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Armor
The military sci-fi classic in a striking new package
Felix is an Earth soldier, encased in special body armor designed to withstand Earth's most implacable enemy-a bioengineered, insectoid alien horde. But Felix is also equipped with internal mechanisms that enable him, and his fellow soldiers, to survive battle situations that would destroy a man's mind.
This is a remark
...moreCompact Disc, 11 pages
Published
September 1st 2009
by Blackstone Audiobooks
(first published 1984)
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Even before I finished Armor by John Steakley this morning, I began to laugh. It was maniacal laughter from the very depths of me that lasted a long time. And it was good.
Armor just became my hands-down favorite sci-fi novel. It’s utterly modern and classical simultaneously, and, by contrast of sheer brutality, relegates a lot of other science fiction into a similar category as “books about kittens.”
Steakley wrote his heart out in his genre, though he certainly didn't hav...more
Armor just became my hands-down favorite sci-fi novel. It’s utterly modern and classical simultaneously, and, by contrast of sheer brutality, relegates a lot of other science fiction into a similar category as “books about kittens.”
Steakley wrote his heart out in his genre, though he certainly didn't hav...more
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An armored scout named Felix is dropped on the planet Banshee, a hostile alien world teeming with Ants. When Felix's team is wiped out on their first mission, only The Engine, his second personality, saves him. Can Felix (and the Engine) survive the war against the Ants? And does he want to...?
I read about Armor on John Scalzi's blog and decided to give it a shot. At first glance, Steakley took the parts of Starship Troopers he liked the most, power armor and aliens that resembl...more
I read about Armor on John Scalzi's blog and decided to give it a shot. At first glance, Steakley took the parts of Starship Troopers he liked the most, power armor and aliens that resembl...more
If you liked Heinlein's Starship Troopers & Haldeman's "The Forever War" here is a third to read. On the surface, the similarities are obvious - a future war in space with a young male soldier in powered armor. The similarities stop there, though. Where Heinlein is very pro military & Haldeman just the opposite (understandable considering their ages & military experiences) this book shows a better balanced view of war & its effects - more mature, IMO. The POV changes, unlike the ot...more
A lot of people here have criticized this book because of poor grammar. While it is 100% true that this book is definitely not completely grammar accurate, it should be noted that most of the book is told from the perspective of one of the characters. I didn't think one needed to be grammar accurate if telling the story from the point of view of a character, who is not necessarily an educated person.
If you are a grammar Nazi, you'll probably hate this book. I'm certainly not a gra...more
If you are a grammar Nazi, you'll probably hate this book. I'm certainly not a gra...more
2.5 stars
I sympathized or empathized with Felix. I detested Jack Crow until the last part of the book. I understand some of the motivation and psychosis of Felix, but I'm scratching my head with respect to the Antwar. I must be missing the point with this plot.
Besides Old Man's War, this is the only military science fiction I've read to date. I like the former, I'm ambivalent with the latter. Two more titles await me on my to-be-read list - Starship Troopers and Th...more
I sympathized or empathized with Felix. I detested Jack Crow until the last part of the book. I understand some of the motivation and psychosis of Felix, but I'm scratching my head with respect to the Antwar. I must be missing the point with this plot.
Besides Old Man's War, this is the only military science fiction I've read to date. I like the former, I'm ambivalent with the latter. Two more titles await me on my to-be-read list - Starship Troopers and Th...more
Terrible. No offense to anyone who likes this, but I have to ask:
How can anyone serious mention this in the same breath as The Forever War?
Haldeman's book is an incredibly well-written, military SF novel that is a Vietnam analogy and simultaneously a hard-hitting, action-packed genre romp. It's emotional, entirely character-driven, poignant, and truly something special.
Armor is none of this things.
It's just not very good. It's poorly written, and co...more
How can anyone serious mention this in the same breath as The Forever War?
Haldeman's book is an incredibly well-written, military SF novel that is a Vietnam analogy and simultaneously a hard-hitting, action-packed genre romp. It's emotional, entirely character-driven, poignant, and truly something special.
Armor is none of this things.
It's just not very good. It's poorly written, and co...more
Armor is a science fiction book from my "top ten list" of favorite Sci-Fi books, maybe in my top ten in any category.
This is probably my third or fourth re-read of this great book.
It's the story of Felix, a foot soldier in a war against an alien ant-like race. It's got your standard hard-core sci-fi plot elements: aliens who are seemingly unstoppable, a hero who might be more than he seems, a crusty space pirate who might really have a heart of gold, beautiful...more
This is probably my third or fourth re-read of this great book.
