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Armada by Ernest Cline

Posted on by J.W. Martin

ARMADA
by Ernest Cline

Crown Publishing
July 14, 2015

From Goodreads:

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?

Armada is another novel by Ernest Cline that holds something special for lifetime gamers. It’s certainly not Ready Player One, but it’s also a little unfair to compare the two. However, anyone reading this after RPO will find it’s hard not to.

Right off the bat, our lead character is sitting in school, spewing non-stop pop culture references. Is this Wade? No? Seems like Wade. Oh, Zack! My bad. Zack’s obsessed with video games and the ‘80s. Sounds familiar, I know.

Most of the plot rotates around gamers having to log onto their computers to take control of space-drones and battle an alien invasion. It was all fairly predictable, but entertaining. Scenes leading up the action were well done, but then when the action happened, everything went into fast forward. They seemed to be over before they began.

Imagine watching a superhero movie where they stand around talking for 88 minutes and then fight for 2. That’s kind of how this felt.

The big compliment I can hand to Mr. Cline on this is that no matter how many complaints I had with the above issues, I always wanted to keep turning pages. DNF never entered the realm of possibility. When I think back to the first time I read RPO, there are some things in the beginning that I’m not a big fan of. It was kind of speed bump to get over, but then it was full speed. This one had way more speed bumps, but I wasn’t stopping.

This is definitely one for kids of the ‘80s and those that are into video games, but don’t expect another Ready Player One. That one seems to be lightning that I’m still hoping can strike twice…

Fun fact about this post: This one was a buddy read with Erik from Breakeven Books. Check out what he’s been up to on his blog and his new YouTube channel.
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First Impression Friday | Armada by Ernest Cline

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Welcome to another First Impression Friday. In case this is your first time, here’s the rundown:

• Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions
and predict what you’ll think by the end.
• Did you think you’d love and ended up hating it? Or did you think
you’d hate it and wound up loving it? Or were you exactly right?
• Link back to Storeys of Stories so I can enjoy reading all the
First Impression Fridays out there!

Let’s talk about Armada by Ernest Cline.

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?

We keep things one-hundred here, and I’m a little worried. Ready Player One is probably my favourite book of all time, what could possibly live up to it? Nothing, right? That’s why I don’t hold books up to it. Except for when I’m reading the only other book by that very author.

Maybe I wouldn’t be so concerned about my bias sneaking in if it wasn’t for the already constant pop culture referencing happening in the opening chapters. You could literally call this kid Wade and nothing would change. However, there’s lots of time for that to change.

“But, Joe,” you say. “Wouldn’t you love to read another RPO?” And I don’t quite know how to answer that. I suppose I do, but like any good sequel, there needs to be a mix of old and new. Right now it’s feeling like a lot of old, and it’s not even a sequel!

My Prediction: I can’t talk about this right now!

Fun fact about this post: The front cover on this one is beginning to……. open itself?

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Shelf Control | Armada

Posted on by J.W. Martin

This is one of my favourite memes, that I really don’t do often enough. It’s one of those memes that gets you talking about books that you already have instead of getting you pumped up about going out and buying something else new.

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

  • Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
  • Link back to the creator of the meme, Bookshelf Fantasies.
  • Check out other posts, and have fun!

ARMADA by Ernest Cline

From Goodreads:

“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?”

How I got it:

I was browsing amazon, looking at completely different books and saw this one for $11. I thought it was an okay deal, but nothing to get excited about. I was about to browse off the page when I realized it was $11 for the HARDCOVER! I bought it right there and then.

When I got it:

About a year ago.

Why I want to read it:

Uh… Ready Player One. Duh.

Fun fact about this post: This is just one of many, many, many books on my shelf that I’ve yet to read. At least I’m not alone.
AllDiscussion

Ready Player… Two? RPO is getting a sequel!!!

Posted on by J.W. Martin

It’s no secret, I love Ready Player One.

So you can imagine how pumped I was when I heard that Ernest Cline is working on a sequel. The Verge quoted him revealing the project in progress, though he was unable to give any more details.

Let’s speculate for a moment, shall we? First off, I think Ready Player Two is a perfect title. And what would be really cool is to see the story surround an entirely new group of Oasis users who keep having run-ins with a super-powered, super-user version of Parzival/Wade.

However, Cline is really good at going in a direction I didn’t even know existed. Which is fine. Whatever he comes up with, I’m sure it’ll be great.

Fun fact about this post: EVERYTHING ABOUT RPO IS FUN!