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Starship Troopers

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Novels

   CAPTION: Starship Troopers

     Author   Robert A. Heinlein
    Country   United States
    Language  English
    Genre(s)  Science fiction
   Publisher  G. P. Putnam's Sons
    Released  December 1959
   Media Type Print ( Hardcover and Paperback)
     Pages    263 pp (paperback edition)
      ISBN    ISBN 0-450-02576-4

   Starship Troopers is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein,
   first published (abridged) as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy &
   Science Fiction (October, November 1959, as "Starship Soldier") and
   published hardcover in 1959.

   The first-person narrative is about a young Filipino soldier named Juan
   "Johnnie" Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry, a futuristic
   military unit equipped with powered armor. Rico's military career
   progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer 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 suffrage, civic
   virtue, the necessities of war and capital punishment, and the nature
   of juvenile delinquency.

   Starship Troopers won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960 and helped
   create a different genre of literature known as military science
   fiction. It 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
   some critics believe are militaristic.

Background: The writing of Starship Troopers

   Robert A. Heinlein wrote from a military background because he had been
   a commissioned U.S. Naval officer upon graduation from the U.S. Naval
   Academy and served six years. According to Heinlein, his desire to
   write Starship Troopers dated back to 1958- 04-05, 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. 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 written both adult
   novels and 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

   Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

   Starship Troopers is a novel set in an unspecified, but not
   unrecognizably distant, time in the future, or perhaps in an alternate
   history. . It chronicles the experiences of Juan Rico, the story's
   narrator, during his enlistment and training in the Mobile Infantry,
   and his participation in an interstellar war between the Terran
   Federation and the Arachnids (referred to as "the Bugs") of Klendathu.
   It is narrated as a series of flashbacks and it is one of only a few
   Heinlein novels to use that narrative device.

   The novel opens with Rico aboard the corvette Rodger Young, about to
   embark on a raid against the planet of the "Skinnies," allies of the
   Arachnids. We learn that he is a "cap" trooper (called this because
   they are dropped in capsules toward their drop zones) in the Terran
   Federation's Mobile Infantry, a military corp which combines aspects of
   the Marine Corps and a space borne version of Airborne forces. The raid
   itself, one of the few instances of actual combat in the novel, is
   relatively brief: the Mobile Infantrymen land on the planet, destroy
   their targets, and withdraw, 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 recording the monologues of two people: retired
   Lt. Col. Jean V. Dubois, Rico's school instructor in the subject of
   "History and Moral Philosophy," and Fleet Sergeant Ho, a recruiter for
   the armed forces of the Terran Federation.

   Many readers have felt that Dubois serves as a stand-in for Heinlein
   throughout the novel. He delivers what is probably the book's most
   famous soliloquy, on how violence "has settled more issues in history
   than has any other factor." Fleet Sergeant Ho offers a separate angle
   on military service to that of Dubois. (Ho has prostheses for several
   limbs, but does not wear them on duty at the front door of the federal
   building. This is calculated to remind applicants of the real risks of
   service, and to weed out those not willing to take such risks in the
   service of the commonwealth).

   Interspersed throughout the book are other flashbacks to Rico's high
   school History and Moral Philosophy course, which describe how, in the
   Terran Federation, the rights of a full Citizen (to vote, and hold
   public office) must be earned through voluntary Federal service.
   However, the franchise cannot be exercised until after honorable
   discharge from the Service, which means that active members of the
   Service cannot vote. Those residents who opt not to perform Federal
   Service retain the other rights generally associated with a modern
   democracy (e.g. free speech, assembly, etc.), but 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 (i.e. looking
   forward into the late 20th century from the time the novel was written
   in the late 1950s).

   After enlisting, Rico is assigned to boot camp at Camp Arthur Currie.
   Five chapters are spent exploring Rico's training, under the guidance
   of his chief instructor, Career Ship's Sergeant Charles Zim. Boot camp
   is deliberately so rigorous that less than ten percent of the recruits
   finish basic training; the rest either resign (with no penalty save
   never being able to vote), are expelled (likewise), are given medical
   discharges (likewise) or lesser duties (enabling them to vote after
   their service is finished) 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. (It should be
   noted that flagellation and hanging have become the principal forms of
   both civil and military punishment in the novel's world, replacing the
   modern penal system with what seems to be something of a return to 17th
   - 19th century policies.) Another recruit, a deserter who committed a
   heinous crime while AWOL, is hanged by his battalion after his arrest.
   Rico himself is flogged for his negligent handling of a simulated
   nuclear weapon during a drill; despite these experiences, he graduates
   with his class and is assigned to an active duty MI unit.

