Starship Troopers was published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in December 1959, won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960, and has been argued about continuously ever since. Heinlein wrote it in response to a newspaper advertisement calling for a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing — an advertisement he considered dangerously naive — and the novel he produced is simultaneously a coming-of-age story, a military training manual, a political treatise, and the most polarizing work of science fiction published in the twentieth century.
The Novel
Juan “Johnnie” Rico, a wealthy young man from Buenos Aires, enlists in the Mobile Infantry against his father’s wishes. The novel follows his training (brutal, deliberate, designed to break the weak and strengthen the strong), his combat experiences against the Arachnids (“bugs” — an insect species that operates through a collective intelligence), and his gradual transformation from a privileged civilian into a competent, responsible soldier and officer.
The world Rico inhabits is a Terran Federation in which full citizenship — including the right to vote — is restricted to those who have completed a term of federal service (military or civilian). Veterans, having demonstrated their willingness to place the community’s survival above their own comfort, are trusted with the franchise. Non-veterans live freely and prosperously but cannot vote or hold office.
Themes
Civic virtue — Heinlein’s central argument is that rights without responsibilities are meaningless. Voting is presented not as a birthright but as a privilege earned by demonstrated willingness to serve. This argument has been praised as a serious contribution to political philosophy and condemned as proto-fascist — often by people who have not read the novel carefully.
Military training — the training sequences are among the most influential in science fiction. The powered armor (exoskeletons that amplify the soldier’s strength) invented here has been adopted by virtually every subsequent military SF franchise, from Halo to Warhammer 40,000.
Violence and civilization — Heinlein argues that violence, or the credible threat of violence, is the ultimate foundation of political authority. This is not presented as desirable but as factual.
Collecting Starship Troopers
First edition (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1959): Blue cloth binding. Dust jacket.
Market values (with dust jacket):
- Fine in dust jacket: $5,000–$15,000
- Very good in dust jacket: $2,000–$5,000
- Without dust jacket: $300–$800
Signed copies are uncommon and command significant premiums. The 1997 Paul Verhoeven film (deliberately satirical, inverting the novel’s politics) sustains popular awareness.