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    Armada: A Novel
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    Armada: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Armada: A Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    Armada: A Novel

    Written by Ernest Cline

    Narrated by Wil Wheaton

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From the author of Ready Player One, a rollicking alien invasion thriller that embraces and subverts science-fiction conventions as only Ernest Cline can. 

    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, 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, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a coming-of-age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing you've ever read before.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 14, 2015
    ISBN9780804149129
    Unavailable
    Armada: A Novel

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    Reviews for Armada

    3.5/5

    1,048 ratings121 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I guess I'm more of a fantasy girl than a scifi girl. I was really excited for Armada, and I liked it but wasn't engrossed and in love with it like I was with Ready Player One. Could it be because I booked it instead of letting will wheaten read it to me? Perhaps.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book, which celebrates nerd culture and operates on the premise that video games are actually military training for an imminent alien invasion of earth. It's fun to see Zach struggle with being a typically high school senior and then watch him as he is called upon (due to his expertise in the video game Armada) to join an elite military force to fight alien drones. And, of course, there's a few revelations along the way. I didn't struggle with the book until the end - when I felt a sequence of only semi-plausible (yes, I realize most of the plot is entirely implausible) events occurred and I questioned the characters' reactions to these events. Still, overall, this book was definitely a fun read and very much in keeping with the style the author developed in Ready Player One.
    • 4/5
      very good book. If you have read, Ready Player One and liked it, then you will like this one. Why did space themed movies and TV shows hit big starting in the 60s? Why all the space video games? Read and find out. The truth is out there. May the force be with you
    • 3/5
      Armada is a classic alien invasion story, that features an unlikely, everyday hero (Zack Lightman) who is about to graduate from high school, and can't wait for his time in hell to be over. Zack isn't very good at anything, except video games. He's in the top 10 rankings world-wide for the online video game called "Armada". But when Zack starts to see ships from the game in his real life, he starts to wonder if he's not just going crazy, like his dad did before he was killed in an unfortunate industrial accident. However, our fledgling hero soon is swept up into a world-wide effort to protect the planet from alien invaders - invaders who are exactly like the ones he fights in his video game.Cool premise, but I felt that Cline fell short of the mark with this story. Essentially Armada is a cross between The Day the Earth Stood Still (the classic 1951 sci-fi movie with Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal, not the crappy 2008 remake with Keanu Reeves) and Independence Day (or any other alien invasion movie). The story is both a roaring adventure, every man fighting to the last to defend the Earth, and a preachy "humans must change if they want to join the galactic civilization" story. There are cool concepts, and some good characters, but essential Cline parades out some of the same tropes found in every Hollywood movie. (Maybe that was Cline's point, but I feel he should have striven for more.)Zack Lightman is a good character, who does grow through the story, but almost every other character was a stilted, two-dimensional person with no real background. Maybe that's because Cline was writing in first person from Zack's perspective, I don't know. There are Zack's friends, who are essentially just stereotypes of every pop-culture geek. There's the stern and unbending military officer who can't see the forest for the trees. And there's the obligate love interest for Zack, the girl he "rides off into the sunset" with at the end of the story. I enjoyed the interactions that Zack had with them, but none of them stood out to me as a strong supporting character. If you want a fun, entertaining read - essentially Independence Day for your mind, then Armada is a good story. My son thoroughly enjoyed the story and it has its good moments. I found it entertaining, in the same way I am entertained by a big summer blockbuster movie. Armada is a past-faced, soda and popcorn, big explosions and action, who cares about the plot kind of story that allows you to escape for a few hours. However, if you are looking for a story that doesn't re-use all of the alien invasion tropes, or provides something new and different to the classic alien invasion story, then I suggest you skip Armada. You won't find anything new and unique to the genre here.
    • 5/5
      Well that was good. Not as great as Ready Player One but not because of writing but because of me. I knew what I was going to read but I have ever never played a video game. This "little" thing made understanding what is going on and what books/games they were referring harder. When I read Ready Player One those references were more familiar to me.
      Overall a very good read.
    • 3/5
      A lot of criticism of this book is that it's taken the idea of other books and movies-- but what this really is is an homage to those books and movies. It was fun to read, and reminded me in parts of that movie with the Simon Pegg movie, Absolutely Anything (minus the cast of Monty Python voicing the aliens.)
    • 2/5
      I need to be honest. This was more like a 1 1/2 star book. I really wanted to like it but I didn't. I am surprised I finished it. Cline is a good writer and I like his writing style. Ready Player One was one of my favorite books last year but this book was a mess. I skimmed here and there at the end just to see if he tied it up like I thought he would.

      He has borrowed liberally from several great science fiction novels and tries to cover this borrowing in a cutesy but obvious plot thread. This was average science fiction at best. Go read Ender's Game again or for the first time. Better to read the book he borrows from the most because it is far superior.
    • 3/5
      Armada is a good book. Not a great book nor a terrible book. The problem is that it follows the dynamic story of Ready, Player One. All of the subversive character assumptions and tropes that were challenged in RPO were nonexistent in Armada. This book, while moderately entertaining, was predictable throughout the entire story.

