Starship Troopers (Robert A. Heinlein, 1959)I wanted to watch the movie, “Starship Troopers”, which by now has become a cult favorite, but I also kind of wanted to read the book to be able to compare.
The book is about the future where humans are at a space-war with extraterrestrial life-forms that are nicknamed Bugs. It is told from a perspective of a soldier who slowly goes up the rank. There is no real plot though. Most of it is just an excuse for the author, Robert A. Heinlein, to give his political views, which is basically a militaristic government. I don’t mind if an author has unconventional political views and tries to defend it. But what I do have a problem is if that all the book is. It should have a story, with three dimensional characters, and let the political views be the backdrop of it. But there is no real substance, aside from one-dimensional characters talking to each other, just for an excuse to allow Heinlein the mouthpiece to express his political views.
It is no surprise that Heinlein served time in the military. And given how much of a hard-on he has for the military, it is even less of a surprise that he has seen no combat in his term. His views of war are very romantic and shallow, full of ideas of brotherhood, sacrifice, and honor, something apparently, us lowly citizens don’t have an understanding of.
2/5