   At some point during Rico's training, the Bug War moves from police
   action and border skirmishes to outright war, and upon graduation, Rico
   finds himself taking part in combat operations. The war "officially"
   starts when an Arachnid attack annihilates the city of Buenos Aires, in
   which Rico's mother is killed, although Rico makes it clear that there
   had been many prior "'incidents,' 'patrols,' or 'police actions'". Rico
   briefly describes the Terran Federation's catastrophic defeat in the
   Battle of Klendathu; his own unit was devastated and its transport ship
   destroyed. The Terran Federation suffers such tremendous losses that it
   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) to gain time to rebuild. Rico meanwhile
   finds himself posted to Rasczak's Roughnecks, named after Lieutenant
   Rasczak (whose first name is never given). This part of the book
   focuses on the daily routine of military life aboard ship, 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, under supervision,
   commands his own unit during Operation Royalty; eventually he is
   commissioned a Second Lieutenant.

   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 (who has joined the MI earlier in the novel after his wife's
   death) 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
       volunteered for Federal Service almost on impulse and over his
       parents' objections. He ended up in the Mobile Infantry. He did his
       basic training at Camp Currie and was assigned as a Private to
       "Willie's Wildcats". His first combat experience was the Battle of
       Klendathu. He was then transferred to "Rasczak's Roughnecks" aboard
       the Rodger Young, where he achieved the rank of corporal and
       survived several successful battles. He later entered Officer
       Candidate School at the encouragement of his friend Ace. Rico
       eventually became a lieutenant after commanding a platoon during
       the successful "Operation Royalty". At the end of the novel he is
       commanding a platoon back on the Rodger Young, with his father as
       platoon sergeant.

     * Charles Zim — Originally career Ship's Sergeant, Juan Rico's boot
       camp instructor and company commander at Camp Arthur Currie.
       Eventually, he was the Company First Sergeant of Rico's unit during
       Operation Royalty and acted below his rank to be Rico's Platoon
       Sergeant. Zim took the initiative to raid an Arachnid "bughole",
       and captured the first brain bug taken by the MI. He 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. A letter to Rico
       during Basic Training boosts Rico's spirits and helps to keep him
       from resigning (and losing the opportunity to become a full
       Citizen).

     * 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.

     * Lieutenant Rasczak — Juan Rico's platoon leader in the Rodger
       Young. His platoon always called him "the Lieutenant", in tones of
       considerable respect. He died during a drop while recovering two of
       his soldiers. After the Lieutenant's death, a vote was taken among
       the cap troopers to rename the platoon "Jelly's Jaguars" and was
       passed unanimously; this was vetoed by Sergeant Jelal, and the unit
       remained Rasczak's Roughnecks.

Minor characters

     * Career Corporal "Ace" — Squad commander, Jelal's Platoon, Rasczak's
       Roughnecks. Assisted Juan Rico in the recovery of Dizzy Flores, a
       wounded Trooper. When Rico first became Corporal and assistant
       section leader, being promoted past Ace, they fought in the showers
       over Ace's lack of respect. Although Ace won, he acknowledged
       Rico's good intentions and helped him earn the respect of the
       entire platoon. Later, Ace convinced Rico to pursue a career in the
       military, and enroll in Officer Candidate School.

     * Dizzy Flores — (Male, although depicted as female in the movie
       version) Member of squad six in Rasczak's Roughnecks. Wounded in
       the first action of the Roughnecks under the command of Jelal: the
       raid against the "Skinnies" described in the first chapter of the
       book. Dizzy was recovered by his squad leader "Ace" and the
       assistant section leader Juan Rico, but died due to wounds during
       transport to the Roughnecks' transport, the Rodger Young.

