Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein

Starship Troopers

By Robert A. Heinlein

  • Release Date: 1959-11-05
  • Genre: Adventure Sci-Fi
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 1,351 Ratings
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Description

In Robert A. Heinlein’s controversial Hugo Award-winning bestseller, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the Universe—and into battle against mankind’s most alarming enemy...

Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids.

Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job...

“A classic…If you want a great military adventure, this one is for you.”—All SciFi

Reviews

  • Starship Troopers

    5
    By Raumapat
    Read this more times than I can count. Have never ceased to enjoy it. Heinlein was the best.

  • A Timeless Classic

    5
    By (jg
    I read this book for the first time about twenty years ago. I’ve now read it seven times, and each time, I find something new…and old friends. There are a few things that date it, but the wisdom is timeless, especially those sections dedicated to the legendary class on History and Moral Philosophy. It is a shame that only pockets of our world look on this work with the reverence it deserves, while the rest stumble over themselves in their rush to condemn it, and all their bleating about tolerance and acceptance flies out the window. The woke miscreants of our society will never understand the importance of the lessons contained herein. Their relentless sense of entitlement and self-righteous indignation will not allow it. More’s the pity. For those with a sense of duty that extends beyond themselves, who don’t wake up every morning looking for someone else to blame for all the ills of the world, this story will resonate deeply. If you have not yet read it, you now have an opportunity to learn something deeply fundamental, and with which side you prefer to align yourself.

  • Excellent

    5
    By sin324157
    Excellent read! Very different (and better) than what’s shown in the classic movie. An interesting characteristic of this book is that you get to see upclose what life looks like from the soldier’s eyes and the action scenes are as briefly touched on as it would be for the soldier’s themselves; note that this does not take away from scenes.

  • Masterwork

    5
    By Pesoapres
    Portrays esprit d’ corps and civic virtue. Should be a high school must read.

  • Amazing

    5
    By Braden2
    One of the most insightful books I’ve ever had the joy of reading. I just finished it for the third time and it’s always so thought provoking and inspiring that it takes me time just to contemplate what is said. A perfect combination of action and philosophy. Well worth the short time it takes to read.

  • I get why it’s a classic, but still...

    3
    By ShootForTheEdit
    Kind of a let down. Most of the book is spent world building, but not even actual "world" building, more just establishing the hierarchy and function of its fictional military, there's not much lure beyond that. Majority of the story seems to take place between missions with Rico simply trying to survive his superiors. Any battles or skirmishes start and finish almost instantly. And there doesn't seem to be any real ending, the story just kind of stops while Rico and the Roughnecks just keep doing what they do. It's not bad and I can see why it's a classic, but I personally was just expecting a little more.

  • Where are the bugs?

    2
    By Dylan.Thobe
    The reason I loved the Starship Troopers franchise was because of the Arachnids. The thought of alien bugs had me very fascinated. When I finally saw what they were like, I was very satisfied. The militaristic future that the characters are set in doesn't interest me at all. I'm half way into the book and I still have heard any mention of the Arachnids. The only time I heard the characters mention them is the very first chapter when they're raiding the Skinnies city, almost everything else after that was training showing how everything in their future works. Although I agree with all the rest of you on how the movie should've included the power suits, but all in all I think the movie's better than the book.

  • Amazing book!

    5
    By Allthecoolnicknamesretaken
    This ranks in the top five books I’ve ever read! It’s funny, exciting, easy to follow (except some of the infantry positioning in codes that I don’t know), and actually brought tears to my eyes a few times. I haven’t read Heinlein's work before, but I’m going to start.

  • Starship Troopers - A great read yet again

    5
    By bachster
    I first read this book as a public library hard cover in 1966. It was as challenging and eye opening then as now . A simple story, really, just coming of age - but in a time when being a citizen means more than winning the lottery of birth. This book is simply written but the hard landscape and meditation on freedom and accountability are finely drawn. Provocative and undoubtedly not politically correct in the view of the purveyors of entitlement. Read it, reflect and be thankful for those who chose to fight for our freedom . A fitting companion bookend read is Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels also about "the last full measure of devotion" from the point of view of Gettysburg July 1864. The Bookster

  • Still A Good Read

    5
    By Quixote01
    I first read Starship Troopers back in 1993 while I was out on a 45 day field exercise at Ft. Bragg. At the time I wasn't much of a reader but someone told me that Starship Troopers was "required reading" by the cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. To this day I don't know if that statement is true but since then I have read the book five more times and I still find it entertaining. It's few of a society where you earn your benefits instead of just getting them for free as a handout is in total contrast with our present society. We could all stand to learn a little from this book. I highly recommend it! Especially for today's youngsters.

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