Forever Free

Go fetch!

The conclusion to the story started in the first two books is far fetched to say the least. Incoherent and diffuse storytelling, leaving me far from engaged. I feel cheated to have such a cheap conclusion to a trilogy that seemed worth my time.
And what does the title even have to do with the book? It has no relevance or anchor. It is like Joe felt like he had to complete the trilogy for trilogies sake, not because he had a story to finish.

To compound the disappointment the narrator fails to read punctuations right, ending sentences at commas with downward inflection, then reading the second part of the sentence as sort of an afterthought. I can not understand why he would do that. Did not the writer compose his sentences to flow in a certain way? Does the narrator not understand what the function of punctuations is? Highly unprofessional.
Besides that he sucks at voices in dialogue. Often leaving me guessing as to who is speaking, not even sure of the sex of the character.
His voice might have a good tone but he has not mastered narration at all.

Meh..

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Very disappointing. No relation to Forever War

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This is a VERY slow and "stupid" book. None of the events (except for the opening setting) make sense. Even though the book continues the story of same characters, it is a HIGH contrast to Forever War. There is NO ACTION. Whole book is set around boring family relations / human colony community relations. The ending makes no sense at all. It seem that the author wanted a cashout / ride to success solely on the coattails of Forever War.

Would you ever listen to anything by Joe Haldeman again?

Not ever going to listen to anything by Joe Haldeman again if i have to pay for it. There too many way better books already lined up for me.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Peter Berkrot?

Narrator doesn't make a difference because i couldn't wait for the book to finish. I had to endure it because i had paid for it.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

My reaction was of a complete let down and disappointment.

Any additional comments?

Seriously, don't bother with it.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Literal Deus ex Machina

A Literal Deus ex Machina - interesting premise, but author undermines it through lazy plot devices. A very far cry from the genius of the Forever War.

dont spend your money here...

Yes, Mandella is back. However the story is a ramshackle of ideas and felt poorly executed.

The voice actor was, bluntly, annoying. it sounded like the voice actor for an 80s action movie trailer guy. Yet instead of 30 seconds of hearing about how snake pliskeen is going to escape from Huston or what not it is 6+ hours...

Just dont do it!

The narrator makes a difference

Who is this guy that is reading to me? He ruined the entire book which might have been okay if I hadn't had to listen to his slimey voice.

good build up but an anti climatic ending ruins.

there is a good build up of suspense but the ending is anti climatic , the forever war is much better and forever free is a poor follow up.

Pass this one.

Pass this one. It's in the same universe. That's it. It's a depressing story that really leads nowhere.

This is an awful reading.

The book would be better with a decent narrator. I adjusted the audio as much as I could and it still sounded awful.

This was utter rot

Let's get the positives out of the way first: - The reader does a decent job - The initial setup and first part of the story is okay But there is a huge problem with this book. The book itself. Essentially, it's a bait-and-switch than LITERALLY ends in a deus ex machina. The mystery presented at the mid-point is interesting, and you wonder how Haldeman will write himself out of it. And then he doesn't. Spoiler alert - it was all set up by a playful god. I am not kidding. This is the worst type of drivel. The reader is left with only one conclusion: Haldeman needed the money to pay for the weed he was smoking while writing Forever Free. Either that, or he was giving the literary middle finger to his publisher and his readers. Either way, avoid this thing. As in completely. It is really just a worthless piece of writing.

Different direction from Forever War

Forever War was a sprawling political war epic in the tradition of Robert Heinlein. Forever Free is at once a smaller, personal story that, by the end, seems like a cosmic tale concocted by Aasimov, Clarke and Dick while sitting at a cafe with Serling in the Twilight Zone.