      I don't ordinarily recommend audiobooks over traditional print, but Wil Wheaton is an extraordinary narrator for this novel, not the least of which is because he gives an extra boost of credibility to the story given his own nerd superstardom.

      I recommend this to Sci Fi genre inductees, video game enthusiasts, and teen reluctant readers.
    • 3/5
      Fun and amusing adventure story, a few too many YA cliches for my tastes, but still enjoyable. I thought the ending was a bit lame, with the alien's invasion intentions revealed, it was straight out of some 50's sci-fi movie.
    • 5/5
      Similar to Ready Player One there is a focus on 80s culture to the exclusion of almost all other popular culture. Very enjoyable escapism that accurately captures the dreams (hopes?) of many pop-culture obsessed people that this knowledge may have a real world application. Cannot wait to see whatever Ernest Cline next writes.
    • 4/5
      This is the follow-up (not a sequel) to Cline's excellent first book, Ready Player One. It is a good book, it is a fun book, I wanted it to be, but it isn't an excellent book.Cline continues to build off of his vast knowledge of pop/nerd culture from the 80's and 90's (video games, movies, music and more) to give us his take on a mashup of Wargames/Last Starfighter/Ender's Game, among others.Zack Lightman is a high school senior who is obsessed with video games and sci fi like his father, who died when Zack was a baby. As he grew, Zack found his Dad's vast collection of comic books, video tapes and classic console games. This trove, forms the framework of Zack's life (as well as providing plenty of easter egg/obscure reference material for Cline). He mecomes an elite player in a game called Armada, part flight simulator, part FPS shooter. It seems that its the only thing that Zack is good at. While staring aimlessly out of his classroom window, he sees a UFO that loosk just like a ship from the game and his world turns upside down.A fun read for, perhaps, a more niche audience. If you were a gamer who grew up in the 80's, or are a 15 year old boy, this book is right up your alley."I was staring out the classroom window and daydreaming of adventure when I spotted the flying saucer."7/10S: 4/29/16 - F: 5/6/16 ( 8 Days)
    • 5/5
      I listened to the on Audible and I loved it so much. It took me longer than reading it probably would have due to just not having the time to listen but hey.

      The whole story is incredible and the pop culture references are spot on. I high recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
    • 4/5
      Such an enjoyable read! Lots of the same ideas and pop culture borrows as Ready Player One, but definitely its own book. It may not change your life, but you will have fun reading it. And maybe need to go to an arcade afterwards.
    • 3/5
      Chock full of 80s movie and video game references. CHOCK full. A story we've seen before, but I enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      Not as good as Ready Player One. A real homage to Last Starfighter and other 80s icons, but lacking the depth of world building that made RPO so good. It feels ready to be adapted into a video game, though...
    • 2/5
      A rehash of all the same problems I had with Ready Player One, but so much worse. It seemed like he just wanted to cram all the nostalgic pop culture references he forgot to include in RPO onto a page, and this was the end result.
    • 2/5
      so disappointing....
    • 2/5
      Ernest Cline can write, too bad he writes pandering derivative drivel. Last Star Fighter with a twist of cynical delight all squeaky clean, but not really. nudge, nudge. At least the boy has a temper, but wait, it only a past issue not a real present problem/
    • 4/5
      Really, 3.5. I liked this, but not as much as Ready Player One, and there were some painfully slow parts in it, which I didn't find in Ready Player One, either.
    • 4/5
      I adored Ready Player One. It wow-ed me in a way no other book had, I identified with nearly all the references and just loved everything about it. I wanted to be just as wow-ed by Armada. I pre-ordered the audio just as soon as I knew Wil Wheaton was narrating it, and I was excited to get into it. I did enjoy it. But I wasn't wow-ed. I was prepared for this, I had seen many reviews that weren't so high, and so I was ready to just enjoy it for what it was. Ready Player One was a tough act to follow. I don't want to call it a one trick pony, because I don't think that at all, and I'm still completely interested in whatever else Ernest Cline writes. I love the culture references in both books, and the video game incorporation, but by the time we get to Armada, that aspect wasn't new any more (although used differently than in RPO, it still isn't a new concept, a la Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card) and I think that's part of the problem. I think Armada is being judged by it's super student older sibling and that sibling's also amazing older friends and it wouldn't matter what it did, it couldn't measure up, if you know what I mean.

