Starship Troopers influenced many later science fiction stories, setting a tone for the military in space, a type of story referred to as military science fiction. John Steakley’s novel Armor was, according to the author, born out of frustration with the small amount of actual combat in Starship Troopers and because he wanted this aspect developed further. Conversely, Joe Haldeman’s anti-war novel The Forever War is popularly thought to be a direct reply to Starship Troopers, and though Haldeman has stated that it is actually a result of his personal experiences in the Vietnam War, he has admitted to being influenced by Starship Troopers.[39] Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is also thought by many to have been either a direct response to or influenced by Starship Troopers. Card has flatly denied this, saying that he never read the novel and was influenced by The Forever War.[60] Harry Harrison wrote a satirical book called Bill, the Galactic Hero which he described as „a piss-take on Heinlein’s Starship Troopers“[61] John Scalzi’s novel Old Man’s War is, according to the author, explicitly patterned after Starship Troopers.[62] In recent years, John Ringo’s series Legacy of the Alldenata (also known as the Posleen series) featured a more explicit homage to Heinlein’s book.
The 1986 James Cameron movie Aliens incorporated themes and phrases right out of the novel such as the terms „the drop“ and „bug hunt“ as well as the cargo-loader exoskeleton. The actors playing the Colonial Marines were also required to read Starship Troopers as part of their training prior to filming.[63] Starship Troopers is also thought to have influenced numerous computer and boardgames, including Tribes,[64] Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri,[65] Halo, Warhammer 40,000, Fallout 2,[66] and StarCraft.[67]
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Of the gladest moments in human life, methinks is the departure upon a distant journey to unknown lands. -Sir Richard Francis Burton, 1856