This is an absolute classic of science fiction and deservedly so. Mr. Heinlein has penned a wonderful and disturbing story of militarism in a future world order organized politically around the notion of a meritocracy. In many ways, the success of the book lies in how profoundly wrong Mr. Heinlein is about many of the issues he discusses here. Ironically, his savagery only adds to the novel's dystopian feel, bestowing it an intellectual punch it might have otherwise lacked.
Starship Troopers concerns, in the main, a future Earth locked in an interstellar war with an alien race referred to as the Bugs. The aliens are only viewed through the eyes of our human heroes and, thus, remain the flat, two-dimensional villains common to science fiction of this period. Rico, our protagonist, narrates the novel which covers his life from the highly influential, moral philosophy class he took in high school, to the bug attack on Earth which turns the war hot, to his bootcamp training, and finally to full fledged combat.
But while Rico's life drives the novel forward, major chunks of the narrative are taken up with the moral philosophy class that changes his life. And it is through the teacher of this class that we experience the political opinions that compelled Mr Heinlein to write this piece. The teacher makes a strong argument against the Welfare State, pointing out that people have to pay in blood for what they earn. Otherwise, they won't appreciate it. He goes on to argue that being an adult shouldn't be the only determining factor in whether or not one is fit to vote, that it's right for the world government of the time to only grant the voting franchise to men and women who serve in the military. These are but two memorable examples of the fascinating politics raised here, with Communism also taking a broadside.
We have the benefit of 60 years of hindsight from which to look down on Mr. Heinlein's work and criticize it. We know now, of course, that a system of government that only grants the voting franchise to military veterans would be an excellent way to create a fascist state, permanently set on war. In this vein, it's unsurprising that Mr. Heinlein's alien villains are so undeveloped. Fascism doesn't care what the enemy is, or what it does, or who it loves, or how its offended. Fascism's purpose is to first find an enemy and then to kill it as a means of proving its superiority. Mr. Heinlein might as well have renamed his future Earth Mussolini's world and be done with it. But this is exactly what makes the book so compelling. It has the subtlety of a jackhammer as it stands up for what it believes in. Mr. Heinlein takes no pains to hide or soften or obfuscate his fingerprints here. He opens fire from the first page and doesn't stop until the thoroughly brainwashed rico has marched triumphantly through the crucible of combat. We may disagree with Mr. Heinlein's politics, but having the strength of ones convictions is a true delight in our world which, it seems to me, is far too hesitant to own ones beliefs. (3/5 Stars)
PS: For all its eccentricities, the book is a Picasso compared to the movie which was a steaming heap.
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