Tin Men

by Christopher Golden

A military thriller for the drone age: Brad Thor meets Avatar in this near-future thriller, which spins the troubles of today into the cataclysm of tomorrow. A rocket-ride of a read packed with high action, cutting-edge technology, and global politics, Tin Men begins with the end of the world as we know it and shoots forth from there.

In the near future, the U.S. has deployed the Remote Infantry Corps: thousands of robots remote-piloted by soldiers whose bodies lie hidden in underground bases. But the worst occurs when anarchists set off a global pulse that shorts out electrical connections. In Damascus, Private Danny Kelso, Corporal Kate Wade, and their platoon realize they are trapped inside the Tin Men—something the government never warned them could happen. In Athens, the G20 Summit comes under fire, and a band of security soldiers and advisors risk everything in an effort to shepherd the President to safety. As chaos descends, and with anarchist Bot Killers on their trail, the Tin Men must survive a gauntlet of violence on the road from Damascus to the heart of Europe, half of them determined to stay true to their mission and save their president, half of them hellbent to save themselves...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Military Fiction, War, Dystopia, Thriller Suspense

368 pages, Hardcover

First published June 16, 2015

About the author

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, Of Saints and Shadows, and Red Hands. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Lady Baltimore. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden co-hosts the podcast Defenders Dialogue with horror author Brian Keene. In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards. For the Bram Stoker Awards, Golden has been nominated ten times in eight different categories. His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this book very much for several reasons: the device of using robots for remote interactions... or rather, full-out “peacekeeping” wars sponsored by the United States... brings up a very cool topic of responsibility, immediacy and especially morality.

When you’re more powerful than anyone and you don’t ever need to fear losing your life, there’s very little to hold you back from being a bully.

No matter your initial rationale, the slide is real. This is where the book begins, but thanks to a new kind of attack that upsets the balance of power, we get a pretty awesome Mil-SF adventure with lots of intrigue, fighting, and questions of might vs right.

So why do I only give this three stars?

Politics.

I would have loved it if there had been some real and detailed locations with real political factions and real multi-layered reasons for the fighting. Instead, we just get “anarchists”. WTF. It’s like the ultimate cop-out and generic bogeyman in writing, and yet, the novel starts out with honest humanization of the people in these occupied territories. We get the idea that these Tin Men are too removed and would be better off actually understanding the people they terrorize.

It starts out so strong.

And yet, the antagonists simply devolve into a pretty faceless mob that started out with genuine grievances and end as only “The Enemy”.

Let’s save the leaders, mourn our dead, and hate the anarchists! ......

What happened to the discussion of power differentials? Bullies? I guess the anarchists killed them.

*sigh*

[Frank Errington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review copy

Another book packed with action and built on a terrific premise. In the future, hot spots around the globe are kept under control by Remote Infantry Units. The men and women who control these machines are all stationed in an ultra secure underground location at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield in Germany. At least that's where their bodies are while their minds are elsewhere controlling the Tin Men.

With both men and women participating in the project, why didn't they call them Tin Soldiers instead of Tin Men. The book provides a great answer.

"The Tin Men were mostly utilized for meddling in the business of other nations. They ended civil wars, oversaw fair elections, removed dictators, and by their mere presence they ended regional conflicts. Nobody seemed to notice that Remote Infantry Units had not invaded Russia or claimed the Middle Eastern oil fields for the United States or toppled any governments that weren't involved in actively torturing or murdering their citizens. Oppression was being suffocated and the result was a more just and peaceful world,, achieved through force and intimidation."

Of course not everyone is happy with the stability provided by the U.S.and one day the unthinkable happens. I don't want to spoil the experience with the hows and whys of what occurs. You really should read this one for yourself.

In some ways the concept reminded me of Avatar, but there were numerous differences. The story also read like John Scalzi's Old Man's War, but overall Tin Men is wildly original and a fast paced read.

As fantastical a story as this is, it's filled with truth. A sound tale, well told. As much about the people as it is about the conflict.

Available now in hardback, paperback, e-book and audio-book. Published by Ballantine Books.

Tin Men gets my highest recommendation.

