Julie's Review: Armada

Author: Ernest Cline
Series: None
Publication Date: July 14, 2015
Publisher: Random House Audio
Length: 11 Hours and 58 Minutes
Narrator: Wil Wheaton
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Science Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Alien invasion with a sense of humor
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary: It's just another day of high school for Zack Lightman. He's daydreaming through another boring math class, with just one more month to go until graduation and freedom - if he can make it that long without getting suspended again.
Then he glances out his classroom window and spots the flying saucer.
At first Zack thinks he's going crazy. A minute later he's sure of it. Because the UFO 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. But what Zack's seeing is all too real. 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.Yet even as he and his new comrades scramble to prepare for the alien onslaught, Zack can't help thinking of all the science-fiction books, TV shows, and movies he grew up reading and watching and wonder: Doesn't something about this scenario seem a little too...familiar? Armada is at once a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming-of-age adventure, and an alien-invasion tale like nothing you've ever heard before - one whose every minute is infused with author Ernest Cline's trademark pop-culture savvy. ~amazon.com

Review: Armada isn't really my cup of tea and pretty much the only reason I used an Audible credit for it was 2 words: Wil Wheaton. You see, he narrated Ready, Player One and I just love the sound of his voice and how he creates the voices of the characters. While this is a science fiction book it has a heavy dose of humor and pop culture. It is evident to me that Mr. Cline is a huge gamer.

Zach Lightman is a 18 year old who isn't quite sure what he's going to do with his life after graduation. He just wants to work at his part time job and continue playing his favorite video game Armada. This life contemplation doesn't last long because what happens next is straight out of a sci-fi movie. He's quickly recruited into an elite group that is fighting an alien invasion that is imminent.

What I really love about Mr. Cline's novels is how you immediately connect to the main character. Even if you don't understand the gaming world or frankly care about alien invasions, you will like Zach and his sense of humor. Mr. Cline also doesn't go geeky sci-fi on you either. He talks enough of the language for those who do like to geek out but not too much that you get lost.

What is an important in both of his books is relationship: family, friends and romantic. He makes it clear that humans wouldn't be human if we didn't establish and maintain those that sets us apart. There is so much good in this book that it does make you believe in the good in us humans.

Let's talk about Wil Wheaton's narration skills for a bit. He's simply fantastic. I could listen to him narrate almost every book I listen to. He does an excellent job of distinguishing his voice for all of the characters and in an non-irritating way.

While I might not have liked this one as much as Ready, Player One, I still thought that was a lot to think about.



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Julie's Review: Ready Player One

Author: Ernest Cline
Series: None
Publication Date:August 31, 2011
Publisher: Findaway World/Random House
Narrator: Wil Wheaton
Length: 15 hours and 46 minutes
Obtained: Audible;Mine
Genre:  Science Fiction, Fantasy
Rating: 5
Bottom Line: Any child of the 80s will want to listen or read this! Fantastic!!
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab!

Summary: At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, Ready Player One is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut — part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed. It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune — and remarkable power — to whoever can unlock them. For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig. And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle. Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt — among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life — and love — in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape. A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready? ~powells.com

Review: I don't do Sci-Fi. I just don't. I think my dad scarred me with making me watch the tv show Star Trek and the subsequent movies. So when Michelle suggested Ready Player One, I agreed with some hesitation. I will say this, it isn't so Sci-Fi that it's not a plausible future, because it is. What sold me though was the 80s reference. Dear lord there was a perpetual smile on my face from this book. Mr. Cline has certainly written a book that will appeal to a wide variety of people. I felt that Mr. Cline did a fantastic job of including politics in the book without it hitting you over the head with it. There's adventure, action, romance packed into this gem of a book.

Wade is a fantastic character. He's the definition of an every man. You identify with his struggles, his hopes and his pursuit. His life sucks so badly outside of the Oasis that he creates the life he wants inside of a virtual world. The hunt for the "Easter Egg" is a glorified scavenger hunt that makes people crazy and greedy. I mean it is a ton of money but money does weird things to people. I would even consider Wade a bit of a savant. Seriously who remembers dialogue of a lot of movies in a variety of genres? I guess if that's all you do, then maybe you do have brain capacity for it. It is his memory and how he puts together the pieces of the puzzle that shoot him to the top of the gamers scoreboard. And that's where I'll leave it because saying anymore would ruin it for you. I will say this about all the other characters in the book, the geeks shall inherit the earth is so true. This is a great group of people who find solace in a virtual reality but have real connections with each other. And that's where I'll leave it because saying anymore would ruin it for you.

And really, you should listen Ready Player One. You may ask, why not just read it? Well you could but then you would miss Wil Wheaton as the narrator. Wil Wheaton was made for this book. His inflection, his voice, his characterization were spot on. Good god, I think I have a voice crush on him now. I mean I've been a fan of Wil Wheaton since his Stand By Me days and of course the times he was on The Big Bang Theory but I wouldn't have guessed him to be such a fantastic narrator.

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