what does matter is that everybody drops

starship troopers (robert heinlein, 1959)

In September 1959, Joanna Russ’s first genre story, “Nor Custom Stale,” was published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. In the next issue, the magazine also published the first half of a serial by Robert Heinlein titled “Starship Soldier,” better known now as Starship Troopers. Heinlein’s book would go on to win the Hugo for best novel; Russ’s next story, “My Dear Emily,” wouldn’t show up until 1962.

There’s no relationship between Russ’s story and Heinlein’s other than proximity, but one part of researching Weird Sisters is going back to read the old Hugo and Nebula winners that I haven’t read (or haven’t read in a long time), as a way of keeping a “mainstream” in mind as I go. And Heinlein is, in general, a pretty big blind spot for me. If I read any of his stuff when I was young I have forgotten it. So, here are some notes on Starship Troopers. Initially, I was going to do a bundle of “weird capsule reviews” but this turned out a bit too long for that. Still, they rea…