jcpdiesel21's review against another edition
2.0
Since I found Cline's [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406383612s/9969571.jpg|14863741] to be such a wildly inventive and fun ride, I was feverishly awaiting his next work with bated breath. Unfortunately, this book did not live up to my high expectations. The story is enjoyable, yet does not feel terribly original and the secondary characters are sorely underdeveloped. The pop culture references this time around are few and far between as the tone is more serious. I am not much of a gamer, and while this did not hinder my enjoyment of [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406383612s/9969571.jpg|14863741], I felt lost and borderline bored with the gameplay and battle descriptions here; perhaps it would have helped if I was more versed in FPS games to fully comprehend what was happening. I also found the climax to be a little unsatisfying and the ending far too pat. I certainly tore through this book quickly and was interested to see what happened, but in the end it ended up being merely okay.
mundinova's review against another edition
2.0
Story: 2 stars
Characters: 1 star
Prose/Language: 2 stars
You know that really awesome party you attended with your friends a while back (Ready Player One)? Imagine you tried to recreate it, but during the daytime with no booze and not everyone showed up. That's Armada. Sure, you may still have fun but you're reminded too much of the first party to really enjoy yourself.
Characters: 1 star
Prose/Language: 2 stars
You know that really awesome party you attended with your friends a while back (Ready Player One)? Imagine you tried to recreate it, but during the daytime with no booze and not everyone showed up. That's Armada. Sure, you may still have fun but you're reminded too much of the first party to really enjoy yourself.
green_with_3nvy's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
raetracer's review against another edition
2.0
I'd say that I'm a big sci fi and video game fan, so I should be the target audience for this book, but it just didn't click with me. While the 80s references in Ready Player One were fun, in Armada they just feel forced, like the only way the main character can describe anything is with a pop culture reference simile. I thought the plot overall could have been a fun updating of the "video game battles are real!" idea, but the characters didn't need to be SO dorky and referential all the time.
isabellarobinson7's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: 4.9999999... stars
I had a strange mind set going into Armada: on one hand I had super high expectations for it because I (like many others) absolutely loved Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and I read the description of Armada and was so excited; but on the other hand, I had read some pretty bad reviews of Armada on Goodreads and elsewhere saying it was definitely not as good as Ready Player One. So I was reading and trying not to expect something to match Ready Player One, but also trying not to let other people's opinions affect my own. I believe I was somewhat successful, as I came away loving this book! I read the first half-ish of the book in almost one sitting, then kind if casually read the middle section, then completely binged the last 50% or 60%.
I can't give it a full 5 stars because it was not quite as good as Ready Player One, but I'll give it as close as possible (and rounded up 4.999999... stars is 5 stars, so technically 5 stars).
One (1) issue I had with Armada was that I think there was a bit of insta love between two characters (not the multiple characters hooking up because the world was going to end, which were just as good as one night stands). It was like these two characters just met and then on the next page they were kissing. This, however, could be my fault for binge reading the book in essentially two sittings, and there could have been a steady build up that I missed because I read it so quickly. And also, for me personally, "bad" romances do not really bother me, because I am more focused on the story itself rather than the ships and otps.
But I want to end on a good note, so I'm going to talk about all the 80's sci fi references. Just like Ready Player One, Armada was packed full of Star Trek and Star Wars references and everything else science fiction-y. If you can think of a sci fi book or game or movie or television show from the 80's or something, I can almost guarantee it was included in Armada. I really liked the list given at the end of the novel containing all the songs for the Raid the Arcade playlist referred to during the book. I have pretty much had the playlist on repeat since I finished the book (in fact, I am listening to it right now).
I had a strange mind set going into Armada: on one hand I had super high expectations for it because I (like many others) absolutely loved Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and I read the description of Armada and was so excited; but on the other hand, I had read some pretty bad reviews of Armada on Goodreads and elsewhere saying it was definitely not as good as Ready Player One. So I was reading and trying not to expect something to match Ready Player One, but also trying not to let other people's opinions affect my own. I believe I was somewhat successful, as I came away loving this book! I read the first half-ish of the book in almost one sitting, then kind if casually read the middle section, then completely binged the last 50% or 60%.
I can't give it a full 5 stars because it was not quite as good as Ready Player One, but I'll give it as close as possible (and rounded up 4.999999... stars is 5 stars, so technically 5 stars).
One (1) issue I had with Armada was that I think there was a bit of insta love between two characters (not the multiple characters hooking up because the world was going to end, which were just as good as one night stands). It was like these two characters just met and then on the next page they were kissing. This, however, could be my fault for binge reading the book in essentially two sittings, and there could have been a steady build up that I missed because I read it so quickly. And also, for me personally, "bad" romances do not really bother me, because I am more focused on the story itself rather than the ships and otps.
But I want to end on a good note, so I'm going to talk about all the 80's sci fi references. Just like Ready Player One, Armada was packed full of Star Trek and Star Wars references and everything else science fiction-y. If you can think of a sci fi book or game or movie or television show from the 80's or something, I can almost guarantee it was included in Armada. I really liked the list given at the end of the novel containing all the songs for the Raid the Arcade playlist referred to during the book. I have pretty much had the playlist on repeat since I finished the book (in fact, I am listening to it right now).
inwonderland49's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I haven't read Ready Player One yet, but I want to. And after reading this book, I want to read it even more! I have heard some mixed feelings about this book. Especially from the people who read Ready Player One first. Quite a few people do not think that this is as good as Ready Player One. So, maybe it is a good thing that I haven't read it yet.
