i've got to say you should really read this book.
on the surface it's kind of superficial sounding.. a planet, some aliens, a guy with a power armor suit.... later a mystery...
but man, it's really more than that.
the main character (though he's not present throughout the entire book) is Felix. he's a lowly scout with very light armor and little weapons in a war he does not believe in nor understand, fighting for political reasons beyond his concern for most of his life on a hell-planet called Banshee in the backside of space with no strategic advatage whatsoever.
thousands of troops with better equipment and training than him are sent down every day and very very few return.
yet he does... over and over and over again...
he sees the horrors of war... the futility of conflict and the beauty of the human spirit when people are forced to cooperate for their very lives... and the evil that is cowardice and greed of those that exploit the dead and dying.
time and time again he goes down to the planet... time and time again he somehow cheats death.. he comes back icor splattered.. battered, scorched and tired beyond his soul's capacity.... he's a hero, a legend, a war god, a deity of salvation and of death but never ever of mercy.
each time he puts on the claustrophobic, pitch black armor... armor with the equivilant of a modern tank battalion in terms of firepower and defensive ability... felix goes away.. and the Engine rises. the Engine that keeps going when felix can not. the Engine that runs and fights and does anything it can to survive an impossible situation because felix would stop and die if he was in charge. the Engine that kills thousands upon thousands of the enemy that is trying to kill him because "he takes it personally."
anyway, don't take my word for it. go out and read some other reviews.. or better yet just go buy it.
ps: if your addrenilin is not pumping for the first 90 pages you'd better go to the doctor...
PPS:
this book is where my quote comes from...