Armada

>“That's one of our nicknames for a Disrupter now,” Shin said, nodding at the spinning black dodecahedron on the screen. “A Black Betty. Or a ‘ten-sider.'“

A dodecahedron has TWELVE SIDES.

Given how much I loved Ready Player One, I had extremely high hopes coming into this read. I appreciate that E.C. was trying to stick to a similar theme, but the entire plot seemed so over the top, and far fetched, that I just never could get into it. I'd probably give it a 2.5 if Goodreads would let me.

Not nearly as good as the first book – the protagonist was not very likable and the story-line a bit too “high school angsty” for me. Was looking forward to this book a lot after the excellent “Ready Player One” but that made the let-down all the worse.

This book is okay. It was a nice, light adventure through space and pop culture. It feels like what it set out to be. Nothing more, nothing less.

What I liked

- the battles were really engaging and well detailed. You knew what was where and what was happening at all times.

- the friendships and relationships, besides the romance, were written very authentically. The mother seemed really cool.

- the whole premise was out there in a good way and loved the idea of training everyone with a game.

What I didn't like (SPOILERS)

- the love interest. He must be the smoothest talking guy around if he can land a girl how he did. It didn't feel nessisary to make her anything but a friend. Even in this climate.

- I wanted to know more about the dad. He seemed really cool, but then one dimensional. I wish I could have felt more for him before the ending

- the ending. Okay, so the guys who wants to protect Earth is the bad guy because he wants to fire a weapon? They just wiped out millions of people, destroyed so much. But he's bad? Also, hey we were just testing you here's some medicine to heal everyone, wel help now after we messed everything up and killed people you love. This might create some weird distopia but it's fine. Could have just not bothered your planet but hey.

Sort of like book 2 of Ready Player One, not because they're in the same universe but in the homage to the music and video games of the 80s.

I was not a video game player but I definitely know the majority of movie, book, and music references which makes me feel I'm a part of a community of geeks.

The storyline is constantly moving and doesn't get bogged down with too much universe builting or technology explanations, the author doesn't sidetrack on to topics not related to the storyline, and the characters have depth to them. All this makes this a book I enjoyed but there's nothing really complex or surprisingly unique or mindbending to rate more stars from me.

Just brilliant. Retro gaming, alien invasion, all the Sci-Fi classics, 80s rock - all in Cline's wonderfully free-flowing style.

This was so fun (ending pissed me off a little but oh well) I don't understand all the haters on here

Un buen libro para desconectar la cabeza un rato. Es una buena fantasía para los fans de los videojuegos.

This was an excellent book! I love how Cline gives you little teasers throughout the plot, keeping engaged to reach their explanation. He does a great job of letting you be a detective, giving you what you need to figure things out on your own before they actually happen.

This book had a very interesting plot, and definitely kept me entertained. And that's most of what I can say about this book; it was quite entertaining. But it didn't really get to me emotionally, or have me thinking about the book long after I finished reading. It was a very enjoyable, sci-fi summer read though. I loved all the classic 80's references (especially the blatant Wargames reference of the main character who shares a surname with David Lightman).

All in all a good book which I recommend for anyone looking to get a quick 80's and sci fi fix.

ernest cline is probably the best sci fi author i've ever read books from , and this book was pretty awesome. the only thing i didn't love was the ending - it felt sorta rushed and hurt my heart a little when i realized that xavier actually died and wasn't coming back :( but all in all it was a great book and a worthwhile read :)

Totally, absolutely, kinda ok. This book was obviously written before his more famous, and better, Ready Player One. And it's just not as good. The characters are not well written at all, and the story is pretty dumb. It's got a hackneyed story line and is really just an opportunity for Cline to show off his deep knowledge of pop culture. Sure, I read the whole thing but I was traveling for work and brainless, just ok entertainment was what I needed. But honestly, it just wasn't that good.

Good book. Not as good as his other work.

I had fun. Not as much fun as Ready Player One. It has a few too many deus ex machinas. The references seemed maybe too forced in some situations.

