Starship Troopers

By: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by: Lloyd James

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

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

Critic reviews

• Hugo Award, 1960

An interesting book

I really like the movie adaptation, the first Starship troopers, and the book has been on my must read list for a while now.

The movie and the book are of course nothing alike, which I knew going into it. In the end I enjoyed the book every bit as much as the movie, albeit for different reasons. If you're looking for the light hearted, comical anti-war message of the movie, you will not find it in the book.

My main criticism is of the performance; it seems like the narrator missed parts of the book during the read through, so you can hear clearly that some parts are re-read, which destroys flow and immersion.

Good but not amazing, better than the movie by far

Better than the movie! Ending was weak would have liked more tie in with original characters

Solid book, worth the read.

I love it, loved the movie, so I decided to read the book, no regrets.

Great listen

Would you consider the audio edition of Starship Troopers to be better than the print version?

Story line provides an interesting look at what future politics would be like from the perspective of the mid 20th century.

Great read. Hard to believe it was Written in 1959

The audio gets a little screwy in a few places, as if it is sliced with an older reading.

Commentary on War

There is more morality than action in this book about interstellar bug extermination. The commentary on war in interesting, but the treatment of gender is dated. The reader does a good job. Dr. T.

Quality Issue

The recording has some strange quality inconsistency when listening, it was kinda frustrating at times. No fault of the reader nor the story though.

A great revisit

What made the experience of listening to Starship Troopers the most enjoyable?

It was well done with one issue. The editing was terrible. While the voice was in fact, very good (after all, Rico was a young man), the editing was just not professional. You can easily tell where the dubbing was done and there was even one place where the the phrase was repeated in a different timbre. That being said, it is Heinlein at one of his finest (IMO). If you have seen the movie, which I can only describe as an abomination and hollywood rape of a classic, you are in for a refreshing surprise. It was great when I first read it in my teens, and it is still great in my late 40's. Enough said.

What about Lloyd James’s performance did you like?

I liked his performance quite a bit. He portrayed the protagonist in the earnest style that you would immediately indicate someone in his late teens and early 20's.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I won't comment due to the spoiler aspect of my description.

Any additional comments?

Heinlein at his best. It is a book with revisiting for certain!

Recording could be better

A classic sci fi that I have long loved. This is a great story and it is well told.

However, the audio recording gets muffled from time to time, which can be very distracting. As well, whenever a character says `huh?', the narrator says it with the exact same tone and inflection. No matter the speaker, place, or context. Again, distracting.

Those details aside, it is worth every penny.

you will not get a more honest and true assessment

this book is an amazing example of how to put true social science to work. it pulls no punches and so accurately points out many of the fallacies of modern social engineering.