Armada
The thrilling sci-fi novel from the global bestselling author of Ready Player One
-
-
4.2 • 97 Ratings
-
-
- $15.99
Publisher Description
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF READY PLAYER ONE, NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY STEVEN SPIELBERG
'[A] masterful tale of Earth's desperate struggle against a powerful alien foe.' Andy Weir, bestselling author of The Martian
----
It's just another day of high school for Zack Lightman. He's daydreaming through another boring math class, with just one more month to go until graduation and freedom-if he can make it that long without getting suspended again.
Then he glances out his classroom window and spots the flying saucer.
At first, Zack thinks he's going crazy.
A minute later, he's sure of it. Because the UFO he's staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada-in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders.
But what Zack's seeing is all too real. And his skills-as well as those of millions of gamers across the world-are going to be needed to save the earth from what's about to befall it.
Yet even as he and his new comrades scramble to prepare for the alien onslaught, Zack can't help thinking of all the science-fiction books, TV shows, and movies he grew up reading and watching, and wonder: Doesn't something about this scenario seem a little too... familiar?
Armada is at once a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming of age adventure, and an alien-invasion tale like nothing you've ever read before-one whose every page is infused with author Ernest Cline's trademark pop-culture savvy.
----
Here's what everyone's saying about this epic masterpiece:
'A modern masterpiece full of a new style of literary magic' 5-star reader review
'Excellent. Even better than Ready Player One.' 5-star reader review
'One of my favourite books of all time. Incredibly well written' 5-star reader review
'Absolutely awesome!!! Read in less than 24 hours, hooked on every page' 5-star reader review
'Amazing and a great follow up read to Ready Player One!' 5-star reader review
'Had me on the edge of my seat the whole time... a joy to read' 5-star reader review
'Absolutely brilliant! Couldn't put it down, a must read' 5-star reader review
'A love letter to old school alien invasion sci-fi... Highly, HIGHLY recommended for all fans of Cline's previous novel, Ready Player One, as well as any classic science fiction fan' 5-star reader review
'Majorly, fantastically geeky... Armada just ticked all my boxes' 5-star reader review
This book has been published with two different covers and may be delivered with either cover. Please rest assured that regardless of the cover, the content of the book is the same.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We had a blast reading the second novel by Ernest Cline, author of the 2011 bestseller Ready Player One. While staring out his classroom window, Zack Lightman spies a Sobrukai Glaive, an interstellar fighter vessel from his favourite video game. So begins a wild adventure that’s part sci-fi, part family drama, with Zack simultaneously tracking an alien invasion and the fuzzy circumstances surrounding the father he never knew. Fizzing with pop culture references and wonderfully geeky humour, Armada is a propulsive story that involves teenage angst, small-town xenophobia, the joys of gaming and billions of drones.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
What if the X-Files were a "fictional alien cover-up created to conceal real one"? Cline (Ready Player One) makes this kind of paranoia intriguing in an SF novel whose strong opening compensates for a less gripping ending. After Zack Lightman's father died in an accident, the teen distracted himself with gaming, achieving one of the world's top scores in a human vs. alien invaders game called Armada. To Zack's astonishment, one morning he looks out of his classroom window in Beaverton, Wash., and sees a Sobrukai Glaive, one of the enemy ships from that game. Skeptical of his own senses, Zack flees school to take a more careful look at his father's writings, only to find an unsettling level of conspiracy thinking. Zack soon finds the connection between his vision and his father's theories, at which point the story becomes more conventional and less imaginative. The plot holes get harder to ignore as the conclusion approaches, but the book's beginning offers glimpses of Cline's significant potential.
Customer Reviews
An awesome read!
I haven’t read anything of this caliber since Ready Player One!
The attention to detail easily allows you to feel like your in the book, the attention to character building and all the pop culture, gaming and movie references sets this book apart from the rest in this day and age.
It was a total pleasure to read and I’ll gladly read it over and over
One for the gamers
If you liked his first book, then you will love the second.
Fun ride
Whilst not as original as his first awesome book 'Ready Player One', this story is still a fun ride. The pop-culture references from the Author's (and my) youth are still there, however they do seem a little forced in this book. Worth a read if you are after some mindless fun with space filled action.