Armada

Summary:

Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. 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. 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.

But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe.

And then he sees the flying saucer.

Even 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.

No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’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.

It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. 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? (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

Honestly, I don’t think this book can compare to “Ready Player One”, but it is pretty solid as a science fiction story.  The main disappointing thing about the book is that it is fairly predictable, but for a quick read with some fun sci-fi references sprinkled in I found it a nice change of pace.  Zack doesn’t have too much character development, but considering the setup of the scenario it seemed reasonable within the bounds to me.  The secondary characters, however, had a lot more development to be memorable and that left the book feeling quite plot driven where Zack lurches from situation to situation.

I’d recommend this one for science fiction fans, but certainly isn’t going to win over people generally to the genre.

Warning: Contains repeated violence.

Rating: 3 stars!

Who should read it? Science fiction fans and those looking for a solid feel good read.