Shark Bone

The statue sat on the glass display case, uncaring as the man and woman standing on either side of it argued. They bumped the case with their gestures, rocking the small figurine on its uneven base, as their words grew more and more heated. "We had a deal!" the woman yelled. "I have emails, from you , agreeing to $500 for this piece!" She waved her phone at the man as if it wielded some kind of magic. The man growled in response. "That was before I learned its history. Its worth !" the man yelled. "It's worth ten times what we agreed, which you obviously knew! You were trying to rob me!" The case rocked a bit more as the man's belly bumped against it while he jabbed an accusing finger her way. "Me?" the woman shrieked, "rob you ? You're the one committing robbery here, and..." she began to dig in her purse, then raised a small revolver from it and pointed it at the man, "I don't have to take it!" ...

Today, I decided to write something inspired by my favorite book, Armor by John Steakley. I'd love to say that the first time I read this book I was struck by the characters and the storytelling and, I suppose I was, but I honestly can't remember my first time. This is an amazing book that I have read so many times over the years and one I try to read once every year. While I'd love to talk about how much I enjoy the book and why, what I really want to do is talk about what I find so intriguing about it: The story is told in two parts and the only character that takes constant part in both parts is a suit of armor. Armor. This isn't just any suit of armor, but an advanced scout power suit that's capable of running for days without any support and tearing through hordes of enemy bugs. That's damn impressive, but nothing compared to the pilot of the suit of whom the first part is about. He. Just. Will. Not. Die. And then, his part of the story ends and we foll...