Joe Man’s War

So, Vendetta, my Norwegian publisher, posted up a really cool-looking poster of its February science fiction releases, of which Old Man’s War (De Gamles Krig) will be one:

I’m not gonna lie, the cover art for all of them is pretty damn cool. But I couldn’t help noticing a curious fact about De Gamles Krig. Here, let me focus in on that cover for just a second:

Wait, Joe Haldeman wrote Old Man’s War? Has someone told Joe? Apparently I’ve been getting his royalty checks! And, uh, I’ve already spent them. Sorry, Joe.

There’s irony here, considering that since I wrote an intro to a recent edition of The Forever War, Amazon and other places online often have me listed as a co-writer of that novel. Turnabout is fair play.

To be clear: I think this error is awesome. I suspect that it’s confined to that poster, but if it’s not, and Vendetta has accidentally printed the book with Joe’s name on the cover, I want them to send me a few copies for my own private stash. And also so I can get Joe to sign a couple. In the meantime, this has kind of made my morning.

Update: It’s been fixed!

40 Comments on “Joe Man’s War”

  1. and a future project ought to be a mashup of OMW & FW – an interesting collision of two different solutions to the military conscription problem. Do we take all of the really smart old codgers, do we take young brilliants with terminal illnesses…? And perhaps most important of all: what do Taurans taste like?

  2. Haha! Luckily (unfortunately?) that’s only on that particular file used on the website.
    I will change the picture used on the web, and try to hide from that particular mistake…
    Mr. Stokka (your Norwegian publisher @ Vendetta.)

  3. I love the bottom-right one. “Dammit, Ender, you get a cloth and clean that up!”

  4. Not meaning to damn you with faint praise John, but that’s some pretty impressive company you’re keeping!

  5. Pretty sure that “Den Evige Krigen” by Mr. Haldeman is “The Forever War”, so even more hilarity could have ensued if they’d put your name on that cover.

  6. I had the awesome privilege of meeting Joe and his wife years ago, I think he’d get a chuckle out of the whole thing, if not, you might get an up close demonstration in one of the 8 silent ways to kill a man,

  7. Of course, now you and Mr. Haldeman must:
    1/ have books printed on demand with your names reversed. A number between one and twenty-five.
    2/ Sell them signed via an auction of some sort.
    3/ Profit.
    4/ Donate funds to a charity or the SFWA.

    I’m not suggesting this because I’d like one, oh no it’s just a great idea!

  8. Luckily they have it right on their website. For us Norwegian fans we can’t wait to start promoting “Den gamle krigen” and the other books to our patrons, friends and family who aren’t that comfortable with reading English.

  9. Seconding everyone here, Pal Stokka, very nice poster and covers. Although now every time I see OSC’s “Enders Game” I’m going to mentally replace that with “Enders Spill”.

  10. Wow, fixed already on the website.

    All of these covers are great, with my favorite being the Shrike motif on the Hyperion cover.

  11. I would so love to walk into my local B&N or BAM and see something similar. For whatever reason there’s very little in-store marketing anymore, beyond what gets placed in piles on the “new books” table in the front of the store.

  12. What’s the English name of the Robert Rankin book? It’s one of the three on the poster (along with Hyperion and Snow Crash) that I haven’t read, and I’d like to add it to my wish list.

  13. It is always good whenever you can delight in a mistake. Glad they got it fixed promptly though. Love the cover art represented here, looks great and I think it represents “Old Man’s War” very well!

    By the way, I accidentally bought “Old Man’s War” twice, once for my Kindle and once through the Humble Bundle. That’s another type of mistake I don’t think you mind, right? Totally worth both cover prices.

  14. Those are some epic books! That should be a reading list for anyone who has not read those books. All in the same darn month some of my favorites ever.

  15. YES! Better cover art for everyone! Graphic artists need love, too! Those covers are frankly stunning.

  16. amhendrick: Google Translate renders the title as “The Antipope” so I can only assume that’s what it is. Given how tied up in West London his stuff is I can only imagine it’s taken them 30 years to come up with a decent translation!

  17. I just find it amusing that the poster says “The Best Books You Haven’t Read” and I’ve read all but one of them (Robert Rankin’s) and now I want to read that one. :D

  18. Malcolm. I think it can be seen not only as antipope, but also as a play on ‘motpart’ which I guess is a (often poitical) opposite/enemy.

  19. Just Hyperion without Fall of Hyperion? Some people are going to be begging for a round 2.

    I don’t quite get the Ender’s Game cover. What are those spike wheels?

    On the whole, though – looking nice!

  20. Wow, that’s a nice lineup. Card’s Ender’s Game and Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos are my favorite sci-fi ever, and the others ain’t exactly bad. ;)

  21. Although now every time I see OSC’s “Enders Game” I’m going to mentally replace that with “Enders Spill”.

    When I lived in Oslo I used to get a kick out of the signs outside places that sold lottery tickets that said “Spill Her!”

  22. i’m with Lurkertype – why *didn’t* Snow Crash get translated?
    although – i guess it’s possibly because the “Snow” referenced is static, but isn’t used that way in Norwegian? just a guess.

    irony for me: i bought my first copies of “Old Man’s War” and “Forever War” at the same time, and read them pretty much back-to-back. and i did, in fact, have trouble remembering which author wrote which book for a few days :D

  23. The thought occurs that Norwegian SF fans are going to have a pretty terrific February (although not one in which a lot of work gets done).

  24. I love the cover art for OMW! Really thoughtful painting, by someone who’s read the book.

    I’d guess (only guess, mind you) that the term ‘snow crash’ is used in Norwegian, but we have a Norwegian (actually more than one) on this thread who might perhaps explain.

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