Rating: 
Summary: an easy-to-swallow read with a meaty, slow digestion
Review: The book is not the movie. Only some elements of the book made it into film, and they were grossly overshadowed by the weight of the director's distaste for his own perceptions. The book is not the Amazon.com review. The reviewer's words connotate apology for having to write something positive; his/her statements about the necessity of military service to earn voting rights (it was Federal Service, only some of which was military) and the stressing of "beating children in order to make them into good citizens" (Heinlen discusses the uses of unfortuneately required corporal punishment) are a view of the book through aged and broken glass. The book is part rollicking-good military action, part esthetics, part political philosophy. It reads well (as it should for its intended younger audience) and revisits well (as it should for the political philosophy and esthetics). I'm an individualist, and found the conformity of the characterization difficult. One has to look for signs that non-conformity is tolerated. I'm also a realist, and believe that a balance of authority and responsibility is essential to maintain a society that remains stable and rich enought to permit individualism (which requires a non-tribal level of economic and social development). The book brings these issues to the fore. I took a point off, for a rating of 9, because Heinlein got caught up in 'mathematically provable' social assertions, leading to a greater degree of certainty in his social engineering than would actually work. In doing this, he was reflecting a recent (when the book was written) burst of optimism about formal logic. People thought that, with appropriate premises, formal logic would allow all sorts of problems to be definitively solved. They forgot, or did not know, that the social 'sciences' work with confidence intervals that would make a physicist burn his/her results. They also did not appreciate the difficulties of formal logic. One significant problem with formal logic is the creativity required to find solutions (something seen in all higher math) that makes it intolerant of automated (computer-based) resolution. Another (and to date, the major road-block)is the non-linear increase in solution difficulty when moving from simple propositions to complex ones. Proving a few assertions might take several pages of logic. Proving many assertions balloons out from there; speaking generally, it's easy to create groups of assertions that are non-computable. Read the book! Think about the 'universal' franchise and the problems it causes. Think about the competing alternatives to universal democracy, and how Starship Troopers stacks up. And enjoy a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Responsibility equals Authority
Review: The novel follows the developement of a young man from high school through military training and service. Along the way he learns the importance of personal responsibility; developes as a human being morally, mentally and physically; and the reader learns why soldiers, who see first hand the horror that is war, still go on fighting. One very strong theme in the book is that people only earn the right to vote after they have earned it through some form of service to their fellow mankind. The story focuses on military service, but other methods of community service are mentioned such as Peace Corps-like work terraforming Venus. Perhaps restricting voting to individuals who have given their time and effort to the comminity as a whole isn't such a bad idea in essence.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Heinlein - excellent coverage of a complex subject.
Review: I first read this book when I was in High School and was faced with similar choices ( Pre - Vietnam era ). I enjoyed it for the action then and later when I re-read the book I enjoyed it for the prespective that it gave me on the military and public service. I have read and kept every book by Mr. Heinlein that I have found. Starship Troopers like every book Mr. Heinlien wrote expressed a world view that I under stood and appreciated. The book is now being read by a new generation of readers with different life styles and experiences but the story of the Starship Troopers, and their rights of passage, still has a universal appeal that will entertain and delight.
When I started reading Science Fiction the older generation did not approve, now I am the older generation and I find that the large amounts of the Fiction in these stories has turned to Fact.
So the new readers should read and enjoy the diversion, diversity and feelings of Starship Troopers and wonder how much more of the Fiction will turn to Fact.
I never did take the time to thank Mr. Heinlein for his wonderfull stories when I had the chance and I regreat that deeply so I would like to take the time and say " Thank You Bob Heinlein for all the entertainment ".
Rating: 
Summary: See the movie, ignore the book
Review: Paul Verhoeven's film version of _Starship Troopers_ does something with this story that Heinlein was apparently incapable of doing: makes it entertaining. Verhoeven took a military tract verging on religious zealotry and turned it on its head, using its very words to put the lie to Heinlien's ideas and ideals. Verhoeven's cutting parody of military propaganda makes Heinlein's treatise look flat-footed and dull.
