Armored Saint (Cole)
(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)
I had to do some research on this book. It's been in the kindle app on my iPad for a long time, but I couldn't Archive it to make space. I could only Delete it. I found an email from Tor.com for a free download late in 2018. However, I don't have a copy of the book on my hard drive that I can find. Either I deleted it from my Downloads without storing it elsewhere, or I never downloaded it at all. It's possible, I guess, that I may have downloaded it straight into the kindle app from the mail app on the device.
The other thing that stands out is that I have an uncle by this name, except that he spells it differently.
The cover of the book shows the head of a woman (or a long-haired boy) poking out of the top of an oversized suit of armor. The bottom of the page shows a town on fire.
So, it was an okay book. It was different, not your standard run-of-the-mill fantasy. I thought it was going to be steampunk, when the Tinker and his family appeared. I haven't really read any steampunk to speak of. There were machines with engines that ran with seethstone which produced steam when it got wet to run the engines. And then nothing like that appeared for about 60-70% of the book.
The story centers around a girl almost a woman grown but not yet betrothed named Heloise, who is the daughter of Samson Factor, who writes letters (among other things). His name is Factor because it's related to his job (although I wasn't familiar with the occupation). She's headstrong and speaks her mind, even when it might get her into trouble. You know, a teenager.
Except in this world, it's hard to believe that she's still alive given how she acts and the things she says. That said, a great number of the deaths in the book and the trouble caused can be attributed to her acting out. But she'll come out as the hero in the end.
We meet Heloise and her father, Samson, on the road to Hammersdown. They are approached by Pilgrims riding on horses and led by a Sojourner who are agents of the Emperor, who is Holy and responsible for all good things. They ride up to the two Factors and ask directions. Samson cautions Heloise to be still and hold her tongue. She does neither.
The Pilgrims, who are dragging two bodies behind them which are no longer recognizable, and for food or drink. Samson says that their is no food, open ink and paper. A Pilgrim turns the bag upside down to prove it. Paper falls in the mud and Heloise moves to retrive it and keeps trying to explain herself, getting herself into further trouble. One finally checks Samson's eye for a portal of light which would allow devils through. The Pilgrims ride off following Samson's directions so they can reach their destination before nightfall.
At Hammersdown, we meet some of the town residents, including a girl around Heloise's age. There is also someone who has basically lost his mind. He utters nonsense and starts proclaiming that he is a wizard. Samson refuses to do business there and tells the people that they need to turn the crazy man out because he's a risk to the entire town, even if he's not really a wizard.
They return home, we meet the Tinkers (father, mother, two strong boys, and a daughter Basina), and then we meet the Ranger Clodio who trades supplies with Samson so he can create special ink. In payment, he wants Samson to write a letter for him, even though Samson thinks it's pointless. It's a love letter for someone who no longer acknowledges him.
Clodio disappears when the Pilgrims show up. It's not easy to catch a Ranger who doesn't want to be caught. Brother Thone makes a point to mention Clodio's homosexuality as being a sin against the natural order or whatever. (I don't remember, I just wondered when the lecturing would come in.)
The folks of the town participate in a Knitting to fix the Veil who that devils cannot get through. Basically, they are all armed with spears and they travel to Hammersdown. The townspeople's job is to kill anyone who gets past the Pilgrims as the burn the town down (because of the mental guy). In the process, they have to kill the young girl we see earlier. Samson lets her pass, and Thone tracks her down and kills her. This sets Thone and Samson against each other for the rest of the book. Thone will have his vengence. Yada yada.
After this the Factor family needs to be hidden, in separate houses, and the town will say that they ran away. Most of the town owes the lives to Factor who had their backs in the last war. Samson says with the Sigir, the Mayor. His wife stays with the Herbalist. And Heloise stays in the Tinker's vault. This is great for Heloise because she has realized that she wants to be more than just best friends with Basina, who is betrothed to a man we don't know.
While she is in the vault and bored, she starts looking at the Tinker's special projects for the Emperor, which includes the set of armor from the cover. This is the first time we hear of it. Heloise is playing around climbing inside it when she hears the signal that danger is coming. She's tangled in the straps, so she covers herself with a blanket. Thone appears in the doorway and asks questions. Tinker is surprised that the girl is missing but sees the blanket and explains it away.
After the Pilgrims ride off, Heloise spends some time with Basina. She convinces Basina to let her kiss her like her husband might kiss her. Basina agrees but tries to break it off while Heloise is still leaning in, not letting go. Basina is upset and Heloise runs off into the night. She comes across Clodio who camps under the stars. We learn that he is actually a wizard and wizards aren't bad. He has the ability to shape plants into his furniture. He demonstrates this for Heloise.
We then get preached to like it's 80s or 90s basic cable or a Very Special Episode of some sitcom. This goes on for quite a while. It takes a while for Clodio to get Heloise to return to her village even though he knows peope will be stumbling in the dark looker for her. She finally goes back but instead of facing the Tinkers, she decides that she will go see the Mayor to see if she can see her Dad for just a minute. At this point, the Pilgrims are returning and there's no place for her to go.
Instead of returning to the woods (which it would seem might have been possbile), she gets herself captured by Thone. This brings the father out of hiding to protect his daughter from torture. The father and the entire town are now in danger AGAIN but along comes Clodio who actually has must greater magic that he can work. Trees grow and move and take on the Pilgrims, who turn scared and run.
After this Clodio collapses from overusing his abilities. Many in the town are ready to turn Clodio over to the Pilgrims because he is a wizard. Samson believes that Clodio will be needed if they come back again. Samson and Heloise try to help Clodio, except for one thing...
He open a portal allowing a devil to come through. He transforms into a six-armed thing which is unstoppable -- until Heloise runs back to the vault and climbs inside the armored suit. She takes a lot of damage but manages to kill Clodio. She wakes up in bad shape.
At this point, the father wants to see her protected. The Tinker is proclaiming her as a Palantine and wants her to lead. They know the Pilgrims will be back and they have no wizard to save them.
And the book is over.
It was okay as a book. I would've like more of the steampunk in action. Less of the Very Special Preaching. The wizard reveal about 50 pages earlier (maybe halfway through the book), and whatever is going to happen in book 2 to happen at the end of book 1.
Anyway, I can now remove this from my iPad. I'm not likely to look at for the next book. I read the author's story about how this story was trunked and revived. And I am happy for him that this found a home at Tor instead of going the self-publishing route. But I can't describe it as better than okay. It didn't suck, so this could serve as a benchmark for other books.
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