Audible Review, "Starship Troopers"

"One of the Worst Performances"

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

            No, and I almost shut it off forever at numerous points. Whenever I am left thinking, "Well, I already bought it, might as well finish it," it is not a good sign.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Starship Troopers?

            There are several discussions in the book concerning political science. While several do a good job at illuminating their points the one that stood out to me was the one about "value" which misused macroeconomic terms for a microeconomic discussion. It was so flatly wrong that it was distracting.  It is sad when the most standout part of a book is the thing that makes me realize it is a lot dumber than it thinks it is.

Would you be willing to try another one of Lloyd James’s performances?

            GODS, NO! HE WAS THE ABSOLUTE WORST! How do you make combat with giant alien bugs via power armor boring? He has the habit of pausing. After. Every. Sentence. Often for up to a full second, which doesn't sound like a lot but good lord does it make the whole thing sound even slower and more boring. His reading is the most detached, dry, plodding performance I have ever heard. He should be embarrassed.

            You might be saying, "just turn up the speed" I did, it just makes his pitch annoyingly high and the pauses are still there and are still long proportionate to the now sped up sentences. AWFUL WORK!

Do you think Starship Troopers needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

            There have been follow up works, just not by this author. "Starship Troopers" practically spawned the genre of Space Military. With discussions of applied technology, tactics, and the morality of fighting a war of genocide against thinking creatures who are so alien that the idea of seeing them as worthy of moral consideration is difficult if not impossible.

            I have already talked about “The Forever War” which is a much bleaker and more cynical look at the exact same subject matter.  “Troopers” leans much more on a dry philosophical discussion of social science (which it laughably miss-labels as a hard science) while “Forever” leans more on talking about the technology that makes the universe go around.  The evolving social order of “Forever” is far dumber and more obnoxious than the distant (proto-fascist) civilian world of “Troopers”.

 

Which is still more democratic than the most nerd popular Space Marine franchise.

Any additional comments?

            In addition to the reader being absolute fail, the recording itself had dozens of errors, as sentences scattered thru the book drop in audio clarity, volume, and are done but what may be a different actor. This is shoddy work. If not for this book's status as a modern classic I could not imagine it receiving a rating as high as it has.  Which leads me to a final point, the fanboys.

            I don’t think it is any secret that there are far too many insipid dipshits who find something they like and will hear no words of criticism against it and shower it with praise regardless of failings, but “Starship Troopers” seems to have rung the bell calling home the hoard of stupid.  This thing has a stupid level of 5 star ratings on Audible in spite of the performers lacking abilities being listed by many of them.  I HAVE NO IDEA WHY.

            I also cannot figure out why people feel the need to bad mouth the movie as a means to stroke the book.  HEY IDIOTS, if someone came to read/listen to the book because they found the movie engaging then maybe don’t try to shove them off.

            Either they will read/listen to it and enjoy the deeper exploration of the concepts at the sacrifice of action, OR they will find the book boring and preachy (like I did) and go back to enjoying the movie with greater perspective on both having been gained.

            YOU ARE NOT HELPING them to learn anything by calling them dumb for liking the movie, and you are not helping to sell the book or the ideas you hold in high esteem by shoving back the people who want to purchase and enjoy the book.  STOP BEING SNOBBY DIP SHITS.  It is the job of anyone who enjoys a thing (or part of being an adult) is to be an ambassador for the things you like, and part of being an ambassador is knowing that different people like different things.  STOP BEING A SNOBBY DIP SHIT.  Let people like what they like and then go on liking what you like.  Grown up.

______________________________

            If you like or hate this please take the time to comment, +1, share on Twitter, Tumblr, or Facebook, and otherwise distribute my opinion to the world.  I would appreciate it.