This book is one of those classic science fiction books that helped shape the genre when it was originally published in the 1950s. I had my concerns looking at it. Usually, military books completely turn me off. The constant focus on battles and war tends to bore me and I can’t always connect with the characters. This book was different. Although the military setting still wasn’t completely my cup of tea, I was able to connect with the main character. Also, this book was definitely ahead of its time. It was so interesting to read about what authors could dream of as the “future” in 1954.
Johnny wants to join the military. His dad cautions against it, but he and his best friend decide to try to apply together. While his friend gets a more specialized job, Johnny has to go to boot camp to be in the infantry. When he enters boot camp, the military is at a time of reasonable peace. During his first few years in the military, however, they go from peacetime to wartime. He quickly rises through the ranks as those who are above him are killed or forced into higher leadership positions. Punishments go from being lighter to being far stricter as the military tries to bring their men in line in time for battle.
The political atmosphere of this book definitely reminded me a lot of the political atmosphere in the series Poppy War. Johnny may have had a very different start from the MC of Poppy War, but both characters entered the military expecting a relatively stable life just to be thrown into a full-blown war. Both characters struggle a lot with seeing death on such a massive scale, losing their friends, and adjusting to a far stricter “at-war” military experience. Their humanity had to be shut off in certain situations to get through their dark environments, but they both tried to hang onto it as much as possible. I think that if someone likes the political intrigue and aspects of Poppy War that they would enjoy reading this classic sci-fi military novel also.
My favorite part of this book was definitely reading about the “future” from the view of someone in 1954. The suits and tech used by these futuristic fighters seemed clunky/unreasonable in some circumstances and completely impossible in others. Comparing the Marvel movies’ futuristic human agents that fight aliens to these 1950s “futuristic” military feels like night and day.
I think this may be one of the books where I’m going to watch the movie, really enjoy it, and then appreciate the book more. I’ve done that several times with books that I found difficult to get through the first time, and this may just be one of them. Hopefully, sometime in 2022, I will get the chance to watch the movie, and then I will revisit this book/review.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes political/military thrillers.
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 books.
