Starship Troopers...bleh

[Professor Zoom]

And no...I don't mean the movie...I mean the book.

I just finished reading it and to be honest, I found it a little boring and awfully didactic at times.

Johnny himself was just a little to...bland...that's the best word I can describe him as...just bland...

There wasn't a lot of action...I got a little tired of "it happened so fast I don't really know what happened..." and scenes talking about promotion and how to lead troops and why this society was super great got old pretty quick.

The book reminded me of Walden 2, a book that's pretty much just describing something not particularly dramatic.

And with all the talk of the power suits, and with people hating the movie because they didn't show the power suits, the power suits really weren't featured that much in the book...a couple of action scenes and a chapter just describing them.

Honestly, Starship Troopers felt like a children's book. I much preferred The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to this...

Maybe I had a high expectation after everyone decrying the movie...but this fell flat.

I think, looking at the book and at the movie, I much prefer the movie...at least I was engaged in the characters, the style, and the humor...

 

[Mysterion]

Honestly, Starship Troopers felt like a children's book. I much preferred The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to this...

ST was written as one of his juvies intended for teen (male) readers.

I disagree with your commetns on the book (I don't think it's as bad a book as you do), but do agree with you that Moon is a better book.

 

[webb3201]

And no...I don't mean the movie...I mean the book.

I just finished reading it and to be honest, I found it a little boring and awfully didactic at times.

Johnny himself was just a little to...bland...that's the best word I can describe him as...just bland...

There wasn't a lot of action...I got a little tired of "it happened so fast I don't really know what happened..." and scenes talking about promotion and how to lead troops and why this society was super great got old pretty quick.

The book reminded me of Walden 2, a book that's pretty much just describing something not particularly dramatic.

And with all the talk of the power suits, and with people hating the movie because they didn't show the power suits, the power suits really weren't featured that much in the book...a couple of action scenes and a chapter just describing them.

Honestly, Starship Troopers felt like a children's book. I much preferred The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to this...

Maybe I had a high expectation after everyone decrying the movie...but this fell flat.

I think, looking at the book and at the movie, I much prefer the movie...at least I was engaged in the characters, the style, and the humor...

I totally disagree with your assessment..but rather than try to sway you, I just wanted to point out the Troopers was one of his juvenile works.

 

[Professor Zoom]

See, now, I wished I had read it when I was 10...maybe I would have liked it better.

But, I've read other juvenile works as an adult and I still was taken by the story. Like A Wrinkle In Time...loved it.

 

[Rii]

Honestly, Starship Troopers felt like a children's book.

It is a children's book, or at least an adolescent book. It's rather like Animal Farm in that respect.

Maybe I had a high expectation after everyone decrying the movie...but this fell flat.

People who object to the film as a translation of the novel don't necessarily do so because they think it's the greatest thing ever written, or because they believe the society depicted in the novel is necessarily a great or even workable one.

Personally I rather like book. I also like the film. It's unfortunate that they have so little to do with one another. The film was apparently intended as a satire of the novel, but if so it's not a particularly good one. The film works rather better as a response to contemporary military jingoism.

The lack of powered armour in the film doesn't bother me in the slightest.

 

[Pilot Ace]

I read the book for the first time about a year ago, I didn't fall in love with it... But, I enjoyed it. I think you pointed out a lot of the flaws of the narrative, but for me the page count was short enough for them not to hurt the overall work too badly. I read it more like a exploration of the future society rather than a action/war story.

I do like the movie a lot more than the book, but since reading it I inwardly combine them into something approaching the middle road of both.

 

[JuanBolio]

I think its one of the best pieces of military science fiction ever written... but to each his own. If you didn't enjoy Troopers, might I suggest you check out The Forever War by Joe Haldeman?

 

[Mysterion]

I think its one of the best pieces of military science fiction ever written... but to each his own. If you didn't enjoy Troopers, might I suggest you check out The Forever War by Joe Haldeman?

Definitely read both. Makes for an interesting compare and contrast excercise.

 

[grabmygoblin]

I think its one of the best pieces of military science fiction ever written... but to each his own. If you didn't enjoy Troopers, might I suggest you check out The Forever War by Joe Haldeman?

beat me to it. TFW is pretty good. not great, but good. I admit, I haven't read Starship Troopers or even seen the movie yet (it's in my Netflix queue), but from every paper I've read, The Forever War has much more to do with the movie SsT than the book SsT does.

 

[Mysterion]

beat me to it. TFW is pretty good. not great, but good. I admit, I haven't read Starship Troopers or even seen the movie yet (it's in my Netflix queue), but from every paper I've read, The Forever War has much more to do with the movie SsT than the book SsT does.

I wouldn't compare Forever to the ST movie in the least.

The Forever War is to the Viet Nam generation what Starship Troopers is to the WW2 generation.

FWIW, Haldeman served a tour in 'Nam as an Army combat engineer. Heinlein, having been medically discharged from the USN in 1939 or so, still served as a civilian for the Navy during WW2.

 

[Demiurge]

Interesting commentary - it's too much like a children's book, but there wasn't enough action in it for me! LOL.

Within the context of the times it was visionary. It was written 50 years ago and forecast the rise of the all volunteer high tech military force that the US force would become, which is one of the reasons why it's still in the required reading list for 4 of the 5 US service academies.

Personally I think it still holds up pretty well. It's one of the founders of the military scifi genere, which has given us Weber and Ringo and Drake among others.

Read the first of Ringo's Legacy of Aldenata the other day - it's a direct homage to Starship Troopers.

But certainly the themes in the book won't appeal to everyone.

 

[Professor Zoom]

I think its one of the best pieces of military science fiction ever written... but to each his own. If you didn't enjoy Troopers, might I suggest you check out The Forever War by Joe Haldeman?

Forever War is great, read it last year. It was a great mix of character, action and science fiction. I think it's MUCH better than Troopers...in that it's telling a dramatic story, rather than just being descriptive of a society.

Great book.