Rating: 
Summary: Steakley's a One-Hit Wonder
Review: Does anyone know if this is Steakley's first book? I can't find anything before it, and only Vampires that followed--what, about 20 years later? I think Armor is one of my favorite books. Sure, it's reused material from Starship Troopers and The Forever War, but a great book. Plenty of authors write about the same things. There are only so many original subjects left for plots. I love the Felix character. So tragic, but that's what makes him interesting. A man tortured by destiny. The Jack Crow plot-switch thing is also a fun diversion, and it ties in nicely at the end, though it's not a huge surprise. Now, can you say Captain Jack Sparrow ripoff? I think Pirates Of The Caribbean stole this guy right down to the lecherous swagger and aw-shucks evil hero persona. Anyway, it's too bad Steakley didn't do more books. I think Armor stands on its own as great sci-fi. A really fun read.
Rating: 
Summary: TaDAMM...Pfssst...
Review: First I figured to recommend it. Then I decided to condemn it.
And some time later I decided to hold on to my judgment. :)
The Good: Once action starts it's spectacular, no doubt about that. Once it grabbed your attention, you're reliving the story.
The Bad: Action descriptions get repetitive fast. The storyline is not predictable - it's too long word for it, it's not even linear - too scientific to qualify either, but rather blunt.
The Ugly: Can you cay 'almost direct quotes of Heinlein' and 'I knew that and they did too'? The pompous way of delivering 'twists' which didn't worked since those were obvious as a police car's lights in your rear mirror are.
All in all - borrow it from you library, read, enjoy it and be disgusted of your hoi polloi taste.
Rating:
Summary: Could be better
Review: Good, but not great. The author clearly has some good ideas for themes: the human spirit and the struggle for survival, the meaning of heroism, the meaning of leadership, and so forth. But he doesn't develop any of them well, and his storytelling style is wanting. His writing style is ok - Steakley can create a mood very effectively. He suffers, however, from what appears to be a lack of descriptive talent. For the fight scenes, one needs a visual image in one's mind, and it is sometimes difficult to imagine what Steakley is showing you. Is Felix fighting in a tunnel, or is he about to go into it - or is he through it? Is he underground, or above ground? (This scene particularly annoyed me.) Is he on the rim of a crater, inside it, or some distance away? Is he going uphill or downhill? These little moments of confusion build up until you can't quite follow what is going on. The same problem occurs with regard to crucial plot elements. On several occasions, Steakley seems to be relying on expository dialogue to give background information - a highly artificial device that is not always credible. More to the point, it often just isn't enough. The character Wice is introduced as a henchman of another character - but only in one rather opaque exchange of dialogue, and without much more information being supplied. Certain actions of the character Jack Crow are described vaguely, even when they are crucial to the narrative. Often the description is on the order of, "I knew what he wanted me to do. I didn't want to do it, but I chose to anyway." No further detail supplied. The characters themselves are pretty one-dimensional. There's nothing wrong with leaving Felix's background vague - but Steakley portrays him as basically the same character throughout. The fourth book deals with what is supposed to be a crisis in Felix's life - his whole outlook on life changes, but we don't really know why. Jack Crow, around whom the story (despite the back cover) centers, develops a little bit, but only a very little. He is nearly the same person at the end as at the beginning. He is also not a likeable man - for all his charm, he is a murderer and a nihilist. Felix's nihilism is intended to prove a point - several, in fact - about the nature of courage and the will to survive. I can't think of a similar justification for Crow. But then, he has to act the way he does for the story to come out. Essentially the main character is little more than a plot device. The military organization, command structure, politics, and tactics described in the book are flatly incredible, and provide a lot of dark comedy which is actually fun to read (probably a reason military types like this book - it pokes fun at military blunders with some skill). For all that, they remain flatly incredible. Why is it that none of the soldiers seems to know any of the others when they've been training and living together for months? Why are soldiers allowed to get drunk the night before a major drop? (For that matter, why do they seem to be competent mere minutes after they're all complaining of hangovers?) Why are the officers so badly trained and so out of touch with reality? (Granted, this last is intentional, and Steakley portrays the common soldiers' reactions to it, but not nearly well enough. Like another reviewer said, the army should be voting with its feet - although, admittedly, some are. And the officers' sheer incompetence remains impossible to believe.) Far from being predictable, the book employs deus ex machina devices two or three times, all of which amount to introducing characters at the end of a novel. And, for that matter, Steakley fails to describe adequately what is going on, relying instead (as always) on inadequate expository dialogue. The story drags in the middle - there is little action and little character development. The interminable second part is supposed to be a character sketch of Jack Crow - but the whole thing could have been cut down to size, or made more interesting than it is. The good parts of the book are exciting to read, and sometimes emotionally moving. The story has a cinematic quality at times which makes it worth reading - but it could have been so much better.
