I definitely watched the movie before I listened to the book. The movie is enjoyable in a super hero, action packed way - but, the book is something else entirely and its amazing. As the book was written in the middle of the last century, the language seems dated. However, I feel like the language give the audiobook a nice feeling of nostalgia. The narrator has a nice, strong military voice that really puts you into the story. Very enjoyable!

"Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination--devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues--which a man must develop himself; if he has them forced down him, he will vomit them out."
▪️
"Cast me into a dungeon, burn me at the stake, crown me king of kings, I can 'pursue happiness' as long as my brain lives -- but neither gods nor saints, wise men nor subtle drugs, can insure that I will catch it."
▪️
"This was the tragic fallacy which brought on the decadence and collapse of the democracies of the twentieth century; those noble experiments failed because the people had been led to believe that they could simply vote for whatever they wanted...and get it, without toil, without sweat, without tears."
▪️
▪️Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers

I am Heinlein 's target audience.

This is my second book by him and both get 5⭐. I love how they're equally adventurous and thought provoking. How he puts forth his political and social ideologies in a story I find BRILLIANT. Like, seriously, I found SS endlessly entertaining! I don't agree with all his ideas, but I loved reading em!

For reasons I will never fully understand, I LOVE military sci-fi. This one was such a treat! The audiobook is narrated by my second FAVORITE narrator, R C Bray!!!!!!!! Delicious🤌🏻🤌🏻

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for this audio to read and review.

First of all, the narration was great.

Now, about the story itself-- it's a solid enough sci fi book. I enjoyed what we saw of the bugs and what have loved to know more about them. I admit it was a bit heavy on the military propaganda, no matter that the beginning didn't seem like it. At the same time, I do enjoy a found family and the camaraderie between the squads. Something that I had to suspect my disbelief about was the father going into the military. Somehow that was a little too far fetched in my opinion and was unnecessarily though touching in its own way. The story was well written, the pacing and characters were good. I may not agree with the message, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I'd never heard of this book before noticing it on Netgalley and seeing as I've read my fair share of modern, or better yet, contemporary sci-fi and space opera, I was curious to see how this one had stood the test of time and I have to say, it has. Despite the debate surrounding the quasu-fascist leaning of the author in some passages, the book still holds its own. There are action scenes galore, but I would probably say that the most intriguing passages are those that take place in the training programme where our protagonist reflects on the society he lives in and why it got to be that way. There's a lot of interesting reflection on the constant urge of humanity to fight an enemy or another, the possible reasons why a society might choose to take its distance fro democracy and go back to a more authoritarian regime. All in all, a book that provided both fun and food for thought.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. I have read the paper version of this book many times and it never gets old. This title is acually recommended reading for military officers in the US armed forces. Though somewhat dated as to the science it is most valuable for the discussions within about patriotism, duty, responsiblity and personal growth. Do not think that the movie version is like the book. The movie is only cartoonish meant to sell tickets. Avoid at all costs. Highly recommend the book!

WAR! HUH! YEAH! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?

(Absolutely everything, say it again)

Truly don't understand why this book has stood the test of time. It's not interesting as a sci-fi novel in any way, and it's not interesting as a commentary on war, atleast beyond basic scenes of leadership/maintaining order. Many of other books have done it better. Characters are nothing. I just finished and I can't name a single character.

RC Bray killed the audio, though. Always a great boon to whatever he narrates.

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks for this Audio ARC!

This new audio version of Starship Troopers breathes life into a classic of the sci-fi genre. The narration is flawless, and captures the essence of a world in the midst of an alien war.

Thank you Netgalley for the audiobook copy of Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein in exchange for an honest review. The first time I read this book was in college about twenty years ago. I remember at the time reading about how different their world and government was and the ideas made sense. Now I'm in my forties and some comments were offensive and the ideas about how the government dealt with society and crime aren't as simple. I think this is a good book to read periodically and while the book doesn't change, we do, and so does our society.

This was a new experience for me, I did know the movie, and only discovered many years later that it had a book, and of course the book and movie are completely different, and I did enjoy both for different reasons, for me, this book was an ode to the American spirit after second wold war, I watched the movie years ago, and I definitely think I will watch it again now.

Ive heard people saying the book was sexist and things of the kind, I don’t really think so, it was definitely written with the spirit of the era, and to tell the truth I still think it is relevant even now…

I did enjoy the audiobook, I think the voice was a bit more mature than the age Rico was supposed to be, but I did enjoy it very much much and I will definitely recommend it to everyone that wishes to give a try to starship troopers.

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks, for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

I’m so happy I finally read this book! I have seen this movie so many times with my Dad, so it will always remind me of him.

