Armor Audiobook By John Steakley cover art

Armor

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Armor

By: John Steakley
Narrated by: Tom Weiner
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The planet is called Banshee. The air is unbreathable, the water poisonous. It is the home of the most implacable enemies that humanity, in all its interstellar expansion, has ever encountered.

Felix is a scout in A-team Two. Highly competent, he is the sole survivor of mission after mission. Yet he is a man consumed by fear and hatred. And he is protected not only by his custom-fitted body armor, the culmination of 10,000 years of the armorers' craft, but also by an odd being which seems to live with him, a cold killing machine he calls "the Engine."

©1984 John Steakley (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Adventure Hard Science Fiction Military Science Fiction Scary Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

"Gripping, forceful, and compelling....A tour de force." ( Kliatt)
Intense Battle Scenes • Psychological Depth • Excellent Narration • Compelling Protagonist • Emotional Resonance
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Like the others who have just posted reviews this is one of those books that I have been keeping an eye out for since I joined Audible. Like the Hyperion cantos this is book is more than science fiction, it is real literature that is a pleasure to read. At its heart this is a story about two very different psychopaths, One a bitter semi suicidal man who is driven by an inner demon that forces him to survive at all costs, and the other, A passionate maniac with a cunning vicious streak that he uses to accomplish his goals despite the guilt he occasionally feels.
This is not a David Weber or John Ringo style military novel. The technology is painted in broad strokes and in most places lacks any real detail. The energy weapons are simple called "Blazers", thrown weapons are "Blaze Bombs" the artillery are "Laser Cannon" Normally I hate this generic kind of sci-fi but in this book the characters are so well written that you feel the battle more than see it. This author is not a world builder or an armchair general but someone who can write the soul of a real killer, something that many so called military fiction writers fail at. Many people may not "get" this book but for those of us that have felt the touch of the "Engine" this is book is a striking experience.

Normally I don't rate the narrator, caring more about the story instead but in this case I will say that he does an excellent job. You can always tell who's speaking just by the voice of the character and the voices fit perfectly with what I imagined when I first read this book.




Not just a story this is literature

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Outstanding story along the lines of Starship Troopers, but with greater detail to the horrors of war and loss of identity in mass combat. The way the story intertwines between the past and present is masterfully done and the ending begs for a sequel though I can't seem to find one. A great story, well narrated, and worth every penny and moment it took to listen to it both the first, and second times.

Outstanding

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After my initial reading of this book, guess how many times I've listened to this audiobook? Go ahead guess. The answer is, I can't tell you how many times I've listened to this audiobook!
Do I love it? Yes. And the narrator? Absolutely great. He has to be one of the top three best narrators I've ever listened to. I can't believe that he's doing all the voices.

A weird addiction

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Excellent story telling. The book stands on its own but, this narration makes it so easy to just Listen and listen some more..
Anybody that is fan of high tech futuristic fiction will love this and be able put yourself in the main characters shoes and live the journey. Just As when I read the book over 20 years ago as a teen, I found myself Talking back to it and laughing and gritting my teeth again.
Loved it all.

Loved the Book 25 years ago.. Even better now.

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This book is broken into 4 parts. Part 1 & 4 revolve around one central character while parts 2 & 3 revolve around a COMPLETELY different character. The only link between the parts is a real stretch and by no means should this book be considered as a complete work, more like a story that needed to be stretched out and the author didnt have any better ideas.

Parts 1 & 4 are great and kept me interested while Parts 2 & 3 sucked. The storytelling is at two completely different levels, the first being military scifi and the other being crap.

There is simply no reason for the entire middle section and it is shameful that it exists in an otherwise decent book.

Not bad, but not great

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I read this book when I was a teenager and loved it. I have always considered listening to it and I'm glad I did. Armor remains one of my all time favorite books. The characters suck you into their lives and make you care for who they are. Every chapter keeps you wondering what will happen next. On top of all of that the battle scenes of mech armor versus hordes of ants are just amazing. Long live Felix!

One of the best sci fi reads

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Way to long, too repetitive; but ending was good.

It could have been a good stort story

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this is one of those books that sticks with you forever. I've read it twice and now I listen to it and it still holds all the magic it did when I first discovered it.

A lifelong favorite

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Armor is often compared to Starship Troopers, and I feel this does both works an injustice. Sure, they both have mechanized armor combat against bug-like aliens, but in both cases that is just the backdrop to a larger, more important narrative.

Superficially, Armor is about two people- Felix, who is fighting in the Ant War, and Jack Crow, pirate extraordinaire. The two viewpoints alternate throughout, in a plot with betrayal and suffering. The scifi is very soft, so those expecting details about the ins and outs of the armor and space travel should look elsewhere for that, and enjoy this for the characters.

Really, Armor is a very inward focused look at the effects of war and combat on the individual, as well as how we cope with loss and pain. It delves into concepts of self and how one damage to the sense of self impacts people. All of this is brilliantly woven into the plot, coming to the surface on occasion to drive home a point or two. It truly is gripping stuff.

Weiner does an great job with the narration. I found his Jack Crow very persuasive, and his ability to accurately represent the characters' emotional states helped drag me into the audio book just as well as if I were reading it myself.

In summary: An excellent reading of a phenomenal sci fi novel, purposeful and with something to say beyond killing aliens and wearing armor.

Excellent novel, done justice.

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Great story, characters, and reader. There is a lot going on but he makes it easy to follow. I'll be getting another by John soon.

Great!

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