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Starship Troopers

*** By Robert Heinlein. This is another recommendation from Will, my pal (I've talked to him twice, anyway!) at The Other Change of Hobbit bookstore. I haven't seen the movie and probably never will. The book follows Johnny (nickname for Juan), a young guy who's just finished high school and joined the army — for lack of a better idea. Familiar, huh? Only this is in a time where joining the military is discouraged; things are peaceful; there's a million better ways to spend your time. Until Buenos Aires gets bombed by aliens. The most interesting thing about the narrative is that, unlike most sci fi novels, the "action" (i.e. the war with the aliens) is completely peripheral to character development. The story is Johnny's personal journey from being a directionless kid to being a man who is poised, confident, and dedicated to a cause. The war just happens to be going on at the same time, and much of the plot happens while he's in training. The book ends not when the war ends, but when Johnny realizes and accepts the transformation he has made. In some ways the story reminded me of the movie An Officer and a Gentleman — loosely, of course. One of Heinlein's strengths is that his stories take advantage of futuristic fantasy the "right" way. In other words, he takes problems we face in our time and transplants them to a future time when circumstances are different. e.g., What if society was such that joining the military was "not really needed" and thus strongly discouraged, not encouraged or compulsory the way it is in many nations today? What would produce this society? What would the effects be? What would happen when someone outside the system attacked? And so on. In other words, his books aren't overly plotted rubbish with whiz-bang effects thrown in for the hell of it. They deal with real issues (not just hovering skate boards or weird mutations!) in an obviously well thought-out manner. They make you actually consider what life would be like "if"... I didn't like it quiteas much as The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, so read that one first! Then this one.

Posted by Lisa on January 25, 2002 05:13 PM