (Earth military forces) and the alien Taurans takes place many light years away from Earth. The planets upon which war is waged between the two armies can only be reached by the use of colapsars, wormholes in space that can transport ships from one place in space to another in a matter of less than a second. But real time passes outside of the collapsars so while Private Mandella ages at a normal rate, hundreds of years pass on Earth. 

The war is pointless. The Taurans pose no threat whatsoever to Earth. And they have nothing of any discernible value to Earth forces, no natural resources, planets, technology, nothing that could be of use to humans. The war was started by mistake, by a lack of communication between man and alien but regardless of the cause, Mandella is forced to fight and fight and fight. 

He and his lover, Marygay (the space forces are co-ed), return to Earth after their first tour of duty to find a society so radically changed that there's no place for them to fit in. They re-enlist expecting to be assigned to a desk job but instead are thrust into combat again. When Mandella loses a leg and Marygay an arm in a skirmish with the Taurans, they both think they've received the "million dollar wound" that will send them back home for good. Instead, they're outfitted with bio-mechanical artificial limbs and sent back into combat after their convalescence period on a planet called "Heaven". 

Finally, Mandella finds himself promoted to the rank of major with a squadron of space troopers under his command. By this time the military forces are made up entirely of homosexuals, both men and women, while Mandella, the lone heterosexual in the unit, finds himself increasingly out of touch. Mandella leads his men and women into a furious climactic battle with the Taurans and when the battle is over, he learns that the war is officially over, with his just competed battle the last confrontation of the years long war. When he's mustered out of service, Mandela finds a happy, hopeful and optimistic future awaiting him.

THE FOREVER WAR is a solid story mixing the absurdities of command and military red tape with the harsh realities of combat and the desperate feeling that the fighting, no matter how pointless, will never end. The book deserved to win both the Hugo and Nebula awards and stands as a military sf classic. 

Highly recommended.