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Starship Troopers is a science fiction novel by
Robert Heinlein first published in 1959. It received a Hugo Award in 1960, and remains one of the most controversial science fiction novels.
Starship Troopers was made into a strategy/simulation board game by Avalon Hill in 1976, a Japanese anime series in 1989, a film by Paul Verhoeven in 1997 and an animated television program in 2000.
Plot synopsis
The novel deals with the growth of Johnny Rico from spoiled mama's boy to selfless leader of men.
Warning: Plot details
follow.
After rigorous basic training, Johnny Rico is assigned to a platoon of future soldiers in the Mobile Infantry defending humanity from an intelligent race
of creatures collectively known as "bugs", a repulsive alien enemy sharing many
characteristics with social insects such as ants or termites, and their allies, called "Skinnies" (appearing in the first chapter
of the book).
The military confrontation between Earth and the "Bugs" bears some similarities to the United States' war with Japan in World War II - the Bugs start the
war with a surprise attack. Over the course of the war, the Mobile Infantry are ferried by the Navy from planet to planet for short but fierce engagements. This very much resembles the progress of U.S. Marines in the island-hopping Pacific War. To some degree, the "Bugs"
seem representative of the Japanese, as depicted in U.S. war propaganda —
as insectile members of a more hierarchical society who were unwilling (or as the lower caste Bugs, unable) to surrender.
Political subtext
Politics is a significant subject in the novel, taking up a greater part of the story than the scientific or technical
aspects. The novel presents a very favourable view of the purposefulness and order of military life and disgust with the slack,
individualistic, and purposeless life of "civilians". Many fans regard the book as one of the best literary descriptions of the
positive aspects of military service (notably the strong bonds between soldiers).
In the future world of the novel, only those who have volunteered for federal service (which includes military service) are
permitted to vote and hold political office. These aspects of the novel make it highly
controversial, with numerous detractors interpreting the book as thinly-disguised, expertly-written propaganda for fascism. (Heinlein later denied that military service was the only way to earn the franchise
and claimed that the novel made this point explicitly, several times. However, this issue is still a matter of controversy among
even the book's defenders, and some commentators have declared, based on a careful reading of the text, that Heinlein is simply
wrong on this point.)
The society portrayed in Starship Troopers also considers corporal punishment acceptable in childrearing, civilian criminal matters, and enforcing military discipline.
Whatever may be read into Heinlein's opinions on these points, his express claim is that the novel is an exploration of the
question "why men fight" and that it leaves many unanswered questions. Probably the single most important political subject
explicitly explored in the novel (and defended by at least the characters doing the exploring, if not by Heinlein himself) is the
idea that authority and responsibility must be equal and coordinated, the alternative being that their imbalance throws a society
into disequilibrium and chaos.
Heinlein also expresses his views on communism in the novel. Written during one of the most frigid points in the Cold War, he
blasts Marx's views such as the value of labor through speeches by a history teacher. However, he does concede that communism
fails only because of flaws in human nature. The Bugs are a purely communist society, and indeed for the insectoid drones,
communism is the ideal way of life.
Military Conception: Light Infantry Landed from Orbit
For science fiction fans, the novel popularized the concept of the powered
armor exoskeleton in the form of the powered armor suits of the Mobile
Infantry soldiers. These suits were manipulated by the wearer's own movements but also powered to augment the actions. The
soldier could, for example, jump upwards, and the powered leg joints would launch him off the ground while rockets kicked in for
further propulsion. Dropped from orbit in individual egg-shaped heat shields, the troopers would parachute into enemy territory
for quick hit-and-run operations. Armed with a significant arsenal including high-explosive rocket launchers and flame throwers,
the Mobile Infantry soldier was a one-man tank.
The book's major creative feat is the rigorous and coherent invention and depiction of the use of light infantry delivered to
planetary surfaces for operations designed not only to serve diplomatic purposes (i.e. terror operations) but also to take and
hold positions for intelligence gathering. The concept of Mobile Infantry, whose basic element is the single trooper, highly
trained, encased in an armored suit, and delivered to the area of operations in a disposable re-entry pod, is unprecedented in
literature, both military and otherwise.
The weapons systems, tactics, training, and all other aspects of this futuristic elite force is completely envisioned, from
the function of the armored suits 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 imperatives laid down by the plot. In short, the
book is a military "future history" tour de force. One might comment that Verhoeven's film failed largely because he could not
bring himself to even attempt to adhere to the military aspects of the book, settling instead for the most primitive and
simplistic "let's all bunch together and fire our assault guns" scenes, instead.
