Starship Troopers

This article is about the novel by Robert A. Heinlein. For the film adaptation, see Starship Troopers (film).

Starship Troopers

File:Starship troopers2.jpg
Author	Robert A. Heinlein
Genre	Science-fiction
Publisher	G. P. Putnam's Sons
Publication date	December, 1959
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	263 (Paperback)
ISBN	ISBN 0399202099
Preceded by	Methuselah's Children
Followed by	Stranger in a Strange Land

Starship Troopers is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1959. The first-person narrative is about a young soldier named Juan Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry, a futuristic military unit equipped with powered armor. Rico progresses from civilian through recruit, NCO, and finally to officer, against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an insectoid species known as "The Bugs". Through Rico's eyes, Heinlein examines moral and philosophical aspects of capital punishment, juvenile delinquency, civic virtue, and necessity of war.

Starship Troopers won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960 and helped create a sub-genre of literature known as military science fiction. It is on the reading lists of the U.S. Army and Marines, and is the only science fiction novel on the reading list at all four U.S. military academies. Starship Troopers has been adapted into several films and games, most famously the 1997 film by Paul Verhoeven. The novel has attracted controversy and criticism of its social and political themes, which many critics believe are militaristic, and which some feel are sympathetic to fascism.

Background: The writing of Starship Troopers

The front cover of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (November 1959), illustrating Starship Soldier.

Robert A. Heinlein wrote from a military background because he had been a commissioned U.S. Navy officer and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. According to Heinlein, his desire to write Starship Troopers dates back to April 5, 1958, when he and his wife read a newspaper advertisement placed by the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy calling for a unilateral suspension of nuclear weapon testing by the United States. In response, the Heinleins created the Patrick Henry League in an attempt to drum up support for the U.S. nuclear testing program. During the unsuccessful campaign, Heinlein found himself under attack both in and out of the science fiction community for his views.

Heinlein stopped work on the novel that would become Stranger in a Strange Land and wrote Starship Troopers sometime during 1958 and 1959. Starship Troopers was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in October and November 1959 as a serial called Starship Soldier, and as a novel in December by G.P. Putnam's Sons. Although originally written as a juvenile novel for Scribners, it was rejected and was eventually published as an adult novel by G. P. Putnam's Sons. In many ways, Starship Troopers marked a turning point for Heinlein. Beforehand, he had mostly published juvenile novels for Scribner's. However, following their rejection of Starship Troopers, he ended his longstanding relationship with them, and began writing books with more adult themes.

Plot summary

Starship Troopers takes place in the midst of an interstellar war between the Terran Federation of Earth and the Arachnids (referred to as "The Bugs") of Klendathu. It is narrated as a series of flashbacks by Juan Rico, and is one of only a few Heinlein novels set out in this fashion. The novel opens with Rico aboard the corvette Rodger Young, about to embark on a raid against the planet of the "Skinnies," who are allies of the Arachnids. We learn that he is a cap(sule) trooper in the Terran Federation's Mobile Infantry, a 22nd-century unit that is analogous to a combination of the Marine Corps, Airborne forces, and the French Foreign Legion. The raid itself, one of the few instances of actual combat in the novel, is relatively brief: the Mobile Infantry land on the planet, destroy their targets, and retreat, suffering a single casualty in the process.

The story then flashes back to Rico's graduation from high school, and his decision to sign up for Federal Service over the objections of his father. This is the only chapter that describes Rico's civilian life, and most of it is spent on the monologues of two people: retired Lt. Col. Jean V. Dubois, Rico's school instructor in "History and Moral Philosophy," and Fleet Sergeant Ho, a recruiter for the armed forces of the Terran Federation.

Dubois serves as a stand-in for Heinlein throughout the novel, and delivers what is probably the book's most famous soliloquy on violence, and how it "has settled more issues in history than has any other factor." Fleet Sergeant Ho's monologues examine the nature of military service, and his anti-military tirades appear in the book primarily as a contrast with Dubois. (It is later revealed that his rants are calculated to scare off the weaker applicants).

Interspersed throughout the book are other flashbacks to Rico's high school History and Moral Philosophy course, which describe how in the Terran Federation of Rico's day, the rights of a full Citizen (to vote, and hold public office) must be earned through some form of volunteer "military" service. Those residents who have not exercised their right to perform this Federal Service retain the other rights generally associated with a modern democracy (free speech, assembly, etc.), but they cannot vote or hold public office. This structure arose ad hoc after the collapse of the 20th century western democracies, brought on by both social failures at home and military defeat by the Chinese Hegemony overseas (assumed looking forward into the late 20th century from the time the novel was written in the late 1950s).

