This is a review of a book that came out in 1987. You have probably read it already or watched the movie. I just got around to reading it though. Here are some of my thoughts, for what it’s worth.

What happens when humanity’s galactic expansion runs into the galactic expansion of a bug-like race? War. Starship Troopers follows Juan Rico as goes through boot camp, joins a special forces unit, and ultimately becomes an officer. Unexpectedly there are only 3 battle sequences and they aren’t the most interesting part of the book by a long shot. Most of the book is taken up in training, in classrooms, and in Juan’s mind as he grows into a leader. This book is more interested in exploring moral and political philosophy than the thrill of battle.

It does so in Juan’s training as his instructors and superior officers teach him. I found the most engaging parts of the books those times when one instructor or another would lay out their perspective on the question’s Juan is asking.

During the course of the book the author, Robert Heinlein, uses those instructors to make a direct assault our ideas of rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, rights to citizenship, and rights to vote. Even so, his universe has an appeal to it, minus the alien bug army set on destroying us all. In this future most people live with great freedom, low taxes, and a high quality of life. But they do so at the loss of self-governance. Only citizens, those who choose to serve a short term in the military, have that privilege. They don’t have the privilege as a right or because of their race, ethnicity, gender, or education. They do so because they have proven they put the group before themselves.

Whether or not such a system would work as he argues (I highly doubt it would be satisfactory) is beside the point. I’m interested in two things. Is it interesting? That is, does it get me thinking? And is there any truth hidden in there?

As for interesting, the answer is definitely yes. As you read this American’s are having intense discussions about rights, freedom, taxes, etc. We can’t even agree on what the most basic rights we share even mean. Even more, the Arab world is struggling as young people rebel for freedom. We assume freedom means democracy in our vision of it. Maybe it doesn’t. Heinlein’s veteran run democracy-like world is a novel attempt at answering the same kinds of questions that the global community is struggling with.

As for truth, there is a little bit of truth hidden in there.  The ideal of placing the group before yourself is no new idea. “Do not ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Many have been inspired by a call to self-sacrifice.

Jesus certainly calls his disciples to it. Jesus’ new commandment to “love one another as I have loved you” is all about sacrificial love. That is one of the core foundations of the life of the church and Christian fellowship. Of course Jesus’ call is harder and deeper than anything Heinlein imagined given that it calls for complete heart transformation. It is also easier given that God works the needed transformation. It Heinlein’s world it takes an impossible amount of grit to give enough.

Heinlein’s world is built on the idea of expansion for self-preservation. He argues that morality is a fiction which only exists as individuals strive to preserve not just themselves, which all animals do, but to preserve the group, humanity. While his rejection of morality is ridiculous, he has a point about the importance to live for something bigger.

Buried deep inside is the fact that we are made with the need to live for something bigger. You could say it’s the God-shaped-hole. While Heinlein would probably cringe at this thought, Starship Troopers points to the truth about our human need for God and his love AND our need to live for God and for others. He just gets a little confused about who God is.

Would I recommend reading it if you haven’t. Absolutely. The thought exercise is worth it alone. And the last battle is pretty awesome.

A very brief review of the movie
After reading this Teresa and I watched the 1997 movie based on the book. We have a friend who in college regularly would bring up the greatness of  the movie. Anyone who had seen it utterly disagreed with him. Here is the reason. The movie took anything good from the book, removed it, and made no attempt to replace it with anything of substance. While I didn’t expect it to explore the philosophical topics, it had potential as an action film.

Yet even the action was a castrated version of the book. In the book each infantry has an armored, robotic suit. Imagine an army where each soldier is Iron Man carrying an arsenal of nuclear and biological weapons. Yet the movie mostly includes unarmored men and women running around as giant bugs cut them in half.

I official name it one of the worst movies ever.

How I Finally Picked This Book Up
For the last 2-3 days I’ve been reading On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson. I first heard about this book from Eric and Rachel McLaughlin. They loved it. Even though they are some of our most trusted friends, that wasn’t enough to get to me to go get it.

I know Andrew Peterson primarily as a songwriter and musician. Maybe if I had ever listened to more than a couple of his songs I would have been more motivated until now. My primary barrier was that I couldn’t get it at the library. 95% or more of the books I read I get from the library. I just can’t afford to go out and buy all the books I want to read. This just didn’t make it high enough on my list.

Then I started following a blog partly run by Andrew Peterson. It was thoughtful, honest, and largely about faith and the arts. They had picked up Thomas McKenzie’s movie reviews, which I highly recommend, and I got hooked.

Anyway, I finally broke down and bought the book. Then it sat on the shelf because I kept getting books from the library and they have a time limit. Eventually I had no more library books, so I started reading.

The Review
I’m only half way through, so my attitude might change, but at this point I think you should go buy the book too.

To start you need to know three things. One, it is a children’s/young adult book. The main character is 12 and a 12-year-old will enjoy the book. But so will you. Two, it is takes place in a fantasy world with lizard people, dragons, trolls, etc. If you don’t like that kind of stuff, don’t let it keep you from reading this. Three, it isn’t a Newbury winner because Newbury winners don’t have any kind of real hope. This book has hope.

The plot revolves around the Igiby children who live in Skree, which has been unfortunate enough to have been taken over by the Fangs of Dang. The kids get in trouble with the Fangs, but they also find a treasure map for to the very treasure for which the Fangs are looking. I’m only half way through, but so far all their adventures keep them close to home as the children begin to learn the true identity of their family and try, most unsuccessfully, to avoid the Fangs.

The writing, characters and names are whimsical and silly. There are toothy cows for instance. But it is also filled with history of the world that Peterson has created. There are footnotes all over the place with little bits of history of people, places, and stories that are referenced. The obvious themes of good and evil are there, but Peterson also writes about the longing for adventure and for something better. He writes of how one character  feels a sense of homesickness even at his happiest moments at home. He writes about things that resonate. While being goofy, it also builds tension, suspension, and a sense that something big is taking place in this small mundane town and in the lives of the characters.

I’ve known people for years who loved Andrew Peterson’s music and raved about his Christmas tour. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness makes me want to go find out what they have been raving about. I look forward to finding out what happens and buying the sequel when I’m done. This is the kind of book that I can’t wait to read to my daughter.