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Steel Frame
Epic tale of giant-robot battles, built around a personal story of redemption and healing.
Fly Hard.
Rook is a jockey, a soldier trained and modified to fly `shells,' huge robots that fight for the outer regions of settled space. When her shell is destroyed and her squad killed, Rook is imprisoned, left stranded, scarred and broken. Hollow and helpless without her steel frame, she's ready to call it quits. When her cohort of prisoners are sold into indenture to NorCol, a vast frontier corporation, Rook's given another shell – a near-decrepit Juno, as broken as she is and decades older – and sent to a rusting bucket of a ship on the end of known space to patrol something called "the Eye," a strange, unnerving permanent storm in space. But they're not alone.
Fly Hard.
Rook is a jockey, a soldier trained and modified to fly `shells,' huge robots that fight for the outer regions of settled space. When her shell is destroyed and her squad killed, Rook is imprisoned, left stranded, scarred and broken. Hollow and helpless without her steel frame, she's ready to call it quits. When her cohort of prisoners are sold into indenture to NorCol, a vast frontier corporation, Rook's given another shell – a near-decrepit Juno, as broken as she is and decades older – and sent to a rusting bucket of a ship on the end of known space to patrol something called "the Eye," a strange, unnerving permanent storm in space. But they're not alone.
- GenresScience Fiction
480 pages, Paperback
First published August 27, 2019
43 people are currently reading
335 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Skinner
2 books16 followersAndrew grew up in South Africa's coal-mining heartland, amidst rust-orange dust and giant machinery. He now works as an archaeologist and anthropologist, interested in folklore, rain-making, and the eerie histories that live amongst us in the present.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
March 11, 2020
What amazes me about contemporary South African SF is its diversity. From the social satire of The Space Race by Alex Latimer, to the cyber noir of Zoo City by Lauren Beukes, to the quantum apocalypse of Dub Steps by Andrew Miller, not to mention Louis Greenberg and Henrietta Rose-Innes, local writers have embraced all aspects of the genre with gusto, and often with spectacular results.
And now we have Steel Frame by Andrew Skinner, which represents yet another direction into which our particular brand of SF is moving into. I don’t think I have read anything similar to it yet produced by the local SF ‘scene’, as it were. Skinner has stormed onto the stage with guns blazing, in an amazing display of virtuoso literary derring-do that takes several tropes by the scruff of the neck and gives them a good old shake-up.
What saved this book for me – which I actually abandoned about two-thirds of the way in, as I found its relentless action-drive plot becoming both monotonous and numbing – was that ending. Essentially this is a love story between a space pilot and their ‘smart’ spacesuit, affectionately known as ‘Old Bird’. (This is also a reference to the fact that these suits have feathered wings, about which more later.)
The copywriter for Solaris Books needs a good rap on the knuckles for giving away a crucial plot point on the back cover blurb. Or is it? While the gender of Rook is only referenced at two points in the entire book, and the word ‘her’ is used only once, I think the indeterminate gender is important with regard to the ‘relationship’ with Old Bird in particular.
There is also a curious lack of sexual tension in the book. Remember what happened to Ripley in Alien III when she accidentally crash-lands onto an all-male prison planet? None of that hanky-panky or gender discrimination in Steel Frame (apart from the copious mentions of well-oiled and lubricated weaponry expending a seemingly never-ending supply of ammunition.)
Somewhere I got the impression that these smartsuits are actually giant robots, as they are heavily weaponised and armoured. However, the fact that they are mobile and flexible enough to be flown ‘airside’ confuses this impression a bit. And talking about confusion, the alien environment of The Eye – around which the dreadnoughts of NorCol circle like vultures around prey – seems to have storms and wind currents.
Andrew’s bio references him growing up in the Mpumalanga coalfields, where he often experienced the Highveld’s spectacularly visceral thunderstorms. Here giant mining equipment like draglines also stirred his imagination. To be honest, this comes across more as marketing spiel on the part of the publisher, as it offers minimal insight into the outer-space environment evoked in Steel Frame.
So is The Eye the remnants of a failed Dyson sphere, for example? And how can space-only behemoths like Horizon function in such a weird environment? I recently attended a meeting of Science Fiction & Fantasy South Africa, where Andrew Skinner was interviewed by Dr Deirdre Byrne from the English Department of the University of South Africa.
Andrew explained that his initial ideas for, and about, the book were encapsulated in a notebook that quickly expanded into encyclopaedic detail. It is a tricky task to decide what is extraneous detail or info-dumping, especially when it comes to world-building. What complicates this book even further is the first-person point-of-view narration. I definitely think this required more explication than what is in the book at present.
What would have also helped, and which would not have bulked out an already long book by too much, would have been notes, or some kind of a glossary at the end. Another disappointment for me was the partial reveal of the aliens-behind-the-scene as being a weird hybrid between Lovecraft and Ridley Scott.
Still, this is a hugely impressive achievement for a first novel. The pace is sure-fired, and literally zings along (as I said, this does result in reader fatigue at various points. Keep slugging on though, and you will be rewarded by a wonderful ending.)
I think the best description of the book as a reading experience is a combination between Jack McDevitt and Iain Banks. Andrew revealed he is already working on a sequel, which will recount the same sequence of events, but from different perspectives. This sounds really promising, as it will add much-needed depth and richness to a fascinating and unique literary universe.
And now we have Steel Frame by Andrew Skinner, which represents yet another direction into which our particular brand of SF is moving into. I don’t think I have read anything similar to it yet produced by the local SF ‘scene’, as it were. Skinner has stormed onto the stage with guns blazing, in an amazing display of virtuoso literary derring-do that takes several tropes by the scruff of the neck and gives them a good old shake-up.
What saved this book for me – which I actually abandoned about two-thirds of the way in, as I found its relentless action-drive plot becoming both monotonous and numbing – was that ending. Essentially this is a love story between a space pilot and their ‘smart’ spacesuit, affectionately known as ‘Old Bird’. (This is also a reference to the fact that these suits have feathered wings, about which more later.)
The copywriter for Solaris Books needs a good rap on the knuckles for giving away a crucial plot point on the back cover blurb. Or is it? While the gender of Rook is only referenced at two points in the entire book, and the word ‘her’ is used only once, I think the indeterminate gender is important with regard to the ‘relationship’ with Old Bird in particular.
There is also a curious lack of sexual tension in the book. Remember what happened to Ripley in Alien III when she accidentally crash-lands onto an all-male prison planet? None of that hanky-panky or gender discrimination in Steel Frame (apart from the copious mentions of well-oiled and lubricated weaponry expending a seemingly never-ending supply of ammunition.)
Somewhere I got the impression that these smartsuits are actually giant robots, as they are heavily weaponised and armoured. However, the fact that they are mobile and flexible enough to be flown ‘airside’ confuses this impression a bit. And talking about confusion, the alien environment of The Eye – around which the dreadnoughts of NorCol circle like vultures around prey – seems to have storms and wind currents.
Andrew’s bio references him growing up in the Mpumalanga coalfields, where he often experienced the Highveld’s spectacularly visceral thunderstorms. Here giant mining equipment like draglines also stirred his imagination. To be honest, this comes across more as marketing spiel on the part of the publisher, as it offers minimal insight into the outer-space environment evoked in Steel Frame.
So is The Eye the remnants of a failed Dyson sphere, for example? And how can space-only behemoths like Horizon function in such a weird environment? I recently attended a meeting of Science Fiction & Fantasy South Africa, where Andrew Skinner was interviewed by Dr Deirdre Byrne from the English Department of the University of South Africa.
