--- product_id: 1542523 title: "The Forever War" price: "MX$633" currency: MXN in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.mx/products/1542523-the-forever-war store_origin: MX region: Mexico --- # The Forever War **Price:** MX$633 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Forever War - **How much does it cost?** MX$633 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.mx](https://www.desertcart.mx/products/1542523-the-forever-war) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description desertcart.com: The Forever War: 9780312536633: Haldeman, Joe: Books Review: Stands the test of time! - From the moment I opened this book and all the way through to the end, I was mesmerized by the story, the characters, and the sheer excellence of this amazing work of Science Fiction. If you are a Sci-Fi fan and haven't read this, you are doing yourself a disservice. This novel, nearly fifty years old, is a classic work. It follows the military life of a physics student turned soldier, William Mandella, through his training and combat experience as a member of the UNEF Army. It is a compelling tale of a man who wants to go home but may not be able to continue to live his life the way he expects. While he serves a total of four years of his life, the travel from assignment moves at relativistic speeds and as we know, when someone travels at those speeds, time passes very quickly for those who are not along for the ride. Physics student William Mandella is conscripted as a member of a task force for the United Nations Exploratory Force to fight in a war against an alien race known as Taurans after presumed attacks by them on human colonist ships. Mandella undergoes intense training and is deployed to numerous places in the galaxy. While the ships that transport soldiers from one battle to another are very fast, traveling at relativistic speeds means that a lot of time passes off the ship than onboard. The first deployment for Mandella's group lasts two years from his point of view, but for the return to Earth, 27 years pass. In those times, there are drastic developments in technology, but there are also societal changes that are shocking. Mandella is part of the war for only four years of his life while centuries pass at home. The principal character, William Mandella, is an intelligent man who is made into a warrior. He isn't obsessed with killing but is merely doing a job he’s been trained for. He is quite resilient in that he understands his situation concerning time dilation, and what it might do to him. However, the time he spans outside his relativistic travel changes so drastically, he sometimes has a hard time keeping up with all the changes. He takes everything in stride as he moves forward, but still maintains his own identity. He wants all the things a professional soldier wants, but most of all, to come home alive to a world and to the woman he loves. We see most of the story through Mandella's eyes and the thoughts he has and so we get a combat veteran's view of life in and out of the military and observations of the social and political situations as they evolve over the period of a thousand years. My favorite point of plot in Forever War is how it illustrates the changes society goes through over a period of time. At one point, Mandella goes home and has a difficult time recognizing nearly everything he encounters. The changes are so extreme and bizarre that he finds he no longer can exist. He finally returns to the military because it is what he has become familiar with. It is no spoiler to say this tale is a metaphor for the Vietnam War. The author himself is a veteran of the Vietnam era, so the story is sad and tragic, but there are also moments of hope. Personally, the theme that stood out the most was how soldiers were regarded when they returned home. In the book, they are not treated well as they return to an Earth that has become a social and political ruin. Many are just trying to survive in an economy that is in shambles. When he feels as if he has been alienated from his home planet, Mandella, along with Marygay, re-enlists. As is typical of the military, after being promised to be assigned as instructors on Luna base, they are switched back to a combat unit and sent off to fight once again. Another thing that stood out to me was how Forever War and Starship Troopers (the book by Robert A. Heinlein, not the film) have some things in common. Both are a soldiers’ story that can give one a better understanding of what it means to fight in a war and then try to survive, not only in combat, but when returning home and having to adapt to all the changes one faces. My takeaway from The Forever War is to show how one can never return home. Nothing stays the same and life is full of change. Forever War is a classic work of sci-fi that holds up well and will speak to readers today. If there is a must-read list, this book should appear at the top. It has everything a fan of military sci-fi would enjoy, and I think many of those who have served would also appreciate what is in these pages. Mandella's tale is great on every level. It is brilliantly written because it is easy to understand and relate to. It is a fairly fast read at 236 pages, but at the same time, there is a lot of amazing story packed into that small space. I found Forever War to be entertaining, engaging, and emotionally charged.' Highest Recommendations! Review: Heinlein flavor, but better than Heinlein - Not bad. Very like Heinlein, but with a more modern voice and writing style. And no rah-rah, thank goodness. This is definitely an antiwar book. It is interesting, some new ideas, not much of a plot other than what the title implies. Abrupt ending. I enjoyed it although there were a few sections that dragged. I was amused by the concept of the civilians back on earth and other human planets going through fads in how people live. Mandella goes back to earth after a tour of duty, and his mother's a lesbian. He goes back again after another tour of duty, and everyone's homosexual. He goes back after his final tour to find out the war was a mistake, it had been over for a couple of centuries anyway, and, oh by the way, everyone's a clone. But they are starting to rethink the concept of test-tube clone babies and have established some heterosexual planets just in case the whole clone thing turns out to be a mistake. