Another Review at MyShelf.Com

A Separate War and Other Stories
Forward by Connie Willis

by Joe Haldeman



      I'd like to offer this book as witness for the defense next time I hear someone speak a bit superciliously of just SF and how they never read it, as if being SF makes it somehow inherently unworthy. This is a collection of carefully crafted, thought-provoking stories by someone who is indeed a SF writer, but for whom the writer part of that label is clearly as important as the SF. And the SF portion is very important - Haldeman is a multiple award winner who is considered one of the best current writers of hard SF. If you haven't read him yet, try this collection to get a glimmering why.

The stories range from his first SF sale, "Out of Phase", to "Civil Disobedience", with underpinnings straight out of recent headlines. "Out of Phase" may date back to 1969, but it still offers an alien viewpoint that strikes chilling chords of relevance with too much of today's world. That's what Haldeman does - looks dispassionately at the different sorts of problems people of any species might face (and have likely brought on themselves, at least in part), while writing about them sympathetically enough that the reader feels invested and involved in what's happening, however alien. Had landlord problems? Just wait until you read "Foreclosure". The result is usually pretty thought-provoking, but not in a crude "bang you over the head with it, you WILL take notice" fashion. Instead it's a matter of offering interesting problems and solutions and approaches to them in a manner that makes it simply impossible not to think about them.

The writing is as smoothly readable (befitting someone who also teaches writing) as the stories themselves are interesting. There's really only one I didn't like, in large part because I don't enjoy short stories written as scripts. The collection is nicely rounded out with bookend glimpses into the mind of the writer, with notes about the individual stories at the end, and a more general introduction subtitled "The Secret of Writing" at the beginning. Highly recommended.

The Book

Ace
August 1, 2006
Hardcover
0-441-01407-0
SF (short stories)
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE: Hugo and Nebula award winning author

The Reviewer

Kim Malo
Reviewed 2006
NOTE:
© 2006 MyShelf.com