susanatherly's review against another edition
3.0
It's not a long book and it is ok. A good vacation read but not great.
jackaroni_with_cheese's review against another edition
2.0
This books is Ready Player One's disappointing sibling that tries too hard. The characters feel the same, the threat feels the same, and it kills the thrill. I'm a huge fan of RPO and Armada had to live up to the expectations. It did not.
mehsi's review
5.0
A fantastic book full of references, gaming, aliens, and much much more!
I first read, or I should say tried to read this one, on my e-reader, but this one just suffered the same fate as a lot of my ebooks. I couldn't get through the book and didn't like it. Can you imagine how sad I was, because I just adored the other book by this author. Then just a week or so ago I spotted this book (in English) at my library and dived back to the world, and instantly loved it and couldn't stop reading. It is something that is happening quite often. I try the ebook, don't like it, but when I get the chance to read the physical version I love the book and can't stop reading. Maybe something to do with the fact I just miss the smell, the flipping of the pages, but I think most importantly it has to do with my eyes not getting tired. Even on the fanciest e-readers my eyes just get tired superfast. :(
Now, let me talk about the book, I don't want to write a super long review, because spoilers are rampant in this one, but I do want to talk about a few things, and 1 of them really has to go under spoilertags. I know, I didn't want to discuss stuff with spoilers, but I really need to get that one thing out of my system.
This book is just like the other book, full of references, this time mostly focusing on Science-fiction. Everything from Star Trek to E.T gets referenced, and while I am not a big Sci-fi kind of girl, I still saw most of the references and enjoyed them all. It was great fun deciphering stuff, though I am still amazed that people are able to quote books, movies, or games line by line. Even with my favourite shows? I am not able to do that. I might remember what a movie/book/game is about (for at least some years) but I am not one to remember quotes.
Our MC is a great character and I liked him a whole lot. He was sweet, kind, friendly, but also determined and helpful. It was fun to see him play games, and see him lead whole battles against, well first the computer games, but then later when the aliens turned out to be real, against the aliens. He is a real pro, and I just loved how even though he was afraid in the later parts he kept going, he knew what was at stake and fought hard for Earth. Many 18-year-olds would probably have run away, but he just kept going.
I also loved what he did near the end (when the battle was still going).
There is also a whole slew of characters that were terrific. From our MC's friends, to his mother, to Lex (I especially loved Lex though, she was such a kick-ass girl, the stuff she did? Amazing! She is a real hero and did many things that helped with the end battle in her own way.).
The aliens, and what they were planning was interesting. I loved the theories, and I also had great fun in figuring out what was going on, because just like our MC, and just like other people I found the behaviour of the aliens quite weird and strange. It just didn't seem to match.
I first had this book at 5 stars, but upon closer consideration decided to remove -1 star from it because of the ending. Which I will now discuss under spoiler tags.
Also the ending was utterly weird and a bit confusing. So he gets together with Lex, makes the game shop great, but then decides to dump her, his mom and his baby brother, and go to be some emissary for the alien crap? I know those aliens are suspicions, but do you need to do this to your family? After all they already went through? Nope. Just nope.
There were also some small errors in the book. Like for instance when the countdown clock is one hour they all gather together and watch the world being told about the whole alien invasion thing. Quite a chunk of time goes by, but when we get to the next part we are back to the countdown clock, and it is once again at 1 hour. This time the Qcomm link private stuff opens up so they can call their families.
Not only does this not make sense because 1) Time passed to be beyond the 1 hour countdown clock mark.
2) It was said at the beginning there would be NO communication with the civilians (aka the families/friends) until the world knew about the alien invasion.
So yeah, I had to look back and forth to make sure I wasn't reading things wrong.
