The Forever War
The canonical starting point for Haldeman's best-known military-science-fiction sequence and a strong standalone introduction to his work.
Author guide
Joe Haldeman Books in Order
Joe Haldeman (1943–2024) was an American science-fiction writer and Vietnam veteran whose work frequently examined war, technological change, relativistic travel, identity, and social transformation. His major works include The Forever War, Forever Peace, the Worlds trilogy, and the Marsbound trilogy. He also published short-fiction and poetry collections, nonfiction and memoir-like essays, and graphic works. Haldeman taught writing at MIT and received multiple Hugo, Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, and Rhysling awards, as well as the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.
science fictionmilitary science fictionliterary fictionshort fictionpoetrynonfictiongraphic novels
Catalog record updated .
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
Worlds
The first volume of the Worlds trilogy, which Haldeman identified as among his best work.
Marsbound
The first volume of the Marsbound trilogy and an accessible entry to his later space opera.
Read in order
Books by series
novel series · completed
The Forever War
A military-science-fiction sequence centered on William Mandella and the long human-Tauran conflict.
- 1 The Forever War
Book 1 · novel · 1974
Private William Mandella is a hero in spite of himself -- a reluctant conscript drafted into an elite military unit, and propelled through space and time to fight in a distant thousand-year conflict. He never wanted to go to war, but the…
- 2 Forever Free
Book 2 · novel · 1999
William Mandela is a genetic throwback, one of the small group of humans who fought and survived the Forever War. They returned to find humanity has evolved into a group mind called Man. Surrounded by a society that is too autocratic and…
- 1 Attar's Revenge
Book 1 · novel · 1975
- 2 War of Nerves
Book 2 · novel · 1975
franchise novel series · completed
Star Trek novels
Haldeman's two original novels set in the Star Trek universe.
- 1 Planet of Judgment
Book 1 · novel · 1977
- 2 World Without End
Book 2 · novel · 1979
novel trilogy · completed
Worlds trilogy
A near-future trilogy about political, social, and technological change surrounding orbital habitats and space colonies.
- 1 Worlds
Book 1 · novel · 1981
In this near-future novel by the author of The Forever War, an idealistic student visiting Earth from an orbiting colony is ensnared in a political conspiracy. By the close of the twenty-first century, almost half a million souls have…
- 2 Worlds Apart
Book 2 · novel · 1983
Earth was finished, devastated by nuclear and biological war. The inhabitants of the artificial asteroid colonies looked down on it and knew that humanity's old home would soon be gone forever. But Earth would not loose its ties so…
- 3 Worlds Enough and Time
Book 3 · novel · 1992
With their homeworld in ruins, ten thousand brave colonists set out for the stars. Among them is Marianne O'Hara - who survived a baptism of cataclysmic fire to emerge as the last hope of her doomed race. But madness, mysterious deaths…
novel trilogy · completed
Marsbound trilogy
A young-adult-oriented space-opera trilogy following Carmen Dula and humanity's encounters with alien civilizations.
- 1 Marsbound
Book 1 · novel · 2008
Young Carmen Dula and her family are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime--they're going to Mars. Once on the Red Planet, however, Carmen realizes things are not so different from Earth. There are chores to do, lessons to learn,…
- 2 Starbound
Book 2 · novel · 2010
After spending six years travelling to a distant solar system that is home to the enigmatic, powerful race known as "The Others," in the hopes of finding enough common purpose between their species to forge a delicate truce, Carmen Dula…
- 3 Earthbound
Book 3 · novel · 2011
graphic-novel trilogy · completed
The Forever War graphic trilogy
Haldeman's graphic adaptation of The Forever War, scripted by Haldeman and drawn by Marvano.
- 1 Private Mandella
Book 1 · graphic novel · 1988
- 2 Lieutenant Mandella
Book 2 · graphic novel · 1989
- 3 Major Mandella
Book 3 · graphic novel · 1989
graphic-novel series · completed
Dallas Barr
A graphic series adapted from and extending Buying Time; Haldeman supplied the source novel and story material for the early albums, with art by Marvano.
- 1 Immortalité à vendre
Book 1 · graphic novel · 1996
- 2 Le Choix de Maria
Book 2 · graphic novel · 1997
- 3 Premier Quartier
Book 3 · graphic novel · 1998
- 4 Nouvelle Lune
Book 4 · graphic novel · 1999
- 5 Anna des mille jours
Book 5 · graphic novel · 2000
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (15)
- War Year
novel · 1972
Describes the experiences of a nineteen-year-old American soldier during his tour of duty in Vietnam in 1968.
