Starship Troopers

Starship Troopers is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, published hardcover in December 1959. The story was first published (in abridged form) as a two-part serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction as Starship Soldier.

The first-person narrative is about a young soldier named Juan "Johnnie" Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry, a futuristic military service branch equipped with powered armor. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as "the Bugs". Rico and the other characters discuss moral and philosophical aspects of suffrage, civic virtue, juvenile delinquency, corporal punishment, capital punishment, and war.

Starship Troopers won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960.

Writing of the novel

Some time during 1958 and 1959, Heinlein ceased work on the novel that would become Stranger in a Strange Land and wrote Starship Troopers. It was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in October and November 1959 as a two part serial called Starship Soldier. Although originally written as a juvenile novel for New York publishing house Scribner, it was rejected, prompting Heinlein to cease writing juvenile fiction for Scribners, to end his association with that publisher completely, and resume writing books with adult themes. The novel was eventually published as teenage fiction by G. P. Putnam's Sons. A senior editor at Putnam's, Peter Israel, purchased the novel and approved revisions that made it more marketable to adults, and dodged the issue of whether it was aimed at children or adults: "Let's let the readers decide who likes it," he said at a sales conference.

Paul Verhoeven

Paul Verhoeven (Dutch: [ˈpʌu̯l vərˈɦuvə(n)]; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch film director, film producer, television director, television producer and screenwriter. Verhoeven is active in both the Netherlands and Hollywood. Explicit violent and/or sexual content and social satire are trademarks of both his drama and science fiction films. He is best known in Hollywood for directing the science fiction films RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), and Starship Troopers (1997), and the erotic thriller Basic Instinct (1992).

Verhoeven's film Turkish Delight (1973) received the award for Best Dutch Film of the Century at the Netherlands Film Festival. His films altogether received a total of nine Academy Award nominations, mainly for editing and effects. Verhoeven won the Saturn Award for Best Director for Robocop. His Dutch war film Black Book (2006) was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language, and was voted the best Dutch film ever by the Dutch public in 2008.

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of various characters "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away".

The first film in the series, Star Wars (later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope), was released on May 25, 1977 by 20th Century Fox and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. It was followed by the similarly successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy was later released between 1999 and 2005, which received a more mixed reaction from critics and fans, compared to the original trilogy. All seven films were nominated for or won Academy Awards, and were commercial successes, with a combined box office revenue of $4.38 billion, making Star Wars the fourth highest-grossing film series. The series has spawned an extensive media franchise—the Star Wars expanded universe—including books, television series, computer and video games, and comic books, resulting in significant development of the series's fictional universe. Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the "Most successful film merchandising franchise." In 2012, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $30.7 billion, including box-office receipts as well as profits from their video games and DVD sales.

Star Trek

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry and owned by CBS (TV series) and Paramount Pictures (Film Rights).Star Trek: The Original Series and its live-action TV spin-off series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise as well as the Star Trek film franchise make up the main canon. The canonicity of Star Trek: The Animated Series is debated, and the expansive library of Star Trek novels and comics is generally considered non-canon, although still part of the franchise.

Starship

A starship, starcraft or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel.

The term is mostly found in science fiction, because such craft have never been constructed though some credit the word being first used in the Oahspe: A New Bible bible (1882)

Whilst the Voyager and Pioneer probes have travelled into local interstellar space, the purpose of these unmanned craft was specifically interplanetary and they are not predicted to reach another star system (although Voyager 1 will travel to within 1.7 light years of AC +79 3888 in approximately 40,000 years). Several preliminary designs for starships have been undertaken through exploratory engineering, using feasibility studies with modern technology or technology thought likely to be available in the near future.

Research

To travel between stars in a reasonable time using rocket-like technology requires very high effective exhaust velocity jet, and enormous energy to power this, such as might be provided by fusion power or antimatter.