Andrew explained that his initial ideas for, and about, the book were encapsulated in a notebook that quickly expanded into encyclopaedic detail. It is a tricky task to decide what is extraneous detail or info-dumping, especially when it comes to world-building. What complicates this book even further is the first-person point-of-view narration. I definitely think this required more explication than what is in the book at present.
What would have also helped, and which would not have bulked out an already long book by too much, would have been notes, or some kind of a glossary at the end. Another disappointment for me was the partial reveal of the aliens-behind-the-scene as being a weird hybrid between Lovecraft and Ridley Scott.
Still, this is a hugely impressive achievement for a first novel. The pace is sure-fired, and literally zings along (as I said, this does result in reader fatigue at various points. Keep slugging on though, and you will be rewarded by a wonderful ending.)
I think the best description of the book as a reading experience is a combination between Jack McDevitt and Iain Banks. Andrew revealed he is already working on a sequel, which will recount the same sequence of events, but from different perspectives. This sounds really promising, as it will add much-needed depth and richness to a fascinating and unique literary universe.
October 16, 2019
Rook is the protagonist, a women who flies giant mechas, who spent her career rescuing downed jockeys from battlefields and getting them to medics. PTSD caught up with her, and a traumatic incident put her in jail, into a chain-gang on a giant starship stationed in the broken part of outer space.
The Eye. The ocean, a region of space that has so much debris and strange physics going on that it's an ocean instead of void. Time works differently here. The various megacorps who constantly fight each other for the rest of space have a tense truce in the Eye, because it's all unexplored and there are treasures inside. Maybe.
So Rook has been taken from prison and put into this region of space and because her megacorp isn't sure this place is profitable, its ships are crewed by an increasing ratio of convicts.
This is where she meets the Juno. Her new giant mech, her shell. It's an antique, a prototype that's violent when she first meets it: it's rebelling, breaking from its restraints and trying to eke out a bit of space in its hangar. The only reason they can talk it down from more violence is because Rook is given its old jockey's helmet, which she uses to talk to it - but it forgives the deception and takes her as its pilot.
Juno's old and traumatized from losing its old pilots. Rook's traumatized from losing jockeys she couldn't rescue in time. They're both traumatized but they fly well together, and if you as a reader cannot approach these two characters ready to try to understand them, this book won't work. It's entirely from Rook's POV.
The plot? The plot is: Rook's part of a four-man unit of jockeys sent to explore some of the ruins in the ocean. They don't so much find horror as it finds them, and the plot escalates in action and horror: there's a devastating virus, there's an imprisoned thing, there are the other megacorps, and there's Rook's unit: Hail, another convict who leads them all. Salt, a giant of a man who carries his own trauma. Locust. Andrade.
This book goes surprisingly wide, filling in details about the wars outside the ocean, where these broken convicts came from. It fills in the story of the megacorp they work for, the ones they're aiming against, everything.
The book stays narrow, staying in Rook's head and following only what she's involved in.
It's so deep, though. Rook is so, so compelling and understandable, and the Juno alien in the right ways, understandable in the right ways.
I didn't know I could find a sci-fi book that hits everything I want: military sci-fi action, deep introspective psychological drama, horror, alien things, etc. Everything in this book sings just right and I didn't know it could exist without me having to write it.
Author? You did good.
Reader of this review? You gotta read this book. You gotta. The prose is hypnotic and you could drown in it. You deserve to enjoy this book.
The Eye. The ocean, a region of space that has so much debris and strange physics going on that it's an ocean instead of void. Time works differently here. The various megacorps who constantly fight each other for the rest of space have a tense truce in the Eye, because it's all unexplored and there are treasures inside. Maybe.
So Rook has been taken from prison and put into this region of space and because her megacorp isn't sure this place is profitable, its ships are crewed by an increasing ratio of convicts.
This is where she meets the Juno. Her new giant mech, her shell. It's an antique, a prototype that's violent when she first meets it: it's rebelling, breaking from its restraints and trying to eke out a bit of space in its hangar. The only reason they can talk it down from more violence is because Rook is given its old jockey's helmet, which she uses to talk to it - but it forgives the deception and takes her as its pilot.
Juno's old and traumatized from losing its old pilots. Rook's traumatized from losing jockeys she couldn't rescue in time. They're both traumatized but they fly well together, and if you as a reader cannot approach these two characters ready to try to understand them, this book won't work. It's entirely from Rook's POV.
The plot? The plot is: Rook's part of a four-man unit of jockeys sent to explore some of the ruins in the ocean. They don't so much find horror as it finds them, and the plot escalates in action and horror: there's a devastating virus, there's an imprisoned thing, there are the other megacorps, and there's Rook's unit: Hail, another convict who leads them all. Salt, a giant of a man who carries his own trauma. Locust. Andrade.
This book goes surprisingly wide, filling in details about the wars outside the ocean, where these broken convicts came from. It fills in the story of the megacorp they work for, the ones they're aiming against, everything.
The book stays narrow, staying in Rook's head and following only what she's involved in.
It's so deep, though. Rook is so, so compelling and understandable, and the Juno alien in the right ways, understandable in the right ways.
I didn't know I could find a sci-fi book that hits everything I want: military sci-fi action, deep introspective psychological drama, horror, alien things, etc. Everything in this book sings just right and I didn't know it could exist without me having to write it.
Author? You did good.
Reader of this review? You gotta read this book. You gotta. The prose is hypnotic and you could drown in it. You deserve to enjoy this book.
February 1, 2020
AAAAAAH
Look, it's Battlestar Galactica meets Pacific Rim with convicts and robot zombies and creepy alien archaeology, what more do you want?
Technically milSF I guess, which isn't usually my thing at all, but giant robots punching each other, what can I say? Besides, it focuses heavily on pilot/shell sync (oh let's just call it the Drift) and I was in love with Rook's battered old Juno by the time they'd locked eyes on one another.
Fast-paced, covered in grease and dirt and with a heart glowing like a reactor core.
Full review
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Look, it's Battlestar Galactica meets Pacific Rim with convicts and robot zombies and creepy alien archaeology, what more do you want?
Technically milSF I guess, which isn't usually my thing at all, but giant robots punching each other, what can I say? Besides, it focuses heavily on pilot/shell sync (oh let's just call it the Drift) and I was in love with Rook's battered old Juno by the time they'd locked eyes on one another.
Fast-paced, covered in grease and dirt and with a heart glowing like a reactor core.
Full review
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
December 11, 2019
I needed to read something new, not because I am bored with my normal stuff, but because I wanted to see what is current. The summary of this book was interesting, and I think I heard about it somewhere before, so I picked up a physical copy.
SUMMARY
Humans have spread across numerous star systems of the galaxy in the distant future. Most people are citizen-employees of either the Colonial Authority or one of the major corporations. Rook is a convict of NorCol, but previously she flew huge combat robots called shells.
Rook and a few others volunteer to work as prisoner-employees on the largest NorCol dreadnought in a mysterious area of space that surrounds a cosmic anomaly called “the Eye”. This area is a free-floating atmosphere, not unlike a nebula, filled with storms, debris, strange artifacts, and rival corporations. Rook is soon paired with an older robot called a “Juno” that seems to possess a unique intelligence of its own.
OVERALL: 2.4 out of 5
I did not like this book as much as I hoped I would, but the potential is there and it’s strong. Unfortunately it is dragged down by undeveloped characters, difficult to understand plot developments, action writing that left me scratching my head, and opposition that isn’t defined well enough. Skinner has original ideas, but I feel his writing needs to be grounded a bit to really take off. This is only his first book, and I think he could be an author to watch.
