by Tom Doolan

Created on: April 25, 2008

For those who pick up this classic looking for the rousing adventure and action/war story shown in the theatrical release of 1997, be prepared to be both disappointed and surprised. Aside from names, locations, and premise, the book and the movie are almost two completely different works.

Written in 1959, and published first in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction as a serial, and later as a teen novel, the novel is more of a social commentary on such subjects as citizenship and the rights inherent in that concept, as well as capital and corporal punishment, and the necessity of war. All of these are explored through the eyes and experiences of a normal high school kid who, seeking to become a citizen of The Federation, joins the Mobile Infantry upon graduation.

The Mobile Infantry are the grunts, the ground-pounders, the doughboys of the futuristic military. They are highly trained, encased in powered armor and dropped planet side in a manner very similar to bullets being fired from a semi-automatic pistol. Once there, they engage their targets with gusto reminiscent of the Marines on Iwo Jima. In the book, the enemies include a race of lower-technology beings known as "Skinnies" due to their tall, lanky builds, and the Arachnids, an insectoid species who have a hive-like society.

But the armor, the technology, the aliens, even the war itself, are all just dressing and backdrop. The main crux of the story is Johnny Rico's education in the ways of the Federation, and the reader's education on what could be, should society become a military-run political body, where citizenship isn't an inalienable right, but something that must be earned through federal service. Even Johnny's ancestry plays a secondary role, as he is never thoroughly defined, giving him an almost "everyman" appearance. It is only during the last pages that we find that Johnny is actually of Filipino descent, who speaks Tagolog natively.

Yet, despite the fact that this "war story" has very little to say about the war itself, it still manages to keep the reader entertained and enlightened. This isn't just a "Military Science Fiction" novel, but a thinking-man's book, filled with ideas that will have the reader questioning what he knows. In the end, one's views may or may not be changed, but they will be strengthened by the very fact that they are challenged and questioned.

Of course, to a hardcore science fiction fan, the descriptions of the technology, and the sheer imaginativeness of this novel will be delightful, and may warrant more than one reading.

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