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Armored
Armor up for a metal-pounding feast of action, adventure and amazing speculation by topnotch writers (including Nebula-award winner Jack McDevitt, Sean Williams, Dan Abnet, Simon Green, and Jack Campbell) on a future warrior that might very well be just around the corner. Science fiction readers and gamers have long been fascinated by the idea of going to battle in suits of powered combat armor or at the interior controls of giant mechs. First, when the armor starts to take over, even the generals may be at its mercy–and under its control. Then solve the problem of armored rescue when irradiated vacuum stands between the frail flesh of the living and safety. And what happens when the marriage of soldier and armor becomes a bit too intimate—and that marriage goes sour!
It’s an armor-plated clip of hard-hitting tales featuring exoskeleton adventure with fascinating takes on possible future armors ranging from the style of personal power suits seen in Starship Troopers and Halo to the servo-controlled bipedal beast-mech style encountered in Mechwarrior and Battletech.
It’s an armor-plated clip of hard-hitting tales featuring exoskeleton adventure with fascinating takes on possible future armors ranging from the style of personal power suits seen in Starship Troopers and Halo to the servo-controlled bipedal beast-mech style encountered in Mechwarrior and Battletech.
579 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 27, 2012
43 people are currently reading
1030 people want to read
About the author
John Joseph Adams
370 books980 followersJohn Joseph Adams is the series editor of BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY. He is also the bestselling editor of many other anthologies, such as ROBOT UPRISINGS, DEAD MAN'S HAND, BRAVE NEW WORLDS,WASTELANDS, and THE LIVING DEAD. Recent and forthcoming books include WHAT THE #@&% IS THAT?, OPERATION ARCANA, PRESS START TO PLAY, LOOSED UPON THE WORLD, and THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH (consisting of THE END IS NIGH, THE END IS NOW, and THE END HAS COME). Called “the reigning king of the anthology world” by Barnes & Noble, John is a two-time winner of the Hugo Award (for which he has been nominated nine times), is a seven-time World Fantasy Award finalist, and served as a judge for the 2015 National Book Award. John is also the editor and publisher of the digital magazines LIGHTSPEED and NIGHTMARE, and is a producer for Wired's THE GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY podcast. You can find him online at www.johnjosephadams.com and on Twitter @JohnJosephAdams.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
April 1, 2012
Sadly, for those who write introductions and forewords for anthologies, I often only glance at them in passing, then move on to the good stuff – the stories. In this instance, the first sentence of the foreword by Orson Scott Card leapt out and grabbed me, just as the first line of a good story should. I read the entire thing and enjoyed it. Card had many thought-provoking things to say about why someone wears armour and who that person is, essentially, a theme explored by many of the stories in the anthology.
I went on to read the introduction by John Joseph Adams, the editor of the anthology and also enjoyed his thoughts on the subject matter. John Adams is an accomplished anthology editor and he has pulled together a compelling selection of stories in ‘Armored’. Apparently, it’s the first anthology of its type about mechs, power armour and bio-suits. My only question was, why did they wait so long?
As always, when you read an anthology, some names will stand out and others will be unfamiliar. As always, I leapt in without prejudice and read every single story. Based on the author list alone, I had an idea which stories I would find entertaining. I did stumble across a few surprises, however, and I made a couple of new discoveries which means my pile of books to be read has grown by another approximate dozen.
The very first story, ‘The Johnson Maneuver’ by Ian Douglas, perfectly explores the idea laid out in the foreword, that regardless of how much power and how many gadgets we put inside mechanised armour, it still comes down to the man inside. From this story onward, the authors explore armour from the inside out. Some of the stories are written from the perspective of plausibly sentient AIs while others are set in a low tech settings, the armour itself little more than a collection of steam-powered joints and plates. Not all of the stories occur in a far flung future. ‘The Last Days Of The Kelly Gang’ by David Levine and ‘Don Quixote’ by Carrie Vaughn are the notable exceptions.
One of my favourite stories in the anthology was ‘The Cat’s Pajamas’ by Jack McDevitt. I have been a fan of McDevitt for years and he is one of the few authors I run out and buy hardcovers from. They make a nice line on my bookshelves, the spines of the Alex Benedict novels, the Priscilla Hutchins novels and just about everything else in between. ‘The Cat’s Pajamas’ features Priscilla Hutchins on an early mission that quickly becomes anything but routine. While it’s always great to read another ‘Hutch’ story, the stars of this story are Jake and the cat they find aboard an abandoned research vessel. In a sideway step familiar to regular readers of Jack McDevitt, Jake proves that extraordinary men and women do not necessarily need to ‘wear’ their armour in order to do great things.
A story that will haunt me for some time and send me out in search of new novels was ‘Hel’s Half-Acre’ by Jack Campbell. Author of ‘Stark’s War’ and the ‘Lost Fleet’ novels, Jack Campbell has a deft touch with military Science Fiction. He does not baffle the reader with overly technical terms and remembers that the men and women behind the guns or, in this instance, in the mechanised armour, are very human.
Jack Campbell’s combination of humour and horror caught me from the very first paragraph. The setting is an inhospitable planet and the war sounds like most wars, the rhyme and reason are lost beneath the relentless need to capture the next ridge or forward position. The soldiers are encased in armour that does everything except think for them, though it tries. After carrying out manoeuvres that strengthens their position, the unit is ordered to do something seemingly irrational. It is only afterwards that the reader finds out exactly what the mechanised armour is really capable of and it’s just damned scary.
One of the stories that truly surprised me was ‘Find Heaven And Hell In The Smallest Things’ by Simon R. Green. I have tried to read Simon Green’s fantasy and found it not to my taste. The tone of this story was bleak, however, which of course meant I liked it. The soldiers in this story are fighting plants, vicious and voracious vegetation intent on halting any attempt to colonise the planet. This theme, menacing plants, is explored just as effectively by another story in the anthology, ‘The Green’ by Lauren Beukes. In Simon Green’s story, however, the men and women inside the suits are barely trained. In fact, they’re barely there. Victims of accidents on Earth, their leftovers are piled into suits along with the voice of a loved one (as the AI) and dumped onto this new planet to pay for their medical costs. It’s macabre and, as expected, they don’t adjust well. A lot of them go missing.
Another haunting theme explored by Alistair Reynolds in ‘Trauma Pod’ and Tanya Huff in ‘You Do What You Do’, is pilots losing themselves in the machines they become integrated with. Both stories introduce the line between human and machine, then catapult the reader across it.
There are twenty-three stories in ‘Armoured’, spanning six hundred pages. I wish I could talk about them all! I cannot, but I will mention a few more.
‘Power Armor: A Love Story’ by David Barr Kirtley was a thoroughly entertaining tale about the man inside the armour. Anthony Blair vows never to leave the armour, believing himself safe. One woman is determined to see them man behind the mask however. ‘Nomad’ by Karin Lowachee is a love story of a different sort, one party being the armour itself. I found the tale and the emotion very touching. ‘Helmet’ by Daniel H. Wilson was an utterly chilling story about who exists inside the faceless armour. Hint: It’s not who you expect! At the opposite end of the spectrum, I giggled my way through ‘Sticks And Stones’ Robert Buettner.
Finally, the last story in the anthology, ‘The N-Body Solution’ by Sean Williams, read more like a novella. Tourists - not your ordinary sort, this is Science Fiction, after all – are stranded on their journey through ‘the loop’. Among them are a man and what might be a woman, her armour makes it hard to tell. The story investigates their pasts and presents, unravelling the mysteries in a very compelling way. The final reveals were unexpected, even after having read twenty-two other stories of a similar genre.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of stories. Any anthology can begin to feel repetitive after a while, but the variety of authors and their exploration of a simple theme – armour, powered or otherwise – kept me entertained from the first page to the last.
Written for and originally published by SFCrowsnest.com
I went on to read the introduction by John Joseph Adams, the editor of the anthology and also enjoyed his thoughts on the subject matter. John Adams is an accomplished anthology editor and he has pulled together a compelling selection of stories in ‘Armored’. Apparently, it’s the first anthology of its type about mechs, power armour and bio-suits. My only question was, why did they wait so long?
As always, when you read an anthology, some names will stand out and others will be unfamiliar. As always, I leapt in without prejudice and read every single story. Based on the author list alone, I had an idea which stories I would find entertaining. I did stumble across a few surprises, however, and I made a couple of new discoveries which means my pile of books to be read has grown by another approximate dozen.
