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An eerily prescient cautionary tale about the machinery of war and the human cost. The novella that was edited out of the original version reminded me a little of Woman on the Edge of Time: Haldeman's imaginings of the future - our present - have a distinct 1970s tint to them. I often enjoy reading what science fiction expected us to have by now, and I'm often very grateful they've been proved wrong, though jet packs would still be fun. Despite the inaccuracies of his 1996 and 2007 projections,
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~145/ 218 pages
I ultimately didn’t want to be reading this novel. William Mandella has just gotten his degree in physics when he is drafted by the UNEF who wants “the intellectual and physical elite of the planet”(6) to act as cannon fodder against the Taurans.
It looks like I bought this book for $1.75 from The Dragon’s Lair Bookstore in Esperence, about fifteen years ago, or maybe more years ago. I read this, in part, for the SF/F Goodreads challenge. This won the Hugo and Nebula awards.
I ultimately didn’t want to be reading this novel. William Mandella has just gotten his degree in physics when he is drafted by the UNEF who wants “the intellectual and physical elite of the planet”(6) to act as cannon fodder against the Taurans.
It looks like I bought this book for $1.75 from The Dragon’s Lair Bookstore in Esperence, about fifteen years ago, or maybe more years ago. I read this, in part, for the SF/F Goodreads challenge. This won the Hugo and Nebula awards.

An allegory for the Vietnam war via alien encounters and the human consequences of near-light travel that tells more about the concerns of the seventies than about the future. It's a good piece of scifi but it's dated, and should be read, I think, as a historical document. Otherwise you'll get really annoyed about the homophobia implied in the future of mandatory homosexuality.
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Jul 28, 2014
Michelle Grant
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
library-audible,
library-kindle-purchase
A walk down memory lane tot the future
Crazy wonderful. Reading this book some 30 years after it was written was an interesting experience. It was fascinating to discover the technological changes the author thought we would achieve that we are no where near and compare them to ones we have already achieved that the author never saw coming. Time well spent
Crazy wonderful. Reading this book some 30 years after it was written was an interesting experience. It was fascinating to discover the technological changes the author thought we would achieve that we are no where near and compare them to ones we have already achieved that the author never saw coming. Time well spent



Feb 18, 2010
Blackbook
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
work,
old-friends

Dec 22, 2010
M
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Beamish13
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Amanda
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Jack
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May 28, 2014
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Nov 27, 2017
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Aug 22, 2018
withpins
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