Rating:
Summary: why to buy
Review: I bought this book by chance one Christmas when I spent 3 hrs in a book store with my family. As you'd expect I was bored out of my mind and while I was browsing the Sci-fi section, discovered ARMOR. It sounded interesting and it was only a few dollars, so I bought it and started reading it. I read it for the next two hours, on the way home, throught the night and until my eyes stopped functioning correctly. Needless to say it didn't take me long to finish it. Then I took it to school and gave it to one of my friends to read, he gave it back within the week and I gave it to another friend. After circulating around about 4 or 5 of my friends, the general concensus was that it was the coolest book they'd ever read. Unfortunatly, now my book looks like ITS been through an intergallactic war! I can best describe this book as a "Starship Troopers" on steriods, Mr. Steakley is a brillant writer and I think even though the change in viewpoint and story midway through the book was shocking and apalling at first, the book wouldn't have been as near as spectacular without it. I feel that this book has quietly turned out to be one of the best stories ever told and I yearn for a sequel, prequel, spinoff, whatever. Anyway, I, in my great wisdom (I'm only 15, but I think I've gathered quite a bit of wisdom so far), recommend that this book be read by all who have a means to aquire it and promise you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Yawn
Review: I couldn't wait to put this book down. It was only *barely* good enough to make me want to read it and not waste the money I had paid for it. This book starts off well, takes a turn into the twilight zone and never recovers. I guess now we know why the author of Starship Troopers, Robert Heinlein, is called the Grandmaster of SciFi. Another author making the same story managed to screw it up.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent story
Review: I found this book to be a very interesting read. The characters and plot line were dynamic. The dialog is very entertaining. I think that John Steakley has done an excellent job with this novel. I suppose that the only negative thing I can really say about it is that it is not very original. The entire concept of this story was taken from R. A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers. He has managed to take the starship trooper theme and make it much more action packed however. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good science fiction and/or military yarn.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic, and yet depressing story
Review: I purchased this book 10 years ago, I have read it 10 times. It is, quite simply, my favorite fictional piece of all time. It surpasses Interview with the Vampire in it's emotional content. The fatalism of Felix touched a nerve with me. The Jack Crow part of the book is not a throwaway as many people think. In a way, the reader goes on a journey with Jack, Holly and Lya. I personally felt like I was wearing a fourth helmet and immersing along with them.We all go through it together. I think it was a truly masterful plot device. Even though Jack comes off as an obnoxious jerk initially, we find that he is as human as we are. I particularly enjoyed Mr. Steaky's macho, conversational style of narrative. The character Felix is an amazing creation. The fact that he was really Lewis snuck up on me.This story cries out for a prequel as well as a sequel. People who categorize this book as a Starship Troopers ripoff are missing the point. It's like comparing Lumley's Necroscope to Dracula. Sure, they both have vampires, but they're hardly the same story. Incidentally, do all of Steakly's books have characters named Felix, Jack Crow, and references to antwar? I've only read this and Vampire$, which was pretty good, by the way. In closing,I must urge any fan of this genre to read this emotionally charged, sad, wonderful novel. Long live Felix.
Rating:
Summary: THE HUMAN SPIRIT
Review: I READ THIS BOOK EVERY YEAR OR TWO. FELIX AND JACK ARE WELL WRITTEN CHARACTERS THAT ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM AND MORE THAN WE EXPECT. THE AUTHOR DOES A GREAT JOB BRINGING THE PERSONALITIES OUT IN THE BOOK AND LETTING US SEE THAT THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT SIDES TO A MAN.
Rating:
Summary: THE HUMAN SPIRIT
Review: I READ THIS BOOK EVERY YEAR OR TWO. FELIX AND JACK ARE WELL WRITTEN CHARACTERS THAT ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM AND MORE THAN WE EXPECT. THE AUTHOR DOES A GREAT JOB BRINGING THE PERSONALITIES OUT IN THE BOOK AND LETTING US SEE THAT THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT SIDES TO A MAN.
Rating:
Summary: A hero and a hero's character
Review: I remember reading this book when I was about 9, for some reason it grabbed me at the time. I reread it twice, at that age something about the story inspired me, I loved it. The book got stuck on a shelf eventually, and I was unable to locate it till a few months ago. I am still not entirely sure what I found so captivating at the time, for a 9 year old, but now, as a 16 year old, the story had even more meaning. I would not reccomend this book to your 9 year old, but I would reccomend it to everyone else with enough maturity and interest in the genre. The comparison to Starship Troopers is there, you can see similairities as far as the hopeless war, the incompetent authority, and the massive enemy. However, Starship Trooper explored the character of a young officer, we saw boot camp, in a slightly more barbaric and facinating way, we saw a culture that was interesting and almost backward. This book does not touch these issues. This book explores what makes a hero. Throughout the book we encounter numerous characters that all could be defined as heroes, and ironically, in the first few chapters, a vet tells the protagonist, Felix, that human's need a hero. The truth is, they have heroes. They have the unstoppably determined Forrest, they have the talented and near perfect olympic winner, they have the skilled and morally struggling Crow, they have the brilliant scientist, and then, finnally, they have Felix. Felix is unlike any hero I have ever read. He is not an Anti-Hero. He is a hopeless man who is absolutely certain he will die, and this is what makes him humanities ultimate hero. This hope deprived fatalist and the exploration of his character is what Armor is about, and it is awesome.
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