The very first story, ‘The Johnson Maneuver’ by Ian Douglas, perfectly explores the idea laid out in the foreword, that regardless of how much power and how many gadgets we put inside mechanised armour, it still comes down to the man inside. From this story onward, the authors explore armour from the inside out. Some of the stories are written from the perspective of plausibly sentient AIs while others are set in a low tech settings, the armour itself little more than a collection of steam-powered joints and plates. Not all of the stories occur in a far flung future. ‘The Last Days Of The Kelly Gang’ by David Levine and ‘Don Quixote’ by Carrie Vaughn are the notable exceptions.
One of my favourite stories in the anthology was ‘The Cat’s Pajamas’ by Jack McDevitt. I have been a fan of McDevitt for years and he is one of the few authors I run out and buy hardcovers from. They make a nice line on my bookshelves, the spines of the Alex Benedict novels, the Priscilla Hutchins novels and just about everything else in between. ‘The Cat’s Pajamas’ features Priscilla Hutchins on an early mission that quickly becomes anything but routine. While it’s always great to read another ‘Hutch’ story, the stars of this story are Jake and the cat they find aboard an abandoned research vessel. In a sideway step familiar to regular readers of Jack McDevitt, Jake proves that extraordinary men and women do not necessarily need to ‘wear’ their armour in order to do great things.
A story that will haunt me for some time and send me out in search of new novels was ‘Hel’s Half-Acre’ by Jack Campbell. Author of ‘Stark’s War’ and the ‘Lost Fleet’ novels, Jack Campbell has a deft touch with military Science Fiction. He does not baffle the reader with overly technical terms and remembers that the men and women behind the guns or, in this instance, in the mechanised armour, are very human.
Jack Campbell’s combination of humour and horror caught me from the very first paragraph. The setting is an inhospitable planet and the war sounds like most wars, the rhyme and reason are lost beneath the relentless need to capture the next ridge or forward position. The soldiers are encased in armour that does everything except think for them, though it tries. After carrying out manoeuvres that strengthens their position, the unit is ordered to do something seemingly irrational. It is only afterwards that the reader finds out exactly what the mechanised armour is really capable of and it’s just damned scary.
One of the stories that truly surprised me was ‘Find Heaven And Hell In The Smallest Things’ by Simon R. Green. I have tried to read Simon Green’s fantasy and found it not to my taste. The tone of this story was bleak, however, which of course meant I liked it. The soldiers in this story are fighting plants, vicious and voracious vegetation intent on halting any attempt to colonise the planet. This theme, menacing plants, is explored just as effectively by another story in the anthology, ‘The Green’ by Lauren Beukes. In Simon Green’s story, however, the men and women inside the suits are barely trained. In fact, they’re barely there. Victims of accidents on Earth, their leftovers are piled into suits along with the voice of a loved one (as the AI) and dumped onto this new planet to pay for their medical costs. It’s macabre and, as expected, they don’t adjust well. A lot of them go missing.
Another haunting theme explored by Alistair Reynolds in ‘Trauma Pod’ and Tanya Huff in ‘You Do What You Do’, is pilots losing themselves in the machines they become integrated with. Both stories introduce the line between human and machine, then catapult the reader across it.
There are twenty-three stories in ‘Armoured’, spanning six hundred pages. I wish I could talk about them all! I cannot, but I will mention a few more.
‘Power Armor: A Love Story’ by David Barr Kirtley was a thoroughly entertaining tale about the man inside the armour. Anthony Blair vows never to leave the armour, believing himself safe. One woman is determined to see them man behind the mask however. ‘Nomad’ by Karin Lowachee is a love story of a different sort, one party being the armour itself. I found the tale and the emotion very touching. ‘Helmet’ by Daniel H. Wilson was an utterly chilling story about who exists inside the faceless armour. Hint: It’s not who you expect! At the opposite end of the spectrum, I giggled my way through ‘Sticks And Stones’ Robert Buettner.
Finally, the last story in the anthology, ‘The N-Body Solution’ by Sean Williams, read more like a novella. Tourists - not your ordinary sort, this is Science Fiction, after all – are stranded on their journey through ‘the loop’. Among them are a man and what might be a woman, her armour makes it hard to tell. The story investigates their pasts and presents, unravelling the mysteries in a very compelling way. The final reveals were unexpected, even after having read twenty-two other stories of a similar genre.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of stories. Any anthology can begin to feel repetitive after a while, but the variety of authors and their exploration of a simple theme – armour, powered or otherwise – kept me entertained from the first page to the last.
Written for and originally published by SFCrowsnest.com
March 3, 2018
“An awful lot of people go crazy, when you take the humanity away, and lock them inside a box.”
Better-than-average anthology. While some stories are SF combat, some aren’t. The common thread is that all involve a future version of whole-body armor. Explores many interpersonal and philosophic issues. My favorites were: Field Test, Don Quixote, and N-body Solution.
“It was never about armor … it was about the man inside.”
Better-than-average anthology. While some stories are SF combat, some aren’t. The common thread is that all involve a future version of whole-body armor. Explores many interpersonal and philosophic issues. My favorites were: Field Test, Don Quixote, and N-body Solution.
“It was never about armor … it was about the man inside.”
January 3, 2013
In the interest of owning every Brandon Sanderson story, I decided to pick this book up. Imagine my delight when I found a brand new, autographed copy on Amazon for under $2 ($6 shipped)!
Despite the relatively high ratio of very good stories to bad ones in this anthology, I find my overall impression of the collection to be mediocre. Many of these stories feel like their only purpose was to be included in this book, though I'm sure that's probably not the case, and plenty others were very original. Maybe it's just that as a theme, power armor is not really interesting enough to justify reading so many stories about it all in a row.
Simon R. Green provides the only "must-read" story here, though I did enjoy those by Jack Campbell, David Barr Kirtley, David D. Levine, Christie Yant, Wendy & Jack Wagner, Lauren Beukes, Robert Buettner, and Sean Williams a lot, with a number of others turning in decent if forgettable works. I am disappointed in the one co-written by Brandon Sanderson, and his name is the reason I read this book at all, so that's unfortunate.
So I leave the book with a 4 star rating but a less-than-glowing review. I guess that means it's worth picking up, but maybe not for reading all at once.
Despite the relatively high ratio of very good stories to bad ones in this anthology, I find my overall impression of the collection to be mediocre. Many of these stories feel like their only purpose was to be included in this book, though I'm sure that's probably not the case, and plenty others were very original. Maybe it's just that as a theme, power armor is not really interesting enough to justify reading so many stories about it all in a row.
Simon R. Green provides the only "must-read" story here, though I did enjoy those by Jack Campbell, David Barr Kirtley, David D. Levine, Christie Yant, Wendy & Jack Wagner, Lauren Beukes, Robert Buettner, and Sean Williams a lot, with a number of others turning in decent if forgettable works. I am disappointed in the one co-written by Brandon Sanderson, and his name is the reason I read this book at all, so that's unfortunate.
So I leave the book with a 4 star rating but a less-than-glowing review. I guess that means it's worth picking up, but maybe not for reading all at once.
October 9, 2020
Shout out to Karen Lowachee’s story for absolutely wrecking me.
May 27, 2013
I only found this because I was doing a search on Lauren Beukes, I wasn't looking for a book about military sci-fi. But the editor is right, who doesn't love a story with some good powered armor? Starship Troopers was probably my first, the Iron Man movies probably the wittiest (and biggest budget), Mark L. Van Name's Jon & Lobo series uses it to good effect. So while I'm not the biggest fan of military sci-fi (I like it in general, I'm just not into detailed battles and strategies), I had to give the rest of the stories a try as well.
Early on in the book many of the stories felt very classic, almost old-fashioned. What is it about this idea that took so many people back to this so formal, classic, '40 style of writing? They were enjoyable, don't get me wrong. But for a while I was just a bit thrown that so many of the stories were in that vein, wondering if many of the writers had Starship Troopers flashbacks and felt sentimental or why so many of the stories had that tone. I was wondering why no one thought Iron Man or projected into the future and space and got modern or post-modern and witty with it. But we did finally get some more modern stories late on in the book. So I guess the editor was sort of going for an arc of older-fashioned to futuristic, grouping like to like to some degree. Now that I see the whole thing, it makes sense, but I was a bit frustrated during it. And it is interesting to see how many authors fell into very similar concepts with their stories. A large chunk of the book is traditional military sci-fi, a battle scene with a military man facing off against an enemy, and in this case using armor to help fight his battle. Three of the authors set their stories jungles, that was quite a coincidence. But mostly I was surprised at how few of the authors thought outside the military/battle box. Maybe it's because it's what some of them usually do and they wanted to show off their work. And they were all good at it, there wasn't one bad story here, and I'm picky. I'm not a short story fan in general and if I get bored I'll abandon a story in the middle, skim right through an anthology for the few stories I like. I read and enjoyed every story in this book. I just kept hoping for more variety, it was interesting to see how the theme seemed to limit the authors' thinking instead of inspiring them.