[Book Riot Community]

If you're not familiar with Golden, let me tell you, he's one of the hardest working authors in the business. Novels, comics, anthologies - I don't know how he does it all! His newest effort is a fast-paced, high-tech, apocalypsy novel about robot soldiers fighting to keep order in a chaotic world. These robots are controlled remotely, and when anarchists disrupt the world's technology with an electromagnetic pulse, the human operators become trapped in the tin men! It's hella fantastic and action packed, and makes you think - which is always a bonus.



Don't miss our awesome weekly podcast All The Books for the latest in new books each week: http://bookriot.com/category/all-the-...

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tinnen Soldaten is een verhaal dat beangstigend dichtbij komt en de complexiteit van de war on terrorism benadrukt. Robotsoldaten worden ingezet om de vrede te bewaren, maar deze westerse bemoeienis wordt algauw afgestraft met een terroristische aanslag die grootse, wereldwijde gevolgen met zich meebrengt. Wat volgt is een verhaal vol actie en de harde realiteit van een oorlog, waarin we deze crisis op de voet volgen door het perspectief van verschillende personages die zich op verschillende locaties en aan verschillende kanten van de strijd bevinden. Een ontzettend interessant verhaal dat jou als lezer aan het denken zet over de westerse bemoeienis in de toekomst van de maatschappij. Actueel en spannend met hier en daar een vleugje romantiek; een absolute aanrader als je het mij vraagt!

Mijn complete recensie lees je op Oog op de Toekomst.

[Bracken · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say this book is propulsive is an understatement. TIN MEN starts at full throttle and doesn't let up until the last page. Christopher Golden hits the character high notes you expect from him while also showing that he's got powerful action-thriller chops. This story nails the summer blockbuster/beach read perfectly while also taking an intelligent look at American hegemony and military interventionism without being preachy or condescending. It's smart and, more importantly, FUN. This book is a finely-tuned machine operating at peak performance just like its titular warriors. TIN MEN is Christopher Golden at the very top of his game! My only disappointment is knowing there is no sequel (yet).

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I may go back to this at a later date so I'm holding off on a rating.

I love military science fiction....space opera etc. I find that most of the better books in the genre I've read have turned out to be "space fleet" type books, so I'm always looking for good "ground-pounder" science fiction action.

This sounded like a far fetched but interesting story... Sadly not only is it far fetched it's just not that interesting.

Now, I'm in a reading slump. Nothing is really appealing to me right now. That said I'm still very underwhelmed here and am laying the book aside. At a later time I may go back and give it another shot. For now the "really strained" plot (and I mean really, truly strained) and fumbling attemots at political insight/pontification have exceeded my shoz-bot-ometer.