In the next section of the novel Rico goes to boot camp at Camp Currie. Five chapters are spent exploring Rico's experience entering the service under the training of his instructor, Career Ship's Sergeant Charles Zim. Camp Currie is so rigorous that less than ten percent of the recruits finish basic training; the rest either resign, are expelled, or die in training. One of the chapters deals with Ted Hendrick, a fellow recruit and constant complainer who is flogged and expelled for striking a superior officer. Another recruit, a deserter who committed a heinous crime while AWOL, is hanged by his battalion. Rico himself is flogged for poor handling of (simulated) nuclear weapons during a drill; despite these experiences he eventually graduates and is assigned to a unit.

At some point during Rico's training, the Bug War has begun to brew, and Rico finds himself taking part in combat operations. The war "officially" starts with an Arachnid attack that annihilates the city of Buenos Aires, although Rico makes it clear that prior to the attack there were plenty of "'incidents,' 'patrols,' or 'police actions.'" Rico briefly describes the Terran Federation's loss at the Battle of Klendathu where his unit is decimated and his ship destroyed. Following Klendathu, the Terran Federation is reduced to making hit-and-run raids similar to the one described at the beginning of the novel (which, chronologically would be placed between Chapters 10 and 11). Rico meanwhile finds himself posted to Rasczak's Roughnecks, named after Lieutenant Rasczak (his first name is never given). This part of the book focuses on the daily routine of military life, as well as the relationship between officers and non-commissioned officers, personified in this case by Rasczak and Sergeant Jelal.

Eventually, Rico decides to become a career soldier and attends Officer Candidate School, which turns out to be just like boot camp, only "squared and cubed with books added." Rico is commissioned a temporary Third Lieutenant as a field-test final exam and commands his own unit during Operation Royalty; eventually he graduates as a Second Lieutenant and full-fledged officer.

The final chapter serves as more of a coda, depicting Rico aboard the Rodger Young as the lieutenant in command of Rico's Roughnecks, preparing to drop to Klendathu as part of a major strike, with his father (having joined the Service earlier in the novel) as his senior sergeant and a Third Lieutenant-in-training of his own under his wing.

Characters in "Starship Troopers"

Major characters

• Juan "Johnnie" Rico - Son of a wealthy Filipino family who joined the Mobile Infantry almost on impulse and over his parents' objections. After achieving the rank of corporal and surviving several battles, he entered Officer Candidate School at his commander's urging. He eventually became a lieutenant, commanding a platoon on his original ship, with his father as a sergeant under him.

• Sergeant Charles Zim - Career ship's sergeant, Juan Rico's boot camp instructor and platoon leader at Camp Arthur Currie. He became the company commander at Camp Sergeant Spooky Smith. He was Johnnie's platoon sergeant during Operation Royalty, and was given a field commission of brevet captain with the permanent rank of first lieutenant.

• Lieutenant Colonel Jean V. Dubois - Rico's high school instructor in History and Moral Philosophy. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Mobile Infantry after he lost an arm.

• Sergeant Jelal - Career ship's sergeant, Juan Rico's platoon sergeant aboard the Rodger Young and de facto platoon leader after Lt. Rasczak's death. He eventually made captain, but lost his legs. Nicknamed "Jelly", and anyone who had made one combat drop could call him that to his face.

• Ted Hendrick - Mobile Infantry recruit who questioned the need to learn knife-throwing. He was court-martialed for disobeying orders and striking a superior, and was sentenced to ten lashes and a Misconduct Discharge.

• Lieutenant Rasczak - Juan Rico's platoon leader in the Rodger Young. His platoon always called him "the Lieutenant", in tones of awe. He died in a drop after rescuing two of his soldiers; he was the only one in that raid who didn't make the retrieval boat. His platoon kept the name Rasczak's Roughnecks after his death.

Minor characters

• N. L. Dillinger - Mobile Infantry recruit who deserted service. He was hanged for murdering a baby girl after kidnapping her for ransom. The trial was handled by the Infantry rather than the civil judiciary.