Nevertheless, it was a very good book. I spent many days reading every word of every story. I added a couple of authors to my to-read list (which really is the point of anthologies, isn't it?) and reminded myself about a few who've been lingering on my to-read list for much to long. And I added a couple of the editor's other anthologies to my to-read list as well. A successful effort all-around.
Douglas - Very good, classic sensibility, good use of Marine history.
Campbell - Also classic, felt very Heinlein.
Klecha & Buckell - Lots of good commentary in the form of story, what I love about great sci-fi, without being too heavy-handed about it. About Corporal Faisal Jabar: "Was it this hot where you grew up, Corporal?" Van Duine asked. Jabar glanced down, confused. "What? No, I grew up in Toledo." And the center of the bio-plastics industry that's convincing the drug lords that their crop is more profitable than cocoa: Monsanto. The politics and economics are all too believable in this one, scary. And it was a good twist to make them have to fight against the "enemy metal" while they weren't able to wear their armor. It ended up having a bit more detailed military maneuvering and battle action than I generally prefer, but most people will probably like that. It was quite a good story, substantial and very well done all around. I added Buckell's Crystal Rain to my to-read list.
Valentine - It was OK. I liked the concept, but I found it confusing to get into, and it wasn't really a complete short story, it ended like it was the first chapter of a novel. But at least it was a change of pace, it wasn't an old-fashioned Heinlein-esque story. (Not that that's a bad thing.)
Abnett - Another very old-fashioned story. I liked how short it was, it conveyed it's character and his tale quickly but not without emotion. It had good style. A good, and ironic, example that longer isn't always better.
McDevitt - The cat was good, but it was a bit too technical to be compelling. -- As I read further in the book I appreciated it more because it wasn't about war. Few of the authors seemed to be able to imagine uses for armor beyond the typical battle armor, it was nice to see it being used routinely for travel and exploration, and in this particular case for rescue.
Green - Now that was a surprise, a modern and emotional story from the king of kitschy urban fantasy. Not that he doesn't write every genre, and I liked his Deathstalker books quite a bit too, as well as several of his stand alone novels. But lately he's been writing the generally quite uneven Nightside books (look at all of the bizarre ideas and creatures I can come up with, often at the expense of telling a story!) and Secret Histories (I'm a fan, but they're sometimes more of the same) and now there's the Ghost Finders series, which seems to be a weak attempt to expand on the theme). So this was a pleasant surprise. The dark concepts of how anyone gets put in the cans by the government, how Paul got into his accident, how the AIs get their voices, and the twist on Paul's AI, each hit solid punches, it was dark and twisted but felt very believable and very human. The end of the story was a bit of a letdown, but the middle made that not matter as much. It was just nice to see him do something very different for a change.
Kirtley - Too cheesy. Not awful, just eh. -- Again, upon reflection, I appreciate that it wasn't a war story, it was a more creative take on how to use the concept.
Levine - A very good story, great use of history, and somehow because it was historical it escaped feeling dated like some of the other stories that had old-fashioned tones and styles but were set in the future. It just felt fresher, although still appropriate to the time and setting, no anachronisms or anything. Just a nice little story with a solid beginning, middle and end, it felt complete.
Reynolds - Good enough but very much what I expected, just another war armor story. It told me that if I like good military sci-fi, I'll probably like his books.
Sherman - Another solid military sci-fi story, good advertising for what he does. I liked that the armor was just a natural part of the Marines doing their jobs and not the main focus of the story. Editorially it was a good place to slot this story, give readers a break from the stories with the heavy focus on tough armor. This armor is cool too, but it was integrated into their jobs, lives, and the story.
Huff - It was fine. At least it was sci-fi, had some aliens in it. Other than that it was pretty much the same as the rest of them.
Lowachee - Finally something different, forward thinking sci-fi with different dynamics, a very good story.
Jackson Miller - It seemed really cool, creative sci-fi with an interesting alien twist, but then he skipped the actual action pay-off and just described it after the fact. I know it's a short story, not much time to get into the details, but it was a real let-down.
Yant - A decent very short story.
Skarstedt & Sanderson - Very well developed characters and story. Very original world and situation as well. Looking forward to the novel they're collaborating on, hoping it relates to this because I want to know more about the enemy and how that works, as well as the good guys. It was so well done, even with my bad memory, I remember enough as I'm editing this review to be really intrigued by amount of detail they packed into this and want to know more. Even though military sci-fi isn't my thing normally, if it's like this it's sure to be a good story.
Vaughn - A bit idealistic. Once an idea is out there, it's hard to hold it back. If these two guys had it then they would have done it again, and other people would have too. But it was just a story.
Wagner & Wagner - Good story. Believable projection of the future dynamics between Earth and the colonies. Strong heroine.
Beukes - Good story, haunting.
Buettner - Cute. History, fables?
Wilson - I liked the African setting and the boy. It certainly held my attention with the desperation and the dark tone, and I appreciated that the use of armor was different. The very end was a bit dramatic.
Williams - This was the story I'd been waiting for. It started off perfect, reminded me immediately how much I've been wanting to read his sci-fi. It was a great story, just the kind of thing I like. I had characters that you liked and wanted to figure out, a mystery that you wanted to figure out even more, and a really interesting setting with aliens and a whole diverse set of cultures and histories to discover. All in a tiny story. And not a war story! Nice way to end the book too as it was the story that appeared to be set the farthest in the future, or at least had the most futuristic feeling to it.
Early on in the book many of the stories felt very classic, almost old-fashioned. What is it about this idea that took so many people back to this so formal, classic, '40 style of writing? They were enjoyable, don't get me wrong. But for a while I was just a bit thrown that so many of the stories were in that vein, wondering if many of the writers had Starship Troopers flashbacks and felt sentimental or why so many of the stories had that tone. I was wondering why no one thought Iron Man or projected into the future and space and got modern or post-modern and witty with it. But we did finally get some more modern stories late on in the book. So I guess the editor was sort of going for an arc of older-fashioned to futuristic, grouping like to like to some degree. Now that I see the whole thing, it makes sense, but I was a bit frustrated during it. And it is interesting to see how many authors fell into very similar concepts with their stories. A large chunk of the book is traditional military sci-fi, a battle scene with a military man facing off against an enemy, and in this case using armor to help fight his battle. Three of the authors set their stories jungles, that was quite a coincidence. But mostly I was surprised at how few of the authors thought outside the military/battle box. Maybe it's because it's what some of them usually do and they wanted to show off their work. And they were all good at it, there wasn't one bad story here, and I'm picky. I'm not a short story fan in general and if I get bored I'll abandon a story in the middle, skim right through an anthology for the few stories I like. I read and enjoyed every story in this book. I just kept hoping for more variety, it was interesting to see how the theme seemed to limit the authors' thinking instead of inspiring them.
Nevertheless, it was a very good book. I spent many days reading every word of every story. I added a couple of authors to my to-read list (which really is the point of anthologies, isn't it?) and reminded myself about a few who've been lingering on my to-read list for much to long. And I added a couple of the editor's other anthologies to my to-read list as well. A successful effort all-around.
Douglas - Very good, classic sensibility, good use of Marine history.
Campbell - Also classic, felt very Heinlein.
Klecha & Buckell - Lots of good commentary in the form of story, what I love about great sci-fi, without being too heavy-handed about it. About Corporal Faisal Jabar: "Was it this hot where you grew up, Corporal?" Van Duine asked. Jabar glanced down, confused. "What? No, I grew up in Toledo." And the center of the bio-plastics industry that's convincing the drug lords that their crop is more profitable than cocoa: Monsanto. The politics and economics are all too believable in this one, scary. And it was a good twist to make them have to fight against the "enemy metal" while they weren't able to wear their armor. It ended up having a bit more detailed military maneuvering and battle action than I generally prefer, but most people will probably like that. It was quite a good story, substantial and very well done all around. I added Buckell's Crystal Rain to my to-read list.
Valentine - It was OK. I liked the concept, but I found it confusing to get into, and it wasn't really a complete short story, it ended like it was the first chapter of a novel. But at least it was a change of pace, it wasn't an old-fashioned Heinlein-esque story. (Not that that's a bad thing.)
Abnett - Another very old-fashioned story. I liked how short it was, it conveyed it's character and his tale quickly but not without emotion. It had good style. A good, and ironic, example that longer isn't always better.