Another matter that needs a spotlight is the idea of “smart warfare” in the book. The connection between shell operator and robot mind is explored in-depth, and the need for artificial intelligence is apparent despite never being really explained. That works, and Skinner is able to describe something that is hard to comprehend; the constant communication going on between multiple human and computer minds in a future setting where thoughts are read (or at least predicted) and the line between flesh and circuit is blurred. These deeper concepts are hampered by the “video game” vibe of other parts of the story. I enjoy both sides, but would prefer them in separate stories. This book seems torn between a hard science look at the nature of war in the future and a Palladium roleplaying game with robots zooming around, fighting with cinematic weapons and maneuvers that seem unnecessary in a setting that should have progressed past that.
RATINGS BY CATEGORY
CHARACTERS: 2 out of 5
The depth of the different characters is only hinted at. All of the principal cast have spent time as convicts, but no one has any motivation except to follow orders and survive. Hail is a tough commander, Salt is physically big and excels at combat, and Rook seems to have seen and done a bit of everything, but nothing is really explained. How many relative years has Rook been flying shells? Is anyone actually loyal to their companies? Has anyone “deserted” to a rival (Hail has some history here, but she seems to be an observer to her own capture/recruitment)? The characters take initiative when they want to uncover a mystery (when it serves the purpose of the novel), but that is it. I just couldn’t bring myself to care too much about them, and I was disappointed when I realized that no one was going to be explored in any detail.
PACE: 3 out of 5
The pace is generally good, and this isn’t a short science fiction novel. It is backwards for me; the quiet moments while the characters were aboard their ship were more interesting than the scenes when they are flying and fighting.
STORY: 3 out of 5
I really enjoyed the setup that forms the first quarter of the book. The dreadnought spacecraft are larger than moons and so old there are vast bays, corridors, and sections all but forgotten by the crew. The Eye is this mysterious place in the center of everything, and there is this constant threat of rival corporations struggling to understand the Eye and fighting over its secrets.
Unfortunately the giant robot part was lost on me. They felt cartoonish and out-of-place after everything else was introduced, and soon the story was speeding along without as much of my interest.
The concepts here are excellent; some explanation is provided for the nature of the Eye near the ending (and it’s great), but most of the book did not measure up to what the first few chapters tantalized me with. There are a lot of BDOs (big dumb objects), but none of them have enough character, history, and explanation for them to mean anything.
Some of the deeper ideas here, including the future of “smart warfare”, the role of intelligence in combat, and the relationship human operators could develop with each other and their machines is explored in a fair amount of detail, but it’s all in a “keep up if you can” style that made it more chore than interesting reading.
DIALOGUE: 2 out of 5
Some of the dialogue is good, but a lot of it involves characters talking at each other. In other places, characters know exactly what they’re talking about, but the reader isn’t given many clues to join in. They frequently came to conclusions that were lost on me.
STYLE/TECHNICAL: 2 out of 5
At first I was detecting a style that is akin to William Gibson, but his writing is like a new language that the reader has to study before it makes sense (and then you find comfort in it). This book started out with enough hints that I could keep up, but after a while I had no idea what the characters were planning or why they did the things they were doing. I had most of it figured out by the end, but being unable to keep up wasn’t enjoyable. The action scenes also left me unsatisfied, though most of the interpersonal stuff between the characters worked nicely.
There are some bits of writing that are good; I like the beginning with the description of a chain gang’s march, and the cryptic nature of the Eye is interesting, but this wasn’t enough to keep me intrigued for the entire book.
SUMMARY
Humans have spread across numerous star systems of the galaxy in the distant future. Most people are citizen-employees of either the Colonial Authority or one of the major corporations. Rook is a convict of NorCol, but previously she flew huge combat robots called shells.
Rook and a few others volunteer to work as prisoner-employees on the largest NorCol dreadnought in a mysterious area of space that surrounds a cosmic anomaly called “the Eye”. This area is a free-floating atmosphere, not unlike a nebula, filled with storms, debris, strange artifacts, and rival corporations. Rook is soon paired with an older robot called a “Juno” that seems to possess a unique intelligence of its own.
OVERALL: 2.4 out of 5
I did not like this book as much as I hoped I would, but the potential is there and it’s strong. Unfortunately it is dragged down by undeveloped characters, difficult to understand plot developments, action writing that left me scratching my head, and opposition that isn’t defined well enough. Skinner has original ideas, but I feel his writing needs to be grounded a bit to really take off. This is only his first book, and I think he could be an author to watch.
Another matter that needs a spotlight is the idea of “smart warfare” in the book. The connection between shell operator and robot mind is explored in-depth, and the need for artificial intelligence is apparent despite never being really explained. That works, and Skinner is able to describe something that is hard to comprehend; the constant communication going on between multiple human and computer minds in a future setting where thoughts are read (or at least predicted) and the line between flesh and circuit is blurred. These deeper concepts are hampered by the “video game” vibe of other parts of the story. I enjoy both sides, but would prefer them in separate stories. This book seems torn between a hard science look at the nature of war in the future and a Palladium roleplaying game with robots zooming around, fighting with cinematic weapons and maneuvers that seem unnecessary in a setting that should have progressed past that.
RATINGS BY CATEGORY
CHARACTERS: 2 out of 5
The depth of the different characters is only hinted at. All of the principal cast have spent time as convicts, but no one has any motivation except to follow orders and survive. Hail is a tough commander, Salt is physically big and excels at combat, and Rook seems to have seen and done a bit of everything, but nothing is really explained. How many relative years has Rook been flying shells? Is anyone actually loyal to their companies? Has anyone “deserted” to a rival (Hail has some history here, but she seems to be an observer to her own capture/recruitment)? The characters take initiative when they want to uncover a mystery (when it serves the purpose of the novel), but that is it. I just couldn’t bring myself to care too much about them, and I was disappointed when I realized that no one was going to be explored in any detail.
PACE: 3 out of 5
The pace is generally good, and this isn’t a short science fiction novel. It is backwards for me; the quiet moments while the characters were aboard their ship were more interesting than the scenes when they are flying and fighting.
STORY: 3 out of 5
I really enjoyed the setup that forms the first quarter of the book. The dreadnought spacecraft are larger than moons and so old there are vast bays, corridors, and sections all but forgotten by the crew. The Eye is this mysterious place in the center of everything, and there is this constant threat of rival corporations struggling to understand the Eye and fighting over its secrets.
Unfortunately the giant robot part was lost on me. They felt cartoonish and out-of-place after everything else was introduced, and soon the story was speeding along without as much of my interest.
The concepts here are excellent; some explanation is provided for the nature of the Eye near the ending (and it’s great), but most of the book did not measure up to what the first few chapters tantalized me with. There are a lot of BDOs (big dumb objects), but none of them have enough character, history, and explanation for them to mean anything.
Some of the deeper ideas here, including the future of “smart warfare”, the role of intelligence in combat, and the relationship human operators could develop with each other and their machines is explored in a fair amount of detail, but it’s all in a “keep up if you can” style that made it more chore than interesting reading.
DIALOGUE: 2 out of 5
Some of the dialogue is good, but a lot of it involves characters talking at each other. In other places, characters know exactly what they’re talking about, but the reader isn’t given many clues to join in. They frequently came to conclusions that were lost on me.
STYLE/TECHNICAL: 2 out of 5
At first I was detecting a style that is akin to William Gibson, but his writing is like a new language that the reader has to study before it makes sense (and then you find comfort in it). This book started out with enough hints that I could keep up, but after a while I had no idea what the characters were planning or why they did the things they were doing. I had most of it figured out by the end, but being unable to keep up wasn’t enjoyable. The action scenes also left me unsatisfied, though most of the interpersonal stuff between the characters worked nicely.
There are some bits of writing that are good; I like the beginning with the description of a chain gang’s march, and the cryptic nature of the Eye is interesting, but this wasn’t enough to keep me intrigued for the entire book.
