Starship Troopers
By: Robert A. Heinlein
Narrated by: Lloyd James
Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

I walked into this novel not really knowing what to expect and found a very enjoyable experience. Unlike some sci-fi novels I found that the story and ideas did a very good job of carrying you through. Heinlein’s background in WWII comes out with significant detail applied to an earthbound boot camp which takes up almost half the book. The parts that take place in the sci-fy world of outer space seem periphery to these experiences.

Heinlein proposes a world where the meritocracy centers around those who have gone to war. For you to vote or to be involved in politics you must have served. This along with other world conventions shows that he isn’t just giving you a novel experience but is trying to show you a better world. Where there is less evil because those who have gone to war truly understand the cost and the benefits of facing the enemy head-on.

In the midst of reading through Churchill’s biography and the death that can be wrought through industrialized modern warfare brings home the concepts of war being hell. This brings to mind trying to understand and reward those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. They cannot be rewarded in this life, and yet we lionize them to satisfy an inner desire to show that their sacrifice was not in vain. Noble ideas and yet to what effect. That politicians can go on being corrupt. Living literally upon the spoils of war that they will never have to pay the price for.

War is necessary and in many ways, it is the natural state of man, given most of human history. But who decides we go and who gets to benefit. Thoughts to ponder.