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Armada

The thrilling sci-fi novel from the global bestselling author of Ready Player One

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Armada

By: Ernest Cline
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
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About this listen

THE NEW NOVEL FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF READY PLAYER ONE

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 read before—one whose every page is infused with author Ernest Cline’s trademark pop-culture savvy.

 Adventure First Contact Science Fiction Fiction Game

Critic reviews

A novel so fun, you'll want to reboot it and read it again…the best novel this gamer geek has read in a long, long time.
Those conspiracies you imagined when you were fourteen turn out to be true in this masterful tale of Earth's desperate struggle against a powerful alien foe.
Another geektastic celebration of the nerd and nerd culture…Really clever, really captivating.
A thrilling coming-of-age story.
Built like a summer blockbuster…Cline recombines the DNA of Ender’s Game, Star Wars, The Last Starfighter, and old-school arcade games like Asteroids into something that’s both familiar and unpredictable. It’s a mutant homage to sci-fi tropes past.
Expect Cline’s blend of masterful storytelling filled with nerdy references…with twists that’ll have you turning the pages like there’s no tomorrow.
All round a cracking title and for me, a definite Sci-Fi favourite of the year.
Must-read summer blockbuster novel.
Compelling…a love letter to the eighties.
It's epic, it is majorly, fantastically geeky, full of wonderful pop culture references and most of all it is just an amazing joy to read…I loved this, it is one of these rare books that lives with you afterwords, one to be discussed over and over again, it is a modern classic.
All stars
Most relevant
By chapter 7 or 8 I had stopped comparing it to.Ender's Game. A bit verbose on the technicalities but gripping, it kept me up until I had finished it

not as good as Ready Player One

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What made the experience of listening to Armada the most enjoyable?

I say this with absolute sincerity - in all the years my years of listening to audiobooks (practically every day for perhaps 20 years), I have never heard a solo audiobook reading performance as emotive, effective, engaging, and just truly wonderful as Wil Wheaton gives in this book. The story was immensely enjoyable, but the this performance stood out itself. I constantly found myself enjoying specifically Wil's delivery of phrases, sections, lines, quotes, and most of all his truly moving and believable expressions of emotion. He made me cry. I'm not sure I've cried at an audiobook before.

What other book might you compare Armada to, and why?

As can be absolutely guarranteed from knowing Ernest Cline's writing in Ready Player One, this book is filled to the brim with pop culture references. In 2015, it's as current as it gets. So if you're a general pop culture / geek culture / sci-fi / general popular fiction aficionado, you'll love this.

Which character – as performed by Wil Wheaton – was your favourite?

I detest spoilers.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I REALLY detest spoilers.

