Customer Reviews

Armor (Library Edition)

5 star:		(246)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(34)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

Of the two dozen or so sci-fi titles I've read over the last two years (while enjoying the longest advanced training the Army offers) John Steakly's Armor has been certainly my favorite. At first I expected the book to be a meld of Starship Troopers and The Forever War, but the introduction of Steakly's second major character, Jack Crow, turned the story completely around -- and into a tale that transcends its dystopian future setting.

As a reader you may be at first a little confused about the change of perspective in Armor. Half of the novel is written in the third person following the story of Felix, our power-armored soldier, and the other half is told by space adventurer/pirate/prisoner Jack Crow in the first person. This element is essential to understanding the story, and is reconciled later on as we learn more about Felix's story. So give it a chance even if you're at first put off by the shift in perspective.

As many other reviewers have mentioned, the combat sequences in Armor are indeed exceptional. As Felix flung himself into combat against his alien foes there was no way for me to remain outside the battle. Steakly believingly portrays brutal hand-to-hand combat through the eyes of a frantic soldier as he loses himself in the struggle to survive a terrible war on a bleak world.

If you're a science fiction fan or military fiction fan, you can't afford to pass up Armor. It's one of those few stories that pick you up and take you along an exciting 400-page ride, but still leaves you with a simple moral at the end.

Armor is, I believe, my favorite science fiction novel ever. It follows to basic plotlines -- one is the story of a desperate soldier fighting an impossible war, the other from the point of view of an ex-pirate escaped from prison who joined up with the wrong crew. The two plots do intertwine, but the plots aren't the appeal of this novel.

The author's writing style is unique. On the battlefield, you get that feeling which is rarely accurately conveyed in words, the feeling of the rush, the confusion, the horror of combat (I've never been in a combat situation, but I like to pretend I can imagine what it is like). But it's more than that. Steakley questions the whole purpose of the war, the necessity and the making of heroes, and the humanity and desperation of the soldiers.

When you get to the the pirate's section, it switches over to a first person POV, but instead of using one of the usual first person styles (either normal third person with the word 'I' substited in a lot, or subtance-less with a lot of jokes,) you really get into the head of the character, into what makes him tick, and it's really a fantastic experience.

And even with all the fantastic points necessarily made, this book never lets up. There's nary a boring or dull moment, there are the obligatory plot-twists, action sequences, etc..

This is simply a must read novel.

after reading many of the reviews it's clear to me that there are two types of people in the world. people who assume their own plot and expect the author to fulfill it and people who assume nothing and are ready to be fulfilled by the author's plot.

now i also now that armor is not a book for everybody. i've read it a number of times in my life. for the first time when i was in my early teens and as recently as a few years ago. armor is NOT about the social structures of the ant-like enemy. armor is not about the political or quasi-nationalistic motivations of the ant-like enemy. armor is not about the science of it's fiction. armor does not care how intersteller warfare is possible. it's assumed. armor does not care about the astro-physics of planetary behavior. armor does not concern itself with the mechanical genius of the full body killing machines.

it is because armor doesn't concern itself with the typical science of fiction that we are directed to what it is about: the survival of the human survival instinct. Armor is about the intense impact of fear, pain, death, and lonliness on the human psyche. armor is about the humility of realizing the depth of another's suffering. about knowing that you wouldn't have been able to survive.

armor is a subtly compassionate novel that explores human suffering like no other piece of fiction i know. it's english is not perfect. but the style is perfect for the story. the battle scence are graphic. the characters are rough. but once again they are true to the story.

science fiction provdes only a convienient setting. it could be vietnam or it could WWI. steakley uses sci-fi to focus in on what the story is really about. humans. not ants. humans. steakley uses sci-fi to convieniently provide the detached account of felix's combat experiences to the reader through the horrified eyes of jack crow and company. both parts of the book are neccessary. else, how would we understand the subtle difference between felix and crow....

so if you're only a fan of warp-drive emulators and the mechanical specifics of science fiction don't read armor. read something else. read something truly theoretical and mind-boggling like stephen hawking or something more literary like wells. but if you're interested in the fraility and the strength of human survival read armor.

so make up your mind....you obviously know what i think.