McDevitt - The cat was good, but it was a bit too technical to be compelling. -- As I read further in the book I appreciated it more because it wasn't about war. Few of the authors seemed to be able to imagine uses for armor beyond the typical battle armor, it was nice to see it being used routinely for travel and exploration, and in this particular case for rescue.
Green - Now that was a surprise, a modern and emotional story from the king of kitschy urban fantasy. Not that he doesn't write every genre, and I liked his Deathstalker books quite a bit too, as well as several of his stand alone novels. But lately he's been writing the generally quite uneven Nightside books (look at all of the bizarre ideas and creatures I can come up with, often at the expense of telling a story!) and Secret Histories (I'm a fan, but they're sometimes more of the same) and now there's the Ghost Finders series, which seems to be a weak attempt to expand on the theme). So this was a pleasant surprise. The dark concepts of how anyone gets put in the cans by the government, how Paul got into his accident, how the AIs get their voices, and the twist on Paul's AI, each hit solid punches, it was dark and twisted but felt very believable and very human. The end of the story was a bit of a letdown, but the middle made that not matter as much. It was just nice to see him do something very different for a change.
Kirtley - Too cheesy. Not awful, just eh. -- Again, upon reflection, I appreciate that it wasn't a war story, it was a more creative take on how to use the concept.
Levine - A very good story, great use of history, and somehow because it was historical it escaped feeling dated like some of the other stories that had old-fashioned tones and styles but were set in the future. It just felt fresher, although still appropriate to the time and setting, no anachronisms or anything. Just a nice little story with a solid beginning, middle and end, it felt complete.
Reynolds - Good enough but very much what I expected, just another war armor story. It told me that if I like good military sci-fi, I'll probably like his books.
Sherman - Another solid military sci-fi story, good advertising for what he does. I liked that the armor was just a natural part of the Marines doing their jobs and not the main focus of the story. Editorially it was a good place to slot this story, give readers a break from the stories with the heavy focus on tough armor. This armor is cool too, but it was integrated into their jobs, lives, and the story.
Huff - It was fine. At least it was sci-fi, had some aliens in it. Other than that it was pretty much the same as the rest of them.
Lowachee - Finally something different, forward thinking sci-fi with different dynamics, a very good story.
Jackson Miller - It seemed really cool, creative sci-fi with an interesting alien twist, but then he skipped the actual action pay-off and just described it after the fact. I know it's a short story, not much time to get into the details, but it was a real let-down.
Yant - A decent very short story.
Skarstedt & Sanderson - Very well developed characters and story. Very original world and situation as well. Looking forward to the novel they're collaborating on, hoping it relates to this because I want to know more about the enemy and how that works, as well as the good guys. It was so well done, even with my bad memory, I remember enough as I'm editing this review to be really intrigued by amount of detail they packed into this and want to know more. Even though military sci-fi isn't my thing normally, if it's like this it's sure to be a good story.
Vaughn - A bit idealistic. Once an idea is out there, it's hard to hold it back. If these two guys had it then they would have done it again, and other people would have too. But it was just a story.
Wagner & Wagner - Good story. Believable projection of the future dynamics between Earth and the colonies. Strong heroine.
Beukes - Good story, haunting.
Buettner - Cute. History, fables?
Wilson - I liked the African setting and the boy. It certainly held my attention with the desperation and the dark tone, and I appreciated that the use of armor was different. The very end was a bit dramatic.
Williams - This was the story I'd been waiting for. It started off perfect, reminded me immediately how much I've been wanting to read his sci-fi. It was a great story, just the kind of thing I like. I had characters that you liked and wanted to figure out, a mystery that you wanted to figure out even more, and a really interesting setting with aliens and a whole diverse set of cultures and histories to discover. All in a tiny story. And not a war story! Nice way to end the book too as it was the story that appeared to be set the farthest in the future, or at least had the most futuristic feeling to it.
October 22, 2013
My ultimate take-away from this collection of stories is that there's nothing new to say about power armor. All you can hope for is really good writing of tales we've seen before. If you've never read stories about this sort of thing, this might be a decent introduction, but this is well-trod ground for long-time readers of SF.
Of course, the problem is that I'm measuring these stories against the best the field has come up with. Haldeman's The Forever War, heinlein's Starship Troopers and especially Gordon R. Dickson's novella "In the Bone", which deconstructs the powered armor story figuratively and, within the tale itself, literally.
That said, let's parse this sucker.
Foreword by Orson Scott Card. He says a bunch of obvious stuff, to the point where I thought, "Oh shut up, you idiot."
The Johnson Maneuver by Ian Douglas. This is a by-the numbers Military SF story with an interesting alien culture sweetening the pot of the typical "competent Marine versus incompetent paper-pusher". Well-written and a decent way to ease into the collection.
Hel's Half-Acre by Jack Campbell. Another by-the-book armor story by another veteran MilSF writer, this is predictable but well-written.
Jungle Walkers by David Klecha & Tobias S. Buckell. A near-future story that is informed by the realities of what actual conflicts are about. This is one of the better stories in this collection. The good news is that you can read it for free here at io9.
The Last Run of the Coppelia by Genevieve Valentine. This story is different from most in that the powered armor is semi-sentient pseudo-biological suits designed for aquatic work. It's hampered by some unclear action scenes, but the characters are nicely done.
Death Reported of Last Surviving Veteran of the Great War by Dan Abnett. This was just a lazy pseudo-obituary and should have been rejected.
The Cat's Pajamas by Jack McDevitt. One of my favorite stories of the bunch, this one feels like a classic Larry Niven story where the characters are presented with a problem that requires some out-of-the-box creative thinking. The power armor in this case isn't for military use but rather to protect against the beyond-extreme environment near a pulsar. Cats are cliche in sci-fi, but this one I really liked.
Find Heaven and Hell in the Smallest Things by Simon R. Green. A character study more than anything else that offends my sense of justice. It feels very much in the vein of 60s New Wave stuff, but the unfair denouement aggravates me.
Power Armor: A Love Story by David Barr Kirtley. Despite the terrible title, this is actually a pretty decent character sketch about opening yourself up to love. The metaphor is a bit obvious in that the main character has sealed himself into his power armor because he is justifiably frightened of assassination and only true love can get him to "open up"... his armor. But the writing is good and dialogue is nice.
The Last Days of the Kelly Gang by David D. Levine. A true rarity: a science fictional steampunk story. This is one of two of these here and this is the good one, with excellent writing and terrific characters. It didn't hurt that I read this the week after returning from Australia, so the setting was fresh in my mind, but this could be set in the American West, too.
Field Test by Michael Stackpole. I'm not sure if this qualifies as Alternate History or Secret History, but the story takes place during the recent uprising in Libya, with a soldier using an experimental battlesuit to wreak havoc during Ghaddafi's fall from power. Great action scenes, fun characters, superb dialogue. This should be used to teach SF writers how to do infodumps that aren't annoying. You get everything you need to know about the situation while also learning about the characters and it flows together seamlessly.
Trauma Pod by Alastair Reynolds. A decent story that we've seen before (and will again in this collection) but the pieces fall into place readily enough.
Contained Vacuum by David Sherman. This was a boring action bit that felt like a level in a mediocre space combat video game. It was probably inspired by Dead Space or something similar and it feels like it.
You Do What You Do by Tanya Huff. This is similar to Trauma Pod in that it explores what happens to people who interface too closely and too intensely with machines. Unlike trauma Pod, it is unambiguous about what happens, but is ambiguous about whether it's a good thing or not.
Nomad by Karin Lowachee. This is a cracking-good story about betrayal and death and moving on from losing the one great love of your life, using a post-apocalyptic powered armor gang warfare story as the framing device. This is the kind of story that would look good as a movie but wouldn't translate well.
Human Error by John Jackson Miller. Like The Cat's Pajamas this is a Nivenesque tale of being forced to find solutions to apparently insurmountable problems. In this case problems caused by a shipping error, where someone sent human soldiers power armor meant for starfish-like aliens... and it just so happens that they are facing a mindless glob of goo that eats everything in its wake, including entire planets. It's the good ol' "adapt, improvise. overcome" story that's so much fun in sci-fi.
Transfer of Ownership by Christie Yant. This story was particularly satisfying for me because it combines the outside-the-box thinking I like in stories as well as the sentient power armor tale with a genuinely satisfying ending that wasn't a "happy ending" but appealed to my sense of justice. It's almost as if Yant has perfectly (and intentionally) synthesized a number of the other stories in this collection.
Heuristic Algorithmic and Reasoning Response Engine by Ethan Skarstedt & Brandon Sanderson. I don't have anything good to say about this story. The aliens are uninteresting, the action is tedious, the dialogue some of the worst I've ever seen and it just stops. There's no ending. It's as if they got to the number of words they contracted to write and quit. This is an example of how not to write a story.