I was a little nervous going into this one, because even though I'm a nerd, I'm not all that nerdy. I'm more BookNerd and WordNerd than I am full on Nerd. However, even though I didn't know some of the references, I didn't feel deterred from reading the rest of the book or enjoying the story. Granted, I did ask my fiance to interpret what some of the references were, but not because I needed to know it for the book, but because I wanted to know them. I felt the need to learn more and he is a total math and science nerd.
I enjoyed Zack as a character. I liked that at the beginning (even though he thought he was going crazy because he saw a flying saucer) he stuck up for someone who was being bullied. I really admire those kinds of qualities. I would hope that my own children in the future would be strong enough and bold enough to stick up for people, when they can't stick up for themselves. So, right off the bat, I liked Zack.
I really like the fact that even though this is Young Adult, it has SO much Cross Over appeal. People of all ages can love and enjoy this book. And I'm sure the same goes for Ready Player One which will be on my list to read before the movie comes out! I say give this one a shot.
I was a little nervous going into this one, because even though I'm a nerd, I'm not all that nerdy. I'm more BookNerd and WordNerd than I am full on Nerd. However, even though I didn't know some of the references, I didn't feel deterred from reading the rest of the book or enjoying the story. Granted, I did ask my fiance to interpret what some of the references were, but not because I needed to know it for the book, but because I wanted to know them. I felt the need to learn more and he is a total math and science nerd.
I enjoyed Zack as a character. I liked that at the beginning (even though he thought he was going crazy because he saw a flying saucer) he stuck up for someone who was being bullied. I really admire those kinds of qualities. I would hope that my own children in the future would be strong enough and bold enough to stick up for people, when they can't stick up for themselves. So, right off the bat, I liked Zack.
I really like the fact that even though this is Young Adult, it has SO much Cross Over appeal. People of all ages can love and enjoy this book. And I'm sure the same goes for Ready Player One which will be on my list to read before the movie comes out! I say give this one a shot.
vmacalinao's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jeannamarie's review against another edition
1.0
Ugh. This book would have been good if IT HAD NOT ALREADY BEEN DONE TWICE!!
The Last Starfighter and Ender’s Game.
How is this book not plagiarism!??!!
Also just because you can insert pop cultures references, doesn’t mean you should necessarily put those references into every single sentence and jam them in the sentences so much, it’s not even original content anymore. There’s an art, a subtlety to insert references into conversation, this was not it.
Everyone is correct; Ready Player 1 is so good, RP2 was a let down, yet semi entertaining and this, THIS BOOK was ridiculous.
Do yourself a favor and don’t read it.
Go read The Last Starfighter, Ender’s Game & Ready Player 1 and you’ll get T H R E E quality books, not a poor quality book of the three mashed together.
I can’t with this book. I actually wish I could unread.
The Last Starfighter and Ender’s Game.
How is this book not plagiarism!??!!
Also just because you can insert pop cultures references, doesn’t mean you should necessarily put those references into every single sentence and jam them in the sentences so much, it’s not even original content anymore. There’s an art, a subtlety to insert references into conversation, this was not it.
Everyone is correct; Ready Player 1 is so good, RP2 was a let down, yet semi entertaining and this, THIS BOOK was ridiculous.
Do yourself a favor and don’t read it.
Go read The Last Starfighter, Ender’s Game & Ready Player 1 and you’ll get T H R E E quality books, not a poor quality book of the three mashed together.
I can’t with this book. I actually wish I could unread.
megsherer's review against another edition
2.0
This book was not for me.
It reads like bad fan-faction, or a first novel by a recent writing program grad that somehow made it through an entire publishing house without getting edited once. In one of the last chapters, an entire sentence is repeated, word for word, less than 4 sentences after its first use, and not for emphasis - it's literally as though it was copied and pasted into a new paragraph.
The main character, Zach, is a grab bag of post-century teen boy gamer traits, rather than an actual person, and the female characters are caricatures. The description of Lex, the love interest for Zach, seems like it's torn directly from the worst internet ramblings of a lonely teen boy who has never seen one in person.
EVERYONE SPEAKS IN REFERENCES TO 90's/00's MMO GAMES; IT IS THE WORST.
It reads like bad fan-faction, or a first novel by a recent writing program grad that somehow made it through an entire publishing house without getting edited once. In one of the last chapters, an entire sentence is repeated, word for word, less than 4 sentences after its first use, and not for emphasis - it's literally as though it was copied and pasted into a new paragraph.
The main character, Zach, is a grab bag of post-century teen boy gamer traits, rather than an actual person, and the female characters are caricatures. The description of Lex, the love interest for Zach, seems like it's torn directly from the worst internet ramblings of a lonely teen boy who has never seen one in person.
EVERYONE SPEAKS IN REFERENCES TO 90's/00's MMO GAMES; IT IS THE WORST.
whitmc's review against another edition
3.0
It was OK. Less creative and less accessible than Ready Player One. Very videogame heavy, which is not me. I can see how some people really enjoy this book, it just wasn't for me.