Rating: 
Summary: Old but still good for kids to read
Review: I remember reading this book when I was very young. It was thought to be so right wing that another book called the "Forever War" was written to refute its ideas. Robert Heinlen was a soldier who served in the Pacific in the second world war. The combat scenes in Star Ship Troopers are similar to some battles in the pacific. The first one is set on a tropical planet with lush vegetation. The last battle is similar to Iwo Jima. The book conveys the sense of urgency and perhaps fear that must have been felt by servicemen of the United States faced by a fanatical and up to late 1942 successful enemy. The enemy in the book are a species of insects who unlike the film use modern technology. The war is one in which mankind and the insect enemy fight a war of extermination. This again replicates the fighting in the pacific with its brutality and the take no prisoners approach of the Japanese and Americans. About two thirds of the book deals with the training of the main character and a description of a futuristic military society. In that society only war veterans can participate in the political process. The book also celebrates what is clearly the American basic training used for infantry as a character building exercise and as vital in the war effort. It was the celebration of these "military virtues" and the futuristic political system which led to it being criticised as fascist. Its ironic in a way as Nazi Germany for instance used training regimes for its armed forces that encouraged more individual initiative and for more devolved responsibility. The training in this book is more what Frederick the Great would have used for his Grenadiers. It was a strange experience to re-read the book after 20 or so years. The strong points in the book is the brooding atmosphere through it of a society in danger. Of the need to create an army and of a society just winning in a desperate struggle to keep the enemy at bay. It conveys what it must have been like to live in Britain during the Blitz or perhaps more accurate in the Soviet Union in 1942. The action scenes are well done but they only amount to a small part of the book. The political issues seem to have passed away somewhat now. It seems to be a book of its time rather than having any real message for how things should be. Or at least a message that really speaks to anyone. I remember as a very young person reading this book in a couple of days. That is surely what Science Fiction Book are about anyway so four stars. .
Rating:
Summary: A Well-Written Treatise on Heinlein's Moral Philosophy
Review: My party line on this book is that it has the plot complexity of a porn novel. Rather than sex -- which is included in many of Heinlein's other works -- Starship Troopers is filled with philosophy. Lovers of the movie, beware: this is no simplistic sci-fi novel. Though it contains adventure, like many Heinlein novels Starship Troopers would be better suited to a course in philosophy than a course in 20th century science-fiction. Starship Troopers follows the career of Johnny Rico, a young volunteer with the space-age Mobile Infantry. Johnny moves from being unsure about his service commitment -- he signs up for two years to gain citizenship (the right to vote) -- to choosing soldiering as his career path. The transformation is explained thorugh many pages of easy-to-understand flashbacks to Johnny's high school days and his instructor in "moral philosophy." Heinlein's philosophy is also propagated through the use of Johnny's inner monolouge and conversations he has with characters throughout the book. The glimpses we are given of Johnny's world show us Heinlein's view of a perfectly organized and morally just society, a society where only military veterans have the right to vote. That society appears to be Heinlein's answer to the social and moral degredation he predicts in many of his other novels --- such as "I Will Fear No Evil." The plot serves as a device to guide the reader through that world. The philosophy, however, is marvelously well presented. It is well woven into the fabric of a rather insignificant plot. Even if you don't agree with Heinlein -- and I doubt many will -- the questions he raises and suggestions he makes are ample food for thought. For all its philosophy, Heinlein is still a good writer. Starship Troopers is an easy and relatively enjoyable read, commendable primarily for its moral and ethical implications. This fits into the body of Heinlein's works where the plot most certainly comes second.
Rating: 
Summary: Still one of RAH's best.