[Sachin Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tin men by Christopher Golden.
I confess I haven’t read Christopher Golden before – But having raced through Tin Men in a day (in one friggin’ DAY people. That’s how addictive the writing is!), he is definitely a tour-de-force to be reckoned with. Science-fiction mixed with global politics and tonnes of blistering non-stop action: On the surface, Tin Men is a book that delivers gobs of all this. But dig a bit and it raises questions galore.
In an unspecified near future world – where economies have collapsed, global warming has led to sea levels rising, food supplies have been hit and flood and drought are the order of the day. The world is in a constant state of chaos – Jihadists and Anarchists destabilizing life, tyrants and dictators around the world vying for control and civilians a mass collateral damage to everything. Into this world, America (Uncle Sam!) sends out RIC (Remote Infantry Corps) as a global peace-keeping force. These robots are controlled by actual soldiers – stationed somewhere deep underground in Germany in a military base known as the Hump – their minds offloaded into the tin-metal monsters and thus controlling every action of the bots. Sealed into canisters and monitored for 8-hour shifts by support and tech staff within the base.
The story focuses on Platoon A. (Assholes) and the Tin-men associated with this platoon stationed in Damascus, Syria – a deeply unsettled country where the anarchists are increasingly getting disillusioned by the role of US in their internal affairs. The US utilize the Tin Men to diffuse hot-spots across the world and maintain order – but the rest of the world hardly see it this way. And the tension starts to simmer and slowly pop – starting off in Damascus where an ex-warlord from Afghanistan leads an army of anarchists armed with bot-killers ( a new-age rockets specifically designed to damage the robots – take out their power core) targeting Platoon A on duty. This is followed by a worldwide electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that fries all sat-comm links, electronic devices all around the world. Throwing everything out of whack. Including the Tin Men – who are now stuck with their minds inside the bot-bodies without a satellite that ideally should have helped with the offload back into their real bodies. A G20 Summit that sees the world leaders converge in Athens further complicate matters – as an international cabal targets the very summit to take out these guys including President Of The United States– thus effectively plunging the world into complete chaos. Tin Men decide to haul ass to Athens – with their priority being to protect their commander-in-chief. From here on, the tension levels ratchet up to dizzying levels – the suspense hot, the action non-stop. The shoot ‘em up never lets up, the bullets and rockets are flying all over the place, shrapnel slices into skin, the tin carapace is charred – and in the middle of all this, the Tin Men soldier on.
The primary focus is on the soldiers of Platoon A – Danny Kelso, private – a man without attachments in this world (A lone shark who continues to swim in the waters of the world unattached) and Kate Wade – a paraplegic who has lost her legs in real life but is the Queen of the Tin Men in her metallic bot-body - are the main POVs. Christopher does a commendable job of getting the reader closer to the human frailties locked deep within those tin canisters - connecting us to the real people behind that unbreakable façade. There are various others – the maverick Mavrides, Hawkins the soldier with his unshakeable ethics, Travaglini the loyal side-kick and many more. Not all of them survive the bullet-riddled kinetic power-ride to the end. Meanwhile giving us the human side of things are Felix Wade, chief economic advisor to the president- also estranged father to Kate – looking for a way to survive the madness that has engulfed the world and make it right with his daughter, one last time. Alexa Day – is a seventeen year old on vacation to Damascus to meet up with her father, American ambassador stationed in Syria when all hell breaks loose. On the other side of the fence, we also get Hanif Khan – the man on a crazed mission to wreck damage and exact personal revenge against the bots for having killed his family. Then there is Aimee Sharp, a tech staff within the military base fighting hard to ensure it doesn’t get infiltrated by inside traitors.
Kate is such a strong protagonist that you cannot help but cheer. Danny plays a man conflicted by his phobia to commit to any relation but finds redemption at the end – in the middle of flying bullets and screeching rockets. Frankly though he is bit of a bore and relies on other stronger characters around him to find his roots in this mad world. Alexa would have been a fantastic character to build out but she is in the side-lines while the Tin Men fight it out to get to Athens. But it’s probably her character-arc that sees a sea-change by the end of the book and fittingly so. But if you ask me to pick a Tin-Man I loved, that would be Hawkins. A man you can trust to have your back always.
The start of the book is a bit slow. Where the author slowly sets things in motion around the military base. But once the Tin Men are up and about – stationed in Damascus, the tension levels in the lonely markets of Syria are what suck you in. The mayhem is never-ending. And Christopher pelts the readers non-stop with grenades, rockets and bullets singing through the ride. All the way from Syria to Athens to Germany. And yes – there is a story behind, that forces questions around the role of US playing the world police-man, will that be in the best interests of the rest of the world? Will it lead to unrest and riots in the longer run?
A scarily plausible future – one that is brought out in full technicolour and painted a rambunctious red drenched in blood and bullets by Christopher Golden – this man knows how to get your pulse racing immersing you in a believable world lived in by robots who are more than humans. A military science-fiction that hits all the right spots and forces you to think. A roaring good tale of shining valour that stands out amidst the screaming rockets, this one should be on the big screen. And soon.

[John D. Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

In short ... I couldn’t put it down.

If that’s all you need to know, then go ahead and buy it now. But, if not …

“Tin Men” represents Christopher Golden’s first foray (to my knowledge) into the genre of a futuristic military thriller, and provides a solid, action-driven plot that explores a possible future for modern ground warfare through the eyes of a wide range of characters in multiple settings.

Taking place in the not-so-distant future, soldiers in America’s Remote Infantry Corps link their minds directly to super-soldier robot counterparts and carry out missions across the world. Operating without the fear of death, these “drone pilots” prove to be more than a match for essentially all terrorist and insurgent enemies.

