Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Synopsis
'The historians can't seem to settle whether to call this one 'The Third Space War' (or the fourth), or whether 'The First Interstellar War' fits it better. We just call it 'The Bug War'. Everything up to then and still later were 'incidents', 'patrols' or 'police actions'. However, you are just as dead if you buy the farm in an 'incident' as you are if you buy it in a declared war.' 5,000 years in the future, humanity faces total extermination. Our one defence: highly-trained soldiers who scour the metal-strewn blackness of space to hunt down a terrifying enemy: an insect life-form known only as 'Bugs.' This is the story of trooper Johnny Rico, from his idealistic enlistment in the infantry of the future through his rigorous training to the command of his own platoon. And his destiny is a war that will span the galaxy.
Tags
Is Starship Troopers appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
Intense military science fiction with strong combat violence, death, and philosophical themes about citizenship and duty. No sexual content, but graphic depictions of war and casualties against an alien enemy.
What to know going in
This book has strong violence, no sexual content, and moderate language. Content notes include graphic violence, death, and mass death (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens interested in military sci-fi will find an action-packed story of training, combat, and what it means to be a soldier in a future interstellar war.