     * Private First Class Dutch Bamburger — Senior squadmate that Rico is
       assigned to for his first drop. Dies while showing Johnny the ropes
       in Operation Bughouse.

     * Captain Frankel — Camp Currie Battalion Commander, involved in the
       trial of Recruit Ted Hendrick. Saved Hendrick from execution by
       creative manipulation of the charges and jurisdiction of the court
       martial summoned for the trial.

     * N. L. Dillinger — Mobile Infantry recruit who deserted. He was
       hanged for murdering a baby girl after kidnapping her for ransom.
       The execution was handled by the Infantry rather than the civil
       judiciary, as Dillinger was still an active-duty member of the MI.
       though AWOL.

     * Fleet Sergeant Ho — Federal Service recruiting officer who lost his
       legs and right arm while serving, he swore in Juan Rico and Carl.
       He appears without prosthetics to administer the oath to new
       recruits, as a demonstration of the possible consequences of
       service.

     * 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 was killed, he found that position
       had become untenable. He was then sworn to Federal Service and
       eventually became a platoon sergeant in the Mobile Infantry.

     * Major Reid — Juan Rico's blind History and Moral Philosophy teacher
       at Officer Candidate School.

     * Carmen Ibanez — One of Juan Rico's high school classmates. Rico had
       a crush on her, and she was a major influence on his decision to
       enlist, joining the same day that she did. As she excelled in
       mathematics and gymnastics, she became a Navy spaceship pilot. The
       novel emphasizes that (space) Naval ranks were often female,
       whereas combat troops were universally male.

     * "Carl" — Juan Rico's best friend in high school, his example was
       one of the influences which prompted Juan Rico to enlist. The two
       of them enlisted the same day, and Carl was assigned to the
       Starside Research & Development facilites on Pluto. Later in the
       novel, it is mentioned that Carl had been killed when the Pluto
       research facilities were destroyed by the Arachnids.

     * Ted Hendrick — Mobile Infantry recruit who questioned the need to
       learn knife-throwing. Later court-martialed for disobeying orders
       and striking a superior officer (Sergeant Zim). Sentenced to ten
       lashes and Bad Conduct Discharge, instead of execution. He thereby
       lost his chance for the franchise and his intended career in
       politics.

Locations

     * Terra (Earth) — Terran homeworld. Location of boot camp "Arthur
       Currie".
     * Faraway — A Terran colony planet occupied by the Klendathu
       Arachnids.
     * Hesperus — A Terran colony planet.
     * Iskander — A Terran colony planet.
     * Klendathu — Home planet of the Arachnids. Location of "Operation
       Bughouse".
     * Planet P — A planet occupied by the Arachnids as a forward base,
       attacked and excavated by the Terran Mobile Infantry in "Operation
       Royalty". Location of first captured Arachnid leaders, and 3rd Lt.
       Juan Rico's first command as an (probationary) officer.
     * Sanctuary — A planet with an orbital stardock. A Mobile
       Infantry/Navy headquarters, R&R station, and backup headquarters of
       the Terran Federation. Its location was a carefully maintained
       secret enforced by implanted suicide orders in astrogation officers
       should they be captured. Described by Rico as being "like Earth,
       but retarded" due to a lack of Earth-like natural background
       radiation that prompted mutation and evolution of life.
     * Sheol — An Arachnid colony planet, decimated by the Terrans.
     * TFCT Valley Forge — The corvette transport of "Willie's Wildcats",
       features the retrieval song "Yankee Doodle". It was destroyed in a
       collision with the Ypres over Klendathu during "Operation
       Bughouse", but both ships were later recommissioned for the second
       assault on Klendathu.
     * TFCT Rodger Young — The corvette transport of "Rasczak's
       Roughnecks", features the retrieval song "Rodger Young." This
       refers to PFC Rodger Young, who was awarded the Medal of Honour
       posthumously during World War II and the subject of a popular
       ballad.

