Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

A book that combines space, military and philosophy? That's got to be a recipe for awesome.

I was starting to think I wasn't a true sci-fi fan after all, as I didn't seem to be enjoying all the 'classic' sci-fi books I should be. They felt like a bit of a chore to read and I had a slight sense of dread whenever I was about to start one. I didn't grok Stranger In A Strange Land at all. I didn't really enjoy reading it. It felt more like a job that had to be done. But Starship Troopers - fuck yeah!

I was a little hesitant before starting Starship Troopers. I haven't seen the movie but I remember when it came out. I wanted to see it then because, well – space bugs, but I didn't. Years later at the video store when I said “Oh, cool! Starship Troopers, let's get that one. It looked really awesome when I was 12”. The reaction I got was less than favourable. “Yeah, nah, let's not. It's … not good”.

So I started with a little trepidation but was soon completely engrossed. Starship Troopers doesn't feel like it was written over 50 years ago. It could have been written yesterday. Not because of the technology or the subject matter or the underlying themes or anything that I could put my finger on, but if you had asked me to guess when this book was written I probably would have given a date in the 21st century. A lot of sci-fi from that period has a certain 'old-timey' feel about it. I think it's something about the language usage but I'm not an English Lit student so I don't know how to explain it better. Whatever it is, it wasn't there, or I was so busy enjoying the story that I didn't notice it, in Starship Troopers.

One difference this time round was that I hadn't read any essays beforehand making commentary on the book's symbolism or the 'authors intent' or about what the book was trying to say about society at the time or what impact this novel had on future authors. You get them in a lot of new editions of old books. I find these essays interesting but I really should leave them until after I've read the book so I don't get influenced by them and spend the whole time thinking about them rather than simply enjoying the story. I didn't read anything like that before Starship Troopers so I didn't have anyone else’s opinions or ideas of what the book was 'about' or trying to 'say'. I wasn't constantly watching for underlying themes or veiled metaphors.

I really enjoyed Starship Troopers. I would recommend it to almost anyone, not just sci-fi fans. It's an interesting study in human nature and raises a few very interesting philosophical questions that are still as valid today as they were 50 years ago. But more than that, it's simply an engrossing story.



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