Tin Men
Christopher Golden
Ballantine Books
June 23, 2015
Reviewed by Tim Potter
Christopher Golden’s latest novel, Tin Men, is a rip-roaring science-fiction military adventure that starts at breakneck speed and never lets up until the last words fall off the page. The novel will inevitably end with sighs of relief, not because the story is over, but because the reader can finally stop furiously turning pages. While the book is set against a military backdrop with heavy sci-fi elements, it manages to transcend those bounds and become a thoughtful, intelligent thriller that will appeal to fans of any genre.
In the near future the world is a dangerous place threatening to get worse everyday. Global economic, environmental and political disasters have made international relations and peacekeeping tenuous at best. The United States has taken a very intrusive role in international affairs, sending forces all over the world to keep situations from exploding. Other countries and citizens have started to see the U.S. as an unwelcome visitor and are working to repel them from their lands.
The Tin Men are specialized U.S. infantry soldiers, members of the USARIC (United States of America Remote Infantry Corps) that operate robots in combat theaters from the safety of a centralized military base. Soldiers are isolated in “canisters” where they mentally control the Bots while basically unconscious. The Bots are mainly used in contested regions to keep the peace, as the U.S. sees it, while not putting the lives servicemen and women on the line. If a Bot is destroyed the operator simply wakes back up safely in their canister. The science seems like a big stretch when the book begins, but as the story progresses it quickly seems like something that could really happen.
The characters are interesting and have the feel of real individuals. An infantrywoman, Kate Wade, has lost the use of her legs but becomes a fully functioning, walking and running, Bot. Where other soldiers are just doing their jobs when piloting Tin Men, Kate is living and feels as though she is more than just a remote operator. Danny Kelso is her partner and their relationship adds a lot to the story. Other characters, like the presidents of the United States and Russia, and the U.S. Ambassador to Syria and his daughter, are also well realized and compelling. Each of the characters has a journey ahead of them and, to a one, they come to satisfying conclusions.
The story begins with Tin Men on a basic mission in Syria when things start to go sideways. The U.S. troops start to notice that the city of Damascus is unusually quiet, and when they attempt to investigate there is a cataclysmic occurrence, a massive ElectroMagnetic Pulse. The EMP disables any powered technology and appliances, effectively sending the world backwards to a very primitive state. The Tin Men and their base of operations in Germany are shielded from destruction, but their ability to communicate is ended and, most interestingly, the ability of the soldiers to return to their flesh and blood in the canisters is obliterated. The Tin Men find themselves fighting for survival, because now if their Bot bodies die they will die with them. This starts an epic journey to get back to Germany and their physical selves. Along the way they must save the President, stranded in Athens at the now useless G20 summit, keep the Syrian Ambassador’s daughter safe, combat the extremely well organized conspiracy behind the EMP and battle dissent from within their own ranks.
The threat to the world is not Al Qaeda or ISIS, not Iran or North Korea, but something more amorphous and terrifying. Tin Men creates a world that is very believable, a world that ours could easily come to be, and in doing so makes no judgements. The United States is global force for good and bad, and the novel does an admirable job of not trying to tell the reader which. Golden’s narrative allows questions of morality, politics and philosophy to be addressed by the characters. There’s no preaching to be found here, but there is some very intelligent and important discussion about subjects that are tough to broach. Tin Men does what all good popular fiction strives to do, it entertains and it entertains thoroughly. The novel doesn’t force any beliefs on the reader, but allows for questions to be raised and discussions to be had if the reader is looking for it.
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