- Mindbridge
novel · 1976
A remarkable alien technology could have devastating consequences for humanity in this novel by the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author of The Forever War. In the far future, the accidental scientific breakthrough known as the…
- All My Sins Remembered
novel · 1977
Otto McGavin is peaceful and idealistic by nature, an Anglo-Buddhist, who seeks employment with the Confederacion because he believes in it and its mission to protect the rights of humans and nonhumans. The only problem is that the…
- There Is No Darkness
novel · 1983
A young man must fight—literally—for the opportunity to escape his backwater home planet and journey to the stars. A towering young giant growing up on a high-gravity world of perilous plants and savage creatures, Carl Bok is thrilled…
- Tool of the Trade
novel · 1987
- Buying Time
novel · 1989
The Nebula Award–winning author of The Forever War explores a world where time is money—and for some, both are running out . . . The Stileman Process is a medical miracle: Every ten years or so, you can restore youth and health to your…
- The Hemingway Hoax
novel · 1990
The Hemingway Hoax is a Hugo- and Nebula-winning novella that weaves an intricate plot of a fake Hemingway manuscript with time travel, multiple universes, and the potential destruction of the omniverse itself.
- 1968
novel · 1994
"So many tensions and so much emotion . . . A powerful novel" of the Vietnam era by the award-winning author of The Forever War ( Booklist). John "Spider" Spiedel is a college dropout who is drafted into the war as a combat engineer.…
- Forever Peace
novel · 1997
Joe Haldeman returns with a story about the horrors of war -- and how we might move past them. Julian Class is a physicist working on the largest particle accelerator ever built, a nanobot-constructed ring in the orbit of Jupiter. He is…
- The Coming
novel · 2000
The Arrival Is Imminent Joe Haldeman's novel The Comingis a tightly constructed near future thriller which begins by recapitulating a classic science fictional motif: the moment of first contact with an alien intelligence. The story…
- Guardian
novel · 2002
- Camouflage
novel · 2004
"The artifact is found seven miles below the surface of the sea and beneath forty more feet of sand. The Navy's efforts to raise a wrecked submarine uncover it - and set in motion a scientific race to retrieve it, to discover just what it…
- Old Twentieth
novel · 2005
The passengers aboard the starship Ad Astra spend most of their time on the thousand-year journey to Beta Hydrii within the virtual reality of twentieth-century Earth. There, they can experience nostalgia for the hardship of a life…
- The Accidental Time Machine
novel · 2007
Grad-school dropout Matt Fuller is toiling as a lowly research assistant at MIT when, while measuring quantum relationships between gravity and light, his calibrator disappears and reappears one second later. In fact, every time Matt hits…
- Work Done for Hire
novel · 2014
"Wounded in combat and honorably discharged nine years ago, Jack Daley still suffers nightmares from when he served his country as a sniper, racking up sixteen confirmed kills. Now a struggling author, Jack accepts an offer to write a…
Essays and speeches (1)
- Vietnam and Other Alien Worlds
essay-fiction-poetry collection · 1993
Poetry (1)
- Saul's Death
poetry chapbook · 1997
Other (5)
- Infinite Dreams
collection · 1978
- Dealing in Futures
collection · 1985
- None So Blind
collection · 1996
- War Stories
collection · 2005
- A Separate War and Other Stories
collection · 2006
6 years of stories from the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author. Here are fifteen stories-never before collected-that tread upon familiar Haldeman territory, as well as explore the outer reaches of his phenomenal imagination.
Frequently asked questions about Joe Haldeman
Who was Joe Haldeman?
Joe William Haldeman was an American science-fiction author, Vietnam veteran, and longtime writing teacher best known for The Forever War.
Sources: nebulas.sfwa.org (opens in a new tab)news.mit.edu (opens in a new tab)
Where was Joe Haldeman born, and what did he study?
He was born in Oklahoma on June 9, 1943. He earned a B.S. in astronomy from the University of Maryland and an M.F.A. in creative writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
Sources: sites.google.com (opens in a new tab)news.mit.edu (opens in a new tab)
How did the Vietnam War influence Joe Haldeman’s writing?
Haldeman’s service as a combat engineer in Vietnam, wartime wounds, and difficult return to civilian life strongly shaped his treatment of war, trauma, and homecoming. These experiences directly inspired The Forever War and other fiction.
Sources: nebulas.sfwa.org (opens in a new tab)web.mit.edu (opens in a new tab)
What major awards did Joe Haldeman receive?
He won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, was selected as the SFWA’s 27th Grand Master in 2009, received the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award in 2010, and entered the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2012.
Sources: nebulas.sfwa.org (opens in a new tab)news.mit.edu (opens in a new tab)mopop.org (opens in a new tab)
What was Joe Haldeman’s role at MIT, and what is his literary legacy?
Haldeman taught writing and science-fiction workshops at MIT for about three decades, retiring from the department in 2014. His legacy combines influential military science fiction with a significant role as a teacher and mentor to writers.
Sources: cms.mit.edu (opens in a new tab)news.mit.edu (opens in a new tab)mopop.org (opens in a new tab)