Review: Heinlein wrote three books with contrasting political systems. In Beyond This Horizon, he depicted a futuristic socialist utopia, where the most pressing social issue is boredom. In The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Heinlein built a rugged techno-libertarian experiment on the moon, and set it against the authoritarian Earth in a war for independence. None of these was greeted with the derision and scorn that followed the filming of his classic Starship Troopers. Heinlein painted the third form of government, democracy, using Troopers as a canvas. He asked the simple question, "what would happen in a democratic society if suffrage were limited to those who served their country?" With this simple start, he fleshed out an engaging and heroic vista, where men and women fight for the sake of preserving humanity's future. Troopers has been criticized as a tribute to Fascism, which is true of the movie. Luckily, the movie bears no relation to book. Troopers was and is an experiment with democracy, the author hoping to create a world in which those who vote also were those who cared most about its future. Read it for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Controversial, but not a treatise for fascism
Review: Contrary to much of the criticism of this novel, including some of the reviews on this page, Heinlein, more of a libertarian than anything, was not espousing some kind of fascist utopia (which is what tends to come out of the atrocious movie based on this novel). The author explicitly notes at several points in the novel that his future society is not run by the military but by those who have served in the military. Active soldiers, like "civilians," are not allowed to vote or partake in politics either. However, as grimly realistic as Heinlein was trying to be, his vision of a future society run by veterans with a sense of public duty is nonetheless utopian. There is no guarantee that military or other public service, or even selfless military activity during a war, will nurture the necessary sense of public duty to create good citizens - which seems to be implied in this novel. Indeed, even though Heinlein's future society was supposed to stand as a counterpoint not only the imperfect liberal democracies of the West but also to the communist bloc (an issue quite relevant at the time of first publication, 1959), some of the aspects of his idealized societies were already then apparent in obstensibly socialist countries like the USSR and especially the former Yugoslavia: war veterans were untouchable social and political icons. They were the de facto leaders of their countries, not the "party vanguard," "proletariat" or anything else. I'm not sure if Heinlein had considered this aspect, but at one point in the book he is forced to admit, through one of his characters, that the reason his future society is the "best" is simply because it works. Nonetheless, Heinlein presents his provocative arguments well, and they are intriguing, so readers who don't necessarily share his views have something intelligent to disagree with. Also interesting is that many of Heinlein's criticisms of 20th century society (and there is no doubt that America bears the brunt of his ire) are quite valid, much more so today then when this book was first written. Other than these political aspects, though, Starship Troopers" is a bit flat and simplistic, even if it is easy to read -- it has the advantage of coming from Heinlein's finest writing period (mid-1950s to mid-1960s) when he skillfully combined his ideas with an engaging story-telling style.
Rating: 
Summary: Dry for Heinlein
Review: I am a Heinlein fan. Stranger in a Strange Land, Friday, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress I have all loved and read more than once. Actually, Stranger is my favorite book of all time. Be that as it may, I was shocked at how dry and shallow I found this book. No real characters, only names. No depth to the story, just an interstellar space war. It would have made a great comic book, I guess. 2 stars instead of one because I've read worse (it could have been boring and not just flat and lost.) Please, read everything else you can by Heinlein, but let this one go.
Rating:
Summary: No <INSERT HERE> without representation
Review: First off: ripping yarn, interesting thinking, and a great skiffy exposure to [what I feel should be] an alien way of thinking. In the face of what looks like (here) near-universal approval of the book's "service for citizenship" model, remember the basis of our current system of government: the right to alter the government belongs to all those who will be <b>subject</b> to it. If citizenship and the franchise were simply a matter of public honour and the right to make decisions affecting only a private club of a few members, this would be acceptable; as things are, decisions made by the government end up affecting where everyone's world, and some of our money, go. In addition, any select group of people (ex-service members, college professors, T.V. preachers) will have interests that in some way diverge from those of people in general. Associating more with each other, the information which will be acceptable to the group will be preferentially provided, until eventually the feedback loop known as "dealing with reality" will be broken...perhaps this is what happened before the book began, since you will notice that Earth is subjected to the Bug sneak-attack even though this wonderful system has been in place for centuries. In addition, I've two bones to pick with the often-mentioned minor aspects of the book: 1.) Non-military service is acceptable for gaining the franchise: this is very easy to miss, and not well explained...who gets to decide what counts as acceptable non-military service? If it's military men and women (see below), something makes me think that defence contractors might count, but maybe not public gardeners.... 2.) I appreciated and enjoyed that Heinlein was well ahead of his time (and of John Campbell) in having strong female and non-Anglo characters...however, one wonders how "diverse" this is when they sound EXACTLY LIKE EVERYONE ELSE ...this last would grow to be a big problem in R.A.H.'s later books, of whose seduction scenes one must remember Svengali's self-disgusted retort after hypnotising Trilby into loving him: "It is only Svengali, talking to himself."