And the Remote Infantry has no shortage of foes. This is a world declining into chaos through a combination of political, social, and environmental factors. Radical activist and terror networks use both technology and increasing broad public resentment against U.S. forces to fuel an ambiguous but violent insurgency. When the world suffers a nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack that knocks the entire planet’s infrastructure back to the 18th century, members of the Remote Infantry Corps come to some sobering realizations about themselves, their world, and both the government and technology in which they placed their trust.

“Tin Men” focuses on a squad of soldiers (and specifically PFC Denny Kelso and Corporal Kate Wade) battling increasingly impossible odds as they attempt travel from Pakistan to their home base in Germany. In addition to challenges within their own ranks, Kelso and Wade match both wits and firepower against violent fanatics who pursue them with a new bot-killing weapon.

The marketing blurb from publisher Ballantine Books links Golden’s “Tin Men” to the writing of Brad Thor (specifically, “Brad Thor meets Avatar…”). This is misleading. My opinion is that Golden is a vastly better writer than Thor. I’ll also note that Thor’s very conservative politics play a prominent, heavy-handed role in his novels. In contrast, Golden spends less time politically soapboxing his fiction, and when he does it’s more subtle and nuanced.

Nonetheless, when Golden lifts the veil, he reveals himself as being more left-of-center. For example, though it’s never said how far into the future the story takes place, it posits that one of the reasons for increasing global chaos is the catastrophic effects of climate change. This will not please conservative climate-change skeptics in the reading world. “Tin Men” also takes a several beats inside of all the action to offer multiple perspectives (and some not flattering…) on the U.S. military’s continuous state of warfare since September 11, 2001, as well as how the “War on Terror” is perceived by those outside the United States.

“Tin Men” has a few blemishes mixed in with its many strengths. For readers seeking a hard-science techno-thriller, you’ll be disappointed. Most of the tech in “Tin Men” falls into that Star Trek oeuvre of stuff that works … well … just because it does. There are also instances where, if you take a breath during the non-stop action, you may pause long enough to ask “Wait. If they can do X, then why don’t they just do Y to prevent Z badness from happening?” Also, there’s something of a love story that feels spackled in, as they often do in action-thriller novels.

Then again, I may not be much of a romantic. That’s on me.

Whether or not these minor flaws prevent you from enjoying the novel depends on your ability to set aside a few foibles in the interest of reading a fun, fast-paced novel. I had no problem with any of it and enthusiastically recommend “Tin Men”.

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, American remote infantry (robot) combat units have been deployed all over the world to keep the peace, but instead have increased the hatred of anarchists and Islamists directed at America in particular and the Western world in general. The anarchists plan, generally, to put all technology in the world out of commission and, specifically, to destroy all of the robots. They probably didn't think this plan through very well.

The operation of the robots is sort of a rip-off of the movie Avatar. In Germany where the action begins there is a cliched collection of soldiers who remain asleep in Germany while they somehow telepathically man the robots stationed worldwide. These include the ladies men, the hero, a disabled soldier, gruff sergeant, tech whiz kid and beautiful (why always beautiful?) female soldier. Later they add a plucky teenager to their group for the YA market. In Germany there is also a group of soldiers and technicians who remotely oversee the missions of the robots. The remainder of the action takes place in Athens, the sight of an economic conference. The only part of the book that really interested me was the part about the technicians in Germany but there wasn't very much of that. The rest of the book was just a lot of running and shooting.

I could see this as a movie with lots of gunfire and explosions and cool robots, but for me it was not a great book. Usually when I say a book should be made into a movie I mean it as a compliment. That is not the case with this book. I am not a fan of military thrillers and I found most of the book, particularly the parts in Damascus, extremely tedious. The gun battles were numerous and unending. I was hoping for more of an intelligent techno-thriller or sci fi story, but I probably didn't read the description of the book carefully enough.

