The Forever War

I've never read any military SF books before this one and this is one of the reasons that I picked it for the RYO Masterworks challange - to see if this sub-genre was worth exploring. Well, I answered my question and I've been reading more military SF!

This book is superbly written. The main character is well developed and you can really get a feel for his thoughts and and personality throughout the book. For what is basically an anti-war plea the book contains a lot of humour and wit and you sympathise with Mandellla during all the trials and turbulence he goes through, especially during the training section. I also like the way that Haldeman has deliberately left the alien enemy mysterious - it adds to the tension and lets you understand more what the earth soldiers are going through as they are constantly, over many, many centures, battling this unknown and incomprehensible enemy.