What do you think?
Rate this book
Marvel Berkley/Byron Preiss Productions Prose Novels
Iron Man: The Armor Trap
When millionaire industrialist and scientist Tony Stark puts on his gleaming, high-tech armor, he comes Iron Man! When Stark is kidnapped, his corporation must turn to another armored hero, and Stark's best friend, War Machine, to fulfill the ransom. And War Machine won't just take orders from kidnappers...
Meanwhile, Tony stark is trapped in a cell with no hope of escape, forced to create a new suit of armor for his captor. Stark must use his genius to navigate a cyber-space maze, defeat a virtual reality trap, and retrieve his own Iron Man armor.
It's Iron Man and War Machine in an all-new high-tech adventure!
Meanwhile, Tony stark is trapped in a cell with no hope of escape, forced to create a new suit of armor for his captor. Stark must use his genius to navigate a cyber-space maze, defeat a virtual reality trap, and retrieve his own Iron Man armor.
It's Iron Man and War Machine in an all-new high-tech adventure!
339 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1995
5 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 13, 2018
This was my first foray into comic book novels, and overall it was a fun read. It tells an Iron Man story set prior to the modern MCU, and includes several characters and organizations (like War Machine, Nick Fury, and Hydra) that all seem to make an appearance, either in a passing description or taking a more active role. The writing style almost seems overly descriptive and formal, as well as a bit dated (several references to VCRs and other technical terms which were cutting-edge in 1995). But overall I enjoyed reading the adventure. I pictured Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark through most of it, which was also fun.
May 28, 2021
Tony goes into the Matrix before there was a Matrix and Rhodey kicks butt by land, air and sea. Mid-90s AWESOME!!!
July 8, 2020
A pretty good pre-MCU Iron Man prose novel. War Machine is also featured, and the suits are as much characters as the people. Hydra, A.I.M., -and- The Maggia? Not one of the best Marvel novels, but a fun read. It gets the Irving Forbush seal of approval.
February 3, 2021
this book moves really fast, probably because the story is small in scope. not bad but not excellent
July 10, 2024
This is a real novel. Better written than the Percy Jackson novels. Better than Darcy Coates. Better than Alice Feeny. Better than Richard Knaak.
July 19, 2016
Woo. Where do I begin?
Let’s start at the beginning with the overuse of a writing device—using italics to signify the thoughts of the characters. This is a common writer’s device in novels but just like any device, it can be abused and abused it is in this book. In Iron Man: The Armor Trap, is used more as filler than actual characterization. It was used when a description had already been given making the thoughts redundant.
For example, on page 152, here is what was written:
What’s wrong with this picture?
Here’s the setup: War Machine is fighting a female A.I.M. agent. In the above scene, he writes asking what a girl like that was doing working for A.I.M. then turns around and adds a thought from War Machine that said almost exactly the same thing. Redundant and extraneous. Say one or the other. Plus, the thought is just corny. Having a hard time believeing Jim Rhodes thinks like that and I have many Iron Man comics.
The device was probably used so much because of its use in comic books. The problem with that is even though they are used, they are used to actually move the story along or add insight into the character when used correctly. There was way too much frivolous use in this novel. Very hackneyed. The medium is different so it can’t be used the same way and have the same effect.
The use of extraneous words was a common malady. This is partly the writer’s fault for not catching it in the rewrite and the editor’s fault for not catching it before it went to press. This happens in too many places to count. Page 150, 185, 278. I didn’t chart every offense. These were just the ones that were glaring and coupled with another. The moral of the story for the writer: only use the words you need.
Another writing affront comes in the improper use or non-use of pronouns. This bothered me to no end. He kept repeating their name when a pronoun was what was needed. It had been established who was in the scene and no one else had been introduced. You don’t need to keep saying the character’s name in every other sentence. It’s patronizing to the reader and you do not want to do that. Many will notice it like I did and may not be motivated to read the book. Don’t sabotage yourself.
All was not bad. For example, during a battle with A.I.M., War Machine gets hit with a barrage of plasma beams. The result is that the impact knocks his head against the armor and his nose starts bleeding. I thought that was a good touch in understanding how difficult it can be to control the armor as well as add a touch of believability.
However, the bad far outweighed the good on this on. Fact checking misses (like calling the Statue of Liberty’s torch a lamp), grammatical errors, unwarranted profanity use (you guys should know my view on this by now), and bogged down action sequences. Suffice it to say, I’m glad I’m finished. I learned a lot of what not to do in my writing when reading this book.
Let’s start at the beginning with the overuse of a writing device—using italics to signify the thoughts of the characters. This is a common writer’s device in novels but just like any device, it can be abused and abused it is in this book. In Iron Man: The Armor Trap, is used more as filler than actual characterization. It was used when a description had already been given making the thoughts redundant.
