At a much younger age I had read a lot of Heinlein, Asimov and Joe Haldeman. The other day I picked up a used copy of one of his books from the shelf of one of my used bookstores, titled World’s Apart from 1983. I knew if I had read it it had been long enough not to be fresh in my memory.
It didn’t take long for me to remember that Joe’s style of writing was quite harsh and very graphic for the time and my young age, but the story seemed a new one to me.
He has a way of pulling you in to the world he’s created very quickly. I am always surprised when I read a book where the world is described so well I feel somewhat dirty and grubby as the characters.
As a read along I realized there were some fun similarities in his story and the one in my book The Charon Covenant. He has created a devastated world on Earth and a struggling colony on the Moon, called New New, although that is where our similarities end.
He utilizes a female character, as do I, his is Marianne O’Hara who resides on New New with her two mates. While the one she truly longs for is left on Earth struggling to survive in a very harsh, disease ridden Earth.
I would have liked to have seen some interactions between her and her lost love when she comes to Earth, some love found but face-to-face knowing they must part. That scenario doesn’t unfold but her sorrow of once again leaving Earth without him still brings the emotional part of her character in closer. As I have said before I like to get involved with the characters.
Although some of the morbid characters and gruesome fights certainly have you pulling for the good guys, even though they are few and far between
Joe Haldeman has written another great story in the series that has still survived over time and can easily be envisioned with today’s high tech special effects.
I would give this read a 3 ½ stars out of 5.