August 27, 2019
There are books that you anticipate and count days until release... and end up disappointed sometimes. Then there are books that you pick up at a whim, just because you were browsing NetGalley offers and nothing else seemed more appealing... only to be blown away by the story and the characters.
This is one of those books. I requested it because I was in a lull and a story about giant robots sounded more appealing than anything else I saw at the time. I ended up staying up all night to finish it. Then I bought a copy as soon as it released and made my husband read it. He loved it.
Steel Frame is a unique story that borrows some interesting concepts (Giant piloted robots that might or might not be self-aware!) and manages to tell a compelling narrative with them. It's a story of loosing everything and slowly crawling back from the abyss, assembling yourself back piece by piece until you almost feel whole again. Interestingly enough, this process happens both to our protagonists and the villain of the story as well. I loved that parallel.
It's also a story about prisons and prisoners. Rook, our protagonist, is a convict who agreed to sell 10 years of her life to a corporation in exchange for a reduced sentence. Heck, most of the people operating the huge starship Rook ends up on are prisoners, even if some of them don't realize it - they are shanghaied beyond the edge of the explored space, far away from any commercial routes, on a ship that will never be able to escape the strange anomaly it came to study. Even the antagonist's main motive is to break free from the prison that held it for millennia.
But this concept is not all doom and gloom. This story is also about finding friends and a place where you belong and about making a conscious choice to defend that new place even if that means risking your life.
Oh, and giant robots! I grew up on Neon Genesis Evangelion and giant robots that work in sync with their pilots (or jockeys how they are called in the book) are right up my alley. I loved how they are depicted in this book. I love that the author defined the rules by which they work (rules of physics, but also rules of law, rules of custom, and so on). I love that all jockeys, no matter what faction they originally belonged to, adhere to a few cardinal rules. And that when one of them is broken, it causes real, almost physical shock to all of them. Because to break a rule like that, you really need to be a monster.
A could wax poetic about this book for a few more pages, but I don't want to give any of the story away, and I want readers to experience this new and complex world for themselves. I want them to experience Rook's first encounter with the Juno, as well as their first sync. I want them to see for themselves the high stakes battle for survival in the alien prison. I want them to hear the giant ship groaning as it tears itself apart.
Buy this book. Read it. Ask for a sequel. Because it needs one!
PS. I received and advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is one of those books. I requested it because I was in a lull and a story about giant robots sounded more appealing than anything else I saw at the time. I ended up staying up all night to finish it. Then I bought a copy as soon as it released and made my husband read it. He loved it.
Steel Frame is a unique story that borrows some interesting concepts (Giant piloted robots that might or might not be self-aware!) and manages to tell a compelling narrative with them. It's a story of loosing everything and slowly crawling back from the abyss, assembling yourself back piece by piece until you almost feel whole again. Interestingly enough, this process happens both to our protagonists and the villain of the story as well. I loved that parallel.
It's also a story about prisons and prisoners. Rook, our protagonist, is a convict who agreed to sell 10 years of her life to a corporation in exchange for a reduced sentence. Heck, most of the people operating the huge starship Rook ends up on are prisoners, even if some of them don't realize it - they are shanghaied beyond the edge of the explored space, far away from any commercial routes, on a ship that will never be able to escape the strange anomaly it came to study. Even the antagonist's main motive is to break free from the prison that held it for millennia.
But this concept is not all doom and gloom. This story is also about finding friends and a place where you belong and about making a conscious choice to defend that new place even if that means risking your life.
Oh, and giant robots! I grew up on Neon Genesis Evangelion and giant robots that work in sync with their pilots (or jockeys how they are called in the book) are right up my alley. I loved how they are depicted in this book. I love that the author defined the rules by which they work (rules of physics, but also rules of law, rules of custom, and so on). I love that all jockeys, no matter what faction they originally belonged to, adhere to a few cardinal rules. And that when one of them is broken, it causes real, almost physical shock to all of them. Because to break a rule like that, you really need to be a monster.
A could wax poetic about this book for a few more pages, but I don't want to give any of the story away, and I want readers to experience this new and complex world for themselves. I want them to experience Rook's first encounter with the Juno, as well as their first sync. I want them to see for themselves the high stakes battle for survival in the alien prison. I want them to hear the giant ship groaning as it tears itself apart.
Buy this book. Read it. Ask for a sequel. Because it needs one!
PS. I received and advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
June 29, 2019
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. The story of prisoners who are basically commodities that are sold and traded as military pilots is a good one. The author failed to clearly describe the situations that happened throught the book. The reader should not struggle with keeping the actions and actors straight.
August 4, 2019
very rarely do i find a book that rattles me along at a 100 miles per hour, this book did! twists and turns, with almost believable sci fi. A cross between robocop and pacific rim, big assed robot killing machines, terrifyingly big guns, and insane pilots, adds up to a story of satisfying originality
February 11, 2020
Pacific Rim in space, but with way more heart and nuance!
Read full review here
Read full review here
September 26, 2023
Eyo Rook is a jockey, a highly skilled veteran shell pilot. She's one among a multitude of chain gang convicts who have volunteered to be sold to the Horizon. That's the Nor Collective's dreadnought and the largest space vessel ever constructed. It's stationed at the cosmic anomaly known as The Eye, which contains the remnants of an ancient civilization. They're here to serve their sentences more quickly, as time passes faster in the region, and it seems a better option than imprisonment. NorCol isn't the only corporation seeking the secrets of the ancients, several others are present. The corporations have already been here for subjective centuries without accomplishing their goals, but everything is about to change. Rook bonds with a centuries old shell, a Juno model, that can think for itself and thus begins a relationship that transcends flesh and steel.
Steel Frame is clearly influenced by mecha anime and videogames. In interviews Skinner has cited Evangelion, Knights of Sidonia, the Alien Universe, and several others as inspirations, especially in terms of its aesthetic. Personally the novel made me think more in terms of Armored Core, Zone of the Enders, and the Xeno series, but that may well be more about me. What that means that means for the mecha is that they're humanoid, fast moving, and flight capable. In terms of science fiction it's meant to be more on the Weird side, though I don't know that he quite succeeded in that regard. Iain M. Banks is noted specifically for how the book relates to AI and the story structure he wants to use.
The story is told from a first person perspective, which for me has a far greater variance of enjoyment than third person, though I felt it worked well enough here. You might think that because this is a non-Japanese mecha series, the author is South African, that that would be the most notable aspect of the book. It's definitely at the top, but arguably the non-sexual, non-romantic, yet all-consuming relationship between Rook and her Juno shell is just as important. I have to wonder if this book would've been somewhat different if it had came out after Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. That Gundam series is certainly reminiscent of it in ways, as are other media.
One of the greatest enjoyments I had while reading this was the visual imagery it conjured for me, though that may have only been possible because I had already had a considerably large visual library to draw upon for the specifics of what was detailed. It's difficult for me to know how much this affected my enjoyment versus a reader who isn't familiar with the mecha aesthetic and kinesthetic.
It's unfortunate that his debut novel hasn't received more recognition, even within its niche. It has its problems, much of which may originate from its inspirations, but I believe eventually those will be resolved. I'll be reading the sequel and I look forward to his future work.
Rating: 3.5/5
Steel Frame is clearly influenced by mecha anime and videogames. In interviews Skinner has cited Evangelion, Knights of Sidonia, the Alien Universe, and several others as inspirations, especially in terms of its aesthetic. Personally the novel made me think more in terms of Armored Core, Zone of the Enders, and the Xeno series, but that may well be more about me. What that means that means for the mecha is that they're humanoid, fast moving, and flight capable. In terms of science fiction it's meant to be more on the Weird side, though I don't know that he quite succeeded in that regard. Iain M. Banks is noted specifically for how the book relates to AI and the story structure he wants to use.