Equipment

     * Powered Armor (Marauder Suits, Scout Suits, and Command Suits)
     * Heavy Weapons (Rockets, Nuclear Weapons)
     * Burners/Flamers (Rifle Burners and Hand Burners)
     * Ships (Many different classes)
     * Tactical warhead launcher

Major themes

Politics

   Starship Troopers is a political essay as well as a novel. Large
   portions of the book take place in classrooms, with Rico and other
   characters engaged in debates with their History and Moral Philosophy
   teachers, who are often thought to be speaking in Heinlein's voice. The
   overall theme of the book is that social responsibility requires
   individual sacrifice. Heinlein's Terran Federation is a limited
   democracy with aspects of a meritocracy based on willingness to
   sacrifice in the common interest. Suffrage belongs only to those
   willing to serve their society by two years of volunteer Federal
   Service (there is no draft before the Bug War) -- "the franchise is
   today limited to discharged veterans," (ch. XII), instead of anyone
   ("...who is 18 years old and has a body temperature near 37 °C.").
   There is an explicitly made contrast to the democracies of the 20th
   century, which according to the novel were flawed (and 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, one of Rico's teachers, criticizes as
   unrealistic the famous passage of the U.S. Declaration of Independence
   about " Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

   Some critics have complained that Heinlein creates a sexist world where
   the electorate is mostly male, to the further exclusion of the
   disabled. However, the book details that the Terran Constitution
   requires the government to accept any volunteer, regardless of gender,
   skills, or ability (the general intent is volunteer sacrifice as
   evidence of ability to put society above private interest; the military
   is a single component of that service). The only instance in which one
   can be denied the opportunity for Federal service -- a Constitutional
   right -- is if psychiatrists determine the applicant does not
   understand his or her oath. Those not fit for active military service
   have some other service found for them of equtiable risk (risk of life
   being one of the key ideas, as stated above), one of the examples given
   was drug-testing. Also, while the M.I. is nearly all male, Fleet (i.e.,
   the Navy), has a very high percentage of female personnel.

   Starship Troopers is also widely regarded as 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").
   Many believe Heinlein's fears about communism are embodied in the
   Arachnids, 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
   apparent regard for casualties, in both cases significantly different
   from the individualistic human Terrans.

Military innovations

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 used. Perhaps its most famous concept is the
   powered armor exoskeleton used by the Mobile Infantry trooper. 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. Dropping from orbit in individual
   re-entry capsules, the troopers parachute into enemy territory for
   their attacks. Armed with weaponry including flame throwers,
   high-explosive rockets, and occasionally small 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 infantry delivered to planetary
   surfaces for operations designed not only to serve political purposes
   but also to take and hold positions. The concept of Mobile Infantry,
   whose basic element is the trooper, highly trained, encased in an
   armored space-suit, and delivered to the area of operations in a
   disposable re-entry pod, was 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 and their variants 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 requirements of the plot.

   Aspects of the suit design are under active research by the US
   Department of Defense in the first years of the 21st century. A call
   for designs was answered around 2001 by 14 universities and companies;
   the design by a company called Sarcos, of Salt Lake City, Utah, being
   selected. Sarcos has been commissioned to build a prototype
   "exoskeleton", which is due to be delivered for army testing in 2008.

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 four of the five United
   States military academies. When Heinlein wrote Starship Troopers the
   United States military was a largely conscripted force, with conscripts
   serving two year hitches. Today the U.S. military (perhaps especially
   the Marine Corps) has incorporated many ideas similar to Heinlein's
   concept of an elite all-volunteer, high-tech strike force, while the
   U.S. 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 DARPA
   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. In
   2002 a Marine general described the future of Marine Corps clothing and
   equipment as needing to emulate 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
   strongly. 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 critiques

   The main literary criticism 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 it should be noted in this regard that
   Starship Troopers was originally marketed as adolescent literature.

Allegations of 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"
   (paraphrase of the fourth stanza of " The Star-Spangled Banner") 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 anti-war Hugo- and Nebula-winning science fiction
   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 (calling conscripts "slave soldiers") and the advent of
   the modern all-volunteer military forces appears to have vindicated
   some of the ideas of Starship Troopers. The book is recommended reading
   within the U.S. Army and Marine Corps because of its emphasis on
   small-unit cohesion, the fraternity of service, and its focus on the
   forward-serving, elite mobile infantry units, that so closely resemble
   the infantry units of the United States Army Delta Force, Rangers,
   Paratroopers and the Marine Corps.

