The Armored Saint

This was a dark-grim book! Darker than I expected.
The horror is raw and gory. It's a harsh world with a religious fanatic Order, tyranny and dominated people. I was expecting lighter moments throughout the story but I would definitely consider it dark fantasy. Not really my cup of tea. And since the Order was really mean to people all I wanted to see was Heloise unmasking their fanaticism and proving that their beliefs were wrong. That wizards were not evil. But then, surprisingly, we are told that magic is evil and that it really can bring destruction. So I was a little bit depressed the Order was not destroyed in the end.

The Armored Saint by Myke Cole is a quick-moving grimdark fantasy that grabs you by the throat in the first few pages and doesn't let go.

I came to The Armored Saint by way of Myke Cole's other series, Shadow Ops. Although Shadow Ops is an entirely different genre, I enjoyed Myke Cole's use of language and world-building in it, and I was hoping that that would transfer to a grimdark novel. I was in for a pleasant surprise, Myke Cole kicked the writing up a notch in Armoured Saint. When reading The Armoured Saint, it feels like Myke Cole has indeed found his groove.

“Heloise Factor is my favorite kind of hero, the one who makes mistakes and suffers for them, and comes out swinging anyway. I can't wait for you to meet her.” –Myke Cole

Starting, I knew very little about the series except for what I could glean from the gorgeous cover work done by Tommy Arnold. I had heard that Heloise was a Brienne of Tarth type character, but I knew little else. It is exciting to go into a series cold with very little information and see where the narrative takes you. It doesn't always work out. You learn pretty quickly which books will work for you and which don't. But I am pleased to say that the buzz about this book is well earned. The Armored Saint is a great read.

The Armored Saint is the first book in the Sacred Throne series. The conclusion to the trilogy, The Killing Light, will be coming out on November 12th of 2019. Oddly, The Armored Saint is considered a Novella but is more of a short novel coming in at 206 pages. I wouldn't call this a hefty book by any stretch, but it is a full-bodied, fully realized story.

The story is told from the perspective of Heloise Factor. A young woman living a quiet life in a quasi-medieval town where magic and religion have mixed to form an authoritarian regime. This regime early on is described as something to be both feared and in awe of and has a deified Emporer at its head. The religious group that acts as the sword and cudgel for The Emporer frames many of its actions as “I know that this may seem cruel, but it is for your own good.” The totalitarianism is terrifying, as this religious group seems like an unstoppable force in the townsfolk's lives.

“Did we have to do it? She asked.
“No,” he answered, his voice breaking, tears falling into his beard to turn the flakes of ash to gray slush. “No, child. We didn't.”...
He took a deep break then spoke again. “And making us complicit means, we will never call them to account for the crime.”
― Myke Cole, The Armored Saint

I am glad the Cole wrote Heloise the way that he did. Instead of couching Heloise's character in false bravado, and confidence of a character much older, he wrote Heloise to be the child that she is. At the start of the story, Heloise is pure innocence. She has not seen the ways of the world as many of the older, more grizzled characters that surround her. She is sheltered and loved like the rare flower that she is. Her responses and actions in different situations wisely reflect that. Often I would be reading this book and think, “God, why is she doing that” only to be reminded of what I was like at 16. I was young, so incredibly immature and naive, and I made stupid decisions. Cole's writing wisely reflects that.

Along with her naivete, he wrote Heloise to have a backbone of steel. This steel is a beautiful counterpoint to her naiveite. You know, as a reader, that Heloise is going to be a force to be reckoned with when she gets a bit of experience under her belt.

“Fear is a deadly thing, Heloise. It can drain a person of all their strength, make them weak before their enemies.”
― Myke Cole, The Armored Saint

One of the best aspects of this character-driven story, along with Heloise, is the masterfully use of language to convey emotion and thought. Cole is a person who speaks plainly and succinctly. There is no flowery prose in The Armored Saint. Cole using language like a knife. He cuts through the bullshit to bring you raw emotion and stark scenes. Parts of this book are grim. Cole does not mince words. He will bash you as a reader, or cut you to the quick if he needs to. There is no mercy in the world of Heloise.

My only complaint about this masterfully crafted story is the love interest, or at least how it initially presented. It felt too immediate to me. It felt shoehorned into the flow of the story. The odd thing is, as the story progressed, the feeling of the love story as an afterthought dissipated. By the end of the book, it was the appropriate and correct direction for the story. I no longer doubted the authenticity of it, and it felt as real to me as it did to Heloise.

“It is a person you love. Not a name. Not a he or a she. A person in all their shining glory. There is a thing in us, Heloise. A seed. It makes us who we are. It is our core. That the thing that we love. It alone exists. It alone is holy. It has no home, no name. It is neither male nor female. It is greater than that.”
― Myke Cole, The Armored Saint

In conclusion:
We need characters like Heloise.
We need strong female leads.
We need accurate representations of love.
We need beautiful dark worlds with morally ambiguous characters.
We need more of this series and whatever else Cole can come up with.

