NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A rollicking alien invasion thriller that embraces and subverts science-fiction conventions, from the author of the worldwide phenomenon Ready Player One
“Exciting . . . mixes Star Wars, The Last Starfighter, Independence Day, and a really gnarly round of Space Invaders.”—USA Today • “A thrilling coming of age story.”—Entertainment Weekly
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.
Initial thoughts: What stellar narration from Wil Wheaton! Listening to the audiobook certainly is a huge contributing factor to my enjoyment of something that usually wouldn't be my kind of book. Hard core gaming? Aliens? Excessive pop culture references? None of these are things I care much for and yet I had a blast with Armada.
I think that subject matter aside, Armada did well in presenting relatable characters as well as a huge conflict interspersed with minor ones. The resolutions came with caveats and ambiguity yet I felt satisfied at the end of the ride.
My only reason for holding back on full five stars is that Armada didn't blow me away as an original story — I found it a little predictable, reminiscent of science fiction books I used to read over a decade ago.