Overall it was a fun read. I would read a sequel.

Pile of shite

Not as good as Ready Player One.

It was fine. More like “Ready Player Six”, I'd say.

I enjoy the occasional pop culture reference, but good lord that was a lot of them.

I knew I was in trouble when, as soon as he met a girl, I said to myself, “How much you bet he accidentally says something clever and they kiss before the day is out.”, and whaddaya know. Of course that's what happened.

Also, “The Last Starfighter” and “Enders Game” did this already, and arguably better. Still, it was a quick, mildly entertaining read.

I really liked this book. Despite the critics I read in GoodReads before starting, I found an amazing and interplanetary trip through reading. The way Cline plays between the truth and the fake makes me feel a strong connection while reading. This version of the book has at the end an introduction to his master-peace “Ready Player One”, so I'm reading it soon for sure.

Dopo aver letto Ready Player One ero molto eccitata all'idea di leggere finalmente Armada, e devo dire che non ne sono rimasta delusa.
La storia mi è piaciuta molto, sebbene l'inizio mi sia sembrato leggermente forzato. Una volta entrati nell'ottica della realtà descritta dall'autore, scorre tutto molto facilmente e con naturalezza. Mi sono piaciuti molto anche i personaggi, ben descritti e sviluppati.
Il ritmo del libro è molto interessante: dopo un inizio leggermente traballante, le scene si seguono in modo serrato, che incolla alle pagine.
Ottimo lavoro, sebbene Ready Player One resti il mio preferito dell'autore.

The first time Cline used my nostalgia for exposition, Ready Player One, it was novel. It worked. But retreading the same technique of storytelling via mining geeky references just feels masturbatory in Armada.

Le second roman est toujours difficile, surtout après avoir écrit [b:Ready Player One 9969571 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) Ernest Cline https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1500930947s/9969571.jpg 14863741], et malheureusement Armada accuse le coup. La formule pour ce coup ne marche pas aussi bien, les références étant beaucoup plus obscures, les personnages pas assez profonds, la conclusion un peu baclée. La mise en place prends tellement de temps qu'il ne reste que très peu de place pour que le reste de l'histoire se déroule, tout s'accélérant passé la moitié du livre. Fort déçu donc de ce deuxième opus de Ernest Cline.

When I went to BookPeople a couple of weeks ago for the reading/book signing of “The Oracle Year” by Charles Soule, I also picked up a copy of a signed edition of “Armada” by Ernest Cline. I pretty much purchase dead tree books for only two reasons these days:

I love the book and/or author so much (for example, Neil Gaiman) that I want the hardback version on my bookshelves.
I've either had the author sign the book or the bookstore has signed editions so I can add it to my bookshelves.

“Armada” fell into the number 2 category. Other than one review from a friend of mine shortly after it was published almost 3 years ago (and that didn't matter because I couldn't remember if it was a good review or a bad review), I hadn't seen any other reviews on the book and my first thought was, “Well, it's the same author who wrote “Ready Player One” so it's probably a good read.”

When I was checking out, the clerk asked me if I'd seen the movie. We both quickly figured out he was referencing Cline's first book “Ready Player One” and had a good laugh. I told him that reading the inside flap description made “Armada” sound like another “The Last Starfighter” and he said, “You'd be pretty close in getting that impression.”

So, a few days ago I had the time to start reading “Armada” and finished it last night.

Let's get the obvious out of the way; “Armada” is indeed another story with constant references to pop culture from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. If you liked “Ready Player One” because of those references, then you should LOVE “Armada” all to pieces. It felt like there were double or triple the pop culture references, mostly under the umbrella of sci-fi, (video games, TV shows, etc.) but also a lot of music and even commercial jingles. I enjoy those references as much as most people who lived through them, but they really almost got to be too heavy-handed in their use in this story.

I don't want to spoil anything for those who have not read the book and intend to, so I'll try to keep this as generic as possible, but you already have an idea from “The Last Starfighter” comparison above.

