Starship Troopers – Book Review

July 12, 2012 | Filed under: Books | Posted by: Shashank

Hello people! We are at No. 10 of our Top 20 sci-fi list and things are getting interesting. Book no. 10 is Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein!

First off, Robert A. Heinlein is a genius! A great thinker, one of the best I have ever read. His books are an amazing representation of his liberal thinking. He was one of the most controversial writers of his time and yet one of the most revered. He certainly is one of MY favourite authors!

Starship Trooper was his take on the military. After the Vietnam war many anti war novels came out and this was certainly the best of the bunch. The story is about mankind fighting a war against an enemy we don’t know much about. The novel depicts one of the toughest training methods used to train soldiers after which they are sent by the hordes to tackle an enemy not yet understood. Here is now a description of the book:-

“The historians can’t seem to settle whether to call this one ‘The Third Space War’ (or the ‘Fourth’), or whether “The First Interstellar War” fits it better. We just call it “The Bug War”. Everything up to then and still later were ‘incidents’, ‘patrols’, pr ‘police actions’. However you are just as dead if you buy a farm in an ‘incident’ as you are if you buy it in a declared war…

In one of Robert A.Heinlein’s most controversial bestsellers, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the universe-and into battle with the Terrain Mobile Infantry against mankind’s most alarming enemy. “

So there you have it, a book par excellence. We follow the life of Juan “Johnnie” Rico as he progresses through his military carrier. I could relate to Rico, as I guess most of us can. Confused, misdirected, he joined the army for all the wrong reasons. His training was gruelling and it’s been told in a very simple and powerful way. The wars depicted are very descriptive, they lend to many underlying issues here too. This novel is a way for Heinlein to express his dissatisfaction with the system. It worked, although it was accused of creating anti-national feelings too.

This is one of the best novels I have ever read. It is one of the most simple and yet most provocative ones. Oh and do not compare it to the movie! The movie is a pathetic version of the book and it’s so bad that the twilight story will look better! The book is nothing like the movie!

I recommend this strongly to you and all else! Have a blast reading this!