Starship Troopers
by Robert A. Heinlein · first published 1959
26% recommend69% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
Military sci-fi that works as a political thought experiment, arguing its case persuasively enough to provoke debate about service and citizenship. Far better than the film and a good entry point to Heinlein.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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. The raid itself, one of the few instances of actual combat in the novel
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…'politician' can be thought of as a portmanteau: political technician. So the responsibility is on us to enforce this distinction: who among our political technicians is actually qualified to lead? Heinlein's Starship Troopers had the right idea. I wish just one nation in the world would implement it. Maybe it would lead to a cascade of rationality, and future wars would become impossible as a result.
on “At My Lai: The Photographer Who Captured the Massacre” ↗The only other Heinlein book I would recommend beside Starship Troopers (which everyone reads different than Heinlein intended I guess) is "Stranger in a Strange Land".
on “Ursula Le Guin has died” ↗…number one by far. People are willing to let social media turn into a shitshow because they're not invested. It didn't cost them anything and it doesn't continue to cost them anything, so it has no value. Starship Troopers (both the book and the movie) hit the nail on the head... "Something given has no value."
on “Tim Berners-Lee: We need social networks where bad things happen less” ↗I'm a big Heinlein Fan. I strongly recommend you read his other big famous works, "Starship Troopers" and "Stranger in a Strange Land." After that you can dig deeper into his bibliography, but I'd consider those three to be essential reading. I recently finished "Roadside Picnic" by Arkady and Boris…
on “Beginnings of Science Fiction” ↗…more popular titles and super niche books. It's all focused on war-fighting, but it gives a great look into the Marines: GATES OF FIRE: AN EPIC NOVEL OF THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE by Steven Pressfield STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline GHOST FLEET: A NOVEL OF THE NEXT WORLD WAR by P. W. Singer; August Cole THE KILLER ANGELS: THE CLASSIC NOVEL…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗Actually what's needed was outlined very nicely in Starship Troopers by Heinlein many decades ago. We're not there yet of course but with faster and faster edge compute, it will get there. > Jump really hard and the suit’s jets cut in, amplifying what the suit’s leg “muscles”…
on “We have jetpacks and we do not care” ↗Heinlein got a lot of flak for Starship Troopers, in the wake of the Korean War and even prior to escalation in Vietnam. But he was not wrong that there's a fundamental difference in democratic outlook between someone who risks their life (even hypothetically)…
on “Europe: Is compulsory military service coming back?” ↗…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_responsibility, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons). The rest of the book(s) is probably quite controversial, but this one account was eye-opening. Closely related is 'Starship Troopers', by Robert Heinlein. I know that these are limited examples, and are not immediate (nor even realistic) solutions for the situation in Belarus, but, as Otto Von Habsburg said: 'The only thing you learn…
on “I read HN. I live in Belarus” ↗Probably the best military science fiction novel written--I'd even edge it over Starship Troopers. Particularly sad are the descriptions of drones that follow a ship for months, years, and nail it right as it is pulling into port. :(
on “Essay on Realistic Space Combat” ↗It's still one of my favorite reads. It's worth mentioning that Haldeman wrote it in part as an allegory to Vietnam. It's often called a counterpart or "rebuttal" to Heinlein's "Starship Troopers", though you'll read that both authors had immense respect for each others' books. In any case, I agree, "The Forever War" is up at the pinnacle of the art of Science Fiction and a near-perfect example…
on “The Author of Our Best SF Military Novel Explains the Future of War” ↗…Masses" (José Ortega y Gasset, 1930) "Brave New World" (Aldous Huxley, 1932) "Reason" (Isaac Asimov, 1941, short story) "Animal Farm" (George Orwell, 1945) "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (George Orwell, 1949) "Starship Troopers" (Robert A. Heinlein, 1959) "The Gods Themselves" (Isaac Asimov, 1972) "Time Enough for Love" (Robert A. Heinlein, 1973)
on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?” ↗…progress in the book and cause them not to read as much. I just look past the details and for Foundation Series it is worth it. "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" to me wasn't worth it, but I really liked "Starship Troopers" and think that is Heinlein's one book I recommend to everyone.
on “Ursula Le Guin has died” ↗…favorite book, one of my all time favorite authors. "The World According to Garp" by John Irving. Again, one of my favorite authors, one of his best books, but I really recommend almost all of his books. "Starship Troopers" by Robert A. Heinlein. Just read this a couple weeks ago, highly recommended. "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. Just another of my favorite authors, I recommend any of his books if you like travel…
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗Three books of Heinlein's I will never regret reading: Starship Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and Stranger in a Strange Land. Which is not to say I endorse all of the ideas in those books. Disagreeing vociferously with Heinlein, or just asking "how in the heck would…
on “Robert and Virginia Heinlein's Colorado Springs House” ↗There's a relevant quote from Heinlein's classic science fiction novel, Starship Troopers: "There is an old song which asserts that "the best things in life are free". Not true! Utterly false! This was the tragic fallacy which brought on the decadence and collapse of the democracies of the…
on “The Shocking Paper Predicting the End of Democracy” ↗