The Armored Saint was a hell of a read. Dark and beautiful, atmospheric, and ruthless, I loved this book. And I love Heloise.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Upon witnessing the horrors wrought by the Order, the oppressive ruling authority, village girl Heloise begins to fight back in any way that she can. Author Myke Cole pivots from his usual military fantasy genre to deliver a solid first installment in a new epic fantasy trilogy.

I was impressed with how swiftly Cole orients the reader into a brand new world, a very important factor for a book of this size. I was immediately aware of the customs, religions, societal hierarchies, and just how high the stakes are.

My biggest issue was with the characterization of Heloise, the main character. She has a heart of gold but displays some incredibly poor decision making abilities. Most of the action in this novel is the direct result of Heloise acting recklessly. Hopefully this flaw gives her plenty of room to develop into the hero that she seems destined to become.

Overall, The Armored Saint is a fun, quick read that packs a lot in without feeling overstuffed. I plan to continue with this trilogy and see how it all plays out!

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

Executive Summary: I've been a fan of Myke Cole for awhile, but this is the first book of his I've really enjoyed. I prefer a single novel to a trilogy of novellas, but I'm enjoying things so far.Full ReviewMyke Cole came on my radar a few years back thanks to Sword & Laser. Eventually I picked up his first book [b:Control Point 11783484 Control Point (Shadow Ops, #1) Myke Cole https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309460843s/11783484.jpg 15964749]. I liked it enough to finish that trilogy and read the first book [b:Gemini Cell 22708697 Gemini Cell (Shadow Ops, #4) Myke Cole https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1415580327s/22708697.jpg 45914201] of his prequel series. Eventually I stalled out though.The military aspects of those books seemed very realistic. Maybe a bit too realistic. I found many of the characters unlikeable and the events of the books hard to read at times.When this book was announced I was excited because it sounded more my speed. I'm not a huge fan of dark fantasy these days, but it's still more in my wheelhouse than military/urban fantasy. I didn't realize this was going to be a novella at the time I pre-ordered it. So when it arrived I was a bit surprised at how short it was. As a big fan of epic fantasy which are often characterized by overly long door-stopping tomes, I was a bit underwhelmed. I'm not sure I'm a fan of the recent trend of novella trilogies.All that said, I enjoyed this book a lot. Apparently it's been influenced by Warhammer 40k. A friend told me its influence is VERY heavy. I've never read any of those books or played the tabletop game, so I had no idea. As such I found the world building pretty interesting.Most importantly however I really liked Heloise as a protagonist. She could be a bit juvenile for a teenager, but she also seems to live in a bleak world where I probably wouldn't be in a hurry to grow up quickly either.As always, I love a good magic system. We get some hints of it here. From the very start the idea of magic is evil. The premise of the series revolves around it. I found myself wondering is magic really like the law and rumors say, or is that all a lie? For me that was the most interesting thing to find out. I still have a lot more questions about it however (and many theories) so I hope we get more answers in the next 2 novellas.Despite its short length, I thought Mr. Cole does a good job in setting up the world and building (an albeit very obvious) conflict that will likely carry the rest of the series forward. There are some pretty good supporting characters in the book along with Heloise that I thought rounded the story out well. In particular I liked her friend Basina and Basina's father. One of my major issues with his previous books was I didn't really like most of his characters, and I'm happy to see that wasn't the case here.Overall, I think this may be Mr. Cole's best offering so far, especially if you're not a fan of military fantasy. It's a dark story, but well written and I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes things next.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
—

“My strength is the Emperor and His Holy Writ.”

“Aren't you pious for one who is so green at the sight of the Order?”

“The Emperor is divine. The Order are just men. You don't fault a whole faith just because some of its agents take to brigandage. My faith kept me through the war, and it hasn't failed me after.”

In a world where any act of magic could open a portal to hell, the Order insures that no wizard will live to summon devils, and will kill as many innocent people as they must to prevent that greater horror. After witnessing a horrendous slaughter, the village girl Heloise opposes the Order, and risks bringing their wrath down on herself, her family, and her village.

Attack of the Clones

The Armored Saint

The Queen of Crows

The Killing Light

Edit added 6/26/2020: Recently it's come to light that Myke Cole is a serial abuser and sexual harasser, and was so at the time I wrote this review. I did not know that at the time I wrote this since I don't move in the same spaces as his victims, but I'm leaving this note here now to say that, despite my high praise of this novel, I absolutely do not condone his behavior at any point in time, whether I was aware of it or not. Any of his books that I now have will not be reviewed on this blog. Review of any of his future work will depend upon whether he has demonstrated any actual, genuine change in his behavior going forward.

And then there is Heloise. On one hand, I find her mildly irritating, but on the other hand I also understand that my irritation comes from the fact that Heloise is still sixteen ??? a teenager. She reacts to things the way any young woman of that age would: on impulse, and according to her feelings, not her head. This leads her to do and say things that, in more ways than one, help to precipitate the events in the story???s climax. Those events break her, true, but they do not break her totally. That is something I find very interesting indeed ??? not least because this is clearly a grimdark story, and usually grimdark stories don???t leave much room for hope. And yet there it is, a small spark in Heloise???s spirit that continues to burn despite the growing dark. I am very much looking forward to seeing what becomes of her, and her altered circumstances change the world around her.