Don Quixote by Carrie Vaughn. This is the opposite of The Last Says of the Kelly gang. Really lifeless steampunk that just didn't work on any level.
The Poacher by Wendy Wagner & Jack Wagner. After two really terrible stories in a row, this one bounced back with a well-told story of a park ranger on a future Earth that's protected as a heritage site. The recent story of poachers poisoning over 300 elephants as well as other animals like lions in Zimbabwe with the aid of government officials really underscores how important this sort of thing is, and I'm all about rangers trying to protect fragile ecosystems from greedy little bastards.
The Green by Lauren Beukes. This is a horror story, plain and simple. It's depressing and sad, but also terrifically written. The ending is horrific but feels inevitable. Sadly, despite its removal from anything familiar by placing it far in the future on a distant planet, it speaks directly to the actions of so many heartless corporations today, which is what the best science fiction does.
Sticks and Stones by Robert Buettner. This story has a lighter tone than the one surrounding it which makes it feel almost like a comedy, but it, too, is a really well-done throwback to stories from the golden age of sci-fi. A little push-pull of Imperialism as well as Star Trek's Prime Directive is always good for a tidy little story. Again, it suits my sense of justice to give the good guys a fighting chance.
Helmet by Daniel H. Wilson. This is powerful stuff, of heroism and horror, human decency struggling to survive amongst brutal inhumanity. it works on both levels as science fiction and as commentary on current events in war-torn Anywhere. This story surprised me the most, because I totally hated Wilson's novel Robopaclypse, which I felt was a lazy version of World War Z.
The N-Body Solution by Sean Williams. This story was good in that it gives us a glimpse of how alien things can be, but the underlying "twist" is one that's been done before. It's a decent enough tale, but the familiarity of the pieces works against it, and the power armor aspect of it is rather incidental.
Of course, the problem is that I'm measuring these stories against the best the field has come up with. Haldeman's The Forever War, heinlein's Starship Troopers and especially Gordon R. Dickson's novella "In the Bone", which deconstructs the powered armor story figuratively and, within the tale itself, literally.
That said, let's parse this sucker.
Foreword by Orson Scott Card. He says a bunch of obvious stuff, to the point where I thought, "Oh shut up, you idiot."
The Johnson Maneuver by Ian Douglas. This is a by-the numbers Military SF story with an interesting alien culture sweetening the pot of the typical "competent Marine versus incompetent paper-pusher". Well-written and a decent way to ease into the collection.
Hel's Half-Acre by Jack Campbell. Another by-the-book armor story by another veteran MilSF writer, this is predictable but well-written.
Jungle Walkers by David Klecha & Tobias S. Buckell. A near-future story that is informed by the realities of what actual conflicts are about. This is one of the better stories in this collection. The good news is that you can read it for free here at io9.
The Last Run of the Coppelia by Genevieve Valentine. This story is different from most in that the powered armor is semi-sentient pseudo-biological suits designed for aquatic work. It's hampered by some unclear action scenes, but the characters are nicely done.
Death Reported of Last Surviving Veteran of the Great War by Dan Abnett. This was just a lazy pseudo-obituary and should have been rejected.
The Cat's Pajamas by Jack McDevitt. One of my favorite stories of the bunch, this one feels like a classic Larry Niven story where the characters are presented with a problem that requires some out-of-the-box creative thinking. The power armor in this case isn't for military use but rather to protect against the beyond-extreme environment near a pulsar. Cats are cliche in sci-fi, but this one I really liked.
Find Heaven and Hell in the Smallest Things by Simon R. Green. A character study more than anything else that offends my sense of justice. It feels very much in the vein of 60s New Wave stuff, but the unfair denouement aggravates me.
Power Armor: A Love Story by David Barr Kirtley. Despite the terrible title, this is actually a pretty decent character sketch about opening yourself up to love. The metaphor is a bit obvious in that the main character has sealed himself into his power armor because he is justifiably frightened of assassination and only true love can get him to "open up"... his armor. But the writing is good and dialogue is nice.
The Last Days of the Kelly Gang by David D. Levine. A true rarity: a science fictional steampunk story. This is one of two of these here and this is the good one, with excellent writing and terrific characters. It didn't hurt that I read this the week after returning from Australia, so the setting was fresh in my mind, but this could be set in the American West, too.
Field Test by Michael Stackpole. I'm not sure if this qualifies as Alternate History or Secret History, but the story takes place during the recent uprising in Libya, with a soldier using an experimental battlesuit to wreak havoc during Ghaddafi's fall from power. Great action scenes, fun characters, superb dialogue. This should be used to teach SF writers how to do infodumps that aren't annoying. You get everything you need to know about the situation while also learning about the characters and it flows together seamlessly.
Trauma Pod by Alastair Reynolds. A decent story that we've seen before (and will again in this collection) but the pieces fall into place readily enough.
Contained Vacuum by David Sherman. This was a boring action bit that felt like a level in a mediocre space combat video game. It was probably inspired by Dead Space or something similar and it feels like it.
You Do What You Do by Tanya Huff. This is similar to Trauma Pod in that it explores what happens to people who interface too closely and too intensely with machines. Unlike trauma Pod, it is unambiguous about what happens, but is ambiguous about whether it's a good thing or not.
Nomad by Karin Lowachee. This is a cracking-good story about betrayal and death and moving on from losing the one great love of your life, using a post-apocalyptic powered armor gang warfare story as the framing device. This is the kind of story that would look good as a movie but wouldn't translate well.
Human Error by John Jackson Miller. Like The Cat's Pajamas this is a Nivenesque tale of being forced to find solutions to apparently insurmountable problems. In this case problems caused by a shipping error, where someone sent human soldiers power armor meant for starfish-like aliens... and it just so happens that they are facing a mindless glob of goo that eats everything in its wake, including entire planets. It's the good ol' "adapt, improvise. overcome" story that's so much fun in sci-fi.
Transfer of Ownership by Christie Yant. This story was particularly satisfying for me because it combines the outside-the-box thinking I like in stories as well as the sentient power armor tale with a genuinely satisfying ending that wasn't a "happy ending" but appealed to my sense of justice. It's almost as if Yant has perfectly (and intentionally) synthesized a number of the other stories in this collection.
Heuristic Algorithmic and Reasoning Response Engine by Ethan Skarstedt & Brandon Sanderson. I don't have anything good to say about this story. The aliens are uninteresting, the action is tedious, the dialogue some of the worst I've ever seen and it just stops. There's no ending. It's as if they got to the number of words they contracted to write and quit. This is an example of how not to write a story.
Don Quixote by Carrie Vaughn. This is the opposite of The Last Says of the Kelly gang. Really lifeless steampunk that just didn't work on any level.
The Poacher by Wendy Wagner & Jack Wagner. After two really terrible stories in a row, this one bounced back with a well-told story of a park ranger on a future Earth that's protected as a heritage site. The recent story of poachers poisoning over 300 elephants as well as other animals like lions in Zimbabwe with the aid of government officials really underscores how important this sort of thing is, and I'm all about rangers trying to protect fragile ecosystems from greedy little bastards.
The Green by Lauren Beukes. This is a horror story, plain and simple. It's depressing and sad, but also terrifically written. The ending is horrific but feels inevitable. Sadly, despite its removal from anything familiar by placing it far in the future on a distant planet, it speaks directly to the actions of so many heartless corporations today, which is what the best science fiction does.
Sticks and Stones by Robert Buettner. This story has a lighter tone than the one surrounding it which makes it feel almost like a comedy, but it, too, is a really well-done throwback to stories from the golden age of sci-fi. A little push-pull of Imperialism as well as Star Trek's Prime Directive is always good for a tidy little story. Again, it suits my sense of justice to give the good guys a fighting chance.
Helmet by Daniel H. Wilson. This is powerful stuff, of heroism and horror, human decency struggling to survive amongst brutal inhumanity. it works on both levels as science fiction and as commentary on current events in war-torn Anywhere. This story surprised me the most, because I totally hated Wilson's novel Robopaclypse, which I felt was a lazy version of World War Z.
The N-Body Solution by Sean Williams. This story was good in that it gives us a glimpse of how alien things can be, but the underlying "twist" is one that's been done before. It's a decent enough tale, but the familiarity of the pieces works against it, and the power armor aspect of it is rather incidental.
March 27, 2018
Armored was quite the anthology to read, especially for it being my first. I thoroughly enjoyed how the authors explore many varies roles and uses of Power Armor and Mecha in very interesting settings. Even exploring the role of standard flesh and blood infantry versus their armored counterparts. I would have to recommend this anthology to anyone one how enjoys Military Science fiction, almost all of what is mentioned is incredibly believable as something you see in possibly our own future as the US Army continues its powered rig development.