But all in all, this was a book that I immensely enjoyed and I just hope that the writer will be writing another book full of references. I would recommend this one to everyone. Even with the suckish ending, there was a lot of action, I cried a few times, the references were awesome, the gaming was great.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I first read, or I should say tried to read this one, on my e-reader, but this one just suffered the same fate as a lot of my ebooks. I couldn't get through the book and didn't like it. Can you imagine how sad I was, because I just adored the other book by this author. Then just a week or so ago I spotted this book (in English) at my library and dived back to the world, and instantly loved it and couldn't stop reading. It is something that is happening quite often. I try the ebook, don't like it, but when I get the chance to read the physical version I love the book and can't stop reading. Maybe something to do with the fact I just miss the smell, the flipping of the pages, but I think most importantly it has to do with my eyes not getting tired. Even on the fanciest e-readers my eyes just get tired superfast. :(
Now, let me talk about the book, I don't want to write a super long review, because spoilers are rampant in this one, but I do want to talk about a few things, and 1 of them really has to go under spoilertags. I know, I didn't want to discuss stuff with spoilers, but I really need to get that one thing out of my system.
This book is just like the other book, full of references, this time mostly focusing on Science-fiction. Everything from Star Trek to E.T gets referenced, and while I am not a big Sci-fi kind of girl, I still saw most of the references and enjoyed them all. It was great fun deciphering stuff, though I am still amazed that people are able to quote books, movies, or games line by line. Even with my favourite shows? I am not able to do that. I might remember what a movie/book/game is about (for at least some years) but I am not one to remember quotes.
Our MC is a great character and I liked him a whole lot. He was sweet, kind, friendly, but also determined and helpful. It was fun to see him play games, and see him lead whole battles against, well first the computer games, but then later when the aliens turned out to be real, against the aliens. He is a real pro, and I just loved how even though he was afraid in the later parts he kept going, he knew what was at stake and fought hard for Earth. Many 18-year-olds would probably have run away, but he just kept going.
I also loved what he did near the end (when the battle was still going).
There is also a whole slew of characters that were terrific. From our MC's friends, to his mother, to Lex (I especially loved Lex though, she was such a kick-ass girl, the stuff she did? Amazing! She is a real hero and did many things that helped with the end battle in her own way.).
The aliens, and what they were planning was interesting. I loved the theories, and I also had great fun in figuring out what was going on, because just like our MC, and just like other people I found the behaviour of the aliens quite weird and strange. It just didn't seem to match.
I first had this book at 5 stars, but upon closer consideration decided to remove -1 star from it because of the ending. Which I will now discuss under spoiler tags.
Spoiler
So the MC's dad is alive after all those years, and then we just kill him off in the last battle? WTF? Why? Yes, so he could be a hero? So the MC's parents could have a quick fuck (which also magically led to a new kid), could get a quick chat about live, and oh well, to show that EDA is doing a lot of covering up of stuff? Or what? I just didn't see any sense in it. I was delighted for everyone when the MC's father lived, and I thought he would finally get the life he deserved. With his wife, with our MC, and then now with his other kid. But noooooo. Just kill him off in some stupid way. BAH BAH BAH.Also the ending was utterly weird and a bit confusing. So he gets together with Lex, makes the game shop great, but then decides to dump her, his mom and his baby brother, and go to be some emissary for the alien crap? I know those aliens are suspicions, but do you need to do this to your family? After all they already went through? Nope. Just nope.
There were also some small errors in the book. Like for instance when the countdown clock is one hour they all gather together and watch the world being told about the whole alien invasion thing. Quite a chunk of time goes by, but when we get to the next part we are back to the countdown clock, and it is once again at 1 hour. This time the Qcomm link private stuff opens up so they can call their families.
Not only does this not make sense because 1) Time passed to be beyond the 1 hour countdown clock mark.
2) It was said at the beginning there would be NO communication with the civilians (aka the families/friends) until the world knew about the alien invasion.
So yeah, I had to look back and forth to make sure I wasn't reading things wrong.
But all in all, this was a book that I immensely enjoyed and I just hope that the writer will be writing another book full of references. I would recommend this one to everyone. Even with the suckish ending, there was a lot of action, I cried a few times, the references were awesome, the gaming was great.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
ssjonoyoung's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing and I don't see where the criticism is coming from.
