Rating: 
Summary: Shame on you, Robert Heinlein! See the movie
Review: I was sucked into this book because of the movie and Heinlein's reputation. Let's just say that "suck" is the operative word here. It starts out promising enough in an exciting battle scene, which is always a good starting place. But then the trouble starts.Johnny Rico is a high school kid in Buenos Aires (which from heinlein's depiction might as well Seattle or Atlanta) and joins the Federal Service (a glorified, very glorified version of the military) in order to gain his citizenship. OK, fair enough. Zoom! Suddenly Johnny's bitter, one-armed teacher begins a lesson on history that sounds rather like a riot inciting speech. This goes on a little too long as Heinlein makes it abundantly clear what he's trying to communicate. It goes on like this. There are no more exciting battle scenes, too bad. This book ends up being a thinly-veiled attempt by the "author" to get up on his soap box and preach. After reading the terrible-beyond-words Time Enough for Love, I found this is quite typical of him. His message is simple: there are no intrinsic human rights, rule by brutality, go start a war. Fun guy. Enough about the preaching. The book's story is just as bad. Characters are unbelievable in that they're perfect and the dialogue sounds like it was taken out of a 50's sitcom. I found myself muttering "gee Wally!" to myself several times. We learn little about the book's bad guys, the Bugs, except that they're evil and MUST be destroyed. And there is little conflict beyond that. We never see Johnny wrestling with his thoughts or even any kind of idealogical debate. Heinlein says "this is it, you will believe." Ahh, I feel better. If you want a good book about the ethics of war and fighting bugs try Ender's Game. And watch the movie, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Rating: 
Summary: Widely misunderstood by modern "minds", but a true classic
Review: It distresses me when people misread this in Starship Troopers. It does not advocate beating children. Rather, it advocates disiplining them, no matter how unfashionable that is. It does not back facism. It supports the theories that power and responsability are a package deal, and that those who lead should first serve. If that is facism, the meaning of the word has changed a lot in the last few decades. <<Getting off soapbox>> Read it. Read it to your kids. This book is about duty, loyalty and responsability. It isn't about acting, but rather it explores why to act. And who knows. Maybe RAH was right.
Rating:
Summary: Not One of His Best
Review: Really, the book's an excuse to rag on about the passing of military values from one generation of soldier to the next. How tiresome and predictable. How obvious and inartistic the writing is. How little action there is (though much is promised). The book also spends an inordinate number of pages musing about the reintroduction of the use of corporal punishment into our society in the future, the problem with "juvenile delinquents," and the problem with prohibiting "cruel and unusual punishment." Well, if you thought the military shtick was boring...! And then there's Dad... Honestly, if you like this kind of stuff in your science fiction, okay, but don't say you haven't been warned.
Rating: 
Summary: Not so hot, but started me off as a fan
Review: Starship Troopers was the first RAH book I read. In this case I'm sometimes ashamed to say that this is the only movie I've liked better than the book. In the book, the Bugs were much more advanced, carrying guns and flying spaceships. However I believe they were portrayed better in the film--they were truely a collective insect mind, no guns or spaceships, just mindless and ruthless killers. Throughout Heinlein's earlier work, there is the contrast between the individual and the collective, much a result of his views on the American way of life versus Communism. In the noevl the Arachnids are intelligent and beligerent. The film however raises the idea of the Bugs just being mindless soldiers of the higher brain, and fighting the humans only because it was them who were first aggressive. In a way, Hollywood has displayed the individual/collective struggle more aptly than Heinlein did. Plus the resounding sappiness of the book. Heinlein ment it to be another juvenile novel, something depicting a hero that adolecent boys could take a good example from. Toward the end, one of the silliest endings I've ever read, our hero's dad joins up and starts killing bugs at his ripe old age. ? This I found really unnecessary and quite undramatic. Yet I gave the book three stars. Heinlein's writing style I feel is consistantly one of the best. It flows, it's perfectly understandable all the time, and it uses all the right words. I don't think I could justly rate any Heinlein books below 3 stars, no matter how ridiculous the plot or stroy development. He creates good characters, describes clearly, and simply writes very well. Pick up Starship Troopers if you're a beginning Heinlein fan, but don't make the mistake I made and start out with it. It leads to a great many misgivings about Heinlein's outstanding body of work.
Rating:
Summary: A Bug War
Review: The Book was very exciting and the ideas were well thought out.I thought it was interesting that you had to join the military for a certain amount of time in order to become a citizen.If you like Robert Heinlein then this is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Read it! Read it! Read it! Shame I can't give it 6 stars
Review: This was the first Heinlein book I read, and it definetly won't be the last. I bought it after seeing the movie, and was suprised to see that the only similarity between them is the fact that there are bugs in both and that they have the same title. Just goes to show how badly the movie induetry can mulch something if they put their minds to it. Anyway, I love this book because of how deep it is, the way such wonderful discussuion is blended with the action. It's that kind of wholesome, chunky literature which makes it so good. It's the literary equivalent of a six course dinner at a great restaurant with Heinlein sitting at the head of the table.
Rating:
Summary: Heinlein's Most Entertaining Book
Review: I've owned this book for 20 years, I still read it 2-3 times a year. The story? Johnny Rico enlists for the wrong reasons and struggles to make it through boot camp and in doing so becomes a man instead of a boy. Sure,the book has the battles that the movie is based on; but those are incidental to his memories of making through boot. Powered armor, guts and glory, killing giant bugs before they kill you. If you pick it up, you wont be able to put it down. Two recommendations to everyone who enjoys this book: Armor, by John Steakley. Same storyline, Much better book,if you can believe it. The entire "Hope" series starting with "Midshipman's Hope", the author escapes me because I just read all of them and loaned them to my brother.
Rating:
Summary: A must read book dealing with timeless values in our society
Review: This book contains by far the most entertaining political science that I have ever read. The idea in the book of service in some form to one's country before being granted citizenship is a notion which needs to be adopted in this country. Certainly one can better appreciate the benefits if one has sacrificed for them.
Rating:
Summary: The best science ficsion book I have ever read
Review: I find this book fascinating not only for the story but also for the massages inside the book. I loved the description of the training that Johny Rico had, and the officer's course that also described very good. I'm saying this things as a soldier who had been in officer's course, and the subject of leadership as it's seen in the book realy talked to me. I didn't talk about the story it self, although, it was a good story, but there is a lot of books with good stories that I can't say they are the best. And, BEST is how I see this book! By the way, of course, the movie... had no chance to be good as the book.
Rating:
Summary: the real story
Review: starship troopers the movie should never have been named after such a good book. they are totally different exept in names of some caracters. the movie was a acction and special F/X fest with plot holes you could land a space station on. the book is not so much about war as it is about ones role in society and the troubles of growing up and facing reality. if you read this book PLEASE dont compare it to the movie. in fact if possible read the book first, if you dont like it because its not good thats fine. but if you dont like it because it wasnt as acction packed as the movie than you are missing out on alot.
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