Customer Reviews

Armor

5 star:		(133)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The field of military science fiction is a very limited one, with only a very few excellent examples, mainly Heinlein's Starship Troopers, Haldeman's Forever War, and Dickson's Soldier, Ask Not. Armor attempts to meld some of the great characteristics of these works, from Heinlein's powered armor to Haldeman's anti-war message, but it is only partially successful.

The first section of this book deals with Felix, a new recruit on his first battle drop. We are not given any background to this man, but is rather a blank slate that we watch as he and his powered armor scout suit turn into an impossibly efficient killing machine, becoming the sole survivor of his battle group after being faced with an opposition of literally thousands of human-sized Ants. We see a man of action and few words, whose interior mental state is oddly split between the fighting, survive at all costs, totally unemotional 'Engine' and a terrified, confused, and very fatalistic 'other'. When the 'Engine' is not in command, we see Felix have some interaction with other soldiers on the drop, from finding out what the survival percentage is for scouts on their first, second, etc major drop from some experienced veterans, to who their military idol is, a man named Kent, supposedly impossible to defeat in hand-to-hand suit combat, and a quickly burgeoning love interest in a extremely capable scout from another battle group. This is the best section of the book, as we see by their actions what molds a military group together, what values soldiers must have if they are to survive as a group, how emotions become a riotous tangle under the demands of battle.

Abruptly, the book leaves Felix and picks up a new character, Jack Crow, cynical, worldly, known for impossible (and marginally illegal) exploits, fighting his way out of a prison and onto a mutineer space ship run by master pirate Borglyn. When Borglyn presents a plan to refuel his ship at a Fleet science base on the planet Sanctity, owned by the eccentric alcoholic Lewis, and offers as prize to Crow a beautiful little ship and a de-activated scout suit for defeating the science base defenses from the inside, all the pieces are in place. From this point on (about page 130) I found the book to be totally predictable, from just who Felix and Lewis really are, to what actions each character would take leading to the final battle.

The characterization of Crow is not very well done, as we are only given hints of his past, a rather murky inside look at his emotional triggers and defenses, and a constant mannerism of lighting a cigarette at every available opportunity, mention of which I found quite irritating after the thirteenth repetition. Unlike Felix, whose past must remain a blank for several reasons, Crow's past should have had far greater explication to make us really believe in him as a person, to where his final actions would be more believable and not just a predictable stereotype. Roger Zelazny was known for building characters like Crow in works like This Immortal, but Zelazny's were believable, three dimensional people. Crow is not. This is unfortunate, as the characters of Crow, Felix, Kent, and Holly (the scientist in charge of the Sanctity base, and also very much a stereotype) form a group of different looks at just what it is that makes a hero, which is really Steakley's theme.

As a theme, it is distinct from the earlier cited works, and could have made this work into something excellent. But it is marred by several additional factors:

1. The shown high level military strategy/personnel are absurd. Any military consistently run in this fashion would quickly lose all respect by the lower level soldiers. The 'grunts' are famous for always bitching about just how screwed up the 'brass' are, but if they truly believed that, you would see Russia in 1917 all over again.

2. The Ants are equally impossible, seeming to have only one strategy, overwhelm through sheer mindless force of numbers, though they are supposedly a technologically advanced, star travelling culture. This attribute could have been worked into a strong sub-theme, but it wasn't.

3. The human society outside of the military is never really shown, nor is there really any reason given for the Ant War itself.

Thus the hero theme is forced to exist in an almost total vacuum from the normal societal factors that help define just what a hero is. And without strong character definition, it just didn't carry the emotional freighting that would have made this an excellent work.

Read this one for the opening highly action oriented first section, which is excellent. Then close the book.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

After reading all these reviews, I have to admit that I'm pleasantly surprised! I had no idea that "Armor" was such a cult novel with such a huge following.
It's revealing how many veterans gave the book positive reviews. It seems to confirm something that I've felt for a long time: Steakley himself may be a veteran, and this book was a way for him to put his experiences of war (whichever one it was) down on paper. Why sci-fi? Why not?
I have to agree with those who say that the book slows down during the Jack Crow sections. It's sad but true. At least J.C. seems to undergo some sort of character development (more than one could say for many SF novels) but the dialogue especially was only so-so. I would have to say, nonetheless, that the scenes with Felix more than make up for those sections.
Comparing "Armor" with "Starship Troopers" does neither book justice. Heinlein seems more concerned with the military mind than he is with the actual experience of combat. We are never told what Earth society is like in "Armor," or at least it's only broadly described. "Troopers" was about why we need a military (and, IMHO, is much more ambiguous concerning warfare than some unsophisticated readers would think); "Armor" is about the deleterious effects of warfare on the mind and spirit. (Except for the JAck Crow stuff.)
This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I would recommend it in turn, not as a great work of literature, or even great SF on the level of Poe, Wells, Clarke, Heinlein's best, Dick, Zelazny, Lem, etc. But it is a powerful book, with a lot to say, if we're willing to listen.