It's the story of Felix, a foot soldier in a war against an alien ant-like race. It's got your standard hard-core sci-fi plot elements: aliens who are seemingly unstoppable, a hero who might be more than he seems, a crusty space pirate who might really have a heart of gold, beautiful...more
Meet Felix: A soldier/scout encased in mechanized body armor.
Meet the enemy: Huge, bioengineered aliens resembling ants.
Felix is dropped time and time again onto a planet where the "ants" dwell, and time and time again he survives. Three to Five successful drops qualifies you for retirement...Felix has not lost count of his drops, but somehow his superiors lost track...
The battles are intense, and when wounded, the armor injects the soldiers with pain killers s...more
Meet the enemy: Huge, bioengineered aliens resembling ants.
Felix is dropped time and time again onto a planet where the "ants" dwell, and time and time again he survives. Three to Five successful drops qualifies you for retirement...Felix has not lost count of his drops, but somehow his superiors lost track...
The battles are intense, and when wounded, the armor injects the soldiers with pain killers s...more
One of my all-time favorite sci-fi's from an author who has not done anything nearly as well since.
A soldier in a horrific and seemingly unwinnable war loses his identity and self within his armor. Willing to die, he never does. Meanwhile (in the narrative which traverses between the stories), decades after the war, a pirate/crook and a pair of scientists discover a piece of armor floating in an abandoned spaceship. They begin the process of reviewing the armor's files by basically r...more
A soldier in a horrific and seemingly unwinnable war loses his identity and self within his armor. Willing to die, he never does. Meanwhile (in the narrative which traverses between the stories), decades after the war, a pirate/crook and a pair of scientists discover a piece of armor floating in an abandoned spaceship. They begin the process of reviewing the armor's files by basically r...more
I had this one written down on a little piece of paper I keep in my wallet after reading a gushing review at another website. For months I kept an eye open for it until finally it had been re-issued as a classic.
It was OK but I'd hardly call it a classic. It does have its moments. While battle scenes begin to bore me after 10 pages, I have to admit these ones were pretty intense. And, yeah, the armor was pretty wild.
And, yeah, I did begin to feel for the poor guy. Damn, the more I th...more
It was OK but I'd hardly call it a classic. It does have its moments. While battle scenes begin to bore me after 10 pages, I have to admit these ones were pretty intense. And, yeah, the armor was pretty wild.
And, yeah, I did begin to feel for the poor guy. Damn, the more I th...more
Steakley is great at capturing sheer, adrenaline-pumping terror on the page (see also his novel "Vampire$") and brings it in spades with "Armor," his answer to Heinlein's "Starship Troopers." Forget political theory and sociological commentary, Steakley deals with how a "bug war" would go down on the field and in the traumatized minds of its soldiers. If I were only grading the portions of the novel set on the planet Banshee, I'd easily give the book a sol...more
This is one of the few books that I have to pull out of the woodwork to review, because the impression that was made when I first read it has lasted years.
The first thing that I love about this book is that jumping back and forth between the two story lines is well explained and solidly believable. The explanation of what is going on is so natural and organic, it doesn't seem like the author is even trying to tie the two narratives together, they just seamlessly merge.
The...more
The first thing that I love about this book is that jumping back and forth between the two story lines is well explained and solidly believable. The explanation of what is going on is so natural and organic, it doesn't seem like the author is even trying to tie the two narratives together, they just seamlessly merge.
The...more
Love. Hate.
Some people love this book more than Halloween, kittens and Disney World combined. They see it as emotionally charged, creative and raw.
Others see it as a schizophrenic mess that could have more than half it's pages removed and, only then, be laudable as a very mediocre novella.
Like many things that have a huge following, both parties are correct. I loved the book and thus overlooked its flaws, which are glaring.
If the secondary characte...more
Some people love this book more than Halloween, kittens and Disney World combined. They see it as emotionally charged, creative and raw.
Others see it as a schizophrenic mess that could have more than half it's pages removed and, only then, be laudable as a very mediocre novella.
Like many things that have a huge following, both parties are correct. I loved the book and thus overlooked its flaws, which are glaring.
If the secondary characte...more
This is the book that introduced me to the Sci-fi Military genre. I've read it 4 times cover to cover and still enjoy it. It's a mixed story. There are two different stories that culminate into one climatic ending. There is the story of Felix, a reluctant hero of a war humanity has found themselves in against alien life forms that resemble ants. We follow his exploits from training all the way through 2 major battles. Then he disappears. From there the story begins anew with space pirate anti-he...more
Okay, this is a book that I had three reactions to. The first third of the book is kick ass, great military SF, although the hero is reluctant, just trying to do his job and is, surprisingly to him, a great fighter. Very evocative of Stark's War by Hemry, if you know that title.
