Armada by Ernest Cline... Game Over

Armada

Written by Ernest Cline

Science Fiction, Fantasy
Published July 16th 2015
384 Pages
Thank you to Cornerstone Digital and Netgalley
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★★

Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science fiction books, movies, and video games he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure.

But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe. And then he sees the flying saucer.

Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the video game 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. No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’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.

It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little… Familiar?

Zack Lightman can tell you just how addictive online multiplayer gaming is, after all, he spends each day trying to save the world. His game of choice is Armada, a massively multiplayer online game in which gamers pilot defense drones to battle alien invaders set to destroy our cities. Armada has over nine million players worldwide, Zack's obsession and persistence earning him a place at sixth on the rankings, not surprising given his late father's love of gaming and working part time at Starbase Ace. But the latest game update has Zack rattled, rather than defend the planet, gamers are in attack mode and with good reason, Zack's world is about to come crashing down.

Armada is part of the Earth Defense Alliance, a real organisation set to task with saving mankind from invasion. Recruiting the top players to fly drones and fight against the Europeans, the alien race declared war on our planet decades earlier, which Zack's late father knew all too well about. Suddenly the box in the attic his father left behind makes sense, the mixed tape, the old videos, books and theories about aliens and invasion. His father was preparing him for this invasion.

Kelly's Thoughts

I begun reading Armada with the excitement and anticipation that I felt with Ready Player One. I'll admit that it really didn't bode well for the rest of my read.

Armada follows the story of Zack, who's only interest seems to be as a gamer and trudging his way through school. Along with friends Diehl and Cruz, each night their crusade is to save the world against an alien invasion sees Zack raising higher in the global ranks, sitting at a respectable sixth place from millions of players worldwide. But this isn't a game, it's Earth Defense Alliance training, an organisation who have been tracking the alien invaders for decades. The son of a gamer, Zack's late father was embroiled in the conspiracy that was the gaming industry just before his death, leaving behind notebooks of theories and pop culture references all pointing to the invasion. More than a decade before Armada was even released.

Similar to Ender's Game, but rather gamers of any age are recruited to fight against the enemy based on their skill level. Only the Armada back story and in game descriptions were too heavy and told in large blocks making it difficult for non gamers to immerse themselves within the storyline. It was clinical and the humour readers enjoyed throughout Ready Player One was missing, with one dimensional characters in it's place. I can imagine that Zack is unrelatable to anyone other than gamers, and his overall plight felt more like a scenario dreamed up by a male teen gamer, save the world, get the girl. It's as though Ernest Cline took every popular science fiction reference and scattered them all throughout the storyline, Carl Sagan, A Space Odyssey and from Space Invaders to Ender's Game. Where in Reader Player One is was infused as a journey for kids of the eighties, in Armada it felt forced and a little like blatant name dropping sadly.

I was mildly entertained, when I had really been expected to be dazzled by the Ernest Cline intellect and ability to immerse readers into his world. 

The Final Verdict

I was still able to enjoy Armada on some level, but really quite disappointed by the release that probably should have been titled Ready Player Ender. For fans of gaming and those who need to play the hero, but sadly not for me.