Starship Troopers

Starship Troopers is one of the representative works of the American science-fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1959 and awarded the Hugo Award, the world's major science-fiction prize, the following year. The novel is told in the first person: the narrator, Johnny Rico, comes from a wealthy family and, around his high-school graduation and against his father's wishes, enlists in the Mobile Infantry. The story unfolds through his memories: brutal physical and tactical training in boot camp, the leap in combat capability brought by powered armor, his first drop operation against the alien Arachnids, and his training and promotion from soldier to officer. Interwoven are his classes and discussions at Officer Candidate School—whether war should be borne by citizens, the relationship between military service and political rights, the discipline and responsibility of soldiers, and the role of punishment and education. Through these debates Heinlein concentrates his views on civic duty and social order. In 1997, director Paul Verhoeven adapted it into a film of the same name, which became a famous work in science-fiction cinema. The novel and the film differ markedly in stance and style; reading the original gives more direct access to Heinlein's own thinking and is key to understanding this classic of military science fiction.