The Armored Saint
Written by Myke Cole
Narrated by Michi Barall
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
Myke Cole
Following a long career in the military, intelligence, and law enforcement, Myke Cole is a fire/rescue responder in NY's Hudson Valley. He is a freelance historian and writer, and has published ten novels with publishers including Penguin Random House and Macmillan in addition to his history books for Osprey. Myke's short work has appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, The Daily Beast, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, McSweeney's, and Slate. He's starred on TV shows on CBS and Discovery, and has featured on NPR.
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Reviews for The Armored Saint
112 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We have a religion based on a long-dead emperor who is considered a type of god, with a holy Writ that defines people's lives. There is a militaristic order that works to wipe out wizardry in all forms and they are happy to kill wizards and anyone sympathetic to wizards or suspected to be wizards in a bizarre ritual called "Knitting". The order takes an autocratic view of the population and even call regular villagers beasts. This is not a happy world.
Heloise lives through one of these "Knittings" and sees the horror the Order imposes on the people.
Then one of the side characters who is friendly and helpful turns out to be a wizard and I expected the military order to be a sham. I expected the Heloise to side with the wizards and stand up against the order. Then the wizard dies as a devil breaks through and that caught my by surprise. The order was telling the truth after all.
This book reads fast. I thought it was a novella because of the speed of the work. - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I kept wanting to like this, but I would get bothered by little things, which means it just wasn't engaging me. For example, when she runs into the woods in terror, there is no way that she wouldn't know where she was going. She's lived in this same small village for sixteen years, she knows every path out of it. The first 3/4 was people just reacting to events they didn't control, especially Heloise wasn't allowed any agency, just The Hand Of The Author pushing her around. When things do happen, it is all either heavily foreshadowed or surprises, neither of which engaged me. And no, you can't have a pre-industrial society chugging along with no technology development for 1000 years. They have advanced metalworking, they would at least have hand-cranked washing machines, crossbows, and bicycles.
Docked a star for Bury Your Gays. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5way too short and way to good.... need more Mr. Cole!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I agree with all the reviewers that call this brutal and beautiful. Lots of mystery still in the worldbuilding. It reminded me a bit of Rosemary Kirstein's Steerswoman series, although whether the worldbuilding mysteries have anything in common I will have to wait to find out.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This new fantasy series starts out with a setting that appears to be one thing but turns on its head by the end. Heloise questions the way things are done and why the Church controls their lives so much. When at first glance in the story it seems the Church is cruel and capricious the reader does find out just why the Church fights demons and keeps life so regimented in that fight. A good start to the series and with the ending it had I can’t wait to get the next book.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I really enjoyed this book. The novel is told from the point of view of Heloise, the main character who is a good person but has to live with the consequences of her actions.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was an interesting world where a former emperor defeated an enemy, where roving bands of religious tyrants impose very strict rules against magic and where there's a certain amount of steampunk. Into this world Heloise is a girl coming into adulthood, helping her father who is a scribe and wanting more from her life than what her mother has. When things start to go wrong she finds strengths within herself and within her village that will make her into a figurehead and will change her life forever.It's a novella and it squeezes a lot into the short story. Religious fanaticism is a strong theme here and the truth behind the demons I hope will be revealed in later books. It left me wanting more.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cole draws on many familiar fantasy elements and twists them in new ways in this novella from Tor. This is a medieval setting where magical is punishable by death of the perpetrator--and their entire town. The Order rides around the countryside to hold back the forces of hell, and make some profit while they're at it. They are almost too easy to hate in their callous corruption. Teenage Heloise and her father encounter them on the road, and Heloise doesn't stay tight-lipped and obedient as she should. This starts off what will become a Really Bad Day.At times, Heloise's impetuous nature frustrated me, but her actions also acted as reminders that she's a normal (within her world and ours) teenage girl. Yes, she does stupid things. She's not a trained soldier. She's fairly sheltered. The book offered many surprises for me. I won't delve into the major events near the end--and wow, are there some twists there--but without spoiling anything, I will say I was pleased by how the village reacted to her family's trouble. In all, an enjoyable, quick read, and I look forward to reading more in the series.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This fantasy young woman/girl rescues the village story does take off in some unusual ways, but the plot sort of staggered and the dialog with adults was too realistic to carry the necessary fantasy feel where the trope is for young people to have agency. It's one of the reasons for orphan centered stories. So this novels 'virtues' keep it from working as fantasy.