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?Īt once gleefully embracing and brilliantly subverting science-fiction conventions as only Ernest Cline could, Armada is 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 the pop-culture savvy that has helped make Ready Player One a phenomenon. It's Zack's chance, at last, to play the hero. 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. In Armada, Cline invokes the spirit of 80’s sci-fi adventure books and films like The Last Starfighter, Ender’s Game, Flight of the Navigator and WarGames in a classic tech-based coming of age tale. As impossible as it seems, what he's seeing is all too real. Ernie Cline, patron saint of 1980’s geeks and author of the wildly successful Ready Player One is back with a new novel, Armada. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don't get chosen to save the universe.Įven stranger, the alien ship 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. 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.īut hey, there's nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he's spent his life consuming. Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming.

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