For fans of military thrillers this book might be ok. Maybe they want to read something like "Danny rose to his knees, reached out and picked up her scorched, severed arm, then handed it to her" but I wasn't enthralled.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Janell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tin Men is one of the better books that I have read this year. It grabs you from the first page and doesn't let go until you have read the very last word. It is set in the very near future and instead of drones being used for the world's trouble spots, the USA uses robots that are super strong, smart and highly intelligent and are run by real people who are in cubicles who are in suspended animation and their minds are placed in these robots. Very sci fi by not heavy on the technical dialog. The story is very quick paced and there is tons of action along with some twists and turns and is very well written. I am a first time reader of Christopher Golden and I liked what I read with his style of writing.

The only thing that I wish is that the story would be continued in another book or perhaps a trilogy. There is still a lot to explore in a new world without technology or power due to an EMP and would make great reading. I definitely will be recommending this book to others as it is a very good book.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had this book on my radar for a little while. This is one book that I was looking forward to checking out. Well I can tell you that while this book was good, it did not live up to the hype that I held for it. I was uick readut I culd not fully find a connection with any of the characters in this book. Thus without this connection, I found myself at times just going through the motions without excitement. In fact, I can not remember many of the details of the events that took place through out this book. Yet, I did still like the premise of this book and if I had been able to find myself more into it then I know that I would have rated it higher.

[Kathleen Minde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Years from now, when global warming has flooded the coastlines and drought create international food shortages; the world population will revolt and riot against their governments. When the leaders of the world are unable to control the chaos, who will step in to police the masses? In Christopher Golden’s new novel, Tin Men, America will intervene, and we will have an army of robots. Drones will be a thing of the past and we will send these 7 foot-tall, indestructible, boots on the ground soldiers instead. And the world will hate us for it.

Similar to the movie Avatar, these Tin Men are brain powered by men and women safely encapsulated in tubes stationed in Germany and remote controlled throughout the world. Private Danny Kelso begins his day crawling into his tube and his infantry robot comes to life in Damascus. The Tin Men look like huge metallic humans complete with facial features and they are locked and loaded. However, on this day a faction of anarchists instigates a worldwide assault that levels the playing field and the world is slammed back to the Stone Age. No electricity, no computers, no satellites, no phones. The Tin Men, however, still function but they are trapped in their robots while their human forms remain in Germany.

I don’t read much Sci-Fi, and I rarely read military thrillers with the army saving the world, so this was an interesting departure for me. The book just drips with testosterone, lots of patriotic feel good, and tons of firefights. Even though the book focuses on a couple of main characters and a handful of minor players it was hard for me to connect with anyone. The writer includes the presidents of two major powers trying to get to safety, which was exciting but very predictable. A traitor who has infiltrated the German base is pretty easy to pick out of a crowd. The leader of the faction who instigated the attack is frequently referred to an anarchist, never a terrorist, which I found interesting. And, for some odd reason, there is a 17 year-old female civilian character involved with the Tin Men’s platoon.

I don’t know, maybe this is standard for military thrillers but I wasn’t that impressed with the book and found myself skimming towards the end. I also got annoyed every time the story used the words “Bot Killers” and anarchists. I know this author has a huge fan base and they will love this new offering but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

[Agnieszka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was everything I needed just when I needed it: a fast-paced military-style futuristic action adventure, with just the right balance between action and character development. Things happen, and a lot of them, but they're meaningful and have impact and they drive everybody forward. I also love the fact that the story takes place in a sort of pumped-up version of the world's current realities, though I admit, it could use a little less of moralizing (which were evident especially toward the end) and a little more background. The ending itself could use a bit more polish - it does feel a bit rushed, as people before me noticed - but I can't lie, I enjoyed this ride very very much. It reads like a movie: I practically had movie frames in my eyes the whole time. So if you're into a good action story with great scenes and a breathing room for characters, give it a shot!

[Scott Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read if you can suspend disbelief over the technology. I kept wondering why the Tin Men had no armament more powerful than a sidearm. Several questions of this nature kept me from fully immersing. Golden keeps the action flowing and the stakes high throughout, which makes it a good page-turner.