• Fleet Sergeant Ho - Federal Service recruiting officer who swore in Juan Rico and Carl. He was "on display" with legs and right arm missing. Johnnie met him after hours and learned that he wore prosthetics except when on duty, the missing limbs being intended to impress prospective recruits with the seriousness of their decision.

• Emilio Rico - Juan Rico's father, a wealthy Filipino businessman. He opposed Johnnie's plans to join the Mobile Infantry, but after the Bug War began and his wife died, he himself joined and eventually became a platoon sergeant.

• Major Reid - Juan Rico's History and Moral Philosophy teacher at Officer Candidate School.

• Carmencita Ibanez - Juan's classmate that he has a crush on. She excels in mathematics and enlists as a pilot.

Major themes

Politics

In addition to being a novel, Starship Troopers is also a political essay. Large portions of the book are spent in classrooms, with Rico and other characters engaged in debates with their History and Moral Philosophy Teachers, who serve as stand-ins for Heinlein. The overall theme of the book is to present a favorable view of military life (with its purposefulness and order), as well as disgust with the slack, individualistic life of "civilians". Subsidiary themes include the necessity and use of violence, the belief that nuclear fallout is good, and personal responsibility. Heinlein's Terran Federation is a meritocracy, where suffrage belongs only to those willing to serve their society by two years of military service, instead of "anyone who is 18 years old and has a body temperature near 37° C." This is in contrast to the democracies of the twentieth centuries, which according to the novel had collapsed because "people had been led to believe that they could simply vote for whatever they wanted . . . and get it, without toil, without sweat, without tears." Indeed, Dubois criticizes as unrealistic the famous passage of the U.S. Declaration of Independence about "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Starship Troopers is also a vehicle for Heinlein's anti-communist views, best summed up by Rico's belief that "[c]orrect morals arise from knowing what man is—not what do-gooders and well-meaning old Aunt Nellies would like him to be." Characters attack Karl Marx (a "pompous fraud"), the Labor theory of value ("All the work one cares to add will not turn a mud pie into an apple tart...") and Plato's The Republic ("antlike communism" and "weird in the extreme"). Heinlein's fears about communism are additionally embodied in the Arachnids, the "the ultimate dictatorship of the hive." The Arachnids are a society of "total communism" adapted to it by evolution. They lay their eggs in the thousands, and send their warriors off to battle without the slightest thought about casualties, in both cases a major advantage over the individualistic Terrans."

References to history

Starship Troopers describes the historical origins of the Terran Federation as follows:

"[The veterans] had lost a war, most of them had no jobs, many were sore as could be over the terms of the Treaty of New Delhi, especially the P.O.W. foul-up—and they knew how to fight. But it wasn't revolution; it was more like what happened in Russia in 1917 — the system collapsed; somebody else moved in... Some veterans got together as vigilantes to stop rioting and looting, hanged a few people... and decided not to let anyone but veterans on their committee."

This is an explicit comparison with the Russian Revolution when in the October Revolution Lenin's Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Government that had taken power after the February Revolution. It also has some parallels with the development of the Freikorps, far-right paramilitary organizations that sprang up around Germany as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I. Many German veterans felt profoundly disconnected from civilian life, and joined a Freikorps in search of stability within a military structure. This later contributed to the rise of the Nazis. The fictional "Treaty of New Delhi" might also be compared to the Treaty of Versailles. However, there are similar parallels to early United States history, such as Shay's Rebellion and the Society of the Cincinnati.

There are also some likely references to World War II, specifically the Pacific War. Mirroring the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Arachnids begin the war with a surprise attack on Buenos Aires. During Operation Royalty, the Mobile Infantry occupies the surface of Planet P and has to blast the Arachnids out of their well-prepared underground bunker networks, which are similar to Japanese fortifications on islands like Iwo Jima. Following the Battle of Klendathu, the Terran Federation is reduced to making hit-and-run raids on isolated Arachnid and Skinny bases, similar to the U.S. Navy between Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway. The loss of Rico's ship, the Valley Forge during the Klendathu drop may have been inspired by the loss of Heinlein's former ship, the USS Lexington, which was sunk by the Japanese in 1942.

