Forever Peace is not the sequel to The Forever War, but could be a prequel, except that the conclusion might prevent that from being a possibility.  Of course, the partial expectation that it was linked to TFW was the reason I read this book.  It is not, but still we read on.

The story is one of a soldier in nouveau America, at war with Latin America.  I cannot remember the political names of the factions, and it is not really important.  As most modern combat soldiers of the time, he is only part-time.  His "day job" is professor of physics at a Texas university.  The tech factor of the story is the human-machine interface, or Jacking, that is used to control remote combat mechs hundreds of miles away, instead of risking the lives of the soldiers themselves, although the mortality rates of the operators is shockingly high.  Julian, our hero, becomes disillusioned by the constant conflict and, after a horrifying event, tries to commit suicide.  Surviving that, he becomes involved in a secret plan that could eliminate war and inhumane behavior forever, by ironically using the interface in his brain for his combat service.  And as a fun side-plot, he gets to attempt to save the universe from a science experiment gone wrong, while being stopped by a fanatical religious faction that makes Opus Dei look like a preschool.

A bit trite, I think, this story is not nearly as original or subtle as The Forever War.  I did enjoy the first half of the book, though, as it was not heavily loaded with obvious agenda.  We all understand that war is bad, let's get over it and write some good fiction, okay?  Not a bad book, but I won't read it again, and can't really recommend it to anyone, unlike the first.  I don't think I will be reading Forever Free anytime soon either.