Warning: blatant name dropping ahead.
When I was in high school, I read a book called The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. It was already a classic then, and it’s more so now – the story of a soldier in a war with aliens; the weirdness of interstellar flight means the war takes thousands of years, but only a few years elapse to him. He is basically watching the future unfold, and he’s not thrilled with it. The book is fantastic, a beautiful satire that many people compare to Catch-22.
This book is crying out to be made into a movie. I never understood why it hasn’t been, so when I was talking with My Close Personal Friend™ Joe Haldeman at World Con a couple of years ago, I asked him. He got a pained look on his face, and I knew right away I had stepped in it. Evidently, the rights to the book have been in some sort of battle for years. I quickly dropped the subject.
So it was with much joy today that I saw that not only is The Forever War finally going to be made into a movie, it’s going to be done by Ridley Scott. Yes, that Ridley Scott. “Alien” and “Blade Runner” Ridley Scott.
Ska. Whee.
I emailed Joe right away to get info and congratulate him. I love that guy; within minutes I got a reply confirming the report, saying he was “tickled” about it. Cripes, tickled? I’d be plotzing.
So I’m really excited about this, even though I know it’ll be a few years before we see the final movie. The story is incredible, and I think special effects have caught up with the ideas in the book, too. This’ll be a barn burner.
Congrats to Joe, and congrats to us – science fiction fans everywhere. This is very cool news.
And, hmmm. I gave my copy away or sold it years and years ago (probably in the Great Paperback Purge when I got a job after grad school). Time to pick up a copy… and one of Catch-22, too.