The story is told from a first person perspective, which for me has a far greater variance of enjoyment than third person, though I felt it worked well enough here. You might think that because this is a non-Japanese mecha series, the author is South African, that that would be the most notable aspect of the book. It's definitely at the top, but arguably the non-sexual, non-romantic, yet all-consuming relationship between Rook and her Juno shell is just as important. I have to wonder if this book would've been somewhat different if it had came out after Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. That Gundam series is certainly reminiscent of it in ways, as are other media.
One of the greatest enjoyments I had while reading this was the visual imagery it conjured for me, though that may have only been possible because I had already had a considerably large visual library to draw upon for the specifics of what was detailed. It's difficult for me to know how much this affected my enjoyment versus a reader who isn't familiar with the mecha aesthetic and kinesthetic.
It's unfortunate that his debut novel hasn't received more recognition, even within its niche. It has its problems, much of which may originate from its inspirations, but I believe eventually those will be resolved. I'll be reading the sequel and I look forward to his future work.
Rating: 3.5/5
February 25, 2020
Can't wait for the movie
June 18, 2019
It had been a while since I last read a sci-fi book. I believe the last one was Skyward, which I thought was AMAZING. Maybe that's why I couldn't commit to Steel Frame. That and a few other things.
Here's the bit where I usually write a little about the plot, and the global point of the book. But... I couldn't even understand that. At all. I ended up DNFing this after 100+ pages/approx. 300 pages, and by then, I still couldn't understand what the book was about.
Sure, there's someone named Rook, who's part of a jockey team, that flies shells and they go somewhere fight someone/ something ?
What are jockeys ? -> Jockey fly shells.
What are shells ? -> Uh... Bird-like exo-skeleton ? That's what I understood, and I'm pretty sure that's not correct.
So many things are not explained. The reader is thrown into the story, with no explication whatsoever. You read about a group of people who are cons for something. Then they have to go somewhere (a ship ?) where they get recruited by a company to do something. And couldn't understand what that something was. Just as I couldn't understand the world the author tried to build. Where are we ? What's the main character backstory ? What are shells ? WTF is going on ?? On top of that, I didn't realize that the main character is female until I re-read the synopsis on Netgalley.
So many questions are popping in my head while reading, and there's never an answer to them. Maybe there are later in the book, but honestly, if I can't understand what's going on within the first 100 pages of a book, I'll just give up.
There was so much potential for it to be a great book, but it just lacks too much background information for me. Maybe it's just my understanding of the book that's messed up, though. It has happened before that I read something and DNFed it for not understanding the world building, and other people just loved it.
As far as I'm concerned, I'd say that more work needs to be put on this book.
Steel Frame releases on August 22, so if you want to make up your own opinion about it, you can already pre-order a copy on the usual websites !
Here's the bit where I usually write a little about the plot, and the global point of the book. But... I couldn't even understand that. At all. I ended up DNFing this after 100+ pages/approx. 300 pages, and by then, I still couldn't understand what the book was about.
Sure, there's someone named Rook, who's part of a jockey team, that flies shells and they go somewhere fight someone/ something ?
What are jockeys ? -> Jockey fly shells.
What are shells ? -> Uh... Bird-like exo-skeleton ? That's what I understood, and I'm pretty sure that's not correct.
So many things are not explained. The reader is thrown into the story, with no explication whatsoever. You read about a group of people who are cons for something. Then they have to go somewhere (a ship ?) where they get recruited by a company to do something. And couldn't understand what that something was. Just as I couldn't understand the world the author tried to build. Where are we ? What's the main character backstory ? What are shells ? WTF is going on ?? On top of that, I didn't realize that the main character is female until I re-read the synopsis on Netgalley.
So many questions are popping in my head while reading, and there's never an answer to them. Maybe there are later in the book, but honestly, if I can't understand what's going on within the first 100 pages of a book, I'll just give up.
There was so much potential for it to be a great book, but it just lacks too much background information for me. Maybe it's just my understanding of the book that's messed up, though. It has happened before that I read something and DNFed it for not understanding the world building, and other people just loved it.
As far as I'm concerned, I'd say that more work needs to be put on this book.
Steel Frame releases on August 22, so if you want to make up your own opinion about it, you can already pre-order a copy on the usual websites !
December 23, 2019
Steel Frame is a triumph of style over substance, somewhat ironic given that the style is building sized 'frames, futuristic humanoid spacefaring war machines equipped with battleship scale guns. Our narrator, Rook, is a frame jockey and convict. She's pulled out of the chain gang and assigned to a squadron on the NorCol dreadnaught Horizon, orbiting a vast storm in space called the Eye. Somewhere inside the Eye is a hostile force that is both powerful and incredibly dangerous, and it's up to Rook and her squad of Hail, Lear, and Salt, to fight and survive.
There's a terse grandeur to the writing. These are profoundly broken people in a screwed up situation, and Skinner keeps the action moving. The close quarters battle is truly kinetic, and the steel immensity of the Horizon is a evocative setting. But the plot, involving a horrific computer virus that takes over machines and turns them against fail humans, is a mystery that never really pays off. The desperate corporate war on the edge of human space feels pro-forma. There's a really good retro-cyberpunk milSF story here, something like Walter John Williams Hardwired and Voice of the Whirlwind, about the pain of surviving, but Steel Frame doesn't have the emotional core to bring through its themes.
There's a terse grandeur to the writing. These are profoundly broken people in a screwed up situation, and Skinner keeps the action moving. The close quarters battle is truly kinetic, and the steel immensity of the Horizon is a evocative setting. But the plot, involving a horrific computer virus that takes over machines and turns them against fail humans, is a mystery that never really pays off. The desperate corporate war on the edge of human space feels pro-forma. There's a really good retro-cyberpunk milSF story here, something like Walter John Williams Hardwired and Voice of the Whirlwind, about the pain of surviving, but Steel Frame doesn't have the emotional core to bring through its themes.
July 1, 2019
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. There were parts and pieces that made me really want to like it, and then there were also parts that I found myself having to reread multiple times to catch on to what was happening.
The basic premise held a lot of promise, and the over-arching story was cogent, but it was easy to get mired in the details.
There were a lot of past events that were hinted at, without being described, that felt like they were vital to the character development that left me feeling as though I only had part of the book instead of the entire thing.
Overall, I'm not disappointed that I got an advanced copy from NetGalley, but will need some time to decide whether this is a book I will recommend to friends.
The basic premise held a lot of promise, and the over-arching story was cogent, but it was easy to get mired in the details.
There were a lot of past events that were hinted at, without being described, that felt like they were vital to the character development that left me feeling as though I only had part of the book instead of the entire thing.
Overall, I'm not disappointed that I got an advanced copy from NetGalley, but will need some time to decide whether this is a book I will recommend to friends.
February 7, 2020
Steel frame is absolutely brutal, absolutely crushing. Not in the emotional sense, but in the sense that it expresses the uncaring brutality of mechanical warfare in an incredibly visceral and engaging way. It's a weird, creepy story about mechs and gigantic structures in space. About broken people with the power to kill thousands and humanity in the face of the vastly uncaring face of a corporation so bloated that it's a force of nature. And the horrors of the incomprehensibly alien. It's incredibly good and hard and fucking great.
December 31, 2021
I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
This had a slow start.
It certainly improved the further I read with good characters and some hard core science fiction.
Unfortunately I just felt it dragged on and became very repetitive.
Was just glad when I finished.
This had a slow start.
It certainly improved the further I read with good characters and some hard core science fiction.
