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EatingPie · 03-15-2010, 08:11 PM

I loved The Forever War. While it's New Wave era, it's more Golden Age in feel -- the hard science fiction. Another set of modern books that I liked along similar lines were the Old Man's War series.

Sadly, Haldeman's Forever Peace is more modern, post new-wave in a sense, and loses the "hard" feel completely (stated as "not a sequel"). An okay story, though light on action, heavy on emphasizing an invented philosophy, which -- frankly -- I didn't buy.

Science Fiction has done a poor job in general with popular stories that integrate Religious Philosophy -- Christianity in particular -- and Forever Peace really cried out "I don't get it!" Basically, Haldeman created an answer to bring peace on earth, and does so from an entirely atheistic context, which I simply do not see as possible. And the "religious" people are actually the enemy. Ironically, take an honest look into Christianity, and you have a better answer than Haldeman artificially created. And Christianity even would include many of the people that specifically stated as necessary to exclude. (The character(s) accepted this, but I found it ironic that the implied condemnation of Christianity led to a philosophy that justified part of the reason Christianity was condemned!)

While SF overall hasn't had many great books that deal with Christianity, cultural changes have also affected this.

Asimov gives a perfect example. In an early Robot book, the main character chooses not to have sex with a (very hot!) woman -- no chance of being caught -- because he was married. The Judeo-Christian mentality of the '50s very much in play. In his last Robot book -- written in the '80s -- the guy has another chance, and does it... without any moral or ethical misgivings, be they communicated by the character or the author. He just bangs her and that's that, no biggie (he's still married). This is not specifically a Christian issue, but as I said, it comes form the Judeo-Christian context of the initial book.

I realize there are people of different faiths here, and I'm not brushing them off. I'm simply speaking of something that I notice due to my personal philosophy. And seeing a glaring shortcoming due to our personal world views is something we all experience at times with our favorite authors. This just happens to be one of mine.

So, yeah, Forever Peace... avoid that one. And I do realize the irony of saying "avoid it" can make you potentially more interested in it.

Maybe saying "go for Old Man's War instead will help! (And it is not a "Christian story," just a good read reminiscent of Forever War!)

-Pie

03-15-2010, 08:11 PM	#21
EatingPie Blueberry! Posts: 888 Karma: 133343 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: Sony PRS-500 (RIP); PRS-600 (Good Riddance); PRS-505; PRS-650; PRS-350	I loved The Forever War. While it's New Wave era, it's more Golden Age in feel -- the hard science fiction. Another set of modern books that I liked along similar lines were the Old Man's War series. Sadly, Haldeman's Forever Peace is more modern, post new-wave in a sense, and loses the "hard" feel completely (stated as "not a sequel"). An okay story, though light on action, heavy on emphasizing an invented philosophy, which -- frankly -- I didn't buy. Science Fiction has done a poor job in general with popular stories that integrate Religious Philosophy -- Christianity in particular -- and Forever Peace really cried out "I don't get it!" Basically, Haldeman created an answer to bring peace on earth, and does so from an entirely atheistic context, which I simply do not see as possible. And the "religious" people are actually the enemy. Ironically, take an honest look into Christianity, and you have a better answer than Haldeman artificially created. And Christianity even would include many of the people that specifically stated as necessary to exclude. (The character(s) accepted this, but I found it ironic that the implied condemnation of Christianity led to a philosophy that justified part of the reason Christianity was condemned!) While SF overall hasn't had many great books that deal with Christianity, cultural changes have also affected this. Asimov gives a perfect example. In an early Robot book, the main character chooses not to have sex with a (very hot!) woman -- no chance of being caught -- because he was married. The Judeo-Christian mentality of the '50s very much in play. In his last Robot book -- written in the '80s -- the guy has another chance, and does it... without any moral or ethical misgivings, be they communicated by the character or the author. He just bangs her and that's that, no biggie (he's still married). This is not specifically a Christian issue, but as I said, it comes form the Judeo-Christian context of the initial book. I realize there are people of different faiths here, and I'm not brushing them off. I'm simply speaking of something that I notice due to my personal philosophy. And seeing a glaring shortcoming due to our personal world views is something we all experience at times with our favorite authors. This just happens to be one of mine. So, yeah, Forever Peace... avoid that one. And I do realize the irony of saying "avoid it" can make you potentially more interested in it. Maybe saying "go for Old Man's War instead will help! (And it is not a "Christian story," just a good read reminiscent of Forever War!) -Pie Last edited by EatingPie; 03-15-2010 at 08:14 PM.