The Korean War had ended only five years before Heinlein began writing Starship Troopers, and the book makes several direct references to it, such as the claim that "no 'Department of Defense' ever won a war". Heinlein also refers to the American prisoners of war taken in that conflict, including the popular accusations of Communist brainwashing. After the Korean War ended, there were rumors that the Chinese and North Koreans continued to hold a large number of Americans. Rico's History and Moral Philosophy class at Officer Candidate School has a long discussion about the need to never leave a single man behind, even at the risk of starting a new war. Again, these were fairly popular views in America and it's probably unsurprising that Rico concludes it "doesn't matter whether it's a thousand — or just one, sir. You fight."

Military innovations

Powered Armor

Main article: Powered armor

In addition to Heinlein's political views, Starship Troopers popularized a number of military concepts and innovations, some of which have since been utilized. Perhaps its most famous legacy is the concept of the powered armor exoskeleton used by the Mobile Infantry soldiers. These suits were controlled by the wearer's own movements but powered to augment the actions. A trooper could, for example, jump upwards, and the powered leg joints would launch him off the ground while rockets kicked in for further propulsion. Dropped from orbit in individual egg-shaped heat shields, the troopers would parachute into enemy territory for quick hit-and-run operations. Armed with significant weaponry including flame throwers, high-explosive rockets, and occasionally nuclear weapons, the Mobile Infantry soldier had an arsenal that made him a one-man tank, with skills comparable to a modern-day fighter pilot.

One of the book's major creative feats is the rigorously coherent invention and depiction of the use of heavy infantry delivered to planetary surfaces for operations designed not only to serve diplomatic purposes (i.e. terror operations) but also to take and hold positions for intelligence gathering. The concept of Mobile Infantry, whose basic element is the single trooper, highly trained, encased in an armored suit, and delivered to the area of operations in a disposable re-entry pod, is unprecedented in literature, both military and otherwise. The weapons systems, tactics, training, and all other aspects of this futuristic elite force are completely envisioned, from the function of the armored suits to the training of personnel to the operational use of the suits in combat. Tactics are described in detail, and the weapons systems are tailored to the operational imperatives laid down by the plot.

Modern ramifications

While powered armor is Starship Troopers most famous legacy, its influence extends deep into contemporary warfare. Almost half a century after its publication, Starship Troopers is on the reading lists of the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps, and is the only science fiction novel on the reading list at all four United States military academies. When Heinlein wrote Starship Troopers the United States military was a largely conscripted force, based on mass over maneuver. Today the US Marine Corps has incorporated many ideas similar to Heinlein's concept of an elite all-volunteer, high-tech strike force, while the US Army has also initiated a transformation program which may give it similar capabilities in the near future. The Army has also taken steps towards powered armor warfare with Project Land Warrior, while the DARPA agency has invested $50 million developing an exoskeleton suit for military use. The influence of Starship Troopers also extends beyond doctrine; some of the more mundane pieces of technology used in the novel that can be found in a contemporary infantry unit are night vision goggles, thermal viewers, and digital terrain maps with unit positions. In addition, references to the book keep appearing in military culture. According to the Urban Dictionary, during the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, U.S. Army Rangers called their Somali opponents "Skinnies" after the aliens Rico fights at the beginning of the book, and in 2002 a Marine general described the future of Marine Corps clothing and equipment by contrasting it with the Mobile Infantry.

Controversy

To Heinlein's surprise, Starship Troopers won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960. By 1980, twenty years after its release, it had been translated into eleven different languages and was still selling strong. However, Heinlein complained that, despite this success, almost all the mail he received about it was negative and he only heard about it "when someone wants to chew me out".

Literary

The main literary criticsm against Starship Troopers is that it is nothing more than a vehicle for Heinlein's political views. John Brunner compared it to a "Victorian children's book" while Anthony Boucher, founder of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, remarked that Heinlein had "forgotten to insert a story." Alexei Panshin complained that the novel was overly simplistic — "the account of the making of a [marine]... and nothing more" — and that the characters were simply mouthpieces for Heinlein: "At the end you know nothing of [Rico's] tastes, his likes and dislikes, his personal life. The course of the book changes him in no way because there is nothing to change — Rico remains first and last a voice reading lines about how nice it is to be a soldier... The other characters are even more sketchy, or are simple expositions of an attitude." Richard Geib adds "The real life 'warriors' I have known are all more multi-faceted than anyone we meet in Starship Troopers. And the ones I know who have killed are much more ambivalent about having done so." He further complained about the almost complete lack of sexuality among the characters and the absence of any serious romance, although as Heinlein would probably point out, Starship Troopers was originally marketed as adolescent literature.