Unfortunately I just felt it dragged on and became very repetitive.
Was just glad when I finished.
September 4, 2020
Steel Frame is a gritty, action-packed military science fiction romp that takes giant robots and puts them in a grim, oppressive setting and atmosphere without compromising on the robot action. Rook is a convict, and she is sent to the far-flung edges of the known universe to do time in her former role as a shell jockey (giant robot combat pilot) rather than rot away in prison. She arrives at her destination, one of the largest capital ships humanity has ever built, at the edge of a massive celestial "storm" that other corporations have parked their fleets in as well. Everyone is here to try to stake a claim to whatever alien mysteries are there for the taking if someone could just survive the experience.
This is a dense, fast-paced book with the main focus being on oppressive world-building and some extremely well-conceived giant robot mechanics and combat. There are shades of familiar robot conventions here, from the neural linkages of Evangelion, to the military tactics of Gundam to even some of the mechanics of mecha video games like Armored Core. At the same time, for military fans that want tactics and strategy, there's a familiar sense of classic titles like Starship Troopers and Armor here as well, set in an ancient, corrupt human civilization that carries the fingerprints of Warhammer 40K. It's an impressively detailed world, with detailed, intricate combat scenes that takes itself seriously and pulls it off. There's no winking to the reader here, only a brutal adventure with high action and high costs for all the characters involved.
If you want a serious, dark, military science fiction adventure with detailed world-building and extremely well-realized giant robot implementation, Steel Frame is the book for you.
This is a dense, fast-paced book with the main focus being on oppressive world-building and some extremely well-conceived giant robot mechanics and combat. There are shades of familiar robot conventions here, from the neural linkages of Evangelion, to the military tactics of Gundam to even some of the mechanics of mecha video games like Armored Core. At the same time, for military fans that want tactics and strategy, there's a familiar sense of classic titles like Starship Troopers and Armor here as well, set in an ancient, corrupt human civilization that carries the fingerprints of Warhammer 40K. It's an impressively detailed world, with detailed, intricate combat scenes that takes itself seriously and pulls it off. There's no winking to the reader here, only a brutal adventure with high action and high costs for all the characters involved.
If you want a serious, dark, military science fiction adventure with detailed world-building and extremely well-realized giant robot implementation, Steel Frame is the book for you.
December 19, 2020
riveting, you watch the counter, you watch relationships grow as the danger rises. you ponder about the future barrier between AI and Human as well as the bond it may bring. it's been a week now since it ended on that high note- and i still see those last numbers and can still recall those last words in my mind...... they haunt me
January 30, 2020
Really loved this. An interesting take on the whole human runs a robot, neat writing, very odd narrative that really works as you figure out what is going on.
November 11, 2019
Steel Frame was an absolute joy ride.
I would describe it as a grimdark-tech-noir, but honestly it's too hopeful. Set in the deep, uncharted waters of space, on a Goliath mother ship called Horizon, manned by the unfeeling machine of mega corporations hiring convicts.
Where the corporations are made of humans, but do not comprehend them.
Where the caffeine is closer to tar and the air is barely breathable.
(Read that last line in a batman voice if possible)
The book starts with last resorts, and the stakes only get higher. I cheered so hard for the characters that I thought my heart would deconstruct.
Skinner leans in hard to the existing tropes of Mecha and GrimDark, military sci-fi. I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone who wasn't vaguely familiar with mecha or space marine scifi. It is still very much a human story and, if you are not thrown by the intense techno descriptions, the plot will blow you away. It is an example of someone taking the best of existing medium and executing it in a masterful configuration.
Occasionally the writing felt a bit dense and I struggled - not something I could read while tired or distracted. I had to be just as accurate and awake as the characters were while they fought for their lives and their sanity.
There were similarly parts where the prose itself just sang, becoming so easy to read, that I flew through it, completely immersed. I am aware of the fact that I simply cannot have absorbed the whole book on my first read through, but it just makes me want to read the book again. I read the last page and felt like a toddler that had just landed their first ever slide. Anything more fun was unimaginable. Do it again!
Skinner intentionally under-describes the main character Rook. He leaves her as blank as possible, only gendering her when he absolutely has to (nearly 50 pages in!), and I love that. I love that it forces you to consider this character in obscurity. You become a co-author; projecting into the main character. Everyone who reads it will have a subjective and unique version of Rook as they read it.
Political intrigue, inhuman-humanity of mega corporate mechanations, Spy Networks, Aliens, various consciousnesses fighting for freedom... Love, Death, Telepathic Robots....
...and it's all written in present tense - first person POV...
Well done, mate. Well fething done.
Steel Frame will be one of my favourites for a long time.
I would describe it as a grimdark-tech-noir, but honestly it's too hopeful. Set in the deep, uncharted waters of space, on a Goliath mother ship called Horizon, manned by the unfeeling machine of mega corporations hiring convicts.
Where the corporations are made of humans, but do not comprehend them.
Where the caffeine is closer to tar and the air is barely breathable.
(Read that last line in a batman voice if possible)
The book starts with last resorts, and the stakes only get higher. I cheered so hard for the characters that I thought my heart would deconstruct.
Skinner leans in hard to the existing tropes of Mecha and GrimDark, military sci-fi. I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone who wasn't vaguely familiar with mecha or space marine scifi. It is still very much a human story and, if you are not thrown by the intense techno descriptions, the plot will blow you away. It is an example of someone taking the best of existing medium and executing it in a masterful configuration.
Occasionally the writing felt a bit dense and I struggled - not something I could read while tired or distracted. I had to be just as accurate and awake as the characters were while they fought for their lives and their sanity.
There were similarly parts where the prose itself just sang, becoming so easy to read, that I flew through it, completely immersed. I am aware of the fact that I simply cannot have absorbed the whole book on my first read through, but it just makes me want to read the book again. I read the last page and felt like a toddler that had just landed their first ever slide. Anything more fun was unimaginable. Do it again!
Skinner intentionally under-describes the main character Rook. He leaves her as blank as possible, only gendering her when he absolutely has to (nearly 50 pages in!), and I love that. I love that it forces you to consider this character in obscurity. You become a co-author; projecting into the main character. Everyone who reads it will have a subjective and unique version of Rook as they read it.
Political intrigue, inhuman-humanity of mega corporate mechanations, Spy Networks, Aliens, various consciousnesses fighting for freedom... Love, Death, Telepathic Robots....
...and it's all written in present tense - first person POV...
Well done, mate. Well fething done.
Steel Frame will be one of my favourites for a long time.
January 17, 2020
Much better than I expected.
January 28, 2020
Fun, but unclear writing.
I'm sure the author had very vivid pictures and scenes in their mind, but in many places it didn't make it into the page well. If there's a sequel I will read it, so the story has worth, you just have to be willing to put up with the frustration of not really understanding what's happening a quarter of the time.
I'm sure the author had very vivid pictures and scenes in their mind, but in many places it didn't make it into the page well. If there's a sequel I will read it, so the story has worth, you just have to be willing to put up with the frustration of not really understanding what's happening a quarter of the time.
December 20, 2019
Imagine Gundams or BattleMechs, as you would, with a human pilot that can run, fly, and power through vacuum. The mechs have a bare sentience, enough to follow orders when the pilot disembarks or is asleep. Enough to react to changing conditions but nothing like true sentience as the corporations decided that was a Really Bad Idea. The story begins with a chain gang of various prisoners to be sold to one of the dominating corporations. Three pilots and an engineer start out and find that the corporations are seeking treasure far further out then before and it's not been going well.
An old mech waits for a new pilot as its last was slain by a lucky shot. Except this mech, while old, is far more specialised than anyone remembers.
