Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein - Sci-Fi Book Review

Art by James Warhola

I first saw the 1997 film adaptation of Starship Troopers a few summers ago. It was a rainy evening and I watched it in my family's gazebo with a good friend of mine. I had previously greatly enjoyed the director's other work—primarily his adaptation of Total Recall—so I had particularly high expectations of the movie. After the first viewing, I had mixed feelings. In the years since, I have grown to enjoy the snarky sense of sarcasm and over-the-top bravado. This isn't a movie review, but I think it's important to note that film because it was my introduction, and I'm sure many others'.

Though I have read a few Heinlein stories, I had yet to read what is most likely his most famous work. This has been sitting in my "to read" list for years and years. I have two copies of it—one nice and one "travel copy," and have often brought it on trips where I didn't end up having time to read. But after finally going for it, I can proudly say that I devoured this book in two days.

In typical Heinlein fashion, readers should not expect a whole lot of action. The bulk of the book covers the military training of Juan "Johnnie" Rico, as he goes from high school student to soldier. It is written in the first person, and Heinlein uses this to great effect. Rico has a very strong narrative voice, and I found myself caring about him quite a bit. There were even a few personal moments that I found myself feeling emotional over.

There are a lot of conversations about society, military, and duty. I would not advise any readers to take these as law, but rather enjoy the world that Heinlein created. The reason I initially brought up the movie adaptation, is because the film seems to think that this book is authoritarian propaganda from Heinlein. I did not read it as such. Ultimately, I understood that Heinlein was writing this as a concept—as any good science fiction writer does—and exploring it to its natural end.

In the movie, everything is very surface level. This is on purpose for the sarcastic commentary on authoritarianism, and I think it succeeds in its goal. But, one thing I really liked about the novel was that Rico had a lot of heart. There is a depth to his character, and I found myself caring a lot about him.

I barely realized how quickly I read this book (even with a full time job and very busy life). If you like interesting worlds, a great narrative voice, and military science fiction, I cannot recommend this classic enough.

-H.