Rating:
Summary: Typical Heinlein Political Messages but a Bit Juvenile
Review: I read this book twice in my life. This book was typical in the Heinlein political and social messages. It was fairly two dimensional. It is certainly not Heinlein's best work. It is a short story that lasted a bit too long. But it is a classic for its kind.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting Account of Futuristic War
Review: As horrible as the film adaptation of Starship Troopers was, I was not expecting much from the book. I was just going to read the book, say "Isn't that nice" and move on with my life. No such thing happened. I was glued to this book from start to finish. The first person point of view makes this startling account of war very personal. Although there are many disjointed events in the plot that make it rocky, and sometimes hard to comprehend, the deep moral philosophies compensate. The ideas presented seriously made me consider the present state of OUR government and what it might lead to in OUR future. Being fairly conservative myself, I feel this book presented many good points in a strong, conservative manner. This book is so much more than science fiction. It's an interesting look into the morality of politics and our government. It's a must-read not only for sf fans, but for anyone, really.
Rating:
Summary: Best understood in historical framework
Review: Starship Troopers had quite an audience with those of us who grew up in the 1950s, in the shadow of WWII. The importance of the "citizen soldier" was an important concept to the military of that time. RAH expanded that to require military/government service as a requirement for "full citizenship": suffrage and the right to hold public office. All citizens in his society had full rights except as above. This book also gave some of the dark side to combat; those of us who read the books written right after WWI remember that the "blood and guts" of war were carefully omitted; RAH gave some more humantity and terror of battle. I believe that "Starship Troopers" still holds as one of RAH's best novels, although a little dated after our experience in Viet Nam. It reveals early some of Heinlein's philosophy, which was expanded and refine in later books. Still an excellent read, but an absolute abysmal movie!
Rating:
Summary: A Devastatingly Lucid Vision of the Future
Review: It has been said that Heinlein visualizes our future and then we live in it. Starship Troopers remains remarkably unscathed in that respect even four decades later. A previous reviewer said that he found this book extremely dull. He was looking for the type of action shown in the 1997 movie. Hey, the action is not bad, but that was not why I couldn't put this book down. Now I've read it twice. It is plain to me that this book is not about action. There is a little at the beginning and the end, but the sublime notions behind this mini-masterpiece lie in young Juanito's bewildering experiences in his History and Moral Philosophy classes. When it dawns on you that their class system forfeits the lives of some for the sake of the common good, that alone ought to be reason to read on. Because there are always more answers to the mystery on the tip of Juanito's tongue. His casual, articulate descriptions of history allude to something more.. the reader's appetite is always being whetted with the foreshadowing of more answers. How has this society created such a sociogovernmental monster? How does it work? Why corporal punishment? Why send men to die. Why really send men to die? But why really really? Does Johnny even know? A large portion of the story deals with life as a cadet, under extremely harsh living conditions. The military atmosphere is highly realistic, especially when it comes to relating to sergeants. All of the military-related chatter sounds highly credible to me, a civilian -- partly because Heinlein drew on his experiences serving in the US Navy. I can't say this book's philosophy formulates a logical whole, but it fills most of the gaps, leaving the reader to contemplate a very large social/political system. Hey, democracy doesn't make a logical whole either, so I'm not complaining. This book might be more offensive to liberals, as it implies that corporal punishment is great for establishing and maintaining social order -- making use of the perfectly evolved survival tool, "pain". Furthermore it glorifies military life, discipline, and unity, and pays no great amount of attention to individualism. If you think this might bother you, read this book anyway. It's not long, it's not expensive, and you need a reality check anyway.
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