Ordering John's and other books...
Armor - John's first novel.
Vampire$ - John's second novel.
Reviews from the Review Contest:
Their Master's War by Mick Faren; recommended by DeusExMathias. This story was really cool. Humans have been enslaved and are raised on primitive little seed worlds to later be abducted and used as cannon fodder in an alien war. Their "armor" was kind of cool. It was a symbiotic black blob that was stood on to wear - it would envelop the soldiers from the feet up to the neck and keep them pumped up with adrenaline and other chemical cocktails. More of an enviro-suit, really.
Jennifer Government by Max Barry; recommended by Thudpucker. This is a very fast paced, enjoyable book. I havn't been as satisfied with a book as I am with this one in years. Yet it is also very dense and intellegent, something that action books rarely are. very original. It brings to mind books like Stephensons Snow Crash, books that easily could have been broken up into a trilogy, but they unload it all on you at once.
Redliners by David Drake; recommended by Wes Janson. Put simply, Redliners is the story of a team of worn-out commandos of the future, who are assigned what should've been a simple enough colonist-escort mission as a form of "therapy" (*cough*BUNKERTHERAPY*cough*). Only the first part of the book shows true combat as it would apply in the universe of the story, but it's a unique sort of futuristic combat. Weapons are both familiar and unfamiliar, and there's a definite sense of underlying technological principles. However, the combat is still tense and emotionally-driven. As the soldiers begin to face their new challenge, the sense of fatigue is quite palpable.
A Talent for War by Jack McDevitt; recommended by FC. "A Talent for War" is a 1989 novel by Jack McDevitt, recently rereleased in paperback because the sequel (Polaris) will be coming out in November. If you've read "A Talent for War," you know the book cries out for a sequel... ...and maybe you hoped it would happen. "Everyone knew the legend of Christopher Sim. Fighter. Leader. An interstellar war hero with a rare talent for war, "says the book cover. Sims died over 200 years ago. Alex Benedict's guardian discovers something new about the legend. If true, Christoper Sim is a fraud. Unfortunately, the guardian's spaceliner disappers into the void with all souls lost. Alex is enticed into following up the investigation. It means retracing the final years of Sims' life, and a startling discovery... ...fifteen years later, the sequel - "Polaris" - finally makes it to the bookshelves. If you read "A Talent for War" so many years ago, and hoped for a sequel... ...the time has come. Read the original. Then read the sequel.
StarDoc by S.L. Viehl; recommended by DaBoyz. I'll throw my hat in for StarDoc by S.L. Viehl While it's billed as an "ER" in outer space, it's really the starting novel of a very entertaining series that has a lot more depth than the description. While most of the action sequences are medical in nature (the author was part of a trauma team in military and civilian hospitals) the real strength lies in her ability to tell a convoluted tale that unwinds in a quick, even pace and describe a universe with huge amounts of possibility. With each book in the Stardoc series and universe (there are 5 StarDoc books and she's just released Bio-rescue, the second set outside the StarDoc series in the same universe,) the vast possibilities keep expaning and have me wanting more.
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle; recommended by Jeffg. The Second Empire of Man, during a military drive to reunite the realm, discovers an alien spacecraft entering human space - first contact with another race. After a harrowing intercept of the craft, it's decided that that an expedition is to be undertaken to the ship's home system. The aliens are encountered; technology beyond comprehension abounds, along with a willingness to share that technology in exchange for one thing - space. An incaluculable wealth all for the price of freedom from their own system. But what secret do the aliens posess that might destroy the Empire... This is my favorite. The way the military is depicted is very realistic, and so are the ships and hardware; I think a believeable universe leads to a great story. The characters are also believeable, and I think the dialect is very well written. Though the action sequences are few and far between, they are very intense, and what fills the pages in between is thought provoking. A book that's good for the brain and entertaining.
The Parafaith War by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. recommended by Huxley. The Parafaith War pits a Hi-Tech society against a Mormon-like Theocracy. Always liked the parts where the main character defends his outpost against religious fanatics that, because of their inferior technology, take 70 years to reach a planet. The result is that 1-2 people with up-to-date weapons raze dozens of poors fanatics that don't have a have chance but try and use strength of numbers; the typical result is a massacre. Ref. below: Some bad ideas go back a long way and this one goes all the way back to the original home planet: Someone's god told them they had a right to more territory--so they figure they can take what they want by divine right. In the far future among the colonized worlds of the galaxy there's a war going on between the majority of civilized worlds and a colonial theocracy. Trystin Desoll grows up fighting against religious fanatics and becomes a hero, a first-class pilot, then, amazingly, a spy. What do you do if you're a relatively humane soldier fighting millions of suicidal volunteers on the other side who know that they are utterly right and you are utterly wrong, with no middle ground? Trystin Desoll has an idea.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad; recommended by John Bower. I've just recently re-read Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and would like to add it to the contest. It has the honor of being the inspiration for (among other things) Apocolypse Now, so perhaps that will pique somebody's interest. It's only real shortcomings are its dated language (from 1899) and Conrad's assumptions about what his readers will find horrifying, since most of us are a bit more tolerant these days thanks to contemporary media of all sorts. The narrator describes his trip on the Belgian Congo to locate a Mr. Kurtz, an "idealistic" ivory manager who has had difficulty reconciling his own nature with that of his African environment and its people, which is paralleled with the narrator's own struggles as he tries to understand Kurtz and return to civilization transformed by what he sees in the greatly differing human conditions. Some of the characters' attempts to deal with the futility of their situations are reminiscent of the Puppy in the Well story, if anyone needs a parallel with Armor, although I know some people find that part of the novel to be one of the more troubling.
Fate is the Hunter by Ernest Gann; recommended by Mikey. I'll color a bit outside the SciFi lines here. The book I can recommend solidly is, "Fate is the Hunter" by Ernest Gann. It's an autobiographical account of the authors' flying adventures. But to say it's a book about flying that would only interest pilots is a huge mistake. About like saying the Louvre is a building with some paintings hanging on the walls. It's much more, and Gann is simply a terrific author. What makes the book even better in that all the accounts are true. Again, can't recommend it enough, so broaden your reading horizons.
Hyperion by Dan Simmons; recommended by Vargas. HYPERION by Dan Simmons. Hyperion is a redux of the old Galactic Empire/Space Opera plot with a lot of added twists. The main story involves a group of 'pilgrims' (a la Canterbury Tales) who must travel to the planet Hyperion at the edge of human occupied space to confront The Shrike, a razor-blade-and-spike covered chrome killing machine that is supposed to be a messenger of the gods/avatar of evil/insert creepy description here. Incorporating elements of future technology, 18th century poets, Vatican politics, existential philosophy and just about any other cool literary device you can imagine, HYPERION is one of those books that can be read multiple times, with each reading imparting new meanings and interpretations (the novel DUNE comes to mind in this respect). With solid narratives, engrossing sub-stories and believable characters, HYPERION is a science-fiction masterpiece, that, by the way, won the Hugo Award for best novel in 1990.