Starship Troopers & Armour

There was an (admittedly off-topic) thread here a little while ago about
Starship Troopers the Movie, and comments about another book by John
Steakley called "Armour"

Well, I hunted down and read Armour with some interest, and here is my 2
cents worth:

It's quite a good book in its' way, but comparing it to Starship
Troopers is like comparing chalk and cheese.

"Armour", "Starship Troopers" and "The Forever War" are all about
power-armoured ground troops, but the emphasis in all three is quite
different.

"Armour" is mainly a psycho-drama. Very dark and moody. All the military
action takes place on the one planet, and you get very little in the way
of an overview on the war - in fact, I never gained the slightest idea
what the fighting was all about. 

"Starship Troopers" is one of the all time classic SF novels. It's also
a very good read. From a war games POV,  you get a much better idea of
the whole war. This still doesn't mean an awful amount - the protagonist
is really only concerned with his unit, and doesn't get much of a
overview, but from the snippets you can put together the wider picture.
The war and the action is based around a WWII paradigm - not surprising,
given it was written about 1959 (from memory). The tone is far more
upbeat than "Armour", but it is hardly jingoistic, and the Military is
portrayed favourably but not unrealistally. There are screwups and
successes. Heinlein was a magnificent writer at his best. In later years
he started to waffle, but Starship Troopers was written at his height. I
don't neccessarily agree with all the views expressed therein, but it's
still a jolly good book.

"The Forever War" - by Joe Haldeman - is also an excellent book. Where
ST was obviously influenced by WWII, TFW is Vietnam in disguise. The
portrayal of the military is far more jaundiced, but still realistic.
Joe Haldeman did fight in Vietnam, and came home with a shredded knee
after stepping on a mine, so he is writing from experience. The twist
that TFW has is that because of relativity, the war lasts for thousands
of years. During this time, society changes so much that the protagonist
no longer fits in.

So, in summary: (and in order of preference)

1) Starship Troopers (Lighter, more optimistic, good tactics etc)
2) The Forever War  (Grimmer, but still somewhat upbeat - still good
tactics)
3) Armour - (Unremittingly grim, a bit much so for my taste, but well
written anyway, but no tactics to speak of)

There. Comments, anyone?
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