Reviews

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

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sarahetc's review against another edition

3.0

Starship Troopers! Bang! Whizz! Huzzah!

EVERYONE FIGHTS NO ONE QUITS

And yeah, wow, who needs special effects when you've got all this time to really contemplate moral philosophy?

I admit that I read this as someone who really enjoyed the widely-panned movie of the 1990s. I did! Sometimes it's fun to go back and read the book. And so my overwhelming impression is one of calm contemplation. I probably could have passed on all the endless permutations of rankings and chains of commands, but I did really enjoy Rico's education and his exchanges with his various instructors about the moral imperatives they were operating under. It was entertain and instructional at the same time without the Blah de Blah de Bloo nonsense I remember from Stranger in a Strange Land. This was much more along the lines of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, which I found tremendously enjoyable. It only lacks a Wyoh character-- and for all her purported charm, we just don't see enough Carmen to get a sense of her.

Not my favorite Heinlein but definitely worthwhile and definitely in the yes, read it category.

mikeymikec85's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

jeffscott's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

ratstick's review against another edition

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3.0

Little dry at times

archiegitdog's review against another edition

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3.0

This book would have got a 2 except I was astonished to read it was written in 1959! I hate to say this but in a rare instance the film is much better than the book (altough the sequels were rubbish). Apart from the actions scenes in the book everything else was sooooo slow.

ohmygoshman's review against another edition

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3.0

A while ago, I started trying to read all of the Hugo winners, but stopped when I got to this one because I'm not a big fan of anything that glorifies the military and was tired of the old sci-fi military-esque books. But, I have to say that despite deeply disagreeing with a lot of what this book says, it was very readable, and now I can check it off my list.

marsius's review against another edition

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4.0

As much novel as philosophical treatise, Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" is near definitive for 50s science fiction. The narrative itself is not particularly well developed and even seems to meander at more than a few points (worse, at many others it simply jumps, not assuming that the reader knows a detail or can infer a plot point, but rather because he simply doesn't care whether or not the reader knows something, no matter how integral the point). The characters are often more than a little flat as well. But damn if it isn't a fun read (and the philosophizing so perfectly Cold War).