Is the Starship Troopers book any good

[Gecko brothers]

I'm thinking of buying or barrow it

[Dave:Blackeye15]

Starship Troopers is a good book in my opinion. It's not a action pack nudity book like the giant killer bug movie of same name. It's really a very interesting book about live in the military of the future, but there still is action in the book. No nudity or sex though.

-the first rule of fat club-

[Neville]

As most books written by Heinlein, it is very, very good. I enjoyed it quite a lot, but keep in mind that it is very different to the movie by Verhoeven. The book is written from the point of view of the member of a neo-fascist society, so Verhoeven provided at the same time the text and its criticism when he translated it into film. Plot also suffered large modifications, so be prepared for major changes.

If you like it, I found "The Puppet Masters", by the same author, a more satisfying read.

[Fearless Freep]

The book is very good, but it's more an exploration of a person's role in a particular society, as viewed from the perspective of a yong man who joins the military and fights giant bugs on alien planets.  The combat and technology are cool and pretty creative.

[Flangepart]

And, the book will make you say, "Where the great spekeled bird is the flippin Power Armor!?"

[Fearless Freep]

If you mean in relationship to the movie?  Yeah  The whole drop process and the power armor were incredible, with all the weaponry and sensors.  That would really make for a cool movie, but then you wouldn't get to see the stars faces, or have such idiotic tactics as a squad of soldiers running up to a giant bug and firing a zillion rounds of machine gun ammo into them at such close range that everyone gets splattered with the acidic bug guts.

I don't care *what* political point the dude was trying to make, it's still a really stupid movie

[Flangepart]

No argument here, Bro.
Imagin how dumbfounded Andrew felt!
Or anyone with half a brain, actualy.....

"In other news today, the planet Klandathu was turned to rubble today, by a prolongued Nuclear and astroid bombardment. Eat that, you ugly bugs!"

[JohnL]

>And, the book will make you say, "Where the great spekeled bird is the flippin
>Power Armor!?"

An article I read said that they dropped the power armor because they felt it wouldn't be practical to do within the time and budget that they had.

[Fearless Freep]

An article I read said that they dropped the power armor because they felt it wouldn't be practical to do within the time and budget that they had.

Which is hard to swallow given how much money they put into CG special effects for the bugs and the ships (and how much time was wasted on watching those ships fly around)

[Kirk]

The book is a really good read.  I was really let down by the movie.  Apparently in the future, infantry tactics have been reduced to running around in a screaming mob.

If you enjoy the book, seek out the Roughnecks animated series.  It has some of the same problems as the movie, but it's closer to the feel of the book.

Kirk

[Gecko brothers]

the series was cool

[Dano]

Didn't read the book, but the movie seemed to be a pretty self-conscious refutation of "All's Quiet on the Western Front" - right down to the high school teacher showing up on the front lines as a leader (only of course this time he's a heroic figure who dies valiantly - or something).  Was this the intent of the book or was that the producer's idea?



Post Edited (08-14-03 19:19)

[Fearless Freep]

The book was a pretty good look at the role of the military, citizenship, and civil responsbility (and economics) with a society, and how one young man kinda learns his place in it all.


The movie was a rather not-very-subtle satire of fascism that was one Leslie Nielson joke away from parody