Armored edited by John Joseph Adams

from goodreads.com

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 inMechwarrior and Battletech. 

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Bookshelf: Yes

How I got it: Bought

Anthologies, for me, have always been a mixed bag. Most of the time they just don’t do it for me. Granted there’s usually one or two stories that I enjoy, but a majority just don’t cut it. Not so with this anthology. In Armored, there were only one or two stories that I didn’t quite care for, but the rest I enjoyed reading immensely. I think John Joseph Adams may be my new favorite anthology editor. Considering I have two or three more anthologies sitting on my shelves that he put together, that makes me really excited to read them. Eventually. I’m not going to do any kind of full review of each story, but just a bare bones line or two piece of my mind, if even that.

The Johnson Maneuver by Ian Douglas -> 4 out of 5

Hel’s Half-Acre by Jack Campbell -> 5 out of 5

Jungle Walkers by David Klecha and Tobias S. Buckell -> 3 out of 5

The Last Run of the Coppelia by Genevieve Valentine -> 5 out of 5

Death Reported of Last Surviving Veteran of Great War by Dan Abnett -> 3 out of 5

The Cat’s Pajamas by Jack McDevitt -> 5 out of 5

Find Heaven and Hell in the Smallest Things by Simon R. Green -> 3 out of 5

Power Armore: A Love Story by David Barr Kirtley -> 4 out of 5

The Last Days of the Kelly Gang by David D. Levine -> 3 out of 5

Field Test by Michael A. Stackpole -> 4 out of 5

Trauma Pod by Alastair Reynolds -> 4 out of 5

Contained Vacuum by David Sherman -> 3 out of 5

You Do What You Do by Tanya Huff -> 5 out of 5

Nomad by Karin Lowachee -> 5 out of 5

Human Error by John Jackson Miller -> 4 out of 5

Transfer of Ownership by Christie Yant -> 3 out of 5

Heuristic Algorithm and Reasoning Response Engine by Ethan Skarstedt and Brandon Sanderson -> 3 out of 5

Don Quixote by Carrie Vaughn -> 3 out of 5

The Poacher by Wendy N. Wagner and Jak Wagner -> 3 out of 5

The Green by Lauren Beukes -> 3 out of 5

Sticks and Stones by Robert Buettner -> 3 out of 5

Helmet by Daniel H. Wilson -> 3 out of 5

The N-Body Solution by Sean Williams -> 2 out of 5

I was happy to see two of my favorite authors in the mix – Tanya Huff and Karin Lowachee. There were a couple stories I was just “blah” about, and one that I just didn’t understand how it ended. Despite that, I would definitely recommend this to any fan of sci-fi and fans of Starship Troopers, Armor, and Halo. Not all of these stories feature armor being used in a military situation, and I thought it was great that there was a nice mix of situations where armor was involved.