I'll put it bluntly...Armor is the best book I have EVER read. Mr Steakly is a master of descriptive writing. He takes you into every battle and makes you feel every word. His characters are fantastic...you laugh, cry and fear with these people...especially the main character, Felix.
I bought this book when it was first published and read late into the night over a period of days...spellbound...until I was done. WHAT A RIDE!
If you love action, adventure and Sci-Fi, then this is a book for you.
The emotion that is conveyed through Mr. Steakly's writing has no equal in my experience, and I have read ALOT of Sci-Fi and Fantasy from both unknown authors and the acclaimed "master writers". None can hold a candle to Mr. Steakly.
Felix is the main character in Armor. He is a man fleeing his past by enlisting in the Fleet. He gets sent to a planet known as "Banshee" to wage war on giant seven foot tall "ants". The key to the human offensive is in the super-suits that the men and women of the fleet wear...their Armor. The book is divided up into three parts...one concerning Felix and his alter-ego the "Engine", one with a secondary character Jack Crow, and a final chapter tying the other two parts together. The battles and action is so crisply detailed, so written in a train of thought manner, that you actually feel like you are there.
Buy it...read it...live it.
~Max~

I love this book. It is in my list of the top 3 books I have ever read. As you go through what Felix is going through you really get the point of view of a hero, of someone who is superior to others around him, almost a god. But unlike a god Felix has to endure through overwhelming stress and people, many who he liked and one he loved, being killed left and right. Felix as a person becomes isolated from everyone because he is not like any of them. He is the battle juggernaut, invincible and yet at the same time always on the verge of being destroyed.

As an abused soldier and veteran Felix developes an attitude that many of us would like to have but are too loving and caring to adopt. He doesn't try to make friends, which pulls other people to him. He is always to the point and makes his conversations short, which leaves his comrades always asking for more. And he doesn't listen to others, which them even more eager for him to obey.

What is even better about this book has dual story lines. Jack Crow, an equally gritty person compared to Felix, discovers Felix's armor and begans to "relive" all of his war experiences. The war descriptions are quite amazing, more beautifully metaphoric and descriptive than analytical. The enemy alien, Buggers, arrive in massive hordes of mindless insect fighters. The buggers are usually stopped by digging large ditches for them to travel in order to keep them from surrounding the human defenders. As the first waves of Buggers are destroyed by blazer fire then it becomes harder for them to defend as mounds and mounds of buggers pile up. As the blazers run out of fuel they are used as blunt weapons.

This amazing book will keep you up at night dieing to finish it. It's a must read for any science fiction/war fanatic.

A very strong beginning will grab the attention of even the most skeptic. The development of the story of Felix's first battle is probably among the best I've ever read in military SciFi. Any comparison to Heinlein stops at the words "powered armor". The story relies more on its main character and less on its environment, as Heinlein does.
The storyline is interrupted, and another plot is dropped in, with the character Jack Crow. Felix's story is once again picked up, told after the fact by means particular to the story. Once again, your attention is riveted to Felix's story, and the new (secondary?) storyline becomes almost trivial. I don't consider the ending predictable as it is a very weak joining of both storylines. Even here, the second storyline seems unimportant.

Its an excellent short novel (the original plot and later revisits). It is a so-so book. Its an old book so used copies should be plentiful and inexpensive. Military SF fans will enjoy this one. New readers, looking for an attention-consuming action story, try Drake, Weber, or Ringo.

I picked this novel up a couple of days ago and read it in one night. As a soldier I have to say that the story is very compelling in it's discription of battle, the fear, the hopelessness, the lack of faith in the chain of command and in one's self. This story through the eyes of Felix gives the reader a hint as to the fear of combat, the hate of doing what must be done, and the drive to survive when there is no reason to. I have read many reviews on this novel comparing it to a Starship Troopers rip off. The only thing that most of these people have to say is "gee it has power armor and bugs and that Heinlein did it first and better". Well as to that I have to say that I have read many sci-fi novels and the concept of power armor is neither new or that amazing nor does Heinlein hold the copyright to that idea. While Starship Troopers is a good novel and one of my favorites, this story about Felix goes about combat and the emotions involved with such while Heinlein spent alot of time talking about society, the military system and such. As to the part with Jack Crow, yes it is going to through you for a loop. It pops out of nowhere but is still a integral part of the story. With Jack Crow you take another man that will do anything to survive and you see him experience what Felix did during the war and you get another perspective on the man that is Felix and what he went through. All in all I have to say that is a very good story and definitely a something to pick up and read.

