Joe Haldeman and "Worlds"

Worlds, the first book in Joe Haldeman's Worlds trilogy, opens with this mixed-meaning poem by Edward Estlin Cummings, so it would be appropriate to start the article with it. Joe Haldeman is not an unknown author in our country, but Endless War, which won three science fiction awards at once (Hugo, Nebula and Locus) and Never Ending Peace, which received three awards (this time Nebula, Hugo and John W. Campbell) were brought to our language. Of course, apart from these two books, the author has many works that have not been translated into Turkish. For example, Forever Free, the sequel to The Endless War and written years later, is one of them. Along with Words, the Bound trilogy (Marsbound, Starbound and Earthbound) is another series by Haldeman, and his other books (eg Mindbridge or The Hemingway Hoax) are independent works that do not belong to any series.

The author, like many of his western colleagues, has a scientific background; He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Physics and Astronomy in 1967. He sold one of the first science fiction stories he wrote in his writing classes during this period to Galaxy and the other to Amazing Stories, and the second story later became the script of one of the episodes of the Twilight Zone series. However, when he graduated, before he had the opportunity to practice his profession, he was drafted into the army and sent to the Vietnam War, where he was seriously injured and was awarded the Purple Heart medal. After returning from the war, he wrote his first non-science fiction book, War Heart, based on his experiences there. Ben Bova also contributed greatly to the publication of this book. He also benefited greatly from his war experiences in the Endless War, which made him famous. Since his books became famous early on, he did not pursue his main profession as physicist. The still alive author married his wife Gay Haldeman in 1967 and lives in Gainesville, Florida.

It is necessary to make a determination here; In some places, The Endless War is said to be militaristic sci-fi and Haldeman to be a militarist sci-fi writer, but this is not quite true. Yes, war is mentioned in this book, but it is not embellished, on the contrary, the absurdity and inhumanity of war is shown, and the alienation faced by soldiers returning from war is emphasized; In other words, the book is actually an anti-militarist work. It is even said that the author wrote this book as a response to the militaristic glorification of Heinlein's Starship Troopers (whose Starship Troopers is a misunderstood book, and the movie fuels that misunderstanding). Although war is an element in Haldeman's other books, it is never praised, it is the result of humanity's selfishness and stupidity, it is evil and destructive. Haldeman is by no means a militaristic writer, on the contrary, he takes an anti-war stance based on his own experiences.

Let's go to "Worlds". An introductory note: Although they have never won an award, Joe Haldeman has stated in his biography that he considers this trilogy his best work. While he has so many award-winning works, the fact that the author's favorite books are this trio is an example of how subjective and personal writing is, like other branches of art. The Worlds trilogy has not been translated into our language, it is uncertain whether it will be translated soon. But, as it has become a tradition for several years, it will be the aim of this article to introduce this series, which is one (or rather three) of hundreds of thousands of science fiction works that have not been translated into Turkish. The biggest problem of promoting the series is having to give a surprise spoiler when you talk about the sequels in the series; because when you give the slightest clue about the subject of the next book, the ending of the previous book becomes clear. Since the series is unlikely to be translated any time soon, these spoilers may not be so important, but if you intend to read the books in their original language, you may prefer not to read the rest of the article.

These three books actually contain the story of a life or, as the British say, a “coming of age”, that is, coming of age. The story of Marianne O'Hara, the protagonist of the books (Marianne chose this surname because she hated her "multiple family" because Marianne hated her "multiple family". All that is going on revolves around the “alternative world” infrastructure. We defined it as an involuntary alternative world, because in the first book he wrote in 1981, Haldeman fictionalized a future that was shaped right after that period, and this future did not intersect with what actually exists. Due to this non-intersecting situation, an alternative world has emerged in many aspects from the one we live in in the recent past and today. The books go back to the beginning of the 22nd century, of course, it is not known for the moment whether reality and fiction will intersect in the upcoming periods. About the recent past, present and near future I guess these failed and uncertain predictions are actually one of the flavors of science fiction.

The author made some predictions by taking into account the conditions of the world he lived in at that time; as many states will unite and become union countries in the future. For example, he predicted that the Soviet Union, which still existed at that time, would become the Supreme Socialist Union by incorporating China and other states, instead of collapsing. Since it was evident at that time when Europe began to unite, the prediction of a united European state is not wrong, of course, Brexit was irrelevant at that time. Unfortunately, he did not build very pleasant things for these lands and the Middle East, but those who want to read should leave that part. In the United States, on the contrary, some states have declared their independence, such as Nevada, where Las Vegas is located.