January 8, 2017
My review is only related to "Heuristic Algorithm and Reasoning Response Engine" by Ethan Skarstedt and Brandon Sanderson, Brandon's short story is the reason I bought this anthology.
This is a sci-fi short story, in which Karith Marudi is a special agent dropping onto a planet in a huge fighting robot, I imagined something like the robots the humans in 'The Matrix - Movie' used... There's a bit of world-building with the local alien civilization that he should train, and an interesting relationship with the robots AI, which he calls Harry... I found this to be an ok read, but not overly gripping and even though I would say I like sci-fi, I didn't really like this that much... I only really got into the story a bit towards the end, in an action packed heroic last stand...
I don't recommend it to others, was not really worth it other than reading all Brandon's works...
This is a sci-fi short story, in which Karith Marudi is a special agent dropping onto a planet in a huge fighting robot, I imagined something like the robots the humans in 'The Matrix - Movie' used... There's a bit of world-building with the local alien civilization that he should train, and an interesting relationship with the robots AI, which he calls Harry... I found this to be an ok read, but not overly gripping and even though I would say I like sci-fi, I didn't really like this that much... I only really got into the story a bit towards the end, in an action packed heroic last stand...
I don't recommend it to others, was not really worth it other than reading all Brandon's works...
August 22, 2015
A collection of 23 short stories with the focus of powered battle armor. Most of the stories are set in the future, but a few explore power armor from a slightly altered past. While the armor always plays a significant role, it is the men and women inside, and why they wear armor. that provide the real story.
I have to admit something about this book. Like most collections, I flip to the table of contents to see if I recognize any of the authors. This time, I saw the dedication page and made my decision to buy it. The book is dedicated to Robert A. Heinlein and John Steakley. Robert A. Heinlein wrote Starship Troopers and John Steakley wrote Armor. Both feature powered armor, both are wonderful stories (for very different reasons) and are two of my favorite all- time reads. When I did get to the table of contents, I recognized several authors which was an even bigger bonus.
Truthfully, I expected most of the stories to be more military sci-fi than anything else. I was wrong in that respect. There is fighting but that isn't the main focus of most of the stories. It is about the people in the armor and why they chose to wear it.
Like most collections, I liked some stories better than others and even had one or two that I could have happily skipped. The ironic thing is that the story that impressed me the least was the most straightforward armor fighting story. (I kept expecting a twist because it was so straightforward but one never came.)
Would Heinlein and Steakley be proud that they helped to inspire these stories? For the most part, I would think so. Are they very similar to either Starship Troopers or Armor? Not really. But that just shows how much room there is for stories about people wearing suits of armor.
This one is definitely worth checking out.
I have to admit something about this book. Like most collections, I flip to the table of contents to see if I recognize any of the authors. This time, I saw the dedication page and made my decision to buy it. The book is dedicated to Robert A. Heinlein and John Steakley. Robert A. Heinlein wrote Starship Troopers and John Steakley wrote Armor. Both feature powered armor, both are wonderful stories (for very different reasons) and are two of my favorite all- time reads. When I did get to the table of contents, I recognized several authors which was an even bigger bonus.
Truthfully, I expected most of the stories to be more military sci-fi than anything else. I was wrong in that respect. There is fighting but that isn't the main focus of most of the stories. It is about the people in the armor and why they chose to wear it.
Like most collections, I liked some stories better than others and even had one or two that I could have happily skipped. The ironic thing is that the story that impressed me the least was the most straightforward armor fighting story. (I kept expecting a twist because it was so straightforward but one never came.)
Would Heinlein and Steakley be proud that they helped to inspire these stories? For the most part, I would think so. Are they very similar to either Starship Troopers or Armor? Not really. But that just shows how much room there is for stories about people wearing suits of armor.
This one is definitely worth checking out.
November 20, 2012
It seems ages since I last read an anthology of short SF stories. It used to be ALL I ever used to read at times when I was a student in Leeds and it really broadened my experience of SF. This book is very much in the same vein; a series of short stories tied together by the theme of "powered/ sentient body armour". The range of stories is very good so no reader should find it disappointing - I can't think of any that I felt let down by but there were a number that I really did like.
"Hell's Half Acre" is a brilliant tale of how brutal war would get when your soldiers are turned into almost-supermen by their armour. There is a lovely twist in the tale as well! "Power Armour" is a love story that has, shall we say, "unusual" elements... we all wear "armour in our relationships... when do we let those barriers fall? "Don Quixote" reminds me very much of the good SF I used to read in the early 70s and "The Green" has that brutal realism found in some of the best modern stuff.
Sound stuff!
"Hell's Half Acre" is a brilliant tale of how brutal war would get when your soldiers are turned into almost-supermen by their armour. There is a lovely twist in the tale as well! "Power Armour" is a love story that has, shall we say, "unusual" elements... we all wear "armour in our relationships... when do we let those barriers fall? "Don Quixote" reminds me very much of the good SF I used to read in the early 70s and "The Green" has that brutal realism found in some of the best modern stuff.
Sound stuff!
Want to read
April 13, 2014(This review is based on an ARC.) How to rate an anthology has always been a struggle. Invariably, they end up in the 3-star "I don't know" category. Plus I seldom read all the stories. So for this exercise, I'll give ratings for each story that I actually try to read.
5-star
4-star
"Hel’s Half-Acre" Jack Campbell
"Jungle Walkers" David Klecha & Tobias S. Buckell
3-star
"The Johnson Maneuver" Ian Douglas
"The Cat’s Pajamas" Jack McDevitt
2-star
1-star
5-star
4-star
"Hel’s Half-Acre" Jack Campbell
"Jungle Walkers" David Klecha & Tobias S. Buckell
3-star
"The Johnson Maneuver" Ian Douglas
"The Cat’s Pajamas" Jack McDevitt
2-star
1-star
July 4, 2012
Awesome. Why? Because it's mechanized armor, that's why. Who doesn't loved armored suits?? NO ONE.
January 26, 2019
Habe ich ursprünglich wegen der Geschichte von Sanderson gelesen, die dann aber leider - sowohl im Vergleich mit seinem Werk als auch mit den hier enthaltenen anderen Geschichten - ziemlich enttäuschend war.
Insgesamt eine qualitativ stark durchmischte Anthologie, die von langweiligen, nur auf Action fußenden Ballergeschichten bis hin zu faszinierenden und auch anrührenden Gedankenspielen reicht.
Am besten haben mir "Find Heaven and Hell in the Smallest Things" sowie "Power Armor: A Love Story" (trotz des Titels) gefallen.
Insgesamt eine qualitativ stark durchmischte Anthologie, die von langweiligen, nur auf Action fußenden Ballergeschichten bis hin zu faszinierenden und auch anrührenden Gedankenspielen reicht.
Am besten haben mir "Find Heaven and Hell in the Smallest Things" sowie "Power Armor: A Love Story" (trotz des Titels) gefallen.
May 28, 2021
"Armored" is an anthology edited by John Joseph Adams. Most, but not all, the stories deal with war. All deal with mechanized armor, much of which includes AI augmentation. I enjoyed almost all of the stories in this book and recommend it.
February 4, 2017
A three-star Meh. Nothing very original or insightful going on here. (Though, fortunately, there is nothing here that felt like an utter time-waster, either. So...)
Move along. Move along.
Move along. Move along.
own-but-unread
February 6, 2018Listened to "Don Quixote" by Carrie Vaughn (4 stars) via StarShipSofa podcast (Episode 401)
May 8, 2018
As with any anthology, some of the stories are really well written and some are just filler
January 20, 2020
A good anthology of power-armor short stories.
July 1, 2022
Like most anthologies it’s a mixed bag. Nothing really stood out for me.
March 27, 2016
This is a great collection of short stories featuring power armour of various types. Despite the blurb and cover, not all of the tales are military sci-fi, but most of them have some sort of combat element. There is enough variety to keep things interesting, and no real stinkers in the collection. My one possible criticism is that power armour stories is quite a niche subject, but it's pretty clear that's what you're getting, so that shouldn't be an issue.
I'll try to summarise the contents of the book:
1) 'The Johnson Maneuver', Ian Douglas - Marines defend an embassy on a planet populated by crab-like beings.
2) 'Hel's Half Acre', Jack Campbell - An infantry squad is forced into a series of near suicidal attacks.
3) 'Jungle Walkers', David Klecha and Tobias S Buckell - An unarmoured infantry company faces a forced of armoured fighting machines in Colombia.