Allegations of fascism

   Another accusation is that the Terran Federation is a fascist society,
   and that Starship Troopers is therefore an endorsement of fascism.
   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 and
   using fascistic propaganda. Most of the arguments for this view cite
   the idea that only veterans can vote and non-veterans lack citizenship.
   However, 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."

Allegations of utopianism

   More recently, Heinlein has been accused of creating a utopia (in the
   sense of a society that does, and can not, exist), and that while his
   ideas, sound plausible, they have never been put to the test and are,
   actually, impractical. This criticism has been leveled by the likes of
   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". 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 odour of blood and guts." Heinlein however explicitly writes that
   this government is not creating an ideal society when Major Reid, a
   mouthpiece educating Rico in officer candidate school states, "The
   practical reason for continuing our system is the same as the practical
   reason for continuing anything: It works satisfactorily."(XII)

   A possible counter argument to these objections is that the term
   "veteran" is used to mean any person completing a term (two or more
   years) of Federal Service, and that only a small percentage of service
   roles were of a military nature. Heinlein himself denied that military
   service was the only way to earn the franchise and noted that the novel
   made this point explicitly. A theoretical example is given in the novel
   that a blind volunteer who, being unsuited to many tasks, might be
   assigned to count caterpillar hairs for two years, and would receive
   the franchise after satisfactorily doing so. Hazardous occupations, in
   themselves do not qualify as Federal Service; for example, the
   ocean-going merchant marine - an excellent example of a hard and
   sometimes dangerous job - is explicitly noted as not being Federal
   Service. What counts in the world of the Terran Federation is personal
   risk in the service of the State.

   One character in the book, a recruiter, tells Rico that any adult may
   earn the franchise with two years of service, and that the government
   is required to find some duty for them to perform which is within their
   physical and mental capabilities. The objective is that all voters have
   earned the franchise through voluntary service in some position not
   under the volunteer's control, rather than simply by reaching an
   arbitrary age. It is implied that those who did not get the franchise
   did so because they were unwilling to spend the time and effort gaining
   something, and that this was taken to be evidence that they did not
   consider political participation worth it. No punishment is imposed on
   those who fail to complete their service (save on military under
   orders). No effort is made to find and return to their positions those
   who walk away (even from the military under many conditions; Dillinger
   was returned to Camp Currie for execution after being caught by local
   police [not the MI or Federal Service enforcement officers of any kind]
   and being convicted of a crime).

   However, this issue is still controversial, even among the book's
   defenders. James Gifford points to several quotes as indications that
   the characters assume Federal Service is military; for instance, when
   Rico tells his father he is interested in Federal Service, his father
   immediately explains his belief that Federal Service is a bad idea
   because there is no war in progress, indicating that he sees Federal
   Service as military in nature, or not necessary to a businessman during
   peacetime. Some Federal Service recruiters wear military ribbons, and a
   term of service "is either real military service... or a most
   unreasonable facsimile thereof." Moreover, the history of Federal
   Service describes it as being started by military veterans who did not
   originally allow civilians to join and are not described as allowing
   them to join later. Gifford decides, as a result, that although
   Heinlein's intentions may have been that Federal Service be 95%
   non-military, in relation to the actual contents of the book, Heinlein
   "is wrong on this point. Flatly so."

Criticism of corporal punishment

   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. As the book was written at the beginning of Dr.
   Benjamin Spock's influence on the raising of children in American and
   European cultures, this may be more of a reflection on the practices of
   the time which do not hold to the philosophy of Dr. Spock and his
   adherents. Indeed, in Mr. Dubois' class, Johnny Rico participates in a
   discussion that derides the introduction of psychoanalysis into
   childrearing in the twentieth century. This is viewed by some as a
   direct attack on Dr. Spock's methods, a belief potentially supported by
   Spock's founding role in the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, the
   organization to which Heinlein attributed his motivation for writing
   the novel.

Allegations of racism

   The supposedly racist aspects of Starship Troopers involve the Terrans'
   relations with the Bugs and the Skinnies. Some people are also
   uncomfortable with the idea of an inter-species war, viewing it as
   similar to a race war. Richard Geib has suggested that Heinlein
   portrayed the individual Arachnids as lacking "minds or souls...
   killing them seems no different from 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 "not only does the nickname 'Bugs' for
   the arachnids of Klendathu sound too much like a racial slur — think of
   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."

