REVIEW: Armada by Ernest Cline

Armada by Ernest Cline
Publishing information: Kindle
Publisher: Crown; 14 July 2015
ISBN: 978-0804137256
ASIN: B00TNDID0O
Standalone
Copy: Out of pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Amazon

Synopsis: "Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure.

But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe.

And then he sees the flying saucer.

Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders.

No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it.

It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little…familiar?

At once gleefully embracing and brilliantly subverting science-fiction conventions as only Ernest Cline could, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming of age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing you’ve ever read before—one whose every page is infused with the pop-culture savvy that has helped make Ready Player One a phenomenon."

I am sad to say that I didn't know this was coming out until just a few weeks before it was released, having enjoyed Ready Player One (Review here), I had no qualms about picking up his second novel.

Armada starts out with Zack Lightman wasting away his last few weeks of high school with no plans on what to do next. He works for the local computer store that is his home away from home and feeds his habit of being one of the best players in the world for an online game known as Armada. One day as Zack is heading for school a shuttle craft lands in the school parking lot and asks for him by name. Turns out his video game is really a training simulator for an upcoming war against alien and his skills are needed to save the world.

Zack is your typical nerd turned hero that Cline tends to write exceptionally well. He is well-versed in all of the pop culture memes and uses them frequently. He just can't seem to get ahead in life as his father died not long after he was born and he never quite got over it. One of the things that you will notice when reading a Cline novel is he throws in a lot of pop culture references that the nerd in all of us like but I could see where if you aren't into the catch phrases and lingo you may have a hard time catching everything and I could see where it would put some readers off of the book as there are a lot of these hidden gems.

Armada is a cross between The Last Starfighter and X-Files meets Ender's Game, as the government has been using Hollywood and the video game industry to prepare the world for the upcoming battle. The video games have been put in place to secretly weed out the average Armada player and look for exceptionally skilled to help defend earth when the invaders arrive.

I absolutely devoured this book. I was able to download it at 9pm on Monday night before its release and finished it before finally heading to bed. While I loved the build up and the characters of the book, the ending left a lot to be desired as it ends with the perfect red bow on top. It just ended a little too well for my taste. While there is a single plot that has yet to be tied up, I can't help but think it is possibly due to being a little open ended in order for Cline to possibly write a sequel. Ending aside, the book was great and it is the only reason that it didn't get a perfect score.

Overall 7.5/10