Life, Death, and Duty: A Review of Starship Troopers

 

    As many of you know from reading my previous blog posts, I love science fiction, and one of my favorite authors is Orson Scott Card. In his book, Ender's Game, a young boy is faced with the threat of a dangerous and unknown enemy: The Buggers, a ruthless alien race that forces Earth to send its brightest young military minds to defeat the Buggers- at a cost.

    Card published his book forty years ago, in 1985. Twenty six years before Card, in 1959, Robert A. Heinlein published Starship Troopers, the gritty and slowed-down inspiration for every author who came afterward. 

    Starship Troopers follows Juan Rico, a young man from a wealthy family who wishes to serve in the military and gain full citizenship. His world, a futuristic Earth, is governed by military leaders who are voted in by people who served previously. Juan enlists, but interstellar war breaks out as he finishes training. Abruptly, Rico is thrown into the universe to find the enemy and kill them, all the while staying alive in the harsh military conditions.

    This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys Ender's Game, or other tales of military strength or survival. However, Starship Troopers additionally exhibits a philosophical side, questioning the roles of government and defense, as well as military strategy and civics. After reading the book, I'm still unsure of what Heinlein intended to portray; the militaristic government seems to be depicted positively, perhaps calling for increased discipline in society, a commonly accepted theme of the book. Alternatively, the book's setting may have been some kind of satire, forcing Juan to struggle where he should have been out of danger. However, this theory is unlikely, because the book's movie adaptation was deliberately made satirically in contrast to the book. 

    In any case, Starship Troopers at its core is about bravery and humanity, and is definitely worth the read if you enjoy action-filled fiction. Thanks for reading!

            - Sam Bhalerao