Product Description

It is told through the eyes of Starship Trooper Johnny Rico, from his idealistic enlistment in the infantry of the future, through his rigorous training to the command of his own platoon of infantrymen.

His destiny is a galactic war of unlimited violence and destruction, in which he and his fellow troopers scour the metal-strewn emptiness of space to hunt down a terrifying enemy - an insect life form which threatens the very future of mankind.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5755 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-14
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Synopsis
It is told through the eyes of Starship Trooper Johnny Rico, from his idealistic enlistment in the infantry of the future, through his rigorous training to the command of his own platoon of infantrymen. His destiny is a galactic war of unlimited violence and destruction, in which he and his fellow troopers scour the metal-strewn emptiness of space to hunt down a terrifying enemy - an insect life form which threatens the very future of mankind.

About the Author
Robert A. Heinlein was one of the greatest science fiction writers of the century and won the coveted Hugo Award on several occasions. He died in 1989.

Customer Reviews

Short, as most books ought to be
I'll try to make my review short; as the title says, the book is short - about 1 cm thick. Good books, including good SF doesn't have to be thick like a brick.

Now about the content - the emphasis or overtones of the book are political, despite all the SF-mandaory inclusion of interstellar travel, starships, superweapons and whatnot; politics were one of Heinlein's major pet rocks.

A criticism I often hear of this book (or the movie, rather, since more people have snapshots from the movie in their mind's eye when the title is thrown up into the air) is that is it fascist in some way. This is however wrong. The trigger for this knee-jerk reaction is most likely from the movie, and the costume designs for the movie uniforms (which considering that military imagery and themes take an absolutely dominant position) obviously look like the ones that Nazi germans wore during WWII - largely same fashion, hues and decorations - that is one immediate explanation of the faulty association.

Another - IMO the more important, which does not depend on the choices of the film crew/firector - is the actual book content, specifically the early part where there is discussion of why "democracy of the old days" was abandoned. But again, it wasn't as such - what was abandoned was the notion that all have an equal right to vote and influence public policy.

What is instead offered is the model where only people who have served in the Armed Services are allowed full rights of Citizenship; apart from rights to free speech etc. which all 'baseline' citizens enjoy (the existence of which debunks the notion that the system presented in the book is fascist) - only full Citizens are allowed to vote and hold public office.

Thus, the book's political backdrop is not one of a fascist dictatorship, but that of a limited franschise democracy, not much different from that of pre-WWI Western nations.

What is also worth noting is that Switzerland, which is probably the oldest functioning democracy in the current/Western mold, was founded on this exact idea, namely that to be able to vote, you had to show dedication to the community beforehand, by being willing to fight for the defense of the nation. This would proabaly give pause to many who claim that Heinlein was rooting for fascism.

(Lastly, Heinlein was anti-authoritarian to a degree of bordering on the anarchist. Wikipedia offers more detail, which is naturally recommended reading.)

Great Book
I first read "Starship Troopers" as a young teenager in 1960 and it had a massive effect on me. Apart from being a first rate story, even at the tender age of 14 I agreed with Heinlein's philosophies.
At the time it was released (1959) the book was attacked as being "fascist". However, it has stood the test of time well, and there are many of us who would welcome Heinlein's method of dealing with troublesome youngsters and adults.
Take a walk around any council estate at night (if you dare) and see if you wouldn't agree to young thugs being publicly flogged.
Excellent book - my 1960 copy (cost 5/- in old money) has fallen to bits and I have purchased another from Amazon. One of the best sci-fi books ever written.
Read and enjoy (and the film ain't too bad either!)

PS Whoever proof read this print must have had a lisp. When refering to British and American warships they are prefixed "HMS" and "USS" and not
"HMF" and "USF" (Page 167)

Heinlein at his best
Considering that Heinlein wrote this book as one of his series of `juvenile' novels it is quite amazing how much effect it has had. It seems the novel is violently hated by many because of it's, apparently, militaristic approach (a fact which Verhouven seems to have picked at the cost of almost everything else!). In my view it is one of the most interesting political documents in the realm of SF - on a par only with that other great Heinlein classic, `Stranger in a Strange Land'.

In the first place it's a rollicking classic `coming of age' story with the spoilt hero growing up to be a man (shades of Perseus, Theseus, and the rest). The baddies are `bad', the goodies are good - and Rico is a goodie but that doesn't detract from his characterisation: he still struggles with his conscience.

To correct a reviewer below, you don't become a citizen for fighting the `bugs' specifically, but for serving in the defence of your country. Not a bad concept one may think but probably too difficult to impose right now! There is much political philosophy in the book but, in general, the major drive is of individual `responsibility' together with an idea to appear later in `The Moon is a Harsh Mistress', i.e. TANSTAAFL - there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. It may not be top-hole political philosophy but it can sure make one think!

I have an original paperback of this brought when I was much (much!) younger that is now so brown and broken I had to buy a new copy. I read it regularly and would recommend it to any SF reader as one of Heinlein's very best.