Militarism

Another complaint about Starship Troopers is that it is either inherently militaristic or pro-military. There was even a two year debate in the Proceedings of the Institute for Twenty-First Century Studies (PITFCS) that was sparked by a comparison between a quote in Starship Troopers that "the noblest fate that a man can endure is to place his own mortal body between his loved home and war's desolation" and the anti-war poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen. Dean McLaughlin called it "a book-length recruiting poster." Alexei Panshin, a veteran of the peacetime military, argued that Heinlein glossed over the reality of military life, and that the Terran Federation-Arachnid conflict existed simply because, "Starship troopers are not half so glorious sitting on their butts polishing their weapons for the tenth time for lack of anything else to do." Joe Haldeman, a Vietnam veteran and author of the antiwar novel The Forever War, similarly complained that Starship Troopers unnecessarily glorifies war. Others have pointed out that Heinlein never actually served in combat, having been a Naval Academy graduate who was medically discharged for a tuberculosis infection and spent World War II as a civilian doing Research and Development at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Defending Heinlein, George Price argued that "[Heinlein] implies, first, that war is something "endured," not enjoyed, and second, that war is so unpleasant, so desolate, that it must at all costs be kept away from one's home. In a commentary on his essay "Who Are the Heirs of Patrick Henry?", Heinlein agreed that Starship Troopers "glorifies the military ... Specifically the P.B.I., the Poor Bloody Infantry, the mudfoot who places his frail body between his loved home and the war's desolation — but is rarely appreciated... he has the toughest job of all and should be honored." The book's dedication also reads in part "... to all sergeants anywhen who have labored to make men out of boys." However, he thoroughly disagreed that Starship Troopers was militaristic, arguing that the military personnel in the Terran Federation were not allowed to vote while on active duty — since "the idiots might vote not to make a drop" — and that the military was thoroughly despised by many civilians. Interestingly, Heinlein also received some complaints about the lack of conscription in Starship Troopers (the military draft was the law in the United States when he wrote the novel). Heinlein was always vehemently opposed to the idea of conscription and the advent of the modern U.S. all-volunteer military forces appears to have vindicated some of the ideas of Starship Troopers.

A "Fascist Utopia"

Another accusation is that the Terran Federation is a fascist society, and that Starship Troopers is therefore an endorsement of fascism/Nazism. These analogies have become so popular that two of the corollaries of Godwin's Law state that once Heinlein is brought up during online debates, it is inevitable that someone will compare the book's society to that of Nazi Germany. One could argue that the most famous proponent of these views is Paul Verhoeven, whose film version of Starship Troopers portrayed the Terran Federation wearing Nazi-like outfits. Most of the arguments for this view cite the idea that only veterans can vote, and non-veterans lack citizenship. Ironically, according to Poul Anderson, Heinlein got the idea not from Nazi Germany or Sparta, but from Switzerland.

Defenders of the book usually point out that, although the electoral franchise is limited, the government of the Terran Federation is democratically elected. There is freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of conscience. The political system described in the book is multiracial, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic. The protagonist Juan Rico is Filipino and others in his training group are American, Armenian, Japanese, German, and Turkish or Arab, and one or two have recognizably Jewish last names. Many also argue that Heinlein was simply discussing the merits of a "selective versus nonselective franchise." Heinlein made a similar claim in his Expanded Universe. The novel makes a related claim that "[s]ince sovereign franchise is the ultimate in human authority, we insure that all who wield it accept the ultimate in social responsibility — we require each person who wishes to exert control over the state to wager his own life — and lose it, if need be to save the life of the state. The maximum responsibility a human can accept is thus equated to the ultimate authority a human can exert."

A more moderate accusation is that Heinlein's society is a utopia, and that his ideas sound good because they're never really tested. This interpretation includes critics like Robert A. W. Lowndes, Philip José Farmer, and Michael Moorcock. The latter wrote an essay entitled "Starship Stormtroopers" in which he attacked Heinlein and other writers over similar "Utopian fiction." Lowndes accused Heinlein of using straw man arguments, "countering ingenuous half-truths with brilliant half-truths." Lowndes further argued that the Terran Federation could never be as idealistic as Heinlein portrays it to be because he never properly addressed whether or not [non-citizens] have at least as full a measure of civil redress against official injustice as we have today. Phil Farmer also agreed, arguing that a "world ruled by veterans would be as mismanaged, graft-ridden, and insane as one ruled by men who had never gotten near the odor of blood and guts." Heinlein later denied that military service was the only way to earn the franchise and claimed that the novel made this point explicitly, several times, for example when Rico is choosing preferences for assignment after enlisting. However, this issue is still controversial, even among the book's defenders, and James Gifford has declared that Heinlein is simply wrong on this point.

