82 books like Armor

When I met Joe Haldeman, I was struck by how such an unassuming, witty person could write such a gritty, visceral novel about war. Haldeman served in Vietnam, and (by his own admission) his combat experience shines through in Forever War. Yes, this novel captures combat in unflinching detail, but I’m a former professor of war, so what I really care about is the intriguing interplay of time, space, and war. As captured so well in the short story version of the novel, “Time Piece,” this novel is less about fighting and dying and more about what war over relativistic distances does to society. I love this novel because it says just as much about those who stay home as it does about those who go into combat.

I chose this book because I have a love of Asia, especially Japan and this story has a rich Asian setting with martial arts, yakuza-like elements, and a magic system based around the precious stone, jade that provides the wearer with special abilities. I also like how the story is centered around a family and the complex relationships between the different members which you don’t see very often in fantasy novels. This complicated family saga had me engrossed as it racked up the tension with great pacing, awesome characters, and dialogue.

Magic is real. To wield it requires sacrifice.

Its allegiance shifts and changes over time. To hold it, Houses of Magic put on an epic tournament at every Turning, where their best and brightest act as champions in battle. But what the champions don’t know, because their elders have never taught them, is that the magic itself draws from a dark source, and that source is crumbling.

Powerful magician Sydney has emerged from The House of Shadows to fight for a sponsor who wishes to establish his own house. But Sydney has first-hand experience with the darkness.

And she doesn’t want to help restore the establishment. She wants to burn it to the ground.

A fast-moving, gritty, wholly satisfying read. 

Without a doubt, Neuromancer is the most recognizable, well-known, and highly regarded cyberpunk novel—and rightfully so. 

Published in 1984, Neuromancer was directly inspired by City Come A-Walkin’ and then surpassed it, deepening the technical elements, exploring the ever-more-important aspects of computer networks and hacking (Gibson having coined the phrase, “cyberspace”), and solidifying the literary style of cyberpunk. 

For me, though, the fact that Gibson was responding to Shirley enriches both novels. I love the concept of one artist responding to another’s work; from Horace to Shakespeare, to Dryden to Pope, to Hammett to Chandler, the best art is inspired by art, and the same is true in cyberpunk. It’s a microcosm of the human condition and, come to think of it, so is Neuromancer.

Nyxia, the first in a young adult trilogy, introduces the reader to an Earth that has found a foreign substance called nyxia on another planet. Use of nyxia basically grants magical abilities to the user, and the more clever the user, the more capability it has. The cast is very diverse, the main character’s voice is refreshing, and the dialogue is realistic. It’s a fast, easy read with a relatable main character. And the plot only thickens as the series goes on…

This is probably my favorite book of all time, from my favorite series of all time, The Vorkosigan Saga. Miles Vorkosigan, spy and accidental leader of a mercenary fleet, comes face to face with his mortality when he’s injured during a mission. As he recovers, he has to rebuild his life and his identity and find a new purpose in an empire that prizes warriors—a long-running challenge for this diminutive disabled hero. Meanwhile, one of his mentors, spymaster Simon Illyan, is dealing with a threat that could not only unravel his own life but decades’ worth of the Empire’s secrets. It’s funny, tense, and touching all at turns; I can’t think of that many sci-fi adventures that will have you laughing and crying. 

A love story for the ages, set inside of a giant spaceship! Amy wakes up from cryogenic sleep only to fall for a boy she was never supposed to meet… Add in great writing, a murder mystery, and the dark vacuum of space, and you’ve got every ingredient for a timeless young adult journey. Amy + Elder forever.

Any list like this needs to include a Hitchhiker’s book, and this is my personal favourite. These books skirt even further into the surreal and silly than the Discworld books, but somehow Douglas Adams saves them from falling into pointlessness. I can’t quite see how he does it. The settings are so diverse and mind-boggling, and the plot is thin enough that it would probably collapse if I tried to describe it, like a beautiful bubble popping in your palm. The characters are vividly memorable, but in these books, it is the language that really shines, the spectacular, witty, wonderful use of words and phrases, which somehow elevate the book, making us care about the journey despite its utter silliness.

I loved Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series. By this book; I had become a hopeless fan girl. Not of Bujold, though she is a Grandmaster of writing, but of her character, Miles Vorkosigan. I became a proud member of Miles Minions.

As someone with a genetic abnormality myself, I adored the way he let nothing stop him and careened from one adventure/disaster to the next. The characters and story are so well written that I forgot the author and was immersed in Miles’ life.

This gave me my almost impossible goal as an author. I want to create a character that is as much fun to write as Miles is to read. I was honored to sit near Bujold at a dinner and share my dream with her.

Chock full of great characters, political scheming, spaceships, and conflict, Elizabeth Moon’s terrific space saga features a strong, believable female protagonist in Heris Serrano. As the story begins, Heris has been forced to resign from a space fleet she’d lived for, banished to what she believes to be a dead-end job on a private cruiser. The layers of intrigue that underly the action and interactions throughout the story are beautifully realised, and the characters are all recognisable individuals, distinct, human, flawed, each looking for a path to follow. A page-turner that will have you looking for Book 2 (Sporting Chance) as soon as you’ve read it