The second part is a (seemingly) unrelated story of a space pirate named Jack Crow that has nothing to do with the first narrative, except that he finds the suit of armor the soldier wore in the first half. ...more
The second part is a (seemingly) unrelated story of a space pirate named Jack Crow that has nothing to do with the first narrative, except that he finds the suit of armor the soldier wore in the first half. ...more
I have given ARMOR ***** stars because it is one of the most realistic and graphically written novels about war, hands-down!
ARMOR is a story of a mysterious guy named Felix who joints the Fleet Navy to escape a painful and terrible past. It's during basic training that he's found to have unique warrior skills; a remarkable adaptability to combat situations and an incredible, almost superhuman will to live. He's made a Scout and given the standard, fully armored battle suit which is...more
ARMOR is a story of a mysterious guy named Felix who joints the Fleet Navy to escape a painful and terrible past. It's during basic training that he's found to have unique warrior skills; a remarkable adaptability to combat situations and an incredible, almost superhuman will to live. He's made a Scout and given the standard, fully armored battle suit which is...more
Nagrom
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everyone. Military Personnel. Sci-Fi and Military Sci-Fi fans.
Many have compared this book, often unfavorably, to Starship Troopers. Some going as far as to call it a rip off of Starship Troopers. I take a different perspective...
In an interview Steakley has actually said that he was inspired by Starship Troopers when he wrote Armor, and took many ideas for his book from Heinlein's. Not in an effort to steal, but as a compliment - Borrowing a scenario he loved and using it to explore a different idea.
Starship Troopers is an exploration of citiz...more
In an interview Steakley has actually said that he was inspired by Starship Troopers when he wrote Armor, and took many ideas for his book from Heinlein's. Not in an effort to steal, but as a compliment - Borrowing a scenario he loved and using it to explore a different idea.
Starship Troopers is an exploration of citiz...more
Hmmm. How to review this book.
I'll start by saying that I read this book because a friend lent it to me and recommended it.
It took me a long time to get into it, and I probably wouldn't have finished it if I didn't have someone waiting for my response.
That said, I ended up liking the book by the end, but it is not without flaws.
First, I had a really hard time "picturing" the epic battle scenes in the book. Some even seemed to violate the picture already p...more
I'll start by saying that I read this book because a friend lent it to me and recommended it.
It took me a long time to get into it, and I probably wouldn't have finished it if I didn't have someone waiting for my response.
That said, I ended up liking the book by the end, but it is not without flaws.
First, I had a really hard time "picturing" the epic battle scenes in the book. Some even seemed to violate the picture already p...more
The novel is about a disillusioned soldier in a future war. But that’s only the first 100 pages, which flow pretty well and are decent science fiction battle action. After the climax of the first part, which is about the soldier Felix and his troubles, there is a jarring discontinuity and the story picks up two years later with a pirate named Jack Crow, who escapes from prison, makes a deal with another pirate and goes down to a planet.
By this time I was well and thoroughly bored. I ha...more
By this time I was well and thoroughly bored. I ha...more
#62 - 2010.
After reading Vampire$, there was no way I couldn't try this. How handy that I already had it in my bedside stack since I got them both from the library at the same time.
This book was written before Vampires and in some basic ways is very similar in character structure. I also am confused about why Steakley can only seem to name his main protagonists Felix and Jack Crow, especially when they are clearly supposed to be different people in a different reality. Ho...more
After reading Vampire$, there was no way I couldn't try this. How handy that I already had it in my bedside stack since I got them both from the library at the same time.
This book was written before Vampires and in some basic ways is very similar in character structure. I also am confused about why Steakley can only seem to name his main protagonists Felix and Jack Crow, especially when they are clearly supposed to be different people in a different reality. Ho...more
I've gotta say, I came into this book with high expectations. It started off brilliantly, with a great Starship Troopers feel....and then not only did the wheels fall off, the whole plot caught on fire and crashed into a kitten orphanage. No-one survived.
The Jack Crow plot-arc was AWFUL, waffling, pointless. GET ON WITH IT. There were points where the editing was abysmal, and I'm not just talking about the occasional typo. I'm talking about bits where paragraphs collided and par...more
The Jack Crow plot-arc was AWFUL, waffling, pointless. GET ON WITH IT. There were points where the editing was abysmal, and I'm not just talking about the occasional typo. I'm talking about bits where paragraphs collided and par...more
Look, some books just stick with you and this is one of those books for me. This is probably because it was my first experience with well written sci-fi. At least well written in comparison to what i was normally reading. In any case this book tells the story of Felix who leaves through nightmarish experiences in a war on a distant planet. I think what is most compelling about the story is that it captures the brutality and savagery of war despite it being set on a distant planet while fighting ...more
About a week ago, a friend of mine walked up to me and handed me this book, saying "you ought to read this, it's not what you'd expect." Since this was someone whose opinion I generally respect, I took the book home with me.