[Damian C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the near future the United States has successfully policed the world. This is done without international approval, and while international drug, fraud, prostitution and terrorism are at all time lows, the citizens cry out with resentment of jeopardized freedoms. The action packed novel Tin Men focuses on the United States most advanced evolution in military technologies. The tin men are fully robotic soldiers piloted by soldiers in cannisters using mental relays to graph their consciousness. However, they are not the only organization with power. An international rebel group has concocted a method to hi-jack the satellite grid and bring all electrical power across the world to a halt. Some are calling them terrorists, others are calling them liberators. What is certain is that the tin men are now pitted against a greater foe with their backs in a corner, suspicious of their own military command. It is only through unity can the tin men rescue the innocent and return home while the world collapses.

This novel stands out from author Christopher Golden's bibliography. It is significant for taking a dive into two genres, those of military fiction and loosely science fiction. So far it has been the only one of its kind and likely doubt it will receive a sequel. From reading the novel it conveys a sense of commentary on the advancement of militaries technology and the concept of the United States policing the world in an unfavorable light. Throughout the novel allegiances are tested, the soldiers and politicians that play as our protagonists repeatedly question the intentions of the United States government's agenda. I enjoyed this introspection of the soldiers because they were sincerely stranded on their mission without any communication from the base. Therefore with indefinite amount of time to examine ones feelings, it is logical to then grow suspicious of internal agencies. The novel followed multiple perspectives however there was never any firm indication of when they would be switched. In some case the plot would make a switch directly in the middle of a chapter. I would have appreciated more organization of perspectives if they were given character headings or at least each chapter being dedicated to one perspective. Without them it made reading what was going of fairly difficult.

[A Reader's Heaven · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Economies are collapsing, environmental disasters are widespread and war the backdrop to life.
And so the military has developed a force of elite soldiers to keep the peace. A force like nothing seen before ... codenamed Tin Man, soldiers are virtually transported to inhabit robot frames in war-torn countries.
When PFC Danny Kelso starts his day shift in Syria, an eerie silence welcomes him and a patrol confirms the area is totally deserted. But when a rogue electromagnetic pulse throws everything into darkness, Danny's conscious mind is trapped within his robot body.
The attack turns out to have been global - the world is facing a return to the dark ages with no electricity, no technology ... no safe zones. And the Tin Men face a race against time to save not only themselves but society as we know it.

"Suspension of disbelief" was pretty much my mantra throughout this book. Also, "Stop comparing this to a bunch of movies..." This was a book that was hard to take too seriously based on those two thoughts...

Did I enjoy it? Absolutely - the real "macho" stuff worked pretty well. Gunfights, explosions, all that cool stuff that we read this genre for. Plenty of sci-fi to keep those readers happy too.

But what I did miss was the logic. There were times that just made me scratch my head and wonder - using a rifle scope, for instance, when surely their helmets would have had that feature...surely? Little things like that popped up now and then and left me feeling disappointed...


Paul
ARH

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tin Men has a promising idea. The United States army now has soldiers who can pilot robots. How would that change the future of being a soldier if you can't really die? Unfortunately beyond this basic idea, the story falls apart.

It starts off with the soldiers patrolling Damascus and realizing all the citizens of the city are gone. Uhhh ok? Wouldn't they have realized people had evacuated way sooner? How did the random citizens know about an eminent attack before the United States?? This is never explained.
Ok so apparently there was a global EMP attack.The robot soldiers decide to abandon their post, go to Greece where the US president is, and then take him to Germany. At one point the president evacuates into an occupied subway station 🤷 One quick Google search told me that Air Force One is EMP shielded...nothing made sense.

I could go on and on, but I understand what the author was trying to do, write an entertaining military sci-fi with a dash of romance. Unfortunately the plot holes were so big you could fit a rocket launcher through them. Which brings me to another point,why did the anarchists all have rocket launchers but the robots did not??
Okay I'll stop now. Overall a disappointing read.

[Nicholas Kopsian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did really like this book! I found myself looking forward to my lunch breaks and train rides home to jump back into this book. This is not the genre of novel Christopher Golden normally writes in, but it was so well done! It’s the story of the U.S.’s army of human piloted robots, which is a very possible future, but I want to put the emphasis on “human piloted”. All the characters we meet are well fleshed out and the ones you think you have pegged as a generic “type” are anything but. It is action packed and full of amazing story beats. I highly recommend this book, even if this type of book is normally not your cup of tea.

