From the author of Ready Player One, a rollicking alien invasion thriller that embraces and subverts science-fiction conventions as only Ernest Cline could. 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, … 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 as only Ernest Cline can, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a coming-of-age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing you’ve ever read before.
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This is the second book I read by Ernest Cline and I must say I love his writing style and use of pop-culture references!
I found this book very entertaining and close to my heart for the relationship between the main character and their Dad.
The raid the Arcade mix that is given at the end of the book is a must have and can be fun to listen to while getting into the action packed scenes of the book!
A very good book that like his other one (Ready Player One) is very entertaining. With both books it dose not mater if you like sci-fi, video games, and in RPOs case dystopian books or not. I can see him making a sequel or series out of this one as well but if not then that is ok as well. It is a very good stand alone novel.
A solid space-opera story sprinkled with fun video-game/sci-fi references. Completely different from RP1. Interesting enough to be engaging and wanting to find out what happens, but not monumental like Cline’s more famous novel. Not comparing the two in any way beyond readability. Those with a greater love for military sci-fi stories will probably enjoy it immensely.
This was an excellent read. Full of twists and turns some I saw coming but others I did not. I wish this one had a sequel because I did not want to leave this world.
When Zack Lightman sees an alien ship from his favorite video game flying around outside the window at school, he’s sure he’s going crazy. He’d just be following in the footsteps of his dad, who’d died when Zack was a baby. Zack had found notes his dad had kept about a massive conspiracy that involved just about every alien-related movie, TV show, and video game ever made being used to prepare the world for a real alien invasion. But when he finds out that it’s all real, and so is that ship he saw out the window, and that he and other gamers are going to be called upon to save the world, will he be up to the task?
As someone who isn’t a huge fan of this type of sci-fi, I don’t have a lot to compare it to. I am aware of the similarities to The Last Starfighter, but don’t really remember that movie. Still, even I felt like this whole story had been done before, and that there wasn’t enough of a new twist on it in this book to make it fresh. In the end, I was left feeling like the slow build-up didn’t have enough of a pay off.
My husband thought I’d like it more than Ready Player One, though couldn’t explain why. I think it might be due to the fact that the heavy amount of 80s references in RPO were lost on me, and perhaps he thought references in Armada to Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. might hit closer to home. Unfortunately, they didn’t. This was partly because the references to things I actually know more were lighter than those to movies and games I don’t have much, if any, knowledge of. But it’s also partly because the references saturated the story so much. Characters quoted movies or games with no context, events or situations were likened to movies, etc. that I wasn’t as versed in as they were, and thus, I couldn’t get into the story like I was probably meant to. And in the end, if you strip away all of these sci-fi pop culture references, what do you have? Just a simple invasion story that’s mostly been done before.
Yes, there was a bit of a twist at the end, but it wasn’t that shocking or interesting to me. By that point, the events and narration had led me to a point where I didn’t feel like I could trust anything that anyone said, anything that happened. The truth that was revealed was even speculated by Zack earlier in the book, which made the reveal that much less exciting.
The only time I really remember feeling all that interested in what was going on was at the very end, after the reveal. The falling action and the epilogue…that’s what I wanted to know more about. But if a sequel to this book ever came out, I don’t know if I would care enough to read it.
It`s kind of like a novelization of The Last Starfighter.
I really enjoyed this book. It read really easy and found myself continuing to come back to it as often as I could. Lots of fun.
Boring crap. Tried too hard to be the next RP1. Failed miserably.
Ernest Cline does morning disappoint!!
not quite as good as the author’s Ready Player One but an enjoyable read.
Ernest Cline is the author of this book and also “Ready Player One”. It was readable, but not as good as “Ready Player One”. In my opinion it was too reminisent of “Ready Player One” to be a great book. Still a good read, but suffers by comparison. If he had written this first, or I had read it first, I would likely have given it a higher review. Still a good read.
I guess this book qualifies as fan fiction. Ernest Cline is a fan of every video game and science fiction movie ever created, and he plugs them in this novel. Like his book Ready Player One, the hero is a game-playing nerd, who saves the day. From day one, the reader pretty much knows how this books will play out, but it still entertaining and worth the read.
Like Cline’s first book, “Ready Player One,” his second offer is also a homage to 80’s culture, specially the teenage culture. Based on the well explored premise of ‘what if the videogame you played was actually a disguised government program to train its interstellar forces?’ – it develops an original take and some interesting characters and narratives. All in all it feels like a more accomplished novel than the first one.
An entertaining read perfect for vacation reading.
For those video game players this is a must. Takes you back to the beginning then brings you right up to date. Super read.
The Earth was going to be destroyed and I didn’t care
not in the same league as Ready Player One
The plot is not believable, and while the author hints that the not-believableness is part of the story, in the end the reason still doesn’t make sense (but the hints kept me from giving up on the book much earlier).
nice to see a movie out of this one too
A little too much like Ready Player One (and yet, not as good as) to be completely enjoyable, but it’s a fun read.
Starts out too much like ‘The Last Starfighter’.