Not About *Starship Troopers*

[ase]

Today - yesterday, technically - I finished reading Starship Troopers, and I feel the need to mention my ongoing wish for novels where more than half the cast is female, and it is no big deal. Our protagonist Juana does lots of plot-related stuff and interacts on a regular basis with her coworkers Danielle, Desiree and Beth, as well as Ryan and

Comments

[charlie_ego]

hee, I read Starship Troopers fairly recently, and I thought it was just hilarious. I love how Heinlein comes up with airtight solutions to social problems... provided a particular set of (extremely specific) conditions is met. Perfect democracy? Easy! Oh, provided you have some rilly rilly powerful aliens to war against (but not too powerful as to beat you all the way up). Perfect revolution? (Moon is a Harsh Mistress, which although it's completely sexist and whatever I absolutely love.) Also easy! Oh, have I mentioned the part where you need an omnipotent omniscient computer?

[ase]

Oh, have I mentioned the part where you need an omnipotent omniscient computer?

If it's all right with you, I may turn that into an icon. That's Heinlein to a tee. If only people were sensible - but they're not. People sometimes act irrationally by their own standards, and sometimes act really strangely by other people's (cultures, etc) standards. I find it somewhat telling that Heinlein spends a lot of time talking about the Bug War, but never explains how it was started. Deliberate author choice, or author oversight?

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is a thrilling adventure story, and - despite the datedness - really rocked when I tried it a couple years ago.

[charlie_ego]

hee, that would be great!

Hmm... now I'm imagining a 1984-type conspiracy where everyone's *told* that there is a Big Bad War... but now, have you ever talked to one of these Bugs? Do we really know they are bugs at all? Perhaps they are clever government-controlled robots!

Yeah, Harsh Mistress is my all-time favorite Heinlein, and the only one I've felt the urge to buy. (My best friend made me read it after I complained that I didn't much like Heinlein-- at the time I'd only read his meandering late-career random-love crap.)

[ase]

Do we really know they are bugs at all? Perhaps they are clever government-controlled robots!

Have you ever seen Wag the Dog? It's a comedy that involves a hoax war created through faked footage.

What I really want is someone's pastiche/homage/reworking of Starship Troopers for the 21st C. Lose the patronizing "gee, look at those plucky women!" attitude, add in Korea and Vietnam and Iraq (the first and second times).

...at the time I'd only read his meandering late-career random-love crap.

I seem to be one of a very small minority that has avoided late Heinlein.

[charlie_ego]

Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten about Wag the Dog!

Good for you, avoiding late Heinlein. There's only one late Heinlein book I like, and that's not because of any merit in the actual book and more because the main character is basically exactly like my roommate in high school (who was the one who gave it to me to read; she had it from her boyfriend who was all, "Hey look, this is you!").