[Maarten · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tinnen Soldaten is een belachelijk, ongeloofwaardig verhaal. Het jingoïsme spat er vanaf en het hele boek belichaamt een Amerikaans slachtoffercomplex, terwijl de gebeurtenissen in het boek juist zijn veroorzaakt door Amerika... De 'good guys' zijn oninteressant en in sommige gevallen ronduit evil, en ik betrapte mezelf erop dat ik eigenlijk vooral zat te rooten voor de bad guys. Maar ze bedoelen het zo goed! Als de rest van de wereld dat nou eens kon begrijpen... *kotskotskots*

[Carl Buehler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This guy sure has an imagination. And he can write, to boot. A very original concept that had me sucked in from the get go. A hard book to put down with no dead points. If he writes a sequel, sign me up!

[Dan Banana · Rating 5 out of 5]

was a fantastic futuristic, apocalyptic, and philosophic story of man and robots and the struggle to help people gone awry, and how politics can destroy the world, not religion so it's fiction because both will destroy the world

[Jenny Delandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A futuristic take on world politics with America using robots to police the world's trouble spots. They take control and impose their views on that country.
The robots are guided by soldiers who are in a secure facility in Germany.. The soldiers have their bodies in the safe facility and their conscience is in the head of the robot they are assigned to.. The robots have been called Tin Men..
But the world is not happy with America taking over and they come together to formulate a plan to rid themselves of American influence.
What their weapon is called the Pulse.. An EMP.. In addition, they have organised teams of insurgents who will attack the Tin Men and eradicate them from the world.. But terrorists have also decided that as many world leaders as possible need to die at the same time.
We get to know the personalities of the soldiers controlling the Tin Men and the humans who are saved from anarchy.. including two Presidents..
There is a little romance between two of the soldiers and some sadness as they realise if the robots are destroyed the mind of the soldier dies too!

[DarthLolita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came so close to getting a five star rating from me--purely because of subjective reasons. I love military sci-fi. I love robots in all shapes and sizes. And I loved these characters.

I don't often get the chance to say this, but this book had badass characters everywhere. It's got a soldier struggling with his feelings but fighting to survive. Badass women taking the spotlight, from a 17 year old girl left stranded and orphaned to a disabled woman of color who is often left to question the blurring line between man and machine. And an awesome anarchist sniper from the other side of the war.

This book just kept building and building and I was loving every second of it. Every time Kate, Alexa, or Khan took over the narrative, I wanted to read more and more of those three. Which could be a negative at times. It often made me stop and wonder why exactly Danny was the main character. He's not bad, but his only real conflict is being incapable of admitting his feelings for the woman he truly loves. Kate, Alexa, and Khan have real arcs, far more complicated and volatile. Those three are the ones who get to explore the full conflicts of war, of loss, and of what this technological achievement really means for humanity.

It can be a powerful book, but in a way, that's why the last couple chapters started to disappoint. It really only comes down to one moment and, unfair as it is to say, it did mildly ruin things for me. When the narrative just discarded Khan and killed him in a page, never to be mentioned again, it left a sour taste in my mouth. I get that he was the bad guy, technically, but he was interesting. He was the chance this book had to make the conflict far more complex and morally grey than what the Tin Men wanted it to be, but even though the book started on that path, it quickly fell away from it.

It's not a book that's perfect. The world building and characterization is a bit rushed at the beginning and because of the way it mirrors real-life, present conflicts, I don't know how certain people will take to the parallels. I didn't have too much of a problem on them, but I could somewhat see where there were some unfortunate implications.

Ultimately, however, it hit enough sweet spots that I wanted to keep reading. And I enjoyed it the whole way through.