Another controversial point is corporal punishment. The Terran Federation uses whippings for military discipline and also in civilian criminal justice. Characters speak of spankings or paddlings being used in child rearing.

Racism

The supposedly racist aspects of Starship Troopers involve the Terrans' relations with the Bugs and the Skinnies, who are viewed by some as stand-ins for the Japanese, Chinese, or Russians. Some people are also uncomfortable with the idea of an inter-species war, viewing it as similar to a race war. Richard Geib suggests that Heinlein portrayed the Arachnids as lacking "minds or souls... killing them seems no different than stepping on ants." Both Robert Peterson and John Brunner believe that the nicknames "Bugs" and "Skinnies" carry racial overtones, Brunner using the analogy of "gook" while Peterson suggested that "[n]ot only does the nickname "Bugs" for the arachnids of Klendathu sound too much like a racial slur — think the derogatory use of the word 'Jew' — but Heinlein's characters unswervingly believe that humans are superior to Bugs, and that humans are destined to spread across the galaxy."

However, Robert A. W. Lowndes argues that the war between the Terrans and the Arachnids is not about a quest for racial purity, but rather an extension of Heinlein's belief that man is a wild animal. According to this theory, if man lacks a moral compass beyond the will to survive, and he was confronted by another species with a similar lack of morality, then the only possible result would be warfare. In any case, the Arachnids are clearly not stupid (as Rico says, "Stupid races don't build spaceships!") and in several places the novel expresses admiration for the efficiency of the Arachnid species.

Adaptations and influences

Film and TV adaptations

File:Starship troopers movie posterjpg.jpg

Poster for the 1997 film Starship Troopers.

Main article: [[:Starship Troopers (OVA), Starship Troopers (film), Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles]]

The novel has been recycled into comics, books, films, and television series, the best known being Paul Verhoeven's 1997 Starship Troopers. The film began development with the working title Bug Hunt, but then a friend of Verhoeven pointed out the similarities between his script and the book. The license was subsequently negotiated and the script edited to conform more to the book. However, according to the Internet Movie Database, Verhoeven claimed he never finished reading the novel, getting both bored and depressed after the first few chapters. This explains the great dissimilarity between the two, and the volume of the uproar amongst Heinlein's fans when the movie was released. The film dealt with the novel's political themes through merciless satire, using visual allusions to propaganda films such as Triumph of the Will and wartime news broadcasts. However, this satire was embedded in slickly produced action sequences with clever special effects. Some wonder whether the satire went unnoticed by the audience who may have treated the movie as a simple gung-ho action movie. Starship Troopers was also adapted into a series of comic books by Dark Horse Comics in 1997 and 1998. Although it was explicitly based on the films, the later issues featured a suit of powered armor similar to that of the book. Other treatments more or less closely based on the book include a Japanese OVA series and accompanying manga made in 1988, entitled Uchû no Senshi, an animated series called Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, and a 2004 sequel to the first movie, Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation.

Video and board games

Main article: [[:Starship Troopers (board game), Starship Troopers (roleplaying game)]]

Starship Troopers was first made into a strategy/simulation board game by Avalon Hill in 1976. The design was a straight-forward attempt to bring to life the political-military system described in the book. In 1997 Avalon Hill released another totally different game, based on the movie, named "Starship Troopers: Prepare for Battle". Blue Tounge Entertainment via Atari released the computer game Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy in 2000, a top-down real-time tactics wargame. In 2005, Mongoose Publishing released a roleplaying game with a corresponding miniatures wargame, based on the "universe" of Starship Troopers (including the novel, movies, and television show).

