The Earth's leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand—despite the fact that the fierce alien enemy that they would oppose is inscrutable, unconquerable, and very far away. A reluctant conscript drafted into an elite Military unit, Private William Mandella has been propelled through space and time to fight in the distant thousand-year conflict; to perform his duties without rancor and even rise up through military ranks. Pvt. Mandella is willing to do whatever it takes to survive the ordeal and return home. But "home" may be even more terrifying than battle, because, thanks to the time dilation caused by space travel, Mandella is aging months while the Earth he left behind is aging centuries.

A veteran of the Forever War, William Mandella lives on the snow-covered planet set aside for his kind, supporting his family by ice-fishing and teaching physics. But now Mandella's life has become obsolete. The denizens of Earth have evolved into a group consciousness and taken control of his new home - kepping its independent human inhabitants alive for the sake of their diverse gene pool. But that's not how Mandella and his fellow soldiers want to exist. So, in desperation, he rallies the humans to hijack a spaceship and take to the satrs, to begin humanity anew... Then something goes wrong. The crew is forced to abandon ship - and return home in suspended animation twenty-five years later. But the planet has aged centuries during their voyage - and the crew wonders what new world awaits their arrival...

2043 A.D.: The Ngumi War rages. A burned-out soldier and his scientist lover discover a secret that could put the universe back to square one. And it is not terrifying. It is tempting...

The Hugo and Nebula Award winner that William Gibson called the “best science-fiction war novel ever written” and its sequel—plus a powerful story that links the two. This collection brings together Joe Haldeman’s widely acclaimed military science fiction classic, The Forever War; a novelette featuring hero William Mandella’s life partner, Marygay Potter; and the epic concluding novel to the saga. The Forever War: Conscripted into service for the United Nations Exploratory Force, Pvt. William Mandella fights for Earth light years away against an alien enemy. After surviving a harrowing two years of combat, Private Mandella and his fellow soldiers return home only to discover decades have passed due to the time dilation caused by space travel. Society has evolved into a civilization beyond the veterans’ comprehension, offering them no place to go but back into the military and a never-ending cycle of interstellar conflict that occurs over months while Earth ages centuries. “A Separate War”: Marygay Potter, reassigned and separated from her lover, William Mandella, continues fighting in military engagements across the stars—all the while planning how she and Mandella can reunite despite the time and space between them. Forever Free: Human beings have become a single hive-mind. Unwilling to sacrifice his individuality, William Mandella has joined other war veterans in exile on the half-frozen world known as Middle Finger, hoping to live in peace with Marygay and their children. But Humanity needs the genes of veterans to continue their evolution, forcing Mandella and his family to escape on an odyssey that will alter their lives forever.