Customer Reviews

Infinite Dreams

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4 star:		(4)
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Of the three collections by Haldeman that I've read, I'd have to put this after None So Blind, but before Dealing In Futures, even though I gave them all 4's. It contains a good number of stories, and as always, the first entry is excellent. Two of the reasons I love Haldeman's work are evident here - his descriptive ability, and the fact that his stories don't always end on an upbeat note. One problem with this collection in general, however: Haldeman is a combat veteran and has a graduate degree in physics... almost every story's main character has some advanced math/physics aptitude, is a vet, or both. I can understand putting yourself into your work, but this is too self-indulgent. If Haldeman weren't such a good writer, I would have tired of this very quickly.

*Unfortunately, you'll have to haunt the used bookstores for this one.

A very solid, if mostly unspectacular collection of stories from the seventies. The award winning Tricentennial is certainly the best.

Not quite making it to a 3.50 average, the old half point off. So, a good book overall

(For the non-seppos among us, a Mason jar is apparently one with a metal lid for jam making, according to the spousal unit.)

Infinite Dreams : Counterpoint - Joe Haldeman
Infinite Dreams : Anniversary Project - Joe Haldeman
Infinite Dreams : The Mazel Tov Revolution - Joe Haldeman
Infinite Dreams : To Howard Hughes: A Modest Proposal - Joe Haldeman
Infinite Dreams : A Mind of His Own - Joe Haldeman
Infinite Dreams : All the Universe in a Mason Jar - Joe Haldeman
Infinite Dreams : The Private War of Private Jacob - Joe Haldeman
Infinite Dreams : A Time to Live - Joe Haldeman
Infinite Dreams : Juryrigged - Joe Haldeman
Infinite Dreams : Summer's Lease [Truth to Tell] - Joe Haldeman
Infinite Dreams : 26 Days On Earth - Joe Haldeman
Infinite Dreams : Armaja Das - Joe Haldeman
Infinite Dreams : Tricentennial - Joel Haldeman


Death match.

3.5 out of 5


Literary analysis requires very old fashioned help.

3.5 out of 5


Billionaire rescue.

3.5 out of 5


Nuke 'em disarmament.

3.5 out of 5


Legless personality overlay therapy rejection.

3.5 out of 5


Alien lost takes a shine to us, civilising.

4 out of 5


Brain enhanced switch.

3 out of 5


Redo relativity misunderstanding.

3 out of 5


Lack of ambition cyborg oversight selection.

3 out of 5


Hot time to get some alien impersonation cash.

3.5 out of 5


Mutant superiority study session.

3.5 out of 5


Gypsy computer curse transfer contagion apocalypse.

3.5 out of 5


SETI success spurs space dwellers to sneaky space mission.

4 out of 5

"Infinite Dreams" is Joe Haldeman's first short story collection ("Dealing in Futres" is the second), and while I'd give the nod to "Futures" in terms of more consistent quality, "Dreams" is a decent collection in its own right. Haldeman knows how to spin a good tale, much like Stephen King with his short stories. Haldeman's usually come from a science fiction angle, and he's one of that genre's more grounded authors, including here a war analogy story based upon his own experiences in Vietnam ("A Mind of His Own").

Some of the other better stories in this collection include "The Mazel Tov Revolution," an example of Jewish science fiction; "All the Universe in a Mason Jar" a humorous story about aliens and moonshine; "26 Days, On Earth," a fine coming of age story; and "Summer's Lease," a poiniant philosophical story.

Overall, any lover of science fiction should love this collection.

Here's a better than average mix of stories from Haldeman, who I'm not too crazy about in the first place. As predicted, most stories revolve around a central war-mentality theme. Thrown in are some 1970a SF cliché: air cars, built-in data terminals, hypnosis and the like. Most people say that Tricentennial was the best story of the collection (because it won a Hugo or because it was heavy on the science?) but I deem A Time to Live to be the best, with a clever time-travel approach and a story which you can reflect on, finding the intricacies.

Counterpoint - 4/5 - Two men, separated by a socio-economic stratum, are born at the some time and go through life differently only to experience battle in Vietnam- the rise of one, the fall of the other. 9 pages

Anniversary Project - 3/5 - Future humans will celebrate one-million years of the written word so they train on to be fluent in all matters of language but emotion and reaction- true form humans are needed for that. 15 pages

The Mazel Tov Revolution - 4/5 - A maniacal scheme to set up business on a planetoid in order to drive the galactic government/spacecraft monopoly out of business goes on without a hitch... until! 25 pages

To Howard Hughes: A Modest Proposal - 3/5 - The world's richest man recruits scientists to a Floridian island to begin work on a benevolent plan of one sort of world domination. 23 pages

A Mind of His Own - 3/5 - Bitter amputee is forced by his contractual wife to undergo an attitude adjustment. 22 pages

All the Universe is a Mason Jar - 3/5 - Aliens land at small town, are attacked by a moonshine-wielding farm boy and are ever so grateful. 16 pages

The Private War of Private Jacob - 3/5 - Maniacal laughter follows where Crazy old Melford leads a platoon of soldiers on the battlefront. His is cheerful disposition an asset or a liability? 7 pages

A Time to Live - 5/5 - Eccentric billionaire has his corpse frozen and shot into space only to have it pull a full 180 come back near earth in 20,000 years where future human shift him back to his own time but a different body. 9 pages

Juryrigged - 3/5 - An artist is selected to replace a dead counterpart and become one with a human computation machine. Going about his demographic duties, he is becoming the pawn to be played by his not-so-dead counterpart. 18 pages

Summer's Lease - 4/5 - A tumultuous star has reoccurring novas every three generations, which incinerates everything on the planets surface. The denizens must seek haven in the poles where most people and ideas perish. 18 pages

26 Days, On Earth - 4/5 - A moon boy comes to earth and keeps a journal. He fancies an earth girl (don't we all!) but finds that his kind shouldn't stoop so low on the evolutionary scale. 23 pages

Armaja Das - 4/5 - Inventor of the empathy machine, a Gypsy descendant gives to gypsy childrens' charity but is soon accosted with threats of curse, which manifests itself in impotence and rash. Empathize with that, machine! 23 pages

Tricentennial - 4/5 - The discovery of life eleven light-years away spurs a secret attempt to collect near-by anti-matter for a voyage to the star. 25 pages