Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

Starship Troopers was first published as a two-part serial before being released as a novel in 1959. Written by Robert A. Heinlein, himself a navy veteran, this military sci-fi coming-of-age story covers Johnnie Rico’s basic training and early career in Mobile Infantry (M.I.).

This review will make a few comparisons with the 1997 film directed by Paul Verhoeven with the screenplay written by Edward Neumeier.

Is the film faithful to the book? More Yes than No. Like most if not all screen adaptations, the story is condensed with many of the elements simplified to give a more focused narrative. It is also simplified because lamestream films tend to cater to who the producers think is the dumbest viewer.

First Edition cover

The novel is about 260 pages long, organized into 14 chapters. The first chapter is a form of introduction and the last chapter is a short epilogue. The chapters are not equal in length, they are as long as they need to be.

Rico is the viewpoint character and the narrative is written in first-person. Like the film, the first chapter is a “cold start”. However, unlike the film, it is not the invasion of the bug planet Klendathu, but rather a raid on the planet of a race referred to as “Skinnies”.

The narrative then shifts back to Rico finishing high school. The Terran Federation governs humanity and only “citizens” can vote. Other than that, non-citizens seem to be treated the same. Rico and his parents are not citizens but they are well-off, his father runs a successful business. In order to become a citizen, one must complete a term of “Federal Service” which typically means the military.

This is something Rico and his two friends, Carl and Carmen, at least vaguely want so all three then sign up. Rico is assigned to M.I., and Carl and Carmen are assigned elsewhere. Approximately the first half of the novel follows Rico going through basic training with Zim as the instructor.

At some point during training, the bugs attack Buenos Aires in which Rico’s mother is killed whilst visiting the city. Unlike the film, the Rico family does not live in Buenos Aires, so his father is still alive. The Federation then fights the bugs. After graduating, the plot follows Rico as he is assigned to the “Roughnecks”.

Like the film, Klendathu is a massive failure so the Federation then takes a different approach: since they don’t know much about the bugs, they try to capture at least one of the leader caste for study.

Rico considers how he may better serve and actually enrolls in officer training school. Despite going back to training, the author avoids repetition. Eventually, as part of Rico’s assessment and serving as the novel’s climax, Rico is assigned to the “Blackguards” to take part in an operation on Planet P to capture bugs.

The story is not action-packed but there is enough to keep it interesting. As a first-person narrative telling a particular period of a man’s life, it is more character-driven than plot-driven.

There are a few instances—not limited to high school—in which a character gives a relatively long speech on the philosophy justifying a society ruled by the military. Although these are clunky, they don’t kill the pacing. There is always steady progression in one respect or another. As the narrative is in first-person, there is the excuse to tell Rico’s experiences and thoughts more explicitly anyway.

As already mentioned, the film simplifies many of the elements. The most obvious difference is that the film is blatantly satirical, exaggerating the militaristic and fascist aspects. Whilst these elements are apparent in the novel, there is some subtlety.

Ace cover (Art by James Warhola)

In the novel, only men serve as soldiers in M.I. whereas the film makes no distinction between men and women in the military. Obviously, the film wants to show women but such an approach also further illustrates a militaristic society.

The novel is very focused on Rico, not just because he is the viewpoint character but rather that the other characters are not mentioned for long periods except for Zim since he is the instructor. This is not to state that they don’t seem real or they lack depth as people or Rico does not know them well—Rico just does not intimately talk about others that much.

Carmen and Carl are merely mentioned a few times in the novel whereas they are much more central in the film. Flores is just another soldier in the novel but is the love interest in the film. Rasczak is not merely the commander of the Roughnecks but is also one of Rico’s teachers in the film. In the novel, a veteran serves as the teacher. These changes work for a film.

The novel goes more in-depth regarding the philosophy and history of how the Terran Federation came about but the film is essentially the same. The arguments presented in the novel are more compelling partly because of the criticisms of the moral decline of today’s society, which are generally true. The novel also acknowledges that military discipline does not necessarily lead to lower crime or a better society.

Of course, the conclusion that such a society is still better and that it works satisfactorily is based on over-simplifications of what is considered political power and force. In Rico’s world, these matters are conveniently treated like mathematics or an “exact science”. Nonetheless, the compelling part of the argument is that those who have served have demonstrated, through voluntary service, that they are willing to put the welfare of the group ahead of themselves.

On a related note, the film emphasizes, quite simplistically, the importance of academic results. Rico is a bit of a jock and so he is shoved off to M.I. whereas Carl and Carmen are better so the former goes to games theory and the latter becomes a pilot. In the novel, this point is subtle. Rico “never flunked any courses and dropped only one” and has a “well-rounded” record, being involved in various physical and non-physical activities. Ultimately, the service decided that he, on balance, fitted M.I. best.

In the film, the propaganda is blatant. The novel does not have the “Federal Network” through which the hilarious ads are shown. Apart from what is taught in school, there seems little of it from Rico’s perspective. It has more to do with how society functions and one either accepts it or not. For example, in the novel, drugs and something like hypnosis are usual techniques to prepare soldiers for an operation. This idea is merely touched on in the film as Carl supposedly used his psychic abilities on Rico.

The novel presents the bugs as complicated. Many are worker bugs who are harmless. They have weapons and ships. In the film, almost all bugs are vicious and come across as primal. They have no technology in the way humans have.

In terms of drama and action, one of the biggest differences is that soldiers wear powered suits that allow them to move and jump at speed. This is why they are called M.I. Whilst the film retains the name, the soldiers resemble today’s infantry. This is presumably due to budget and filming constraints but it does avoid being too impersonal: powered suits may look cool but interactions between characters are restricted (visually). This is not a problem in a book as the suits contribute to the military sci-fi where operating the suits is integral to the action sequences.

Overall, apart from a few instances of clumsiness, it is a decent novel regardless of whether one agrees with the philosophical views or not. Whilst the arguments may be compelling, the conclusion is a leap (not to suggest today’s world is any better).

The novel could use more military action but there is just enough at the right moments. Whilst plenty of soldiers die, the violence is not explicit. Although different, many elements are preserved in the film—what the film does is it takes militaristic and fascist aspects as well as the action and violence, and turns them up for comical effect.

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