   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.

   At the end of the novel, the main character Juan Rico is revealed to be
   Filipino when he states in casual conversation that his native language
   is Tagalog.

Adaptations and influences

Film and TV adaptations

   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. A license was subsequently obtained and the script edited to
   conform more to the book. However, in the DVD commentary of the film
   Verhoeven claimed he never finished reading the novel, becoming both
   bored and depressed after the first few chapters. This may explain the
   great dissimilarity between the book and the film, and the uproar among
   Heinlein's fans when the movie was released. The script reflects a
   merciless contempt for Heinlein's ideas, which are condemned as similar
   to Nazism. The film's uniforms, badges, and flags had German and Nazi
   origins and were clearly intended to imply that the society was racist
   -- against non-human species rather than human racial or national
   groups.

Comic Books

   Starship Troopers was also adapted into a series of comic books by Dark
   Horse Comics in 1997 and 1998 and 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.

   In 2004 Mongoose Publishing released a graphic novel series called
   Starship Troopers - Blaze Of Glory - of which only the first book,
   Alamo Bay was released. Written by Tony Lee and illustrated by Sam Hart
   and Rod Reis, this new story followed the platoon Tamari's Tigers
   during the war, and charted the rise of new trooper William Tanner.

   Mongoose Publishing did not publish the following two books however,
   and nothing more was seen for over a year until UK Publisher Markosia
   Publishing took over the comic license, releasing Blaze Of Glory and
   the successive two books, also written by Tony Lee - Dead Man's Hand
   and Damaged Justice as four-part miniseries to critical acclaim.

   These books not only follow the timeline seen in the television series,
   but are also more linked to the novel than the movie. Several of the
   novel's characters appear in cameos - the most notable however is
   Sergeant Zim, whose story is expanded on in the third book.

   A third film is said to be in the works with Rico returning in the
   title role.

Video and board games

   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 military situation described in the book. In 1997,
   Avalon Hill released a completely different game, based on the movie,
   named Starship Troopers: Prepare for Battle.

   In 1982, a programmer named Leo Christopherson wrote a game called
   Klendathu for the Tandy Colour Computer. Oddly enough, even though the
   game was created fifteen years before the theatrical incarnation of
   Starship Troopers, the bugs bear a closer resemblance to its depiction
   of the arachnids than what was described in the novel. The gameplay was
   simple in nature, with the objective being to earn money by burning
   bugs.

   In 1998, Mythic Entertainment released Starship Troopers: Battlespace
   which was available to America Online subscribers. The game allowed
   players to assume either Klendathu or Federation roles. Players piloted
   ships in overhead space combat against each other while accomplishing
   larger objectives such as capturing enemy bases.

   Blue Tongue Entertainment via Atari released the computer game Starship
   Troopers: Terran Ascendancy in 2000, a top-down real-time tactics
   wargame.

   A first-person shooter game titled Starship Troopers was released
   November 15, 2005, based on Paul Verhoeven's film version rather than
   on Heinlein's novel. It was developed by Strangelite Studios and
   published by Empire Interactive.

   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).

Release details

     * 1960- 06-01, Putnam Publishing Group, hardcover, ISBN 0-399-20209-9
     * May, 1968, Berkley Medallion Edition, paperback, ISBN 0-425-02945-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
     * 1987- 05-01, Ace Books, paperback, 263 pages, ISBN 0-441-78358-9
     * 1995- 10-01, Buccaneer Books, hardcover, ISBN 1-56849-287-1
     * 1997- 12-01, Blackstone Audiobooks, cassette audiobook, ISBN
       0-7861-1231-X
     * 1998- 07-01, G. K. Hall & Company, large print hardcover, 362
       pages, ISBN 0-7838-0118-1
     * 1999- 10-01, Sagebrush, library binding, ISBN 0-7857-8728-3
     * 2000- 01-01, Blackstone Audiobooks, CD audiobook, ISBN
       0-7861-9946-6
     * 2006- 06-27, Ace Trade, paperback, ISBN 0-441-01410-0

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