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I like Steakley's writing. This is his best book and one of my all time favorite books. It is about the armor people place around their souls and the armor they wear in battle.

Felix is a man who has lost his will to live. He knows he is going to die, but has a core "Engine" inside of him that refuses to give up. The "Engine" is Felix's armor against the world and gives him the ability to function in battle better than anyone else.

Felix begins his military life as a rookie in an assault drop on an alien race and he is the sole survivor. Because of a computer glitch which assumed all of his group were killed, he gets dropped again and again into horrific battle, instead of getting rotated out for R&R.

The "Engine" inside of Felix fights on. He is the sole survivor many times. As the faces around him keep changing, he becomes the experienced survivor, admired by most, more and more of a loner, and finally begins to lose the ability to call on his Engine to survive.

Halfway through the book, the plot changes completely to a science station on a far off planet and a new character Jack Crow, nearly as tough as Felix, who teams with a brilliant scientist in replaying the recorder in Felix's battle armor. Immersed in the horror, they pray for Felix's death to end the horror they are playing back.

The book ends with the reader wanting more. Since there is no part II, you will find yourself rereading this book and picking up more detail and enjoying the subtle development of the book.

Outstanding book. Buy two in case someone borrows it and keeps it. Better yet, buy three and give a copy or two to you best friends.

One of the best and most engaging books you will ever read.

It seems some reviewers focus on two aspects of this work to criticize: 1) the viewpoint shift in the "middle section" of the book and 2) the clipped narrative style. on the first: steakley gives us both ends of the telescope. first, he gives us felix in a tight third-person narrative that focuses on his perspective. that shows us felix from up close. then, jack crow looks back through time, and filters experiences through his own strange sense of ethics, as he evaluates felix's actions. we never see directly inside felix the way we see jack crow's opinions so directly. felix is always at arm's length, as it were, but we get to see how his mind works as mediated through 1) the third person detached narrative and 2) the first person detached narrative of someone experiencing what felix went through. and the sense of character is never lost! this is a fantastic literary technique, really. one that is very hard to do, since as the perspective of the narrative shifts, the subject matter shifts a bit as well. try doing it, describing similar experiences in the first and third persons. you have to think differently about what you are describing. the fact things stay consistent in this novel makes it pretty good writing.

now about the narrative stlye. that's twentieth century american prose for you. beginning with hemmingway, continuing through the great popularizers of the style, hammett and raymond chandler. and then look at the post-war era. the clipped, jerky style is supposed to make the reader's mind dart this way and that. read james ellroy for an overdose on this stuff. and here's the real point: some may think it's bad prose, but they should try to write something meaningful (like a story or even a simple description of an event) in that style. it is a mind-boggling task. the fact that a writer uses a clipped style doesn't make the writer bad in any way. it just demonstrates a fine ability to compress language.

The first 100 pages or so of this book reminded me a lot of STARSHIP TROOPERS and THE FOREVER WAR. It was a gritty, realistic look at war from the point of view of a grunt soldier. Very vivid, very compelling, and very exciting. The first person narration gives us a look inside Felix's head and how he reacts to what is going on around him.

Then the author throws us for a loop. The second part starts out in a prison with the narrator (this part is again in first person) trying to escape. I was really confused as to how Felix went from being on a battlefield to being stuck in prison. It takes a while for it to be revealed that this isn't Felix. It's Jack Crow, an interstellar pirate. The majority of the rest of the book revolves around him. I was kind of disappointed in this. I was much more interested in Felix's story. Not that Jack Crow isn't an interesting character. I eventually got into him. I would have liked, though, to get a clearer picture of his history. Mr. Steakley left it kind of fuzzy.

Despite this disappointment of missing out on Felix's continuing exploits, I was still absorbed in this book. Mr. Steakley's storytelling abilities carry this book. His characters are vivid, his dialogue is (usually) great, and the interaction between characters, while sometimes confusing, is entertaining to read. The middle third of the book was a bit slow, but the excitement of the beginning and end more than made up for it. If you're looking for a good sci-fi read, this will definitely satisfy you.