For example, on page 152, here is what was written:
As he watched the young woman and her uniformed companions, coughing and retching all around him, he couldn’t help wondering what her story was, how she got mixed up with a Psycho organization like A.I.M.
What’s a nice girl like you doing in a hidden undersea laboratory like this?
What’s wrong with this picture?
Here’s the setup: War Machine is fighting a female A.I.M. agent. In the above scene, he writes asking what a girl like that was doing working for A.I.M. then turns around and adds a thought from War Machine that said almost exactly the same thing. Redundant and extraneous. Say one or the other. Plus, the thought is just corny. Having a hard time believeing Jim Rhodes thinks like that and I have many Iron Man comics.
The device was probably used so much because of its use in comic books. The problem with that is even though they are used, they are used to actually move the story along or add insight into the character when used correctly. There was way too much frivolous use in this novel. Very hackneyed. The medium is different so it can’t be used the same way and have the same effect.
The use of extraneous words was a common malady. This is partly the writer’s fault for not catching it in the rewrite and the editor’s fault for not catching it before it went to press. This happens in too many places to count. Page 150, 185, 278. I didn’t chart every offense. These were just the ones that were glaring and coupled with another. The moral of the story for the writer: only use the words you need.
Another writing affront comes in the improper use or non-use of pronouns. This bothered me to no end. He kept repeating their name when a pronoun was what was needed. It had been established who was in the scene and no one else had been introduced. You don’t need to keep saying the character’s name in every other sentence. It’s patronizing to the reader and you do not want to do that. Many will notice it like I did and may not be motivated to read the book. Don’t sabotage yourself.
All was not bad. For example, during a battle with A.I.M., War Machine gets hit with a barrage of plasma beams. The result is that the impact knocks his head against the armor and his nose starts bleeding. I thought that was a good touch in understanding how difficult it can be to control the armor as well as add a touch of believability.
However, the bad far outweighed the good on this on. Fact checking misses (like calling the Statue of Liberty’s torch a lamp), grammatical errors, unwarranted profanity use (you guys should know my view on this by now), and bogged down action sequences. Suffice it to say, I’m glad I’m finished. I learned a lot of what not to do in my writing when reading this book.
February 13, 2008
I've liked Iron Man as a comic-book hero because he was a little easier to relate to -- I felt as though even I could put on a protective suit of armor and be a super hero.
It's nice to read a book in which the characters are all already familiar to me. However, the prose got caught up in itself a little bit -- being a little long-winded -- quite the opposite of a comic book, actually.
Still, I enjoy the character and I enjoyed this foray into this fantasy universe.
It's nice to read a book in which the characters are all already familiar to me. However, the prose got caught up in itself a little bit -- being a little long-winded -- quite the opposite of a comic book, actually.
Still, I enjoy the character and I enjoyed this foray into this fantasy universe.
May 13, 2010
To detail why this is a bad book would be as tedious as reading the book, so I’ll pick just one flaw. About 1/3 of the book is padding. All but a sentence or two of whole chapters may be skipped. A character will ask a question, and it will be answered a page later. This may work for Henry James, but Cox is not Henry James. He writes super-hero novels. Shakespeare reference on page 93.
Read
April 14, 2008This is one of the first of the Byron Preiss books that I read and that I enjoyed. I had not collected comics for a few years and this book brought me back to it.
September 28, 2011
A perfectly serviceable tale of Iron Man.
September 1, 2012
Two words... death-spore virus. This book was so dumb. And does anyone else feel like reading comic book action in a novel is boring as all hell?
August 27, 2017
Read when I was 11. Loved it then. Memories of it are too fond to go back and re-read it as an adult.
January 15, 2025
I took a little longer to read this than the X-men series, mostly because I wasn't always in the mood for the stressful character situation of IronMan being trapped and psychologically manipulated. It was interesting, and I enjoyed a little more the WarMachine adventure parts. Overall a good adventure story in the Marvel universe before all the movies.
May 17, 2023
Incredible 90s comic novels. I thought it was given more heart than I expected a book of this sort to have. I enjoyed the Shakespeare references and AI psychedelic Integration experience.
Tony was formulated perfectly, and War machine was done justice.
Tony was formulated perfectly, and War machine was done justice.
January 13, 2021
Such fun to listen to in the amazing #audibleapp 🎶🎯💪wonderfully written by Greg Cox 🏆
November 16, 2022
If you enjoy Iron Man or Marvel characters, this is one of the better stories for sure. It was an actual story, though simple, it kept me engaged.
July 29, 2024
It was a good Marvel Comic Universe story. It lines up with the comic books, but not really with the cinematic universe. A nice audiobook to listen to while traveling.
December 7, 2025
It's fun, but like the fast food of literature. Full of corny 90s'isms like "the information superhighway". Some inconsistent chapter lengths but if you like Marvel you'll at least think its neat.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews