Starship Troopers

Heinlein is one of my favourite authors, and he really puts his views into his work. For example he talks extensively in this novel that only people who have served in the army and have finished their terms are allowed to vote. Which is an interesting theory, especially when you take a look at all the arguments put forth in the novel. In this fictional world enrolment in the army is 100% voluntary, they make it hard and scary for a person to enrol, and if you run away from the army they don't chase you and don't force you to come back. Supposedly this means that the only people who enrol in that army are fit to decide the fate of the human race, because only people who are in the army and who finish out the term value humanities well-being above their own. Which, in the context provided, makes a lot of sense.

The main character of the book Johnny Rico chooses to join the army. The book is set in the future and he can gain citizenship if he joins. Since he does not have any special qualifications he becomes a mobile infantry soldier. The war being fought at the time is against an arachnid species that are referred to as "the bugs." They are sentient and have a hive system set up. There is very little actual fighting in the book, but it is how the book starts. It begins by describing Johnny's fight against the "skinnies" who are allies of the bugs. The majority of the book is spent describing his time at boot camp Camp Arthur Currie. It is a grueling place, but eventually he graduates. He is involved in another fighting scene when he fully joins the army. Here is stationed on a bug planet. His section falls into a tunnel and he barely survives. He is eventually joins OCS and meets back up with his estranged father who also joined the military. Parts of the books also describe Johnny's time in Moral and Philosophy class, which he took in high school. Here he has a teacher that brings up controversial issues such as the constitution and communism.