ARC Review: Armada by Ernest Cline

Title: Armada Author: Ernest Cline Published: July 14, 2015 by Random House (Amazon / Goodreads) 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 received an advance copy of this book from the publisher at BEA in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ****

It is always so hard when you read the second book by an author whose debut you loved so much. You not only have insanely high expectations but you cannot help but compare that book to this one. That was exactly what happened to me when I started reading Armada by Ernest Cline. I love Ready Player One so much that I was not only scared but nervous to read Armada. I'm happy to say that I was not at all disappointed. Despite not being blown away I really enjoyed Armada. It was an action-packed science fiction read with great characters.

Armada feels like a classic science fiction novel. I'm kind of glad I didn't pay that much attention to the synopsis of the book. I'm not a fan of the alien invasion plot lines, they freak me out. I have an irrational fear of aliens and a lot of the plot of this, especially in the beginning, set off those triggers. But like I said, I'm glad I ignored that and read it because the book was everything I love about science fiction. What Ernest Cline does so well is appeal to geek subculture with subtle nods to classic stories in the genre. I'm a space opera kind of girl and while it wasn't quite a space opera but it did have enough elements of that subgenre to keep me entertained and reading. The technology, the adventure, the humor. He really takes it to the next level here by making all of our favorite books, movies, and video games as part of a conspiracy theory.  It also had subtle nods to the virtual reality kind of story that R.P.O. did so well. And while it felt similar to some favorite stories and genres it was still a creative book all it's own.

And that story was a thrilling and fast-paced adventure. From the word go, this book takes you on a non-stop high stakes end of the world kind of plot that had me on the edge of my seat. You guys know that I am a plot-driven reader and this book absolutely did not disappoint in that department. Everything moved seamlessly from moment to moment and despite the incredibly short timeline of the book, I think it took place over only a few days, things flowed brilliantly. And like I said, I seriously could not put it down. I found myself turning page after page needing to know what happened next and before I knew it, the book was over and I was left with a book hangover I would not have expected when I started reading the book. It also wasn't particularly mysterious but had some amazing plot twists that left me reeling and needing to find out what would happen next. If you are looking for a fast-paced and action packed read, you have come to the right place. 

But the overall emphasis on plot development sacrificed a bit of world building for me. I loved Cline's world building in Ready Player One, but here I felt like it could have been a little bit better. Now don't get me wrong, the actual world was fantastic and engaging with an intricate exploration of the technology involved in communicating and fighting an alien race but the world-building felt a little tell instead of show. But I'm not even really talking about that, I'm talking about the larger context of the story. And maybe that was also because I loved the larger themes about humanity in Ready Player One and I didn't get them in Armada until the very end so that it felt like an afterthought. But that meat there was also a handful of info-dumps and then just a general lack of explanation about what was happening. Although I get it, the world is about to end and there is no time for pesky exposition, we have to get down to brass tacks. I think if the pacing was just a tad slower and we got a little bit more time to build up the larger context of the book it would have been a solid 5 star read for me on Goodreads.

But the hardest thing for me to explain about Armada is the character development. Don't get me wrong, I loved the characters here. Ernest Cline definitely knows how to write relateable and likable geek characters. Zack Lightman in particular was a fantastic character. He's kind of a cocky little jerk both behind the video game controller and in real life. But I understood why he was like that. He's fiercely concerned about standing up for the people he cares about and will do all kinds of rash things to take care of them. He's been through a lot in his young life and you can't help but root for him. But I also really liked his friends Diehl and Cruz (who's call sign is Kvothe which brought me all kinds of joy) who are absolutely hilarious despite kind of being cliche nerds. Same thing goes for the characters he meets when he joins the EDA. They are a little bit stereotypical but in an endearing sort of way. I think gamers and geeks of all kinds will find a bit of themselves in these characters. But again, I felt like the focus on the plot development made it so that we didn't get much character development. And I was all ready to say that the lack of character development meant the book didn't have as much heart, but despite wanting more of an emotional connection between the characters it did give me the feels like crazy.

Armada was a thrilling and action-packed read that didn't blow my mind but took me for a fantastic ride. Ernest Cline has once again proven that he knows how to create the perfect read for the geek and nerd in all of us with great characters and tons of page-turning action. Despite wanting more world-building and character development, it was a great read.

