Reviewed by Shawn Stanford.

Before begining a review of Heinlein's Starship Troopers, it's important to say one thing and to be perfectly clear about it: if you haven't seen the movie - don't! If you have - erase it from your memory and don't let it cloud your ideas about this book! The movie was a poor, poor adaptation; the entire two hours wasn't worth trading a single chapter of the original Starship Troopers.

Robert Heinlein has been called "the Dean of Science Fiction" and for a good reason. His career spanned six decades and included nearly fifty published novels, all of them in the sci-fi genre. Heinlein's writing was crisp, interesting and - above all - pushed the envelope of what was considered good subject matter for science fiction. Instead of simply writing about spaceships and bug-eyed monsters, Heinlein made good use of his work to explore topics such as freedom, repression, politics and the human condition.

Not that he couldn't write pure 'space opera' when he wanted to: his early works, such as Rocketship Galilleo and Have Spacesuit, Will Travel are still considered classics in young adult literature.

But it is his later works that show his true mastery of writing and story telling while he discusses contemporary issues. These include books such as Time Enough for Love, Stranger in a Strange Land and, of course, Starship Troopers.

Starship Troopers opens with the 'cap troopers' of G Company, 3d Regiment, 1st Division, Mobile Infantry - Rasczack's Roughnecks - preparing for a combat drop from the assault transport Rodger Young. The chapter that follows is a detailed account of the actions of one Lance Corporal Juan Rico as he performs his duties during a raid on an enemy-occupied planet.

Unlike most military fiction novels, the story doesn't just stay with the action; almost immediately Heinlein begins discussing the political reasons for this raid and of war in general. He eventually delves into the burdens of command, the organization of a combat unit and even the responsibility of the individual citizen to the central government.

Among other things, you'll read about:

• The uses of military power: "This is just a raid, not a battle. It's a demonstration of firepower and frightfulness. Our mission is to let the enemy know that we could have destroyed their city - but didn't - but that they aren't safe even though we refrain from total bombing."


• The concept of 'head to tail' ratio and shared danger: "...in the Mobile Infantry, everybody drops and everybody fights..."


• Women in combat roles: "Then the ship's braking program hit us and I stopped shaking. Eight gees, I would say, or maybe ten. When a female pilot handles a ship there is nothing comfortable about it; you're going to have bruises every place you're strapped."


• Raw combat action: "The warehouse went up behind me and the blast hit me while I was still over the river, instead of being shielded by the building on the far side as I should have been. It darn near tumbled my gyros and I came close to tumbling myself. I had set that bomb for fifteen seconds ... or had I?"


• The senior-junior relationship: As long as Ace did his job, I could afford to swallow his surliness - for now. But back aboard ship (if Jelly kept me on as assistant section leader) we would eventually have to pick a quiet spot and find out who was boss.


• Unit cohesion and loyalty to your comrades: "But you don't walk away on another cap trooper, not while there's a chance he's still alive - not in Rasczak's Roughnecks. Not in any outfit int he Mobile Infantry. You try to make pickup."

In later chapters, Heinlein goes on to further explore these themes and add others, including:

• Why boot camp is hard.


• Why being ready to fight wars is necessary even for a peaceful society.


• The moral obligation of a citizen to the state.


• The inherent right of every citizen - no matter what their abilities or disabilities - to serve in the military.


• The officer-NCO-enlisted relationship.


• Too much more to list here...

The real beauty of Starship Troopers is that it can be read as different sorts of books. It's a political and moral treatise, a sci-fi action adventure and a military novel rolled into one. Whatever you're in the mood for: Starship Troopers will probably fill the bill.

While this reviewer has read thousands of books in his lifetime, there are just a handful that he's reread more than once and just a few that have been reread again and again. Starship Troopers is one of those books.

If you read one book this year: this should be the one...