I had read Vampires (a book by J. Steakley and well worth reading) before, but could not connect it to this book because of the diffrent subjects. Both were so intense that I could not stop reading. Armor, completely diffrent kind of book than Vampires, still evokes the same kind of response from the reader. It fills your every waking hour and gives you believable images of the unbelievable.

Well, perhaps that is too much hype, but the fact remains that this is something not to miss. It is funny that there was nothing special or extraordinary in the book and it still was so intense. I guess it was just the writer. Have fun with this one.

I purchased this book 10 years ago, I have read it 10 times. It is, quite simply, my favorite fictional piece of all time. It surpasses Interview with the Vampire in it's emotional content. The fatalism of Felix touched a nerve with me. The Jack Crow part of the book is not a throwaway as many people think. In a way, the reader goes on a journey with Jack, Holly and Lya. I personally felt like I was wearing a fourth helmet and immersing along with them.We all go through it together. I think it was a truly masterful plot device. Even though Jack comes off as an obnoxious jerk initially, we find that he is as human as we are. I particularly enjoyed Mr. Steaky's macho, conversational style of narrative. The character Felix is an amazing creation. The fact that he was really Lewis snuck up on me.This story cries out for a prequel as well as a sequel. People who categorize this book as a Starship Troopers ripoff are missing the point. It's like comparing Lumley's Necroscope to Dracula. Sure, they both have vampires, but they're hardly the same story. Incidentally, do all of Steakly's books have characters named Felix, Jack Crow, and references to antwar? I've only read this and Vampire$, which was pretty good, by the way. In closing,I must urge any fan of this genre to read this emotionally charged, sad, wonderful novel. Long live Felix.

Forget the Starship Troopers comparisions. Heilein was'st a combat s.f. author anyway. Armour was only predictible to people who read too much combat sfi-fi anyway! The books' definitely worth a sequel anyway. I,m not trying to rank it with the absolute best, but it was quite good. Steakley has possibilities, lets see what developes. meanwhile the markets pretty slim lately, lets encourage some the new writers to do their best!

I worship the ground Heinlein walked on, and can forgive him a few of his later self indulgent horrors, because of the brilliance of his legacy. Don't get me wrong, "Starship Troopers" is great, but this, in the manner of "The Forever War", is much more cynical and in that way, convincing. Utterly, utterly breathtaking, to be read and re-read, and whenever I read Jack Crow, I think Riddick is his pale shadow.

Armour, battles, cynicism and surprises; Felix is a great, flawed and therefoe human character; sci-fi rarely approaches this level.

And now, I'm off to crack the covers of this one again.

DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK.

Loved the book. Does anyone know if Armor was printed in hardback? If so, how do I retrieve one?

I have been a soldier. A coward. A hero. And so has Felix/Lewis. Armor is similar to Starship Troopers, but Heinlein did it on a broader scope. Steakley is much more personal. The ants are not the bugs. Humanity is still brilliant, ignorant, cowardly and courageous. Just like in real life. Armor, Starship Troopers, Ender's Game, Novels by Barry Sadler and WEB Griffin are as close as most of you will ever come to experiencing a war, a battle. Thankfully. It means Me and Mine have done our jobs properly.

Having read a lot of good reviews about this book, it came as quite a surprise that Armor was quite...boring. After reading the first bit about Felix, I could've sworn I had picked up "Starship Troopers" by mistake. Nope, a re-check of the cover assured me that this was not the case. There is nothing new here that Henlein didn't do better decades earlier. I mean, Power Armour AND giant bugs again? Bouncing around dropping blast bombs? I've read this all before. But just when I'd accepted this as a Troopers rip, we go into an unbelievably long middle section about Jack Crow. This part seemed like it was from a different book and I completely lost interest at this point. It was quite slow, all over the place and had no real point. I finshed this book two days ago and in retrospect I can't really say much about it other than it was ALMOST a complete waste of time. I say almost because I found the Felix character to be somewhat interesting in the way his "Engine" works and protects him both emotinally and physically. Other than that, I really can't reccommend this one, I'm afraid.

I've spent the past 30 minutes reading all 159 reviews and decided to write one out too.Armor is,quite simply, the most in-depth and thought provoking book that I've ever read(and that is not just sci-fi either.)I admit that the transition from Felix to Crow is confusing at first because there is no warning but it isn't really a big deal.Also, the charecters aren't rally given a back story and you do not find out the reason everyones where they are until the middle of the book. I'm 15 and bought this book when I was 11.Since then I've read it 8 times and am enthralled by it every single time. I always discover or figure something out that I missed. Also, to all the reviewers that said that Jack had no personality, think about the personal battles that he faces betraying his friends and the fact that he actually hates Felix because he is better than him.I love how everything ties toghether at the end but I must admit that the ending was depressing and open.In fact, the whole book was depressing in the fact that Felix's non-stop missions were the cause of a mishap and also the fact that Felix could have had a MUCH better life but he cuts all ties and joins the military. PLEASE, the book is very cheap and worth every penny.Buy it! P.S:Sorry this review is thrown toghether as I was just adressing the points brought up in other reviews.Also, to any fans please email Mr. Steakly and request a sequel since his adress is above.