An old mech waits for a new pilot as its last was slain by a lucky shot. Except this mech, while old, is far more specialised than anyone remembers.
July 3, 2019
Steel Frame confused me so much! I was reading and reading and reading and still had no idea what was happening or who my protagonist was. I didn’t finish this book and I stopped at 80 pages because it was exhausting trying constantly to decipher what the author wanted to tell me. Really, I don’t even have an idea of what this world looks like.
I was excited going in because the synopsis sounded great but this book was not what I was expecting and clearly it wasn’t for me!
This book was provided to me by NetGalley for review purposes.
I was excited going in because the synopsis sounded great but this book was not what I was expecting and clearly it wasn’t for me!
This book was provided to me by NetGalley for review purposes.
January 18, 2020
Some of it was pretty good, but a lot of it was quite boring.
July 14, 2019
Really enjoyed the book was gripped from the start was a little bit miss leading in places but I enjoyed it none the less worth a read enjoyed not knowing where it was going
December 11, 2022
Review of Steel Frame by Andrew Skinner
Premise:
Armored Core meets Warhammer 40K in a dark sci-fi novel chock-full of mechs, guns, action, and mystery. The book follows convict mech jockey Rook and her sentient war machine on a last-chance assignment to a corporate warship exploring an anomalous region of space beyond the edge of civilization.
Worldbuilding:
The clear highlight of the book for me, Steel Frame’s setting oozes character and atmosphere, from the maze-like interior of an ancient dreadnaught to the cold sand of foreign worlds, hiding secrets best left forgotten. The book’s universe is a strange mix of high technology and decrepitude, hinting at centuries of history.
It’s also a place of immense scale. Everything is big, from mechs to ships to guns and environments. It’s the kind of thing that would feel silly in a more “hard” sci-fi setting, but it fits this book perfectly, and I felt an undeniable sense of joy at the sheer, unbridled over-the-top-ness of the whole thing.
Characters:
I wasn’t immediately in love with Steel Frame’s characters, but by the end of the book I was surprised at how much they’d grown on me.
The book centers around Rook and her small squadron of fellow pilots with a decently sized supporting cast. We never get to go very in-depth with the backstory and motivations of each character, but we’re told enough to understand where they’re coming from, at least in general terms. Most would rather be elsewhere, brought to the edge of the known universe through questionable pasts or unfortunate circumstances.
Despite the limited information, the book manages to establish a distinct personality for each character, and I found myself rooting for them as they struggled to make the best of their new situation, or simply to live another day.
Plot:
The plot of Steel Frame can best be described as ‘serviceable’. It’s not the biggest, fanciest, most complicated thing you’ve ever seen, but it does what it needs to. The pacing is fast but with time to breathe in between the big moments, and events happen in a fairly straightforward manner, with-out too many twists and turns.
The plot centers around Rook and her squadron’s attempts to unravel the mysteries of their strange region of space without being killed in the process, as well as the relationship between Rook, her AI mech, and the rest of her squadron. It was enough to keep me engaged, but mainly served as a vehicle to keep me moving between the impressive action scenes and worldbuilding segments.
Presentation:
Another strong point of the book, the writing drew me in and made the world come alive. The language expertly captures the scale and character of the setting, often using in-universe slang and metaphors to convey technical terms in a way that feels grounded and intuitive. You can feel the culture of Steel Frame’s world in the way its characters talk and think. As with the worldbuilding, you’ll have to buy into the over-the-top-ness of the setting to truly appreciate the writing, but if you do, it’s a joy to read.
One minor gripe would be that I did occasionally wish for a bit less in-universe slang and a bit more concrete description of places and actions. More than once, I found myself confused as to what exactly was going on, and it could be hard to get a sense of space during some of the action scenes. It wasn’t a pervading issue, but enough to be noticeable. In the end, though, it didn’t spoil my overall good impression with the book’s presentation.
Summary:
As a fan of mechs, spaceships and dark sci-fi, Steel Frame earns four stars and a hearty recommendation from me. A fairly quick read that’s sure to keep fans of the genre entertained while it lasts. On the other hand, if this isn’t usually your kind of thing, this is unlikely to be the book that wins you over.
Premise:
Armored Core meets Warhammer 40K in a dark sci-fi novel chock-full of mechs, guns, action, and mystery. The book follows convict mech jockey Rook and her sentient war machine on a last-chance assignment to a corporate warship exploring an anomalous region of space beyond the edge of civilization.
Worldbuilding:
The clear highlight of the book for me, Steel Frame’s setting oozes character and atmosphere, from the maze-like interior of an ancient dreadnaught to the cold sand of foreign worlds, hiding secrets best left forgotten. The book’s universe is a strange mix of high technology and decrepitude, hinting at centuries of history.
It’s also a place of immense scale. Everything is big, from mechs to ships to guns and environments. It’s the kind of thing that would feel silly in a more “hard” sci-fi setting, but it fits this book perfectly, and I felt an undeniable sense of joy at the sheer, unbridled over-the-top-ness of the whole thing.
Characters:
I wasn’t immediately in love with Steel Frame’s characters, but by the end of the book I was surprised at how much they’d grown on me.
The book centers around Rook and her small squadron of fellow pilots with a decently sized supporting cast. We never get to go very in-depth with the backstory and motivations of each character, but we’re told enough to understand where they’re coming from, at least in general terms. Most would rather be elsewhere, brought to the edge of the known universe through questionable pasts or unfortunate circumstances.
Despite the limited information, the book manages to establish a distinct personality for each character, and I found myself rooting for them as they struggled to make the best of their new situation, or simply to live another day.
Plot:
The plot of Steel Frame can best be described as ‘serviceable’. It’s not the biggest, fanciest, most complicated thing you’ve ever seen, but it does what it needs to. The pacing is fast but with time to breathe in between the big moments, and events happen in a fairly straightforward manner, with-out too many twists and turns.
The plot centers around Rook and her squadron’s attempts to unravel the mysteries of their strange region of space without being killed in the process, as well as the relationship between Rook, her AI mech, and the rest of her squadron. It was enough to keep me engaged, but mainly served as a vehicle to keep me moving between the impressive action scenes and worldbuilding segments.
Presentation:
Another strong point of the book, the writing drew me in and made the world come alive. The language expertly captures the scale and character of the setting, often using in-universe slang and metaphors to convey technical terms in a way that feels grounded and intuitive. You can feel the culture of Steel Frame’s world in the way its characters talk and think. As with the worldbuilding, you’ll have to buy into the over-the-top-ness of the setting to truly appreciate the writing, but if you do, it’s a joy to read.
One minor gripe would be that I did occasionally wish for a bit less in-universe slang and a bit more concrete description of places and actions. More than once, I found myself confused as to what exactly was going on, and it could be hard to get a sense of space during some of the action scenes. It wasn’t a pervading issue, but enough to be noticeable. In the end, though, it didn’t spoil my overall good impression with the book’s presentation.
Summary:
As a fan of mechs, spaceships and dark sci-fi, Steel Frame earns four stars and a hearty recommendation from me. A fairly quick read that’s sure to keep fans of the genre entertained while it lasts. On the other hand, if this isn’t usually your kind of thing, this is unlikely to be the book that wins you over.
March 28, 2021
This is a good book, just do not read the first chapter!
This is a very decent SciFi novel, told from the first-person perspective of Rook, the human pilot of a "shell", a half-robotic combat frame. The whole background reminds of the BattleTech roleplaying game and several other well-established, dystopian fantasy/SciFi elements. The story is well-spaced, with a realistic plot and in total entertaining. Skinner is not above loosing the occasional protagonist, which keeps it realistic, but he does not indulge in killing of his main ones... which I personally appreciate. (I mean, I do not read SciFi because I am interested in real life, am I? )
Overall, I very much enjoyed my first book from this author and will be looking for more.
