God, I... I discovered The Forever War through Haldeman's Star Trek spinoff fic in my early teens, so it must be fully twenty years ago that I read it. I remember being blown away by it at the time, but the couple of times I've picked it up and flipped through it in the intervening years, my attention wasn't captured enough to re-read it, and that's been true of several of his novels. There are several classic sci-fi authors, and Haldeman is one of them, who I enjoy well enough on the first read but who just don't hold up, for me, to the cultic re-reading of their avid fans (Robert Silverberg, godhelpmeIsaacAsimov).
Starship Troopers, on the other hand, is THE Great Future War Novel in my mind. There are no words for how much I love that book - partly because I had a JROTC instructor in high school who was the living, breathing personification of Lt. Col. Dubois, and who I absolutely worshipped. I haven't read Scalzi, but I flipped through your reviews, and I'm definitely interested
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Start with OLD MAN'S WAR, then GHOST BRIGADES, then LAST COLONY and then ZOE'S TALE. That's the series.
Scalzi has, no doubt, been influenced by Heinlein and Haldeman, and while I haven't read Heinlein yet, from what I hear, it's pretty obvious the inspiration. Still though, I also hear that his stuff stands up on its own two feet, and it's entertaining as hell.
Yeah, I have the same problem. I'll read/watch all the stuff the classics inspire, and then when I get to the classics, I feel like I'm wading through mud. It's not the fault of the author, by any means, but the timing on my part.
This is a book I've read twice. It's innovative and I love it, but it is a product of its times, unlike some other Sci Fi books that have endured without coming across as dated. I love these covers:
And yes, I've added you, but only because it's a book review LJ. ;) I don't normally friend people in this journal unless they're authors, agents, editors, or have book review journals, so you lucked out. :)
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Starship Troopers, on the other hand, is THE Great Future War Novel in my mind. There are no words for how much I love that book - partly because I had a JROTC instructor in high school who was the living, breathing personification of Lt. Col. Dubois, and who I absolutely worshipped. I haven't read Scalzi, but I flipped through your reviews, and I'm definitely interested ( ... )
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Scalzi has, no doubt, been influenced by Heinlein and Haldeman, and while I haven't read Heinlein yet, from what I hear, it's pretty obvious the inspiration. Still though, I also hear that his stuff stands up on its own two feet, and it's entertaining as hell.
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And yes, I've added you, but only because it's a book review LJ. ;) I don't normally friend people in this journal unless they're authors, agents, editors, or have book review journals, so you lucked out. :)
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