Cultural references

Main article: Books, films, and games influenced by Starship Troopers

Starship Troopers influenced many later science fiction stories, setting a tone for the military in space, a type of story referred to as military science fiction. John Steakley's novel Armor was, according to the author, born out of frustration with the small amount of actual combat in Starship Troopers and because he wanted this aspect developed further. Conversely, Joe Haldeman's antiwar novel The Forever War is popularly thought to be a direct reply to Starship Troopers, and though Haldeman has stated that it is actually a result of his personal experiences in the Vietnam War, he has admitted to being influenced by Starship Troopers. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is also thought by many to have been either a direct response to or influenced by Starship Troopers. Card has flatly denied this, saying that he never read the novel and was influenced by The Forever War. Harry Harrison wrote a satirical book called Bill, the Galactic Hero which he described as "a piss-take on Heinlein's Starship Troopers" John Scalzi's novel Old Man's War is, according to the author, explicitly patterned after Starship Troopers. In recent years, John Ringo's series Legacy of the Alldenata (also known as the Posleen series) featured a more explicit homage to Heinlein's book.

The 1986 James Cameron movie Aliens incorporated themes and phrases right out of the novel such as the terms "the drop" and "bug hunt" as well as the cargo-loader exoskeleton. The actors playing the Colonial Marines were also required to read Starship Troopers as part of their training prior to filming. Starship Troopers is also thought to have influenced numerous computer and boardgames, including Tribes, Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, Fallout 2, Halo, Starcraft and BattleTech.

Editions

• June 1, 1960, Putnam Publishing Group, hardcover, ISBN 0-399-20209-9
• May, 1968, Berkley Medallion Edition, paperback, ISBN 425-02945-X
• January 1984, Berkley Publishing Group, paperback, ISBN 0-425-07158-8
• November 1985, Berkley Publishing Group, paperback, ISBN 0-425-09144-9
• November 1986, Berkley Publishing Group, paperback, ISBN 0-425-09926-1
• May 1, 1987, Ace Books, paperback, 263 pages, ISBN 0-441-78358-9
• October 1, 1995, Buccaneer Books, hardcover, ISBN 1-56849-287-1
• December 1, 1997, Blackstone Audiobooks, cassette audiobook, ISBN 0-7861-1231-X
• July 1, 1998, G. K. Hall & Company, large print hardcover, 362 pages, ISBN 0-7838-0118-1
• October 1, 1999, Sagebrush, library binding, ISBN 0-7857-8728-3
• January 1, 2000, Blackstone Audiobooks, CD audiobook, ISBN 0-7861-9946-6

References

• Angelo, Carlos. Robert A. Heinlein, Dean of Science Fiction Writers.

• Template:News reference

• Starship Troopers: The PITFCS Debate: A two year debate about the novel in a Science Fiction publication occuring immediately after its publication.

• http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/ftp/fedrlsvc.pdf. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |PublishYear= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help)

• Heinlein, Robert A. (2003). Expanded Universe. Baen. ISBN 0-7434-7159-8. Contains Heinlein's comments on the writing and the politics of Starship Troopers, as well as the polemical speech "The Pragmatics of Patriotism" on the moral basis of the military.

• "The Heinlein Society". Official Robert Anson Heinlein Estate Endorsed Website. Retrieved December. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

• Moorcock, Michael. Starship Stormtroopers, Cienfuegos Press Anarchist Review, 1978.

• Panshin, Alexei (1968). Heinlein in Dimension. Advent Publishers. ISBN 0911682120.

• http://www.enter.net/~torve/critics/HeinleinRoP/ropcontents.html. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |PublishYear= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help) Describes a correspondence with Heinlein over "Starship Troopers" in 1959.

• Pinkerton, James (May 2003). "Starship Trooperization". Tech Central Station Daily.

• Weuve, Christopher. Thoughts on Starship Troopers. Examines some of the issues surrounding Heinlein's version and Verhoeven's version.

See also

• Rodger Young

External links

• Starship Troopers title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Starry-Eyed Internationalists" versus the Social Darwinists by Rafeeq O. McGiveron. Examines Heinlein's transnational governments, including the Terran Federation.
• Militarism and Utopia in 'Starship Troopers' by Robert Peterson. Argues that Heinlein's Federation is a fascist government.
• Citizenship at War by Roberto de Sousa Causo. Review from a Brazilian newspaper.
• SciFi.Com book review by Craig E. Engler.
• Gotterdammerung.Org book review by Branislav L. Slantchev.
• SFReviews.Net book review by T. M. Wagner.
• "STARSHIP TROOPERS" by Robert A. Heinlein. An opinion by Richard Geib.