I give Armada by Ernest Cline 9 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. If you loved Ready Player One you will probably also love this book despite it being a little different. If you are looking for something with more heart and character development then maybe pass. But if you're a big science fiction fan into the alien invasion end of the world kind of stories than definitely check this one out.

Read this if you liked:
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Insignia Trilogy by S.J. Kincaid
The Martian by Andy Weir

Have you read Armada? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Title: Ready Player One Author: Ernest Cline Publisher: Random House, 2012 Goodreads Amazon Synopsis: In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.    But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

Two posts in one day... This is something I've never done before!

Ready Player One was an absolutely engrossing story about a group of misfits searching for a hidden egg, that's worth millions, inside a virtual reality video game. It's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets TRON.

Part of it's fun comes from the fact that it is chock full of 80's nostalgia. The developer of the game was raised in the 1980's and was so obsessed with the decade that he made it a huge part of his videa game. The egg hunters, or gunters as they are called, have studied the movies, music, television shows, and of course video games of the era like it is a religion. The book is full of basic and obscure references to the decade making me think that Ernest Cline was watching a whole lot of I Heart the 80's on VH1 while he was writing this book, either that or he has just as much love for the decade. I was a child of the 80's so I honestly don't remember much of it but I love the nostalgia. It's such a unique idea and the culture of the 80's fit perfectly within the SciFi near future story that Cline has created.

One of the best parts of the book was the characters. Wade, or Parzival, in particular was a perfect narrator for this story. He has a unique and interesting voice and very quickly into reading you start to empathize with him and him to win in the end.  He's kind of snarky and sarcastic at times but it adds to his charm and makes you like him all the more. Wade and many of the other secondary characters like Aech, Art3mis, and Shoto are pretty stereotypical geek tropes but anyone who has ever wanted to escape their own bleak reality can find a little something of themselves in the characters.

The book addresses many of the themes that people today are being faced with as the role of technology grows in our lives. It addresses the complicated issues of online control and censorship by way of the antagonist of the story, a pseudo-government corporation, who is attempting to cheat their way to the egg even intimidating the characters by threatening to reveal their real identities and even trying to kill them. This brings me to another interesting and complicated theme of your online persona versus your real life persona. Online you are able to be whoever you want to be and "exist as only raw personality." Throughout a lot of the story many of the characters are reluctant to reveal who they real are, owing to the fact that they have things about themselves that they are ashamed of. The idea of virtual reality versus actual reality makes this novel compelling and much deeper than it seems. It is particularly interesting if you are developing or cultivating an online persona (I promise I have nothing to hide).

But my favorite theme throughout the book was the coming-of-age dynamic that centered around friendship and relationships. While the characters don't really interact in the real world they have genuine interactions and communications inside the game in the exact same way that real friends interact. Some of their conversations even felt like conversations that I have had before. You get the distinct impression that they have real feelings for each other. They've cultivated these friendships and maybe even a romance without ever seeing each other face-to-face. It's an interesting contrast to the Catfish concept you hear a lot about in pop culture these days and is even a bit of a dichotomy from what they are concerned about in the story.

While the book did have a lot going for it, I felt like it did have some problems. The first issue I had was with the pacing. The plat was generally exciting and interesting but at times there were some serious lulls in the story.. It went from a lot of action to none at all, and it made me want to skip whole chunks of the book. There were entire scenes where I felt like it didn't move the story along at all and just seemed like filler. I think a lot of that was because there was an absurd amount of world-building in this book. I'm generally a fan of a lot of explanation of an interesting and complex world like this one but in the case of Ready Player One it was just overwhelming and actually took away from the plot of the story.

On the whole this was a great story with likable characters you rooted for, interesting, and topical themes, a plot full of action, and tons of fun 80's nostalgia. It's the kind of story that reminds you that dystopia is a subgenre of Science Fiction, and makes me want to read more traditional SciFi books. I listened to the audiobook version of this book which was narrated by Wil Wheaton. He was a phenomenal narrator for this story. He really gave Wade his voice and gave each secondary character a unique sound. He made the story interesting. His role in geekdom and the fact that he started his career in the 80's added a different level entirely to the audiobook.

I give it an 8.5 out of 10

I recommend Ready Player One to anyone who like SciFi, video games, 80's nostalgia, or stories with geeky characters. If you've read it already let me know your thoughts in the comments section and of course.. HAPPY READING.