Re: Starship Troopers

At 9:35 AM 11/11/96, Joachim Heck - SunSoft wrote:> Allan Goodall
writes:
>
> @:) ... I ... didn't much like it.
> @:) _The Forever War_ was a much better novel.

Absolutely, Haldeman was a lot more subtle whith his political
viewpoints. He was also more qualified to write about it than Heinlein
was. Joe Haldeman saw combat in Viet Nam, where Heinlein went to
Annapolis and served in destroyers long enough to contract...
tuberculosis (?).

There was even a Forever War game from Mayfair many moons ago. It was a
pretty decent game system, although I am loath to punch a signed copy
to actually play the thing.

>   I remember being indifferent to _Starship_Troopers_ and liking
> _The_Forever_War_ but I still think _Armor_ was the best of the
> bunch.  Forget all this political stuff - for that matter forget
> interstellar war - just go down there and kill bugs.	And kill them
> again.  And again.  And again.  Wonderful study in stress-related
> mental illness plus lots of blood, gore and snappy dialogue.	Highly
> recommended, despite my probably less-than-encouraging review.  John
> Steakley.
>

I've always liked "Armor,: it has a small cult following aroud the Bay
Area. I even knew people who made t-shirts ( Die ant, die !). Its got
some absolutely smashing combat scenes, and the stress-psychology is
excellent. I no longer have any idea how many times I've reread my
copy. Grab it and read it.

Michael Carter Llaneza
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1991-1950
http://www.hypnotic.com/
Devolution is very real to me.