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Starship Troopers  By  cover art

Starship Troopers

By: Robert A. Heinlein
Narrated by: Lloyd James
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Publisher's summary

Join the Army and See the Universe. That is the motto of The Third Space War, also known as The First Interstellar War, but most commonly as The Bug War. In one of Robert Heinlein's most controversial best sellers, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the universe - and into battle with the Terrain Mobile Infantry against mankind's most alarming enemy.

©1959 by Robert A. Heinlein (P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

  • Hugo Award, 1960

Featured Article: The Best Sci-Fi Book-to-Film/TV Adaptations


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What listeners say about Starship Troopers

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10,687
  • 4 Stars
    4,146
  • 3 Stars
    1,508
  • 2 Stars
    331
  • 1 Stars
    169
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6,791
  • 4 Stars
    3,920
  • 3 Stars
    2,382
  • 2 Stars
    802
  • 1 Stars
    356
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10,100
  • 4 Stars
    2,711
  • 3 Stars
    1,072
  • 2 Stars
    257
  • 1 Stars
    138

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Starship Troopers and Citizenship

When I first started listening to this book, I thought it was going to be as bad as the movie. I was greatly surprised by the philosophical and political agenda. It is almost as if the book and the movie have nothing in common, and for this I am greatful.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book / Great Reading

This is an excellent story - thought provoking but amusing and engaging. It was also an excellent reading. The narrator did a great job with it. It is easy to listen to and appreciate.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Favorite

This is the best book as I can listen over and over again to it

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

If you thought you liked the movie

If there is one thing I have learned. If you like the movie you will love the book. This is the best book I have. Takes a little bit to get used to the narrator. I have had this title on my otis so many times I could not count. Cant wait till my 4 year old is old enough for this one.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Stories of Starship Troopers

What made the experience of listening to Starship Troopers the most enjoyable?

The fact that the book, holds many interesting points on society, political and other, and sets up an intriguing to asks these questions. what is a bit strange about this story is that it is more of a diary of the main character, from when he joins the military and so on, more than it is one cohesive story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

the story has several interesting characters, whom all act different and with often interesting reasoning behind their actions.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Lloyd James?

I am a bit on the fence for this one, since it takes some time to get used to his reading style.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

well, not particularly, though there was one moment, which i do not wish to spoil.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book! Poorly narrated

Any additional comments?

If you have seen the movie but not read the book then read the damned book! Very different. Unfortunately Lloyd James is very average at reading, he gets somewhat better as the book progresses but he actually has trouble with the flow of sentences in the early chapters. There are also a number of audio editing mistakes in this production - pretty weak for such a classic. Mark Boyett would be perfect to narrate a new production.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book!

An amazing read.
There narrator is great, but there's a few annoying points where the audio changes, the quality drops and the narrator even changes, for a few seconds.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Even better on audio, great first person narrative

Any additional comments?

Starship Troopers is one of my "desert island" books. I have read the paperback copy at least a half a dozen times. While I do not agree with Heinlein's politics, he raises some very interesting ideas.

More importantly, the story is very well written and well crafted.

The other reviewers who critiqued the reader missed the point. This story is told in the first person. The reader tells the story in a first person voice and that is very well acted.

Two thumps up.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, narration distracting at times

Love the book but the semi-frequent “punch ins” to re-record a sentence or two were really distracting. The audio and voice quality was so different that it sounds like a different reader for a random sentence or so. Just pulls you out for a minute is all. This isn’t on the narrator, just the technical side of the recording process by not using the same equipment/settings/environment for the retakes. Other than that, the book was great and as others have said, far different than the movie. Glad I picked this one up.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good listen

Have always been a big fan of Starship Troopers movie. This book is good to see where the concept came from.

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