4) 'The Last Run of the Coppelia', Genevieve Valentine - A salvage crew find something unexpected while gathering micro-organisms on an ocean planet.
5) 'Death Reported of Last Surviving Veteran of Great War', Dan Abnet - An interview with a man whose lifespan is extended by being implanted into power armour.
6) 'The Cat's Pyjamas', Jack McDevitt - A ship visits a space station that orbits a pulsar.
7) 'Find Heaven and Hell in the Small Things', Simon R Green - Armoured warriors are dropped onto a planet covered in homicidal vegetation.
8) 'Power Armor: A Love Story', David Barr Kirtley - A genius inventor never takes off his armour because he expects to be assassinated.
9) 'The Last Days of the Kelly Gang', David D Levine - Steampunk power armour is invented for the outlaw Ned Kelly.
10) 'Field Test', Michael A Stackpole - The US tests a secret weapon during the recent uprising in Libya.
11) 'Trauma Pod', Alastair Reynolds - A man is severely injured during a war that is mostly fought by machines.
12) 'Contained Vacuum', David Sherman - Marines board a spaceship that is found drifting after being missing for two years.
13) 'You Do What You Do', Tanya Huff - A squad of humans and allied aliens come up against strong opposition.
14) 'Nomad', Karin Lowachee - A lone suit of armour with AI decides to leave his gang of deeply bonded human/armour pairs.
15) 'Human Error', John Jackson Miller - Humans fight to eradicate a mould-like entity that devours everything it touches.
16) 'Transfer of Ownership', Christie Yant - A man kills the occupant of an intelligent suit of armour and tries to take control of it.
17) 'Heuristic Algorithm and Reasoning Response Engine', Ethan Skarstedt and Brandon Sanderson - A drop trooper with intelligent armour acts as liaison with an alien race in a fight against self-replicating machines.
18) 'Don Quixote', Carrie Vaughn - A new weapon is developed during the Spanish Civil War.
19) 'The Poacher', Wendy N Wagner and Jak Wagner - Armoured park rangers defend the Earth against alien poachers who want to exploit its resources.
20) 'The Green', Lauren Beukes - A company uses heavily armoured people to gather new species on a deadly jungle planet.
21) 'Sticks and Stones', Robert Buettner - A single armoured trooper visits a relatively primitive human civilisation on an Earth-like planet.
22) 'Helmet', Daniel H Wilson - An African slum is terrorised by mysterious armoured enforcers.
23) 'The N-Body Solution', Sean Williams - A group of people and various aliens are stranded when a 'Stargate' type device fails to work.
I'll try to summarise the contents of the book:
1) 'The Johnson Maneuver', Ian Douglas - Marines defend an embassy on a planet populated by crab-like beings.
2) 'Hel's Half Acre', Jack Campbell - An infantry squad is forced into a series of near suicidal attacks.
3) 'Jungle Walkers', David Klecha and Tobias S Buckell - An unarmoured infantry company faces a forced of armoured fighting machines in Colombia.
4) 'The Last Run of the Coppelia', Genevieve Valentine - A salvage crew find something unexpected while gathering micro-organisms on an ocean planet.
5) 'Death Reported of Last Surviving Veteran of Great War', Dan Abnet - An interview with a man whose lifespan is extended by being implanted into power armour.
6) 'The Cat's Pyjamas', Jack McDevitt - A ship visits a space station that orbits a pulsar.
7) 'Find Heaven and Hell in the Small Things', Simon R Green - Armoured warriors are dropped onto a planet covered in homicidal vegetation.
8) 'Power Armor: A Love Story', David Barr Kirtley - A genius inventor never takes off his armour because he expects to be assassinated.
9) 'The Last Days of the Kelly Gang', David D Levine - Steampunk power armour is invented for the outlaw Ned Kelly.
10) 'Field Test', Michael A Stackpole - The US tests a secret weapon during the recent uprising in Libya.
11) 'Trauma Pod', Alastair Reynolds - A man is severely injured during a war that is mostly fought by machines.
12) 'Contained Vacuum', David Sherman - Marines board a spaceship that is found drifting after being missing for two years.
13) 'You Do What You Do', Tanya Huff - A squad of humans and allied aliens come up against strong opposition.
14) 'Nomad', Karin Lowachee - A lone suit of armour with AI decides to leave his gang of deeply bonded human/armour pairs.
15) 'Human Error', John Jackson Miller - Humans fight to eradicate a mould-like entity that devours everything it touches.
16) 'Transfer of Ownership', Christie Yant - A man kills the occupant of an intelligent suit of armour and tries to take control of it.
17) 'Heuristic Algorithm and Reasoning Response Engine', Ethan Skarstedt and Brandon Sanderson - A drop trooper with intelligent armour acts as liaison with an alien race in a fight against self-replicating machines.
18) 'Don Quixote', Carrie Vaughn - A new weapon is developed during the Spanish Civil War.
19) 'The Poacher', Wendy N Wagner and Jak Wagner - Armoured park rangers defend the Earth against alien poachers who want to exploit its resources.
20) 'The Green', Lauren Beukes - A company uses heavily armoured people to gather new species on a deadly jungle planet.
21) 'Sticks and Stones', Robert Buettner - A single armoured trooper visits a relatively primitive human civilisation on an Earth-like planet.
22) 'Helmet', Daniel H Wilson - An African slum is terrorised by mysterious armoured enforcers.
23) 'The N-Body Solution', Sean Williams - A group of people and various aliens are stranded when a 'Stargate' type device fails to work.
August 6, 2016
After reading the Holy Trinity of powered armor books—Starship Troopers, The Forever War, and
Armor
—I was excited for Armored, a whole ANTHOLOGY of powered armor stories! As it turns out, however, one can only do so much with powered armor and military sci-fi. Although the introduction promised interesting examinations of the armored man, the hybrid man-machine, I was not impressed with the creativity and diversity of stories the way I was in my favorite anthologies, like
Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die
and
The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination: Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius
(also by John Joseph Adams). Most stories seemed to involve a man—or, at times, a woman—in a metal suit blowing lots of shit up. Sure, the action sequences were exciting, but after a while, it all starts to run together when the characters aren't very distinct. I did appreciate whenever artificial intelligence got involved, though. I craved more stories that broke the mold, like my favorite, David Barr Kirtley's "Power Armor: A Love Story," which the author describes as "sort of Iron Man meets Terminator meets Basic Instinct, except it's a romantic comedy." I found a third of the stories satisfying; most of the stories either felt lacking or didn't have much impact on me. I did enjoy the collection, but I was hoping to enjoy it much more.
November 25, 2016
Armored, edited by John Joseph Adams, is a compilation/anthology of twenty-three stories (from various authors) about powered armor. While this may conjure up images of futuristic soldiers charging through a hellish battlefield, some of these suits are nothing more than a collection of iron plates powered by steam. Each one, while having the armor as the main theme, use it not only as the centerpiece, but to explore a concept that could only exist in imagination, but could easily be relevant in the future.
While one would think that twenty-three stories all revolving around the same topic would get repetitive, each author featured has their own style of writing, and each story has a different tone, so any who were worried about that aspect can rest. Before you know it, twenty-three stories just doesn’t seem like enough. Some blur the line between man and machine. If it talks like a person, acts like a person, and looks like a person, is it really a person? Others explore what it means to be human; Yes, you are made of flesh and blood, but if you perform the same routines day after day after day, does what you’re made of really matter? Just like how paintings or poems have meanings beyond their literal ones, Armored extends beyond just armor.
With enough variety to satisfy almost every type of reader, Armored has a story fit for everyone. (With the added bonus of power armor.) Strange as it may be, there’s even a little bit of romance included. The beauty of short stories is the sheer amount of world building which happens in such a short span of time, and Armored doesn’t fall short. Each story has you begging for a continuation, not because there is still more to the story, but because they were just so good.
While one would think that twenty-three stories all revolving around the same topic would get repetitive, each author featured has their own style of writing, and each story has a different tone, so any who were worried about that aspect can rest. Before you know it, twenty-three stories just doesn’t seem like enough. Some blur the line between man and machine. If it talks like a person, acts like a person, and looks like a person, is it really a person? Others explore what it means to be human; Yes, you are made of flesh and blood, but if you perform the same routines day after day after day, does what you’re made of really matter? Just like how paintings or poems have meanings beyond their literal ones, Armored extends beyond just armor.
With enough variety to satisfy almost every type of reader, Armored has a story fit for everyone. (With the added bonus of power armor.) Strange as it may be, there’s even a little bit of romance included. The beauty of short stories is the sheer amount of world building which happens in such a short span of time, and Armored doesn’t fall short. Each story has you begging for a continuation, not because there is still more to the story, but because they were just so good.