Film and animated series
Paul Verhoeven's 1997 film takes up these political themes by
satirizing the book's attitudes mercilessly, using references from propaganda
films such as Triumph of the Will and wartime news
broadcasts, but wrapping this satire in slickly-produced action sequences with clever
special effects such that the satire went unnoticed by a mostly teenage male audience who treated the movie as a simple gung-ho
"action flick". The movie did not perform well at the box office: despite its lavish $100-million-plus production budget, it
earned only $54 million in its theatrical release, though its subsequent release on video helped to earn its costs back. Critical
reaction to the film was largely negative, and the film was criticized for having characters who were as mindless and
one-dimensional as the special effects were impressive and dazzling. (Indeed, it was nominated for a special effect Oscar).
The "bugs" were also altered to be less an alien civilization and more "monsters".
The animated series Roughnecks: Starship Troopers (released in 2000)
was closer to the events of the book, such as including the war with the Skinnies, and included more of the characters. However,
it focused mostly on combat, and didn't address the political aspects at all. Verhoeven was also a producer for the series, and
it used the creature designs from the 1997 movie.
In 2004 a sequel called Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation was
released - straight to DVD. It has a low budget, and appears to re-use special effects from the first movie. None of the
characters from the first movie appear in this one.
Influences
Starship Troopers clearly influenced many later science fiction stories, setting a tone for the military in space, a
type of story referred to as military science
fiction.
- A large number of works of Japanese anime, such as Mobile Suit Gundam and Neon Genesis
Evangelion feature giant human controlled robots which are deeply influenced by the Mobile Infantry Suits.
- James Cameron's Aliens movie incorporated themes and phrases right out of the novel such as "the drop," "bug
hunt," and the cargo loader exoskeleton. The actors playing the marines in the film were required to read Starship Troopers as
part of their training prior to filming.
- Glen Morgan and James Wong's TV series Space: Above and Beyond also appears to follow many of the same themes.
- Peter F. Hamilton's novel Fallen Dragon continues the traditions of exoskeletonic military cameraderie in confrontations
with human-sourced rather than alien societies.
- Orson Scott Card's popular novel Ender's Game further explored the theme of human battle against a
centrally-controlled insect-like species.
- John Steakley's novel Armor was, according to the author, born out of frustration with the small amount of actual combat in
Starship Troopers and because he wanted this aspect developed further. The themes are similar, it also contains
exoskeletons and insect-like aliens.
- the PC game Starcraft universe could be easily related to the novel, as in the game there are 3 races very
similar to the ones portrayed on the book:
- the Terrans (humans) with a space navy and infantry suits similar to the ones presented in the novel
- the Zerg (bugs)
- the Protoss (skinnies)
- The initial storyline of the PC game Quake II starts in way very similar to the movie, as large battle cruisers launch thousands of one-man soldier
pods to invade a planet.
Indeed, the developers of Starcraft at Blizzard
Entertainment have openly stated that one of their inspirations was (mainly Verhoeven's) Starship Troopers. The "Zergling"
Zerg unit bears a close resemblance to the "Bug Warrior" of Verhoeven's movie, and Zerg Cerebrates are sort of a Brain Bug
equivalent. The similarities were more pronounced in an add-on pack to Starcraft, Starcraft: Brood War (the original contained Episodes 1-3 of the story, while the add-on contained
episodes 4-6). A new faction was revealed when the lost colonies of the first game re-stablished contact with Earth: the United Earth Directorate, which acted much like the Terran
Federation. UED officers dressed like the intelligence officers of Verhoeven's movie, and repeated semi-patriotic mantras such as
"Serve the Directorate! Serve Humanity!". Most striking was a computer generated in-game movie that runs after successfully
completing the UED campaign, which essentially copies the "wartime news broadcasts" seen in Verhoeven's film.
On the other hand, Joe Haldeman's antiwar novel The Forever War is popularly thought to be a direct reply to Starship
Troopers, though Haldeman has stated that it is rather a result of his personal experiences in the Vietnam War. (1998 SciFi.com interview )
Harry Harrison's book Bill, the Galactic Hero is often considered a criticism of Heinlein's book, though his
other parodies, like Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers (1973) also lampooned the military SF typical of
Starship Troopers.
See also
Rodger Young
External links
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