[Bestselling Thrillers · Rating 4 out of 5]

TIN MEN by Christopher Golden 4 Stars
A gripping read that begins on the day the world fell apart.
This intriguing book starts by explaining how the world fell into chaos and the aftermath. It then further explains how the U.S. created ‘TIN MEN‘ to keep some kind of control and order in our failing societies.
These ‘TIN MEN’ are remote infantry soldiers that are like ‘Soldiers of the future’, where they are kept safe in ‘canisters’ at an army base in Germany. The actual robotic soldiers they control, we first encounter on patrol in Damascus. Platoon A soon realise that something sinister is imminent…
There are different stories unfolding in various parts of the world, such as in Greece at the G20 summit, where numerous world leaders are present and also in Syria, with the daughter of the U.S. ambassador at the U.S. embassy.
We meet engaging characters throughout the book and follow their struggles to survive after an ‘EMP.’ Anarchy has begun…
This engrossing read pulls you in and takes you on an extremely fast paced journey, where you begin to believe there may be hope after all.
I found this compelling book hard to put down, as there never seemed to be a ‘quiet’ moment. I would highly recommend it and hope that there is more to follow…
Elphaba

Best Selling Crime Thrillers were given an advanced copy of the book to review

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christopher Golden's Tin Men feels like a mid-summer science fiction action blockbuster film. There's action, a bit of suspense, obvious good and bad guys, and a sort of predictable shallowness with an attempt at making the characters distinct and interesting with some kind of back story. The book is more fun than substance with a slightly out there futuristic military scenario. The US has a program that puts soldiers in control of robotic bodies in the Middle East to keep the peace and things go wrong pretty quickly. From there it's action sequences and jumping around between three locations where important things are happening. There are a lot of names tossed about and it can be frustrating to keep track of who is who and where since a number of the characters are predictably cannon fodder. Tin Men is more of a fun, quick summer action read in the end. It's not particularly deep and it doesn't really add a new perspective to current events, but Tin Men rolls on to a rushed yet moderately satisfying conclusion.

Note: ARC received via Amazon Vine in exchange for review.

[Read Ng · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a GoodReads giveaway win. This was an advance Uncorrected Proof copy.

This was more than a GoodReads, I found it to be a GreatRead. Christopher Golden writes with a golden hand.

This tale takes drone warfare up to the ground infantry level. It has multiple action locations, high tech military weapons and warfare, characters you can relate to, and a world wide crisis that needs to be fixed. Anarchy rules, but can the Tin Men survive? I like that it is a complete story on its own. Golden is not trying to sell you a trilogy or thinking about a series, before he develops this complete and satisfying story. Golden is not holding back in this action pack story. I do wish to read more about the Tin Men, but I was very pleased with this book. The scenario fits in well with a near future world.

Now go out and have a GoodReads.

[Conal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in a first reads giveaway here on GoodReads.

This was a fun near future story about drone controlled robots used as peace keepers though out the world by the US. The author has thrown in some curve balls and the story did not always follow what I expected to happen. Overall, this was a entertaining story that I was able to finish in a couple of sittings. The main characters were well developed and it had a satisfying ending. The author has left open several plot points so I expect that there will be a sequel or two somewhere down the line.

4 stars for a fun read. recommended for fan of near future sci-fi.

[David Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this action sci-fi thriller. Tin Men are remote control robots. Controlled from far away, but with the person's mind imprint in the Tin Men. A dark look at the US and the world. The Tin Men are America's answer to any problem world wide. Then comes along a world wide event and the world is suddenly without power (and it won't be coming back on soon). More to this, but I do not want to give things away.

Lots of action, science gone wild, and political events. The start of a series of books about the Tin Men? Count me in!

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this was a ride through pages of non stop action. With near future premise of the United States keeping peace around the world. That future isn't that far off, with what is going on in the world today. Christopher Golden has nailed it. As I was drawn deeper into the story, I was reminded of the U.S. in similar police actions, as with Korea and Vietnam. With a group called anarchists, trying to stop the good.This definitely should be on the big screen, and I see video games.
Grab this book and go. .

[Patrick Nichol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a first-rate military Sci-Fi thriller. What if the US Army's elite robot soldiers find their minds trapped inside their bots after an EMP wipes out electronics world-wide?
Christopher Golden answers that question flawlessly in this tale of anarchy supreme, survival and the fight to restore order.
And the soldiers follow their orders despite the fact they may never get to return to their bodies again.
Highly recommended.