Full Review- http://mountfandom.tumblr.com/post/134366688790/armada-by-ernest-cline
Full Review- http://mountfandom.tumblr.com/post/134366688790/armada-by-ernest-cline
thechris's review against another edition
1.0
Holy shit this was bad. I've sat here for a few minutes trying to figure out how to explain how bad this is. I just can't so I'll just a few points I guess.
* Cline still has no idea how to write women as people
* In fairness, he doesn't know how to write people as people with his protagonist being another Mary Sue
* No pacing
* The Cline special of Tell them what you're going to show them, then tell them what you showed them.
and finally
* The ending is so fucking stupid. It's rushed in the way that a high school paper is rushed once the kid hits the word count. And it's fucking stupid.
The only reason to read this is to be in on the joke of what a terrible book this is.
* Cline still has no idea how to write women as people
* In fairness, he doesn't know how to write people as people with his protagonist being another Mary Sue
* No pacing
* The Cline special of Tell them what you're going to show them, then tell them what you showed them.
and finally
* The ending is so fucking stupid. It's rushed in the way that a high school paper is rushed once the kid hits the word count. And it's fucking stupid.
The only reason to read this is to be in on the joke of what a terrible book this is.
hawkeyegough's review against another edition
4.0
It you know what you signed up for going in it's a good book. Seems like there are a lot of whiny reviews about how people didn't get the references. I was born after most of the stuff Cline is referencing and I still found it relatable and enjoyable. Probably because I've always dreamed of a scenario like this and actually read the dust jacket beforehand, which it seems like a lot of folks didn't. A lot of these reviews seem to be based on people who heard about Ready Player One and expect this to be the same, which it isn't. This has a more retro feel and is set about 30 years before Ready Player One. Don't go into it looking for the same thing, because you'll be disappointed.
peterongcook's review against another edition
3.0
I came in to reading this with low expectations. Which is opposite of how I felt when I first heard it was being published, because I really like RP1. The top reviews on this book have been utterly harsh. So, with these low expectations, I was pleasantly surprised.
I'm clearly Ernest Cline's pop contemporary, and understood most of the references. The Last Starfighter scenario was a fantasy I had until I was maybe 12. I was glad to read a contemporary take on the story.
I had probably the same issues everybody else had with this book, I'm probably just more charitable about them. Could the action sequences been better written? Maybe, yeah, they felt rushed and hand wavey at times. This is a mass market paperback fast summer beach sci fi read. It's a good one. Let's not cast aspirations on this book.
I have to wonder if this book would have been better if it was written in a third person viewpoint, though.
I'm still looking forward to Clines's next book.
I'm clearly Ernest Cline's pop contemporary, and understood most of the references. The Last Starfighter scenario was a fantasy I had until I was maybe 12. I was glad to read a contemporary take on the story.
I had probably the same issues everybody else had with this book, I'm probably just more charitable about them. Could the action sequences been better written? Maybe, yeah, they felt rushed and hand wavey at times. This is a mass market paperback fast summer beach sci fi read. It's a good one. Let's not cast aspirations on this book.
I have to wonder if this book would have been better if it was written in a third person viewpoint, though.
I'm still looking forward to Clines's next book.
robhughes's review against another edition
2.0
Disappointing, i loved his first book-'Ready Player One'- but this one felt like a direct rip-off of several sci-fi novels and stories from the 1980s. The author frequently references these sources, but unlike his first book, where these callbacks invigorated the story, this time it slows the narrative and left me feeling tired and a little bored.
itsmytuberculosis's review against another edition
5.0
Aliens. Video Games. Space. Neil deGrasse Tyson. DAD? Battles. PlOt TwIsT.
Second Favourite Book of All Time.
Second Favourite Book of All Time.
luneclaire's review against another edition
4.0
This book spoke my dialect of nerd 😁
[Combo read & audiobook; Wil Wheaton is pretty great.]
[Combo read & audiobook; Wil Wheaton is pretty great.]