BKTINMAN.RVW   990814

"The Tin Man", Dale Brown, 1998, 0-553-11106-X, U$24.95/C$29.95
%A   Dale Brown readermail@megafortress.com
%C   1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
%D   1998
%G   0-553-11106-X
%I   Bantam Books/Doubleday/Dell
%O   U$24.95/C$29.95 800-323-9872 http://www.bdd.com webmaster@bdd.com
%P   367 p.
%T   "The Tin Man"

Brown's work is frequently compared with that of Tom Clancy, and there
are a number of similarities.  Both authors are well versed in
military technology, and the command structure of the US military. 
Both have a solid grasp of the complexities of global politics
(although these are often simplified for story-telling purposes), and
military preparedness.  In both cases the main stream of books
comprise a series based around a particular character.

In Brown's case the character is Patrick McLanahan, US Air Force heavy
bomber bombardier and advanced weapons engineer.  McLanahan is a
rather interesting standout in the pantheon of thriller heroes in that
there is not a lot of character development in action stories. 
McLanahan *does* advance--but for every step forward, he takes an
equal step back, either within the book or in the next.  This is
probably necessary, since Brown's stories, like those of Cussler and
Francis, are written to a very strict formula.  (McLanahan might, in
fact, be said to have regressed over the course of the series.  In the
initial books he was something of the stereotypical ice-man.  As John
Gray puts it in "Billy Bishop Goes to War" (cf.THBBGTWR.RVW), "You're
part of a machine, so you have to stay very calm and cold.  You and
your machine work together to bring the other fellow down."  Nowadays
McLanahan frequently loses his temper, works himself "into a screaming
rage, and [goes tearing] off over the top" to do battle with the
enemy.)

But, once again, this isn't about characterization, it's about
technology.

Specifically, it's about physics.  Brown is very conversant with high
tech weaponry, and his descriptions, while they may be slightly beyond
the edge of the current state of deployment, should be quite
achievable within a few years.  In this book, though, there is a
departure from the battlefield milieu to that of urban policing and
terrorism.  The Tin Man of the title wears a new kind of body armour
made of a cloth that can be electrically stiffened to resist bullets,
explosions, and even anti-tank rockets.  We aren't told much about how
this material works, so I don't have a particular problem with the
fabric itself, but I certainly have difficulties with the way it is
used.

The suit can keep you from getting killed if you are hit by gunfire. 
Fair enough: bullet proof vests can do that.  It'll even save you from
prolonged automatic weapons fire, and while a bullet proof vest can't
do that, it is reasonable to assume that greater coverage and rigidity
would fit the bill.  But it also saves the wearer from explosions,
high-explosive rocket warheads, hundred foot drops, and even a fall
into rotating helicopter blades.  In these cases it doesn't matter how
rigid the envelope is, momentum and inertia will ensure that the soft
human body will be flattened over the inside of the suit, with a few
broken bones and some ruptured organs thrown in for good measure. 
Phil Nuytten and Troy Hurtubise would undoubtedly be able to point out
a number of ways that the most rigid body armour could kill someone. 
(I understand that the Grizzly Suit, made of titanium bonded to rubber
with over a mile's worth of duct tape, will allow the wearer to walk
away after being hit by a speeding truck--and Hurtubise still isn't
satisfied with it.)

There is also a possible problem with control.  From various factors
in the text (not least the fact that increases in attacks seem to
create a power drain) it would appear that the rigidity of the suit is
applied actively "on demand."  This would require some kind of sensor
network in the suit that must a) sense an event, b) communicate with
the power pack, c) process the event, d) switch on the power, and e)
channel the power to the correct part of the suit.  Granted,
conventional weapons generally operate at or around the speed of
sound, while the suit net would operate near the speed of light,
giving the suit an edge in terms of raw speed.  But the suit would
have to operate in a fairly complex fashion over distances measured in
meters while the weapons only need to function in a linear fashion
over centimetre ranges.  In fact, you'd probably have to limit that to
millimeters in order to maintain the integrity of the suit itself.

(Brown does note that pointed objects can penetrate this type of
armour while bullets cannot, but attributes the fact to differences in
velocity, rather than the fact the bullets are stopped by a special
weave that distributes energy while needles can slip between fabric
threads.)

The wearer of the suit is also able to deliver light slaps that break
bones, and to punch through armoured glass.  Frankly, nothing in the
book seems to be able to support this.  The suit may be able to
prevent the puncher from getting hurt, but there doesn't seem to be
anything that multiplies force.

There is also the matter of a "jump" capability in the suit.  "Jet
packs" have not dropped much in size in forty years since the problems
of thrust and flight control are simply not very tractable. 
Compressed air can, of course, be used for thrust, but it requires a
very large reservoir in order to function.  In addition, compressed
air has a greater energy density than any current battery technology
could ever hope to have, and using a battery to recharge compressed
air in a portable unit makes no sense at all.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKTINMAN.RVW   990814