      I felt like we didn't have as much character development here, although I did like the characters it seemed like some of the more interesting ones we didn't get to know very well. The ending message didn't pack quite as much of a punch as in RPO and it was just suspicious and abrupt. Armada is just a lighter book all the way around, but for all that, still enjoyable. I'm looking forward to seeing what Ernest has up his sleeve next!
    • 4/5
      While this story is very reminiscent of sci-fi and 80's stories I've read/seen before, it has a slightly different path, and the ride was engaging and thrilling. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I'd read it *before* Ready Player One, but it's a hard act to follow. This was very good in its own right, so I don't think it should be marked down based on expectations.
    • 3/5
      Perhaps it's unfair to compare this to Cline's first book Ready Player One, which was geeky, fresh, and full of surprises. Armada speaks my language of geek, with constant references to decades of sci-fi, music, and video games. It's a blatant homage from someone in my generation. The problem is, all it is is homage. Every plot point, every development, is utterly predictable. There was no sense of wonder and surprise. In fact, it tries to use its predictably as a plot point--as an alien tactic--but that did nothing to introduce a sense of newness to the plot. I became increasingly more frustrated as I read.That said, I am still rating it three stars because it is a fast read and it's not *bad*. The action is fun, and I really appreciated how Cline wrote the women in the book, especially the mom. If you want a cozy sci-fi read where you can predict everything that happens (and hey, cozy books like that are a necessity at times) then this is one to seek out.
    • 3/5
      Very unbelievable and definitely not up to par with Ready Player One.
    • 3/5
      Oh dear...who is the target audience here? Are adolescents the primary demographic? Nerdy gamers? Both? No matter...this book is one long collision with 80s pop culture, video games, and sci-fi movies. As a book, it is rife with head-shakers - since when do two colors constitute "monochromatic"? And people don't feel nauseous, they feel nauseated! A side question is...how much is deliberate? And another is, where was the editor? I'm not sure I can chalk the problems to an attempt at casual colloquialism, as much of the book has no such problems, but ...moving on.

      Some authors want to establish a connection with the reader, so they drop a common reference or product into the story (think Stephen King and Baskin Robbins, or Clive Cussler and his Doxy dive watch...) Cline has made this so over the top that it is groaningly cumbersome, jamming at least one "cultural" or geek reference into every other paragraph he wrote - sometimes even more frequent than that! It gets pretty tiring by the end of the first chapter, but he's just getting started. For those unfamiliar with all the references, it will be quite annoying. For those who are familiar...it will be quite annoying.

      Cline does get very cliche stupid two thirds of the way into the book. I'm not going to spoil it, but when you see the hackneyed emotional explosion, you'll know what I mean. It almost made me stop reading. I also wonder if the author forgot his own timeline he established for the novel...there's another cliche near the end that doesn't fit. and another. And another. It's like Ron Popeil and "But wait! There's more!" a hundred times over with respect to the cliches and the references. You can probably skim through the second by second game descriptions, but then you'll miss out on an enormous amount of superfluous details!

      Now, despite the litany of gripes here, it's still light and fun reading, reminiscent of Harry Harrison's Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers. Though not as corny. And more corny. For those who have declared Cline to be their all time favorite author, and/or this to be their favorite book, I will share that I once proclaimed Lester del Rey to be "the best science fiction author ever!" But I was nine, so there's that perspective.
    • 3/5
      Disappointing after Ready Player One.
    • 3/5
      I really liked Ready Player One. So I was super excited about this book when I heard about it. I was a little disappointed with it, though. Seemed a bit too kiddish, way too predictable and not very original. I also found all the pop culture references to be a bit wearing after a while.
    • 1/5
      This is, truly, the worst book I have ever read. Don't read it. It was a physically painful experience. Earnest Cline is dead to me
    • 4/5
      Such good fun!
    • 4/5
      Armada by Ernest Cline is a stand alone novel and not a sequel to Ready Player One that many fans hoped for. The story is an interesting blend of The Last Starfighter and Ender's Game yet still has enough differences to help it stand on it's own. Zach Lightman is our teenage hero. Lightman has a bit of a chip on his shoulder having grown up with only his mother to raise him, his father had died in a freak accident at work while Zach was an infant. As many geeky teens these days Zach spends a lot of his spare time becoming one of the top players in the world's most popular multiplayer online game: Armada. He also is intensely curious about the father he never knew and likes to go to the attic to look through his dad's old stuff in an attempt to learn more about him. During one of Zach's trips to the attic he comes across one of his dad's journals where Zach believes contains proof that his dad may have been sliding down into lunacy. His dad writes that most of the science fiction books, movies and video games since the 70's have been part of a government conspiracy to prepare the world for the news that aliens are real. What utter rubbish. Or is it? It is hard not to compare Armada to Ready Player One as they share a lot of similar notes. Both stories are slow builds, taking their time to get to the main action. Instead of 80s pop culture, we are given many popular 20th century science fiction references. Most all the characters participate in the corny references. Even Zach's mom channels her inner Gandalf in order to have a conversation with her son. Zach has a similar geeky/snarky/awkward personality blend that Wade Watts has. Both boys are likeable high schoolers on the verge of having to decide what to do with the rest of their lives when fate intervenes. While the plots are quite different (alien invasion vs geeky treasure hunt), the echoing similarities make Armada feel slightly derivative. That said, the book is highly entertaining. Cline writes engaging action. Some of the geeky conversations between characters are a lot of fun. The plot is quite straight forward with few twists until the end. I listened to the audio book narrated by Wil Wheaton. I enjoyed Wheaton's voice acting immensely. You can tell he's having a lot of fun. I'm starting to think Wheaton is a better voice actor than traditional actor.
    • 2/5
      I was disappointed. Maybe I was unprepared, not realizing I had picked up a book for kids. But even so, and being some kind of science fiction, it was just too ridiculously unbelievable for me to enjoy.