However, I am serious: just skip the really, really horrible first chapter. There is no information in it (Summary: Rook marches through a space ship and has two friends). Contrary to the well-told first-person story of the rest of the book, the first chapter told with the aggravating pathos of a war-time survivor, who is missing the words to convey the trauma of his experiences and tries to compensate with meaningless adjectives and exaggerations. When I realized that the whole Trail-of-tears rendition actually described a 1-hour march through some corridors, I nearly gave in to the WTF moment. Don't ! If you cannot skip ahead, just take my word for it: the horrible writing ends after the first chapter.
This is a very decent SciFi novel, told from the first-person perspective of Rook, the human pilot of a "shell", a half-robotic combat frame. The whole background reminds of the BattleTech roleplaying game and several other well-established, dystopian fantasy/SciFi elements. The story is well-spaced, with a realistic plot and in total entertaining. Skinner is not above loosing the occasional protagonist, which keeps it realistic, but he does not indulge in killing of his main ones... which I personally appreciate. (I mean, I do not read SciFi because I am interested in real life, am I? )
Overall, I very much enjoyed my first book from this author and will be looking for more.
However, I am serious: just skip the really, really horrible first chapter. There is no information in it (Summary: Rook marches through a space ship and has two friends). Contrary to the well-told first-person story of the rest of the book, the first chapter told with the aggravating pathos of a war-time survivor, who is missing the words to convey the trauma of his experiences and tries to compensate with meaningless adjectives and exaggerations. When I realized that the whole Trail-of-tears rendition actually described a 1-hour march through some corridors, I nearly gave in to the WTF moment. Don't ! If you cannot skip ahead, just take my word for it: the horrible writing ends after the first chapter.
August 8, 2022
I picked this up after it was recommended on a podcast. I enjoy sci fi, but I don't read much of it so I tend to stick to the most highly-rated stuff (Iain M Banks is a favourite, Aldous Huxley, Margaret Atwood, China Mieville). I'm only saying all of this to warn you that I am no connoisseur. In fact, I was a bit apprehensive that this book may be third tier fiction, only appealing to true fans of the genre.
I was wrong. From the first chapter, the world is evoked in vivid detail, to the point where I could almost feel the grime and smell the humid stench of the spaceship's corridors. The all-pervading sense of corruption and rot permeates the entire novel, with the exception of those moments when the giant mechs leap out into the mass of clouds beyond.
Yes, there are mechs - or shells, in this universe - and on one level this book is simply an action-packed military science fiction story about giant robots pummelling each other across a vast dust cloud orbiting a mysterious star, while something very creepy lurks in the corner of the eye.
What I did not expect was the book to introduce deeper themes on the nature of consciousness and body dysphoria, but always in a low key way that is barely hinted at and yet stays with the reader after the book has been put down.
My only small criticism is that it could do with a tad more editting, but I feel this is excusable for a debut novel.
I cannot recommend this book enough, and I am eager to see what Andrew Skinner does next, because he is a talented writer, with an eye for pacing and some intelligent ideas.
I was wrong. From the first chapter, the world is evoked in vivid detail, to the point where I could almost feel the grime and smell the humid stench of the spaceship's corridors. The all-pervading sense of corruption and rot permeates the entire novel, with the exception of those moments when the giant mechs leap out into the mass of clouds beyond.
Yes, there are mechs - or shells, in this universe - and on one level this book is simply an action-packed military science fiction story about giant robots pummelling each other across a vast dust cloud orbiting a mysterious star, while something very creepy lurks in the corner of the eye.
What I did not expect was the book to introduce deeper themes on the nature of consciousness and body dysphoria, but always in a low key way that is barely hinted at and yet stays with the reader after the book has been put down.
My only small criticism is that it could do with a tad more editting, but I feel this is excusable for a debut novel.
I cannot recommend this book enough, and I am eager to see what Andrew Skinner does next, because he is a talented writer, with an eye for pacing and some intelligent ideas.
May 6, 2024
This book was made for me.
Giant mecha mind-meld? Hell yes. Horrifying eldritch space? Yessssss. Capitalist hellscape using prisoners as high-mortality slave labor? Okay uh that's a little close to home. (Look up Cali's firefighters, yo.)
The blurb on the back is technically correct - but it's almost more of a quick background before the story actually starts. It doesn't give you the feel of the book or how the world works. The first chapter helps set expectations - some things are confusing (they're volunteer prisoners???) and some are entirely too understandable (prisoners being kept literally and figuratively in the dark on a chain gang, oof) and some hint at what's to come (PILOTSSSSSS). By the time they get in the damn robot, Shinji, you're in it. That's right - it's secretly a Pern book and our protagonist is gonna tame and bond to the super special mecha. Yessssssssssssssssss.
The more I linger on it the more I realize there's plot holes you can drive a spaceship through, but the less I care. I felt things, I got excited and sad and passionate and scared, and I almost didn't sleep one night because JUST ONE MORE PAGE. It's a great, fun book and once I figured out what it wanted to be I had an absolute blast letting it carry me along.
Giant mecha mind-meld? Hell yes. Horrifying eldritch space? Yessssss. Capitalist hellscape using prisoners as high-mortality slave labor? Okay uh that's a little close to home. (Look up Cali's firefighters, yo.)
The blurb on the back is technically correct - but it's almost more of a quick background before the story actually starts. It doesn't give you the feel of the book or how the world works. The first chapter helps set expectations - some things are confusing (they're volunteer prisoners???) and some are entirely too understandable (prisoners being kept literally and figuratively in the dark on a chain gang, oof) and some hint at what's to come (PILOTSSSSSS). By the time they get in the damn robot, Shinji, you're in it. That's right - it's secretly a Pern book and our protagonist is gonna tame and bond to the super special mecha. Yessssssssssssssssss.
The more I linger on it the more I realize there's plot holes you can drive a spaceship through, but the less I care. I felt things, I got excited and sad and passionate and scared, and I almost didn't sleep one night because JUST ONE MORE PAGE. It's a great, fun book and once I figured out what it wanted to be I had an absolute blast letting it carry me along.
January 30, 2022
I'm a sucker for bonding tropes and giant, almost unknowable creatures – this fills that itch and more. If you watched Pacific Rim but wished the robots were actually alive themselves, to add that extra layer of sadness, you need to give this a try. To top it off there are layers of sci-fi bureaucracy, corporate politics, and characters that are very engaging once the story really starts making use of them. I don't have a lot of experience with Gundam/mecha work outside of PacRim or Evangelion so I can't say how it holds up within the genre but I certainly enjoyed the story and setting.
That said, I'm not the biggest fan of the writing style. If I was being polite I'd describe it as lushly descriptive. If I wasn't, I'd say it was purple and bogged down by its own gravitas. There's long stretches where the narrative is stuck in the protagonists’ head while she reminisces and - especially at the beginning of chapters - it really slowed the story down. In fact the first chapter felt so overworked that I nearly gave up then and there–which I’m glad I didn’t. If you liked Nicholas Eames' writing style in Kings of the Wyld and are looking for something similar, I’d highly recommend Skinner.
That said, I'm not the biggest fan of the writing style. If I was being polite I'd describe it as lushly descriptive. If I wasn't, I'd say it was purple and bogged down by its own gravitas. There's long stretches where the narrative is stuck in the protagonists’ head while she reminisces and - especially at the beginning of chapters - it really slowed the story down. In fact the first chapter felt so overworked that I nearly gave up then and there–which I’m glad I didn’t. If you liked Nicholas Eames' writing style in Kings of the Wyld and are looking for something similar, I’d highly recommend Skinner.
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