Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers is one of those books I feel like I’ve been meaning to read forever. Long before I got back into reading Sci-Fi everyday. I remember hearing things about it before I even saw the movie in the cinema and was curious. Even more so when I heard the movie was the opposite of the book in a lot of ways. Having finally read it nearly thirty years later, I've got to say, it was definitely worth the wait.
Starship Troopers follows the story of Johnnie Rico. A rich kid who decides instead of eventually running the family business he wants to join the Federation to become a Citizen and protect the planet. His two year service leads to him becoming part of the Mobile Infantry which is a difficult and deadly enough occupation even before a war ignites with the relentless Bugs and their distant home planet of Klendathu.
The book is very much a military sci-fi, but also reads like a war journal as Johnnie tells us the story of his progress from bootcamp to battlefield. We hear how he grows as both a Man, and a Solider. We learn of the prejudice between the Army and Navy, and how the M.I is always the last to know exactly what is going on. How that’s considered a good thing in the time of war.
It’s a fantastic read. A gripping story that is as much about humanity and character as it is shooting bugs and firing mini nukes. There’s so many bits where Johnnie decides to skip on the details, and other bits where he goes into the specifics of everything giving us a better idea of what interests him as a person, and what he feels is important.
It’s an epic book sweeping across many different camps, ships and planets. It introduces as to what feels like hundreds of characters, some barely last a page, others dip in and out of the story if and when Johnnie meets them again, or hears of their demise.
And when the action comes, it’s described in great detail by an author who clearly knows his stuff. Mixing what I presume is the correct jargon, with plenty of futuristic stuff. We learn about the M.I battle suit, the different weapons and tactics. The horrendous drops they have to take part in in order to land on the planet. Everything is incredibly well put together in this Hard Military Sci-Fi. It’s thoroughly entertaining.
Some might be wondering how the book and movie stack up together. The short answer is actually a little more than I thought, despite Verhoeven’s differing take. A lot of the events in the book are in the movie, it just might involve other characters. The basic story has plenty of similarities too, but some big differences as well like any of the movies 90210 stuff. Carman and Dizzy’s roles in particular are 100% different. Dizzy is a dude who doesn’t survive the first chapter in the book.
I really enjoyed the book. I absolutely love the movie, and the book is a very different tone, but I easily have room in my life for both. I like Johnnie a hell of a lot more in the book, while I love the satirical approach of the movie. It’s kind of fascinating to see roughly the same story told in drastically different tones. The book really is a great easy read. The storytelling really is masterful, and the characters engaging. Definitely a book I'll be picking up again in the future.