So...it's an interesting book, and no, not what you'd expect from the cover art or the back cover description. It starts off looking like a military sci-fi novel in the mold of Robert A. Heinlein's STARSHIP TROOPERS, but without all the military cheerl...more
So...it's an interesting book, and no, not what you'd expect from the cover art or the back cover description. It starts off looking like a military sci-fi novel in the mold of Robert A. Heinlein's STARSHIP TROOPERS, but without all the military cheerl...more
I debated between giving it three and four stars and mainly picked three because of how disjointed parts of this story are. I liked the power armor descriptions. I liked that the author delved into the psychological effects a war would have on an individual soldier rather than focusing on the glory. And I liked the first part of the book about the ant war. But even during this part the story seems to jerk about in time and plot before deviating entirely into Book 2, which is about a totally diff...more
This book gets a high rating because it's a well-told story, and because the author is so damn good at getting the reader to sympathise with the main character. That said, it's not a book I would want to re-read, or even recommend to anyone other than people who LIKE to suffer on behalf of fictional characters. The main character goes through hell, and then goes through it again and again. To make it worse, he's part of the lovely bureaucracy known as "the army", and what he's going th...more
4.5 stars, audio version
"...everything you were hiding from was in there with you. That's the trouble with armor. It won't protect you from what you are."
Felix is a loner, a broken man with a mysterious past. When he's dropped with thousands of fellow soldiers on a toxic planet nicknamed "Banshee," he's the only survivor of the battle with the 8-foot tall "Ants" that live there. That's partly because of the special armor he wears -- his black nuc...more
"...everything you were hiding from was in there with you. That's the trouble with armor. It won't protect you from what you are."
Felix is a loner, a broken man with a mysterious past. When he's dropped with thousands of fellow soldiers on a toxic planet nicknamed "Banshee," he's the only survivor of the battle with the 8-foot tall "Ants" that live there. That's partly because of the special armor he wears -- his black nuc...more
This book was so close to being 5 stars that it pains me to leave it at 4. However, the amazing first third of the book, which grips you completely with its unforgiving descriptions of interstellar infantry war and the lengths a man must go to to live through it, give way to a mostly uninspired middle act with completely random and unformed characters. I had to stop for a moment after starting part 2 and make sure I was reading the same book because the drop-off in quality compared to my expec...more
I wish that I enjoyed this book more than I did, but I want many things. I picked up this book as it is considered a minor classic in science fiction, funny as I had not heard of this book until a few months ago. It is one of those books that would have been improved by cutting out about a third of it. There were a few times, particularly the first person portions that I thought to myself, "...On with it!"As it was written in the 1980s, Armor, as a military science fiction classic has ...more
This novel is often compared to Starship Troopers also, but I think the commonality between them is pretty shallow. They both feature guys in armored suits fighting bug-like aliens, but that’s it. That’s just the skin of the book, the meats are two different flavors entirely.
The book starts off following a character named Felix, who seems to be another grunt in a suit, but he just won’t die. Several times he’s the sole survivor of a ‘drop’ and he keeps getting sent back to fight som...more
The book starts off following a character named Felix, who seems to be another grunt in a suit, but he just won’t die. Several times he’s the sole survivor of a ‘drop’ and he keeps getting sent back to fight som...more
In my top three? Yes as I am not that high brow even though well read. ;)
I enjoyed the two apparently differnt story lines and how they come together. I like the hero, found the engine personality intriguing as a coping mechanism and thought he covered a lot of traditional scifi themes well.
My personal opinion is that anyone who says this is a Startship Troopers ripoff never read either. Mr. Steakley has said in interviews that he definitely had it in mind when writin...more
I enjoyed the two apparently differnt story lines and how they come together. I like the hero, found the engine personality intriguing as a coping mechanism and thought he covered a lot of traditional scifi themes well.
My personal opinion is that anyone who says this is a Startship Troopers ripoff never read either. Mr. Steakley has said in interviews that he definitely had it in mind when writin...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armor: School Read | 7 | 32 | Apr 19, 2011 06:11pm | |
| reading similar | 2 | 17 | Feb 04, 2010 01:06pm | |
| armor | 1 | 11 | Apr 04, 2008 06:31pm |
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John Steakley, born 1951 in Cleburne, Texas, is an author, best known for his science fiction writing. He has written two major novels, Armor (1984) and Vampire$ (1991), the latter of which became the basis for John Carpenter's Vampires movie. He has also written several short stories in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. Not a prolific writer, he lived most of his life in Texas, aside from brief spel...more
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