Starship Troopers

Executive Summary: One of those rare cases where I liked the movie better than the book.

Audio book: This was my first book narrated by Lloyd James. If I can help it, it will be my last. He's far from the worst narrator I've had, but after coming off a Micheal Kramer reading in my last book, he seemed extra bad.

He's reading felt wooden. No real emotion or inflection at all. It did seem to get a bit better as it went on, but never into good territory.

Full Review
This one has been on my list for awhile. I saw the movie back in high school and really enjoyed it. I've heard complaints from fans of the book that it's not a very good adaptation. In my opinion that's for the best.

It's probably a matter of expectations though. I was hoping for a fun fast paced military sci-fi story. But there is very little action in this book. Much of it is spent in training. And I didn't find that all too exciting much of the time.

I know this book is old, and Heinlein couldn't/wouldn't swear but the language really got me. They didn't feel like soldiers to me with how they talked. This probably wasn't helped at all by the wooden narrator. After something like Full Metal Jacket or my vague memories of the movie, the book camp part was a pretty big disappointment.

I think a lot of people focus on the politics of this book and it's pro-war/ultra patriotism. I can understand why. It makes up most of the story. Personally I was mostly just bored by it.

The overall story was pretty good though. Maybe that's why I liked the movie. I guess the book just wasn't quite for me. It's good, but not great. I'm still glad I finally read it though.