Little Lit: Armada by Ernest Cline

Summary:
Zack's got a pretty normal life. He's finishing high school, hanging with his friends the two Mikes, and playing video games during his spare time. Then he sees a space ship outside the school window and think he might be going crazy. Until he finds out that the video game has actually just been a preparation for the real threat. And Zack and the other leaders on the game board might be earth's best chance at survival.

What I Liked:

• I just love Cline's writing style. I love the way he puts words together. If you aren't a fan of his style, this story doesn't subsume the style the way I think Ready Player One did, but if you are, then you'll enjoy this.
• The geeky references. Yes, they are copious. Yes, they are on pretty much every page. And yes, I loved pretty much every single one.
• I'm not even sure how to phrase this, except by responding to some criticism I saw - I've seen a number of people complain that this book is just derivative of dozens of other books or movies. What I liked is that this is the exact point of the plot of the book. The point is that it is derivative. There's a purpose for that. I thought it was very clever and entertaining that Cline even has his characters basically make this criticism about their circumstances. It's very self-aware of what it is and embraces that whole-heartedly, which is what makes it work, in my opinion.
• The plot. This is a plot driven book. I found that it pulled me in and kept me engaged to find out what would happen. The characters are sort of secondary, but for some reason, this worked for this book.
• The world building was really fascinating to me this time. In Ready Player One, the story is set in a future dystopic world. Plus there's the development of all of the virtual worlds as well. Here it's set in our world, but not quite. Which to me seems like it would be much harder to write, because everything's familiar, but not really exactly familiar. It gave everything a slightly ... off (for lack of a better word) feeling, like everything was just a hair off-kilter, even before you get to the alien ships, etc.

What I Would Have Liked:

• Having said that, I would have liked it if the characters were a little better developed. There was so much fantastic potential with many of these characters, but the heavy focus on the plot left many (especially most of the secondary characters) feeling rather flat. Even the main character didn't capture me the way the protagonist of Ready Player One did.
• The female characters were slightly disappointing to me too. They felt more caricatured to me than some of (though not all of) the guys did. Again, a lot of potential if a little more time had been spent on character development.
• The ending felt pretty rushed to me, with a hair too much telling rather than showing. I was initially dissatisfied with the ending altogether, but the more I've thought about it, the more I think it was done completely intentionally to leave everything feeling just a little off.

Verdict:

• A really fun, tilt-a-whirl adventure, peppered with pop culture and sci-fi references.
• Don't expect Ready Player One, but Cline still delivers an entertaining, self-aware story that hurtles towards an inevitable and yet, somehow unexpected ending.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book via BookExpo America

December Book Club: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

The world is falling apart, but humanity has found an escape: the OASIS. Designed as a fully integrated virtual experience the OASIS allows anyone who enters to play games, build worlds, and live inside their favorite geekdom. When the creator of OASIS, James Halliday, dies he sets up a massive, OASIS-wide treasure hunt: whoever finds the keys and clears the gates first becomes his heir with full control over the company. Wade Watts never had much growing up: his Mom and the OASIS were the only things that kept him sane. Now that his Mom is dead, he's alone and he spends every possible moment searching for the first key. He's got virtually no money, no clout, and only one friend - so when Wade manages to find the key he's stunned. Now he's got to try to keep things good with his best friend, figure out how he feels about the new girl who almost beat him to the key, and survive the unscrupulous business men striving to claim the keys first so they can commercialize the OASIS. Can he manage to navigate the mix of real world and virtual reality to save the OASIS for everyone?

Flooded with 80's pop-culture references, movie plots, music lyrics, fantasy and science fiction worlds, and every other geeky thing you can imagine, Ready Player One will speak to the nerd in everyone.

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What we thought (no major spoilers, but we do talk about it as people who have read it :)

Jenn N: I loved this book for several reasons. The first being that I really loved Wade. He was adorably geeky, but he used his awkwardness to his advantage by fighting to find the keys/treasure. I also loved all the references to 80's pop-culture, especially the music. I can't help but love a novel that name checks Duran Duran and Oingo Boingo while giving a nod to Lloyd Dobler and Alex P. Keaton. This book has it all: adventure, nostalgia, and a touch of romance.

Jess B: This book speaks to everyone's inner nerd. Wade's perseverance and taking what little he has and making it into so much more is inspiring. I can't seem to stop reading this book. I find myself turning back to it over and over again to find all those little Easter eggs that I have missed each time before. I found myself squealing with each video game reference which brought me back to my childhood in front of my television spending countless hours with my NES controller. (side note: I don't know if you guys were aware of this. Buuuuuuuut the author actually put an Easter Egg in the book itself. It was a website that lead to its own gates. If you made it past the same tests that Wade went through first ... you got a Delorean... AMAZING!!!!)

Rachelyons: This was my favorite book of 2012! The Beard read it before me and it was all he could talk about. I was instantly hooked because I'm a sucker for any story set in a post-apocalyptic world. Combine that with the 80's pop culture and it was like this book was made for me. The world was vivid and unique and I loved the concept. Like Jess B I also loved Wade's perseverance and ingenuity. I recommend this book to everyone and I will definitely read it again!

Rebecca T: Like Jess B, I agree that this speaks to the reader's inner nerd. I really appreciated the way the author incorporated so many different aspects. So if you don't really know video games, there are music or movie or sci-fi or anime references. I geeked out over Wade and Aech's Ladyhawke argument and I think I about died when Wade took over the Firefly class ship. I found it a bit of a slow starter, but once it got into the actual quest part of the novel I was completely hooked. I loved the High Five and the mix of personalities. Wade is a main character who is flawed, but who you root for wholeheartedly.

Next month we're moving back to our YA roots, but taking a twist away from dystopian with a contemporary novel by Janet Gurtler: I'm Not Her. Rebecca T got to meet Janet at a book signing this year and recommended her newest book. Hope you'll join us!

And don't forget you still have time to enter our Blogoversary contest! Lots of lovely books up for grabs :)

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Set in 2044 where our Earth is a terrible and thrilling place. We have used up all of our fossil fuels and are in a energy crisis. 18 year old Wade Watts escapes this horrible place of citizens crammed into Trailers stacked on top of each other, by entering the OASIS. Imagine..World of Warcraft meets Tron. Everyone has their own avatar that they can name, dress, and control in state of the art immersion rigs.

 Three hidden keys open three secret gates Wherein the errant will be tested for Worthy traits
And those with the skill to survive these traits
Will reach The End where the prize awaits.

Created by James Halliday to be used as a getaway from the horrible disappearing Earth we know now. But unlike his immortal avatar Mr Halliday had to accept his fate but he wasn't going out without a bang. Having no one to give his fortune to, he hid it within the OASIS. Giving only a video and one statement, he sent the entire world into chaos looking for his 240 Billion Dollars and complete control over his company GSS.

Mr Halliday explained you needed 3 keys. 1 copper, 1 jade, and 1 crystal. After 5 years no had found the first key. Enter Wade Watts. Our main character in this adventure. You cannot help but feel for this character. His pain and torment is so real I found myself screaming at the book 'YOU'RE NOT ALONE!' Which believe me got me some interesting looks. In fact this book is so hard to put down I was reading it between battles during my Saturday night D&D campaign. Much to my Dungeon Masters dismay. But oh well, I survived my mission that's all that matter. I guess my dice didn't feel like killing me.

The amount of video game, TV, and movie reference is staggering. I caught myself grinning from ear to ear getting all the little witty remarks Wade Watts was making. If you are a true gamer and have been for quite sometime, this is a must read. Even if you have never played a video game in your life, this is a must read. You will not be able to put it down!

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