Starship Troopers is not at all what I expected. It is nothing like the terrible movie that this book supposedly inspired. It isn't even like later military sci-fi it supposedly inspired.

Heinlein is writing a philosophy here. A justification for a militaristic state, where freedom is universal, but franchise is limited only to military veterans. It is a utopia of sorts. Yet Heinlein is not writing with a blind eye. No doubt he is endorsing the state he creates, but it is not free of imperfections. It is a balanced and believable universe.

How Heinlein managed to get away with it though, is beyond me. The first three quarters of the book are extrapolations of Heinlein's military philosophy and a flashback journey through a young recruit's experiences in boot camp and later in officer's training. The Bugs that he is preparing to destroy don't even make an appearance until over halfway through the novel. But inexplicably it works! Somehow Heinlein makes what should be a preachy and tell not show novel, believable and fascinating.

This isn't coming from someone who agrees at all with what the novel is proposing either. Limiting franchise to strictly veterans is an abhorrent proposition. There is a mindless cruelty to some of the military's actions against the barely mentioned alien Skinnies. But Heinlein has created a fantastic argument for something I fundamentally disagree with (though there's always a measure of truth even in things you oppose). And when you finally get to the last portion of the book, when we see some true action, that works too.

The one criticism I would give Starship Troopers is the abrupt ending. But that's a minor criticism of an excellent book. ( )

http://geekylibrarian.wordpress.com/2... ( )

I saw the movie a few years ago, and so I read this book on a whim. Its very different to the movie. The book is interesting, although it does have a tendency to slide into rants about the moral responsibilities which come with having an electoral franchise. The book is also very pro military in its stance, although that's fair enough (an author without an opinion would be a boring author).

Overall, I thought this book was an enjoyable read.

http://www.stillhq.com/book/Robert_A_... ( )

As a fan of Science Fiction I went into Starship Troopers with huge expectations. This is Robert A. Heinlein after all, a man considered to be one of the big three SciFi writers. So, Starship Troopers was my first Heinlein novel and it was a hug disappointment. I immediately disliked the first person narrative. These are, in my opinion, difficult to do well. Here we have a first person narrative from a young man of average intelligence. This means that the prose isn't exactly of the highest quality. Call it snobbery if you like, but I want to read something that is better than what I could write. Come to think of it, the only time I liked the "dumbed down" prose was in Flowers for Algernon. But I digress, back to Starship Troopers.

I don't mind reading propaganda or about ideologies that differ from mine, but I like them subtle. Heinlein hammers his pro-military utopia down our throats with blunt edged force. We spend far too much time in classrooms and boot camps where the characters merely act as mouthpieces for Heinlein's philosophy. The only anti-military character is the protagonist's father who is later involved in one of the most incredible (read improbable) storylines ever written.

So, why not a worse rating? For one, the "pulpy" parts are good. When Heinlein forgets the philosophy and has the space marines fighting on an alien planet the novel is genuinely interesting. It's also impossible to ignore the novel's influence. To my knowledge this is the first space marine novel and it would go on to inspire several dozen others. The influence of Starship Troopers also extends beyond the page and onto the movie screen (James Cameron's Aliens) and video games (Starcraft).

All-in-all this is a case of missed potential. I leave the book with a new respect for Paul Verhoeven's movie adaptation which, in hindsight, isn't too bad. ( )

The classic military sci-fi novel “Starship Troopers” by Robert A. Heinlein even after all these years -1959- lives up to its controversial and cutting edge reputation. And while there were times that I felt that the story-arc was getting too bogged down with the mediocrity of rank and military brinkmanship, the overall sense of Mr. Heinlein’s chronicle was refreshing. Mr. Heinlein’s vision was obviously the building blocks for many future military sci-fi novels. ( )