With that being said, the movie is not really like the book, which is usually the case. However, this one is very different. The movie took the essence of the book and then changed it drastically. Yes they keep some of the characters, but the main characters in the movie have a very small part in the book. Which is fine, but that was one of the big changes along with the storyline. I did enjoy the storyline of both of them.

I know it isn’t great to compare the book to the movie, but I feel like this time you have to since they are so different. The book is very serious and very military driven, whereas the movie is more about the characters and it is cheesy. I think this needs to be known since that might deter readers from reading this book. I love the cheesiness of the movie, but I also enjoyed the seriousness of this book.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I loved this movie and watched it several times before reading the novel years ago -- the movie and the novel are so different, but brilliant in their own ways. The topics are very serious, but I don't think it's meant to be read straight. Heinlein didn't just agree with his characters, he wanted us to think about them.
The narration is perfect for the story, and I didn't realize the narrator was an award winner. I plan on listening to it again. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to this audiobook

It’s a classic for a reason. I had not listened to this story before and it was well done. Will definitely be recommending for people that may have had this on their “to read” list but may have put it off.

This was a reread for me - I first read Starship Troopers in 11th grade during my Heinlein phase. Like much of classic science fiction (this was first published in 1959), Starship Troopers takes the current events of the writers time and projects it forward, sometimes getting things far off the mark and sometimes hitting eerily close. It is violent and graphic as well as philosophical and reflective.

The premise of society in Johnnie Rico's future is that traditional democracy has collapsed (ouch) and has been replaced by a form of government where only citizens can vote, and citizenship can only be attained through military service. When Johnnie signs up, the world is at relative peace, and the military service is somewhat hollow because there's no real threat. Johnnie qualifies for the mobile infantry, and goes through basic training. During his service though, the Terran colonies begin war with an arachnid race, known colloquially as "Bugs." And like all young soldiers, Johnnie begins to learn the cost of war and the value of his training.

This isn't one of my favorite Heinlein books, and I don't agree with all of it, but I appreciate the reflection on morality and honor through service. It is, however, one of my favorite SF movies of its era. The new narration by RC Bray is solid, and I recommend it as a way to read this classic.

While there are hundreds of thousands of ratings and thousands of reviews on Goodreads, I thought I'd throw in my personal view.

As background of my history with this book, I remember buying a Starship Troopers paperback in the 1980s. I thought I would be cool and read it. Recently, I found that paperback not even cracked open. On another note, I've never seen any of the movies in the Starship Troopers series. So this was actually my first experience with the book.

This book was so much more than a science fiction novel. Most of the book was about philosophy, societal commentary, and thoughts on government. I can see why it was controversial when it was written. There is talk of fascism, racism, sexism, and military attitudes. There was just enough about the alien enemy to be able to create the battle scenes and to be able to introduce the variety of t0pics Mr. Heinlein covered.

And since I listened to a new audiobook release of this book, I want to let you know that award-winning narrator R.C. Bray did an amazing job with the various characters. His accents added so much life to all of the people in the audiobook.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

A classic with a fresh coat of paint.
The narrator is excellent and offers a vibrant reading.
The story is just as good as the many times I've read or listened to it.
Great versimilitude with modern accounts of military training and bootcamp experiences.
I always enjoy the descriptions of the suits and tech, not so intrucive as too take away from the narrative but just a little fun flavor of sci-fi.

This movie has been a family favorite since I was a little kid. I knew it was based on a book but had never taken the time to read it until THIS AUDIOBOOK! And oh what fun it was! I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve read Starship Troopers several times over the years but it’s been a couple of decades since I read it last. When I saw that the audiobook had just released with one of my top 3 narrators performing the book, I knew it was time to revisit this classic.

RC Bray was wonderful as usual and really made the book even better than I remembered.

I loved the old movie of this novel and even though it’s campy and cheesy, the storyline is pretty much the same. I don’t think I even realized it until now.

*Thanks so much to Blackstone publishing for gifting me the audiobook of Starship Troopers!*

Robert A. Heinlein is one of THE "Classics" of Science Fiction. STARSHIP TROOPERS was originally published in November 1959 and I'm sure touched on a common fear among most readers, via the nature of the Alien enemy. Later made into a quite terrifying movie (again due to the nature of those aliens and their apparent implacable destructiveness. [Death to humanity!]
The Narrator for this Audio version is acclaimed and award-winning, though I personally found the narration calmer and less lively than I would have preferred for an action-packed and scary space adventure. I still recommend it though, as I think Robert Heinlein deserves a wide readership (including listenership), and perhaps this new version will encourage long-term readers to recall and bee-to-Heinlein readers intigue.