Book Review: Armada by Ernest Cline
I just recently finished listening to an audio version of this title, read by Wil Wheaton. Yes, that Wil Wheaton (see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wil_Wheaton] for more about him). The blurb said that it was about a teenager day dreaming in class when he saw a flying saucer that looked just like one of those that appeared in a videogame called Armada that he played for long hours. He started to wonder if he was hallucinating.
The story started slowly at first as we are introduced to the hero Zack Lightman whose father Xavier Lightman supposedly died in an accident at a water treatment plant. We are introduced to Zack and his mother who lived in a rather comfortable home despite the death of his father due to insurance payment from his father's accident. We also learn about his father's interest in videogames, tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), GURPS (Generic Universal Role-Playing System) and Champions and old science fiction movies. As the story progressed, Zack, as well as the reader (or listener, in my case), starts to learn more about a worldwide secret conspiracy to train ordinary people to operate done war machines through videogames. Zack himself was one of the players in the top 10 of the leaderboard, ranked at number 6 initially at the start of the novel.
Things finally come to a head when an Earth Defence Alliance (EDA) shuttle lands at Zack's school and someone asks for him by name. Dazed, he was recruited by the EDA and brought to a secret base to prepare for the coming alien invasion, together with thousands of other recruits. From this point forward, the story was non-stop action and the pace was breathtaking, with some pauses along the way. I won't mention anymore except to say that there were some plot twists before the story finally ended.
The story could be considered a coming of age story, with elements of rags to riches. The main character Zack, grows from a geeky teenager who worships his dead father and has anger issues, to a young man who meets the girl of his dreams (a female geek, just like him) and saves the world, quite literally and in the nick of time. He suffered some heart aches too (which I won't reveal) but overall, he comes out ahead.
More interestingly, the author has managed to sneak in some social commentary about the state of the human race in the novel and our place in the universe. The commentary forces the reader to think and ponder about what he says. It's like the author is holding up a mirror and inviting the reader to look inside and see the nobility and ugliness of human nature.
The many references to geek culture, such as the various song titles mentioned and the games and movies collected by Zack's father will bring a smile of recognition to anyone who is interested in such things (that's me!). The narration by Wil Wheaton is great. He reads clearly and with emotion. He was particularly enthusiastic when he read the parts about geek culture, such as the titles of the role-playing games, videogames, movies and songs mentioned previously. I guess this shows that Wil Wheaton is also an uber-geek.
I enjoyed this story very much and I would recommend it heartily to anyone who is secretly a geek at heart. The ebook is available from amazon.com at a reasonable price of $2.58. Enjoy and let me know in the comments about your thoughts and feelings after reading/listening to the book.