Rating
7.5/10
Synopsis
Ernest Cline’s Armada centers around Zack Lightman, an 18-year-old high school senior, whose obsession over his dead father has made him a science fiction and video game expert. Zack is one of world’s best pilots in the popular video game Armada, coming in at #6 on the global rankings. He is also a major Sci-fi movie buff.
Yet, Zack sits on one of his father’s secrets that makes him question his science fiction obsessions. Within an old notebook Zack has discovered that his father was a conspiracy theorist who believed that the government uses popular video games to test the skills of people around the world for an unknown reason. Saddened by his father’s supposed madness, Zack wonders if he should let it all go and move on to other things. That is, until he sees an alien spaceship which resembles those in the Armada video game he plays so much.
The rest of the story follows Zack as he gets shoved into an unexpected journey to save his own life and all of humanity.
Review
I went into this read with high expectations because I was a major Ready Player One fan. Thankfully, Armada did not disappoint! In my option this book is a tribute to the history of video games, video game culture, and science fiction as a whole. And I’m completely here for that as a big SF fan myself!
Ernest Cline really knows how to use nostalgia and pop culture well. Some might argue that he overuses it, which makes for a clunky read; however, if you are a SF fan or video game fan in general, I think you will appreciate how Cline took all this lore and history and turned it into an enjoyable fast paced story.
Another reason why I enjoyed this book so much is because the story keeps you wondering where it is going to end up from the very beginning. At first I struggled with how Cline wrote it because it was almost painfully obvious where the story was headed from the very beginning. Yet, Zack constantly questions what is happening in the story in almost the same way I was, which made me feel like I was participating with Zack in some kind of reader/character dialogue that continued throughout the majority of the book (if that makes sense). The fact that the story admits to the obvious cheesiness and unlikelihood of many sci-fi stories (itself included) made it almost seem more real to me. The reveal at the end of all those questions was fantastic as well.
Finally, what made this story so great to me is the way Cline takes you on a journey with someone who would usually be an outcast of society and almost immediately makes him someone important from the start. He’s not just a pushover at school like many kids who are majorly into science fiction and videogames, and he doesn’t have to do anything other than be who he is. His life up until this point hasn’t been a waste of time, and he’s important even though he didn’t know it. I think many readers who picture themselves to be like Zack will appreciate how his character is lifted up both before the story gets going and, of course, after it does as well.
There might be a few negatives such as a little too much nostalgia for non-SF people, some forced dialogue that didn’t quite work (mostly between Zack and the female characters), and a strange lack of urgency or seriousness of the situation from many of the characters throughout the story. But overall, this book was an enjoyably geeky read that has a light tone in the midst of a serious situation. If you need just a fun book for your hectic schedule, then I would definitely recommend Armada.
And as the #1 Armada pilot always says,“You’re welcome.”
Ernest Cline. Armada. Broadway Books, 2015.