http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TrapperMarkelz/~3/GprBrq76Tgs/armor-by-john-steakly.html

http://www.trappermarkelz.com/2009/11/armor-by-john-steakly.html

Armor is a strange book. I read it because it was recommended to fans of The Forever War (one of my favorites). I kept seeing it on the shelf, but there was always something I stumbled across that pulled me away. I finally broke down and grabbed the paper back. What really drew me in what a quote written on the inside cover page:

"You are what you do, when it counts."

That really stuck with me... got me excited to really explore and discover what it meant. In this regard, Armor really delivers.

Again, Armor is a strange book. It is written from a few perspectives... the first a 3rd person account of a very talented soldier who faces extreme odds... the next from almost a first-person perspective of a conflicted ex-pirate. The two perspectives are woven together in ways I can't really describe.

What really amazed me about this book was how it conveyed the psychology of war... It tries to climb in the head of a soldier, faced with the reality and futility of a horrible situation... and the psychological mechanisms that are built up to help you deal with that futility... to accept your fate... and to then become successful because of that. It is truly amazing.

I will say this book is far from perfect. The characters seem a bit rough... and some aspects of the plot just really aren't well explained, to the point that one of the big twists didn't make much sense to me... (The Golden?)... but I can forgive all that. Armor is one of those books I will always remember... It is ambitious... and if you come to it wanting to learn what it is trying to teach you, I think you will come away happy.