Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
Absolutely not. Neither atheism nor Scientology are part of the underpinning. (To my knowledge, RAH was agnostic and Libertarian.)
Starship Troopers is a "coming of age" story, which I believe was originally intended for the Scribners Juvenile/YA line he did an assortment of earlier books for. Johnny Rico grows up and learns to take responsibility, first for himself, as a Trained Private in the Mobile Infantry, then for others, as a non-commissioned officer in the MI, and finally for the human race, as a commissioned officer. His moral development can be charted by the different answers he gives to "Why we fight" at different stages of the book.
You may disagree with the author's philosophy, but you won't get very far if you don't at least recognize what kind of book the author was writing.
Hubbard isn't "avoid at all costs". He was a competant pulp writer, who did some nice stuff for John W. Campbell's Unknown Worlds fantasy magazine, and some at least readable SF. (I carefully exclude the "Old Doc Methuslah" stories from that list.) By all means do avoid Dianetics and all things subsequent to it.
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Dennis
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Yes. And even the Writer's of the Future Contest seems to be legit, though they will send you flyers to try to sell you his fiction.