And I'll say from the beginning; I wanted to like this book. I really, really enjoyed “Ready Player One”, so I was hoping that “Armada” would be just as good, if not better than “Ready Player One.” I mean, there's always that question when you have such a hit like “Ready Player One” as your first book, “Will the author's sophomore book be as good as their freshman offering?”

In this case, close, but no cigar.

Zach Lightman is a high school senior about to graduate and contemplating life after school. He's a video playing kind of nerd who works in a video game store after school and on weekends and lives with his widowed mom. His father died in a sewage plant accident when Zach was less than a year old. His two best friends are gamers too, but they're not as good as Zach.

It turns out that all the top video games on the market are just a way for Big Brother to find out who their best defenders might be because aliens are coming to destroy the world. Turns out his boss at the video game store is not who Zach thinks he is; his dad may or may not have really died in the shit plant accident; and he meets a smoking hot girl his age who's being recruited as well.

You could probably write the rest of this book yourself. Right down to the schmaltzy ending.

I think the most disappointing thing was that this felt like a “write by the numbers” story. The characters were cardboard, plucked from central casting, given a standard background and then placed in a formulaic “80's coming of age saving the world tale” that was so easy to predict it lost any of it's suspense. I've often said there's nothing wrong with a formulaic story, if it's handled properly. If you give the characters lives that are as real as possible and work the story in such a way that plotting is not as obvious as one plus one equals two, then you craft a story that makes it stand out from the formula.

“Armada” is a perfectly readable and serviceable story, but it is not even close to being as good as “Ready Player One.” I felt like Cline just relied on the standard tropes for this kind of story and put no effort into making it stand out. It was disappointing.

I'm sure Cline has another great book in him, but it's not this one.

This story has similarities to the classic “Ender's Game” by Orson Scott Card. In fact, the main character in this story even expresses disbelief that his real life could possibly be mimicking that story. There are so many references to sci-fi, gaming, and music from the 80's that I was overcome by nostalgia and had to dig up some of my old music and games.

Melkoista soopaa, mutta olihan tämä viihdyttävä, kaikessa suoraviivaisessa tyhmyydessään. Ernest Cline tykittää pitkälti popkulttuuriviittausta toisensa perään, eikä juonessa ole mainittavissa määrin omaa ainesta.Viimeinen suuri seikkailija on minulle täysin tuntematon elokuva, en ollut koskaan kuullutkaan, mutta [b:Ender's Game 375802 Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1) Orson Scott Card https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1408303130s/375802.jpg 2422333] on toki luettu. Niinpä kirjan alkuvaiheissa lähinnä arvuuttelin, missä määrin kirjan jokseenkin tutunoloinen asetelma oli yksi yhteen Enderin kanssa.Henkilöhahmot ovat vähän latteita, juonenkäänteet toisaalta ennalta-arvattavia, toisaalta huikeita deus ex machina -pelastuksia. Kirja on jatkuvasti todella tietoinen itsestään ja juuristaan ja tekee sen hyvin selväksi. En ollenkaan ihmettelisi, jos tämän joku vakavampi kriitikko lyttäisi täysin.Mutta kaikesta huolimatta, olipahan mainiota viihdettä.

3.5/5 - I really wanted to love this as much as Ready Player One, but there were so many elements of it that seemed forced and didn't have the same flow. The characters had WAY less diversity in their personalities. That being said, I loved the idea for what Armada was as a story. It may not have been unique, but it was a type of story I LOVE. Definitely one where you get that geeky love, but not the homerun that Ready Player One was, in my opinion.

2nd read of Armada (as an Audible Audiobook) by Ernest Cline

Thoughts:
• I enjoyed it more the second time around more than the first. Not really sure why, but some aspects just didn't stick out as much this time as last.
• The pop culture references were pretty good, though still not nearly as good as Ready Player One.
• Still too much unnecessary language for younger readers.

Overall, I'd call this a “fun” read and recommend it to anybody who enjoyed the pop-culture references and near-Sci-Fi aspects of Ready Player One. Just don't expect it to be a sequel or nearly as good.