Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinlein (Audiobook Review)

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Title: Starship Troopers
Author: Robert A Heinlein
Narrator: Lloyd James
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Duration: 10 hours, 4 minutes
Copyright: 1999
Genres: science fiction, military, alien races
Filed in: Audiobook Reviews
Review copy provided by Blackstone Audio.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Join the Army and See the Universe. That is the motto of The Third Space War, also known as The First Interstellar War, but most commonly as The Bug War. In one of Robert Heinlein's most controversial best sellers, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the universe - and into battle with the Terrain Mobile Infantry against mankind's most alarming enemy.
©1959 by Robert A. Heinlein; (P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks.

MY TAKE ON IT: First of all, I was intrigued by that line in the publisher’s summary that says Starship Troopers was Heinlein’s most controversial novel. It didn’t seem that controversial to me, so I did a little research. Apparently, a lot of people thought that Heinlein was promoting fascism and militarism in this novel. Now that I think about it, some of the characters did express certain social and political views that seem pro-war, or pro-violence. Starship Troopers was published in 1959, right between the Korean and Vietnam wars, so I suppose that might have been a touchy subject. True, we are at war with Afghanistan even as I write this audiobook review, but I don’t think people care as much these days. Then again, I also think that people sometimes get a little more worked up over a work of fiction than they should. Just look at all the fuss Dan Brown created with his little book. Controversial or not, Starship Troopers earned Heinlein a Hugo Award, the highest honor for science fiction works, for best novel in 1960.
After reading Starship Troopers, I guessed that Robert A Heinlein did some time in the military, and after looking him up in Wikipedia, I found that I guessed right, he served in the Navy from 1929-1934, and possibly longer. That was easy to guess because Heinlein gives a lot of descriptive detail as his main character, Johnny Rico, serves his time in the Mobile Infantry, from recruitment, to boot camp, to combat, to OCS.
Overall, the audiobook wasn’t quite what I expected. That’s mainly because I saw the movie a few times, many years ago, and only recently discovered that it was based on this novel. Unlike the sci-fi action movie, the audiobook deals more with the socio-political ramifications of war and citizenship, and other related topics. There were, however, a few scenes of battle between the humans and their giant bug enemies, and that’s really what interested me the most.

NARRATOR: Lloyd James did an adequate job in his narration of Starship Troopers. Not bad, but not great either. He didn’t differentiate the characters at all, but his inflection was good.

FILM ADAPTATION: Starship Troopers was adapted to film in 1997, and starred Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, and Neil Patrick Harris. That’s right, Doogie Howser was in this movie, looking all of about twelve-years-old. The film focused strictly on the big war, and skipped all the political commentary, which was fine with me. This is your basic, good-old-fashioned, humans-battling-giant-bugs, sci-fi thriller, and I loved every minute of it.

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS:
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
The War of the Worlds by H G Wells
Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear

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Get “Starship Troopers” by Robert A Heinlein (Unabridged Audiobook) from Blackstone Audio.

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This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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