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #17,489 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #51 in Space Marine Science Fiction #73 in Alien Invasion Science Fiction #88 in First Contact Science Fiction (Books) | | Book 1 of 3 | The Forever War | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (18,266) | | Dimensions | 5.5 x 0.72 x 8.25 inches | | Edition | Reprint | | ISBN-10 | 0312536631 | | ISBN-13 | 978-0312536633 | | Item Weight | 2.31 pounds | | Language | English | | Print length | 264 pages | | Publication date | February 17, 2009 | | Publisher | St. Martin's Griffin | ## Images ![The Forever War - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71WkMKvsHHL.jpg) ![The Forever War - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81GtMGmhC5L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Stands the test of time! *by J***D on January 27, 2024* From the moment I opened this book and all the way through to the end, I was mesmerized by the story, the characters, and the sheer excellence of this amazing work of Science Fiction. If you are a Sci-Fi fan and haven't read this, you are doing yourself a disservice. This novel, nearly fifty years old, is a classic work. It follows the military life of a physics student turned soldier, William Mandella, through his training and combat experience as a member of the UNEF Army. It is a compelling tale of a man who wants to go home but may not be able to continue to live his life the way he expects. While he serves a total of four years of his life, the travel from assignment moves at relativistic speeds and as we know, when someone travels at those speeds, time passes very quickly for those who are not along for the ride. Physics student William Mandella is conscripted as a member of a task force for the United Nations Exploratory Force to fight in a war against an alien race known as Taurans after presumed attacks by them on human colonist ships. Mandella undergoes intense training and is deployed to numerous places in the galaxy. While the ships that transport soldiers from one battle to another are very fast, traveling at relativistic speeds means that a lot of time passes off the ship than onboard. The first deployment for Mandella's group lasts two years from his point of view, but for the return to Earth, 27 years pass. In those times, there are drastic developments in technology, but there are also societal changes that are shocking. Mandella is part of the war for only four years of his life while centuries pass at home. The principal character, William Mandella, is an intelligent man who is made into a warrior. He isn't obsessed with killing but is merely doing a job he’s been trained for. He is quite resilient in that he understands his situation concerning time dilation, and what it might do to him. However, the time he spans outside his relativistic travel changes so drastically, he sometimes has a hard time keeping up with all the changes. He takes everything in stride as he moves forward, but still maintains his own identity. He wants all the things a professional soldier wants, but most of all, to come home alive to a world and to the woman he loves. We see most of the story through Mandella's eyes and the thoughts he has and so we get a combat veteran's view of life in and out of the military and observations of the social and political situations as they evolve over the period of a thousand years. My favorite point of plot in Forever War is how it illustrates the changes society goes through over a period of time. At one point, Mandella goes home and has a difficult time recognizing nearly everything he encounters. The changes are so extreme and bizarre that he finds he no longer can exist. He finally returns to the military because it is what he has become familiar with. It is no spoiler to say this tale is a metaphor for the Vietnam War. The author himself is a veteran of the Vietnam era, so the story is sad and tragic, but there are also moments of hope. Personally, the theme that stood out the most was how soldiers were regarded when they returned home. In the book, they are not treated well as they return to an Earth that has become a social and political ruin. Many are just trying to survive in an economy that is in shambles. When he feels as if he has been alienated from his home planet, Mandella, along with Marygay, re-enlists. As is typical of the military, after being promised to be assigned as instructors on Luna base, they are switched back to a combat unit and sent off to fight once again. Another thing that stood out to me was how Forever War and Starship Troopers (the book by Robert A. Heinlein, not the film) have some things in common. Both are a soldiers’ story that can give one a better understanding of what it means to fight in a war and then try to survive, not only in combat, but when returning home and having to adapt to all the changes one faces. My takeaway from The Forever War is to show how one can never return home. Nothing stays the same and life is full of change. Forever War is a classic work of sci-fi that holds up well and will speak to readers today. If there is a must-read list, this book should appear at the top. It has everything a fan of military sci-fi would enjoy, and I think many of those who have served would also appreciate what is in these pages. Mandella's tale is great on every level. It is brilliantly written because it is easy to understand and relate to. It is a fairly fast read at 236 pages, but at the same time, there is a lot of amazing story packed into that small space. I found Forever War to be entertaining, engaging, and emotionally charged.' Highest Recommendations! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Heinlein flavor, but better than Heinlein *by H***A on March 25, 2026* Not bad. Very like Heinlein, but with a more modern voice and writing style. And no rah-rah, thank goodness. This is definitely an antiwar book. It is interesting, some new ideas, not much of a plot other than what the title implies. Abrupt ending. I enjoyed it although there were a few sections that dragged. I was amused by the concept of the civilians back on earth and other human planets going through fads in how people live. Mandella goes back to earth after a tour of duty, and his mother's a lesbian. He goes back again after another tour of duty, and everyone's homosexual. He goes back after his final tour to find out the war was a mistake, it had been over for a couple of centuries anyway, and, oh by the way, everyone's a clone. But they are starting to rethink the concept of test-tube clone babies and have established some heterosexual planets just in case the whole clone thing turns out to be a mistake. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Forever War is science fiction at its best *by G***T on December 3, 2011* Joe Haldeman's 1974 novel The Forever War won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and Haldeman has won many awards since for his other work. Despite being a fan of science fiction, I'd somehow never read any of Halderman's work before picking up The Forever War. After thoroughly enjoying The Forever War, though, I can guarantee it won't be the last Haldeman I read. The book begins in 1997 with Private William Mandella of the United Nations Exploratory Force (UNEF) in training to become part of the first unit to engage the Taurans, mysterious aliens that appear to have suddenly started attacking human spaceships. By the time Mandella returns to Earth after this brief engagement and is discharged, decades have passed on Earth, thanks to the effects of relativity shortening Mandella's subjective timeframe. Earth has changed almost beyond his comprehension, and he re-enlists - not because he likes the military, but because it's the only place he still fits. Mandella continues to serve, living only a few years in his subjective timeframe while hundreds of years pass on Earth. Eventually, the Earth he's fighting for no longer bears any relationship to the Earth he left, and the soldiers he serves with and eventually commands - born hundreds of years after he enlisted - can't relate to him and his ancient ideas. The thematic heart of the novel is the alienation a soldier experiences when returning from war. Haldeman, a Vietnam veteran, uses the science fiction trappings to illustrate this idea extremely well. Mandella's isolation as the centuries pass is entirely believable, and the reader gets a sense of how lost a former soldier must be when returning to the world. The science fiction and military elements of the novel are excellent, too. The science of space travel and relativity is portrayed in a way we don't often see in science fiction, but really ought to for space fiction that doesn't involve hyperspace or warp speed or the like. When the enemy has a hundred years of their time between you leaving your planet and arriving at the objective, you are essentially fighting foes with an extra hundred years of technology. Fortunately, this can work in your favor as well, as between Mandella being injured on a mission and returning to the human hospital planet, several generations have come and gone and an entirely new and more effective type of treatment has been invented. The military engagements are believable and really focus on the chaos and complete chance that determines whether or not any specific soldier survives. It's much more about luck than skill or bravery. At one point, Mandella mentions how John Wayne heroics don't work. Unfortunately, the officer he's talking to - born hundreds of years after Wayne died - has no idea what he means. I read the 2011 e-book version of the novel, which is based on the 2006 definitive edition. This current edition features several changes to return parts of the story to Haldeman's original vision that were changed by the publisher in 1974. The Forever War is a fantastic novel. Haldeman manages to weave together a military tale with the science of relativistic space travel and the human condition of alienation and succeeds at every level. I highly recommend The Forever War, and am looking forward to reading more of Haldeman's extensive award-winning work. ## Frequently Bought Together - The Forever War - Starship Troopers - Armor --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.mx/products/1542523-the-forever-war](https://www.desertcart.mx/products/1542523-the-forever-war) --- *Product available on Desertcart Mexico* *Store origin: MX* *Last updated: 2026-05-04*