Review: Armorclads

Armorclads by JJ O'Connor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The reason that I decided to pickup Armorclads was partly due to the Blurb; but for the most part it was the cover that caught my eye. Which shared an uncanny similarity to a bastardized Imperial Fist-Terran marine power armor, with sprinklings of Mecha.

I was not mistaken. Taking place in the distant space faring future, the lore of Armorclads was a mish mash between Warhammer 40k Halo, Dune, Isaac Asimov's Foundation(surprisingly) and a faint hint of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans.

Now, it may be that I'm not the target audience for such a story and hence it didn't really connect with me.

Especially the first half, which is filled with a truckload of exposition, which is TOLD and not Shown, as is the cardinal sin in story telling. Good world building, at least in my opinion, should be done by introducing us to the daily personal life and struggles of the characters, and settling in with this world, before delving into the thick of it. Think the first Star Wars movie, or Dune. I apologize, but having it shoved down your throat doesn't endear the reader to the narrative.

Second, is the sense of gravitas, or lack hence of. The main McGuffin of the story are these suits of immense power which came from a (obviously) long lost empire. These God Armors, which by themselves were able to turn tides of war, and whose mere presence were deterrent to war, don't really come across as such.

We are barely shown it's capabilities, although are repeatedly TOLD of it's importance. Again, doesn't get the point across, as, I don't know, a single frame Showing them actually decimating armies. Their fate and backstory is told in an almost cavalier manner, without leaving anything to our imagination. Again, there are some parts, the old Foundation references, which are well done, but the rest is too shallow.

The story & the art gets progressively better during the second half, albeit with checkpoint action scenes and a watered down narrative, and a protagonist who doesn't do anything. Or maybe I'm wrong, and one of the supporting characters were meant to be the main character.

Not spoiling anything, you get a strong vibes of Dune, Arrakis, Fremen, Spice plus the Arachnids/ Tyranids from the Starship troopers movie. (Hmm, I'm getting a hankering to reread the fascist source novel for Troopers).

A similar point of contention is the pacing and inconsistency. Towards the end, we get a 'You're a wizard, Harry!' moment for the protagonist, but its brushed past without giving it any breathing room. So is the scene where he is supposed to take up the metaphorical gauntlet and accept his role.

Speaking of the Protagonist, he is bland, and was too OK way to fast with the revelations being showered upon him. Also, things happen, around him, to him, involving him, but his role is mostly reactionary. There is one, may be one blink & miss moment where he does something of his own volition. Otherwise he is just taken along for the ride.

All in all, It's an OK entry, albeit watered down version of better stories. I'm giving it a tentative 3 out of 5



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