Rating:
Summary: Starship Troopers- A modern day U.S. Army officers guide
Review: Starship Troopers is one of the greatest pieces of military literature I have ever read. Heinlein has captured the spirit of the armed forces. His view of the relationship between enlisted men and their officers is exact. Being an officer in the U.S. Army field artillery I can say that this book can tell you everything you need to know to be an officer in the armed forces. It shows how an officer needs to depend on (and listen to) his or her Non-Commissioned officers to do be able to accomplish the mission. It shows self sacrifice, total commitment and the needed relationships that form in military units. You ROTC guys (Johnnie wore those Silver dots, too!) and especially you academy pukes would do yourselves some good to read this book before you give your first order to a soldier whose life you are responsible for. Now I'm just going to give you guys a quick tidbit about my feelings about that awful movie. I don't know any soldier that thinks war is a joke like those 90210 rejects in the movie. Also the book made it clear that the MI were a combo of the infantry and armor (tanks) because the suits basically replaced tanks. Here is a quote rom page 80. "It isn't a tank (the suit)- but a single MI private could take on a squadron of those things and knock them off unassisted if anybody was silly enough to put tanks against MI."
What was so impressive about the MI in the movie? Nothing. Heck, I'd take on that entire group of screaming idiots with one U.S. Army M1A2 Abrams anyday. I'd show them the true meaning of infantry being called 'Crunchies.' For that matter if the movie MI were just regular infantry, why weren't their any tanks? My tank company in Germany could have just drove our tanks through the bugs and ended the war on the first day. Well, I'm done venting. READ THE BOOK! DON'T SEE THE MOVIE!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding novel betrayed by a poor movie
Review: An often misunderstood book that people think is controversial, the idea that serving one's country to buy a stake in it is fascist is nothing more than rabid antimilitarism. While Heinlein may overstate his point to make it obvious, it is still a very good one. The real point is that people should contribute to their country. The book far exceeds the movie's technical grasp. The movie leaves you wondering why they didn't bring a tank, the book explains why one wasn't needed. The Starship Troopers of the book are infinitely more formidable than the movie's.
Rating:
Summary: READ THE BOOK, DON'T SEE THE MOVIE!!!
Review: I had the good fortune to read this book before I saw the positively awful film version [a parody, if ever there was one] of it. It's great, filled with fascinating political and moral ideas--and manages not to be dull at the same time. It's also filled with adventure, though it does not overdo itself. It is the right balance of both. Don't come to this book expecting a clone of the awful Verhoven movie. It isn't one. Instead, you'll get possibly the best science-fiction ever written. (It's also decent, for those who objected to those tasteless bits in the movie--I closed my eyes in those parts.)
Rating:
Summary: This is NOT a fascist or sexist manifesto
Review: Don't any of you GET IT? Just because you don't like the society in a futuristic novel, it DOESN'T mean the author is trying to brainwash you into his misguided beliefs. Didn't you ever read "Animal Farm," or "1984," or "Brave New World?" Did you think THEY were preaching and desiring a future without personal freedom? Get real. If anything, these authors all wanted to show what MIGHT happen, not what they WANT to happen. "Starship Troopers" is a great novel (and a pretty good movie, with or without Doogie). It tells a story of one possible future world You might want to live there. Then again, you might not. But, it is FICTION!!! Give up the social analogies. Read it. Then watch it. Then judge it as a STORY, not as a textbook. I hope the film stirs up the desire to read the book. Trekkies, Lucasites, Dr. Who fans... you'll all love it!
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ IN MY LIFE.
Review: THIS BOOK IS UNBELIEVEABLE,IS ALL I HOPED IT WOULD BE.EVERYTHING FROM THE DROP TO THE BUG PLANET TO THE BATTLES,THE DESTRUCTION THE BUG.BY FAR,THIS IS THE BOOK TO READ.WHOEVER IS READS THIS MESSAGE, PLEASE BUY THE BOOK NOW!!! YOUR BIGGEST FAN, RONALD BUSSOLATI
Rating:
Summary: Excellent thought-provoking book.
Review: The movie is an absolute travesty which bears no resemblance whatsoever to the book -- and in fact it appears to be a deliberate attempt by Verhoeven to destroy something he either didn't understand or felt threatened by. The original book champions the theme of moral responsibility, and proposes that only those who are willing to serve their community are best qualified to have a say in running it. The coming of age of Juan Rico, a young Filipino man who volunteers for federal service with the usual combination of arrogance and ignorance found in high-school graduates, is entertaining without being painful. Heinlein does again in ST what he does in his best novels -- raise SF to an art form by raising deep social, political and philosophical issues in the context of a possible future.
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