[hipsters_unite]

> "Space combat will be rather like air combat: largely a matter of one hit kills." > "space battles will be in essence drive-by shootings. The combatants will plunge towards each other at dozens or hundreds of km/s and hit each other as hard as they can as they pass by each other. If both sides are lucky enough to have survivors they may turn back towards each other and try for another pass in a few hours, days, or weeks."

Combat like this was described in Joe Haldeman's 'Forever War'[0], IIRC.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forever_War

[angersock]

Probably the best military science fiction novel written--I'd even edge it over Starship Troopers.

Particularly sad are the descriptions of drones that follow a ship for months, years, and nail it right as it is pulling into port. :(

[Tomte]

I really liked the book (review in German: http://www.2uo.de/the-forever-war/), but the ending was a bit too unbelievable for me.

[aluhut]

I had the feeling the end was rushed. Like the author stopped developing the story at some point and just gave it some end. So he went for a "hollywoodesque" end. I can live with that and since the follow up books seem to be bad, it's better then a crappy open end advertising part 2.

[ghaff]

Haldeman is the somewhat unusual case for me where he wrote that one book which is solidly in my top SF list and he's never written anything else that I've found to be compelling or memorable.

[aluhut]

This was my first but that is what I've heard from people whos opinion I trust also.

Most of the time I even read books good authors wrote in completely different genres just because they were good (Simmons for example). Even if I usually don't like the genre, the books are still good. On the bad side there is Neal Stephenson...I tried so hard to find the reason why so many like him...

[stackcollision]

When I get into conversations about what space combat would really be like (if it ever even happens), I usually cite this book, and summarize the combat in one sentence: "The ships are taking evasive actions for shots which will hit them in 3 months." That's usually all it takes to make them really understand that space is nothing like you see in Star Wars.

On the other hand though, Heinlein makes a good case for interplanetary war never happening in Time Enough For Love. "The second best thing about space travel is that the distances involved make war very difficult, usually impractical, and almost always unnecessary. This is probably a loss for most people, since war is our race's most popular diversion, one which gives purpose and color to dull and stupid lives. But it is a great boon to the intelligent man who fights only when he must — never for sport."

An interesting digression, but he also makes the case for why a common currency between planets is completely impractical (like was mentioned in the news a year or so ago). The entire book is a great read, and it's probably tied for 1st in my list of favorites.