Armada

A Novel

By: Ernest Cline

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A rollicking alien invasion thriller that embraces and subverts science-fiction conventions, from the author of the worldwide phenomenon Ready Player One

“Exciting . . . mixes Star Wars, The Last Starfighter, Independence Day, and a really gnarly round of Space Invaders.”—USA Today

“A thrilling coming of age story.”—Entertainment Weekly

Zack Lightman has never much cared for reality. He vastly prefers the countless science-fiction movies, books, and videogames he's spent his life consuming. And too often, he catches himself wishing that some fantastic, impossible, world-altering event could arrive to whisk him off on a grand spacefaring adventure.

So when he sees the flying saucer, he's sure his years of escapism have finally tipped over into madness.

Especially because the alien ship he's staring at is straight out of his favorite videogame, a flight simulator callled Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting Earth from alien invaders.

As impossible as it seems, what Zack's seeing is all too real. And it's just the first in a blur of revlations that will force him to question everything he thought he knew about Earth's history, its future, even his own life--and to play the hero for real, with humanity's life in the balance.

But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can't help thinking: Doesn't something about this scenario feel a little bit like . . . well . . . fiction?

At once reinventing and paying homage to science-fiction classics, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a coming-of-age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing you've ever read before.

The Last Starfighter Lives

I finished Ready Player One and saw that this book was recommended as it was by Cline and again narrated by Wil Wheaton. The pop culture worship from RP1 was still here but was not as endearing. I was not drawn in by the characters as I was from the previous book. A geek with unexplained psychotic super strength blackouts which never were really explained? A token girlfriend who he met for an hour? The ultimate sacrifices made by characters we really only know for a moment and thus don't really have an emotional tie? Yeah, the story was interesting but I feel, like the characters in the book, the story has been told in parts through the SciFi genre for the last 40 years.

An easy fantasy listen.

will Wheaton crushed it again
few plot twist
had the charm of ready player one that captures millennial culture
It's quick listen but
I won't be revisiting the story anytime soon

Art Imitates Art

Ernest Cline makes no bones about it. The concept of video games being used as a covert training device? He cites every possible antecedent (e.g. Ender's Game, Last Starfighter), and then proceeds to create a plot around the same idea. The concept of advanced alien life forms setting up a conflict in order to test the character of humans? Again, Cline points to every episode of Star Trek based on the same idea, as well as other touch points, and then works that in too.

And you know what? It works. Borrowing plot points actually becomes an integral part of the plot for Cline, the pop culture references as much a part of the story as they are a fun device for us readers. In the end, we have video games and pop culture, and Wil Wheaton returning to narrate Cline's second novel, and the result is almost as much fun as Ready Player One.

Almost. RPO had the advantage of being fresh and new. Armada cannot ambush us in the same pleasant way. On the contrary, it has to live up to the expectations set by RPO. It's not quite as inventive, not quite as encompassing in scope in its virtual world and its cultural references. But it's still way good. Wheaton slows his pace down a bit and softens his snark, but he remains the best, bar none.

This will not disappoint fans of Cline and Wheaton. And it may even capture the imagination of new readers who haven't (yet) read Ready Player One.

ignore the negative reviews

Most of the negative reviews I read are more aptly applied to RPO instead. Nerd culture name dropping is less noticeable in this book , theme is more mature, and execution is more fluid.

In doubt many will worship Cline for his penmanship, but his ability to spin an adventure is undeniable.

In short, this book is fun and reasonably thought provoking. The author's writing style has improved and this book is worth your time.

Wow

₩@₩, so good that if this was written right before Moses got the 10 comments there be an 11th and it would say "Don't buy this book"