February 20, 2013
I really wanted to like this anthology. I adored The Forever War and Starship Troopers but, for whatever reason, most of these stories did little to nothing for me. Sure, there are some nice diamonds among the rough, but these are few and far between. I think the biggest problem was the length of the stories; most were not long enough for the authors to properly flesh out thier characters and settings.
I couldn't tell you why the good ones rose above the bad ones in terms of structure, they just seemed to be better written and have a more engaging story. The authors just seemed to do better in this particular medium.
I rated this at 3 stars because there were some pretty good stories in here, but I wouldn't recommend this book to others. If you do pick it up, here are the stories that I thought were pretty good:
Jungle Walkers: Nice little story about how dismounted well trained light infantry can successfully engage heavy mechs in a near future encounter
The Last Days of the Kelly Gang: Fun little steam punk story about a great engineer Shanghaied into making a (coal) powered suit for a gang of outlaws in Australia.
Field Test: Brisk, fast pased story about a rescue mission into a war torn city between a special ops, prototype mech, and a UAV pilot.
Don Quixote: What if the Spanish Republicans developed one powerful Mech Suit as they were on the brink of collapse to the facists? Would it turn the tide of war or fall into the hands of some of history's worst rulers?
Helmet: An enaging introspective story about a slum dweller forced into servitude to an oppresive regime by way of a powered suit that has become his prison.
I couldn't tell you why the good ones rose above the bad ones in terms of structure, they just seemed to be better written and have a more engaging story. The authors just seemed to do better in this particular medium.
I rated this at 3 stars because there were some pretty good stories in here, but I wouldn't recommend this book to others. If you do pick it up, here are the stories that I thought were pretty good:
Jungle Walkers: Nice little story about how dismounted well trained light infantry can successfully engage heavy mechs in a near future encounter
The Last Days of the Kelly Gang: Fun little steam punk story about a great engineer Shanghaied into making a (coal) powered suit for a gang of outlaws in Australia.
Field Test: Brisk, fast pased story about a rescue mission into a war torn city between a special ops, prototype mech, and a UAV pilot.
Don Quixote: What if the Spanish Republicans developed one powerful Mech Suit as they were on the brink of collapse to the facists? Would it turn the tide of war or fall into the hands of some of history's worst rulers?
Helmet: An enaging introspective story about a slum dweller forced into servitude to an oppresive regime by way of a powered suit that has become his prison.
November 5, 2012
Armored is a collection of stories about power armor. Most of these are humans fighting aliens in mech-suits though a fair portion of the stories are not about warfare or put a different spin on the use of power armor (putting it in the context of modern warfare or even steampunk-y conceptions of power armor). I'm not usually into anthologies, but I've always had a soft spot for power armor (since reading Starship Troopers in college) and several of the authors involved (Brandon Sanderson, Michael Stackpole, Simon R. Green, Jack Campbell, etc.) are among my favorites. That said, several of the stories fall flat (usually due to overly generic concepts; the editor also made the mistake of putting two very similar stories ("Nomad" and "Transfer of Ownership") in close proximity) and others seem only half developed (sadly, I must include Brandon Sanderson's entry as it threw too many ideas and acronyms at the reader, and barely fleshed them out before the story was over (also, dialogue wasn't up to usual Sanderson standards), though that's not to say I wasn't entertained, just expected more). Frankly, in any anthology you expect the experience to be disjointed and uneven, but although there are definite low points in Armored, none of the stories are outright badly written and a few of them are classic (such as "Find Heaven and Hell in the Smallest Things" (kind of a mix of James Cameron's Avatar and Harry Harrison's Deathworld) and "Hel's Half Acre" (a spiritual successor to John Steakley's "Armor")).
March 29, 2015
A very good collection of short SF by some great authors.
I bought this book based on a recommendation from both Amazon and Goodreads that those who had read John Steakley's "Armor" would enjoy it. I am happy to report that they were correct. As with all short story anthologies, there were a few that missed the mark in my opinion. The majority however did exactly what Orson Scott Card and John Joseph Adams said was planned: explored the relationship between Mech and Man... explored the limits of both man and machine... explored futures where being human means something different from what you might expect.
Several of these stories had me reading author bios to find out where I could read more of their writings. Two of the best, as you might expect, come from Michael Stackpole and Brandon Sanderson. That is not to take anything away from any of the other amazing stories, but these two did such a good job exploring the emotions and building the worlds around the armor that I found myself disappointed when I got to the last page and found an end instead of another chapter or volume.
If this is the quality of anthology that Adams commonly puts together, I will have to find more of them.
I bought this book based on a recommendation from both Amazon and Goodreads that those who had read John Steakley's "Armor" would enjoy it. I am happy to report that they were correct. As with all short story anthologies, there were a few that missed the mark in my opinion. The majority however did exactly what Orson Scott Card and John Joseph Adams said was planned: explored the relationship between Mech and Man... explored the limits of both man and machine... explored futures where being human means something different from what you might expect.
Several of these stories had me reading author bios to find out where I could read more of their writings. Two of the best, as you might expect, come from Michael Stackpole and Brandon Sanderson. That is not to take anything away from any of the other amazing stories, but these two did such a good job exploring the emotions and building the worlds around the armor that I found myself disappointed when I got to the last page and found an end instead of another chapter or volume.
If this is the quality of anthology that Adams commonly puts together, I will have to find more of them.
May 6, 2012
I've been on a short story kick for a while, but I'm ready to move onto something else now. Armored is a collection of short science fiction stories by various authors that involve armor in some shape or fashion. I didn't read all of them; I just chose five or so from authors that I actually wanted to read.
The best stories from what I read were the first two, by Ian Douglas and Jack Campbell. They were creative and written well. Also Alastair Reynold's short story was good, very much his style, with a weird twist and surprise at the end. Mike Stackpole's was only okay, which was strange considering he wrote so many good Battletech books. I mainly got this to read Brandon Sanderson's short story, which I must confess was the most disappointing. It was hard to follow, throwing in way too many unknown references into its short length, and I was quite lost, and it didn't have any kind of brilliant twist or message to it. Definitely not up to his par; in fact, I haven't enjoyed much of his short stories and think he should stick to writing long epics.
Overall this is a so-so collection mostly for the die hard fan of the authors here. Not much remarkable about it.
June 17, 2014
Surprisingly enjoyable and diverse collection of SF short stories about powered armor. I had no intention of reading this anthology, but it was part of the 2013 Hugo Awards voters packet and I was drawn in by the quality of the work.
The standout story is Alastair Reynolds' "Trauma Pod", a brilliant and unsettling piece about an injured soldier who finds himself much too closely involved with the medical AI system built into his mech suit. Tightly focused, tautly written and convincingly imagined, the story takes an unexpected turn into psychological uncertainty and pure body-horror. The ending is one that still disturbs me.
Four stars for the collection as a whole, but five stars for Reynolds' story, which is itself worth the price of the collection.
The standout story is Alastair Reynolds' "Trauma Pod", a brilliant and unsettling piece about an injured soldier who finds himself much too closely involved with the medical AI system built into his mech suit. Tightly focused, tautly written and convincingly imagined, the story takes an unexpected turn into psychological uncertainty and pure body-horror. The ending is one that still disturbs me.
Four stars for the collection as a whole, but five stars for Reynolds' story, which is itself worth the price of the collection.
July 12, 2012
This is an anthology featuring stories that all include some sort of powered armor. After reading the description and seeing some of the authors involved, I decided to pick it up. Being a big fan of mecha and military sci fi I was pretty excited. As in any anthology, there are some stories I liked better than others. My main gripe with the book, though, is that the description sets itself up as a military sci fi anthology featuring powered armor, and only a handful of the stories were actually military sci fi. If you want a full book of military sci fi, then this isn't it. If you are looking for some different takes on the theme of power armor, then pick it up.
September 14, 2012
Nothing changed since my initial review of this book. The stories at times feel forced to the "Heavy Mecha Armor" theme. However, there were some noteworthy ideas in the book (albeit not developed thoroughly) and the book earned the time I spent reading it when I was able to use the "Armor" metaphor during dinner conversation. The problem is, that metaphor was in the forward by Orson Scott Card (which in all honesty was the deciding factor why I decided to give this book a try).
Would I recommend reading? Yes, but skip all the short stories that don't capture your interest within the first few minutes; the ones you do like you will know immediately.
Would I recommend reading? Yes, but skip all the short stories that don't capture your interest within the first few minutes; the ones you do like you will know immediately.
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