Armada | Thoughts

Author: Ernest Cline

Title: Armada

Release Date: July 14, 2015

Summary: 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. (goodreads)

Thoughts/Review:

It may contain a few spoilers. I mention themes that happened throughout the book but don’t give specific plot points.

I want to start this review by saying that I LOVE Ready Player One (RPO). However, Armada is another story. I have so many mixed feelings about this book. I felt that this book was cliche and predictable, from the description of the characters, to the plot line. The book felt too much like a formula. We follow Zack Lightman as he re-discovers his father’s relics that he left behind. His father was a gamer before he passed away in a freak accident when he was just a few months old. Zack is currently a senior in high school and also a gamer as his father was.

Things that I did love about the book are the pop culture reference. I felt that I connected more with the references in Armada  than in RPO for the reason that I was more familiar with these references and they were closer to my era. Another thing that I really enjoyed about the book is that it was fast pace and to the point. It didn’t linger too much in one things. It moved along smoothly.

One thing that I found really irritating is the cliche love interested. “Sees girl, love at first sight, girl is a rebel and independent. Instant love.” That is one thing that I don’t like about any novel. I felt that it wasn’t realistic at all and it felt too convenient. I know the book is fictional but it doesn’t mean that the characters have to be unrealistic. Then there was the cliche young adult that knows what to do but no adults will listen. The adult that is to hard-headed to realize his mistakes and thinks that he is always right. Then everything goes to hell. I really didn’t enjoy that.

I was intrigued with the story line and where it would lead. I was drawn by that. But the thing that pulled me away from the book was that I kept guessing what was going to happened and kept getting it right. Nothing was a surprise to me. If I would have gone with it blind and not have been reminded over and over about how similar it was to Ender’s Game and other sci-fi films and books. Which took away the unique quality from the story line.

I think the ending did surprise me a little bit, but I felt that to easy in a way. It’s was neatly presented for my licking.  

I would say to give the book a try and see what you think about it. If you like pop culture and video games it would be an entertaining read. I think you just have to be in the right kinda mode to read this book. Which is something I feel that I wasn’t. I think I expected too much of this book for the reason that I loved RPO so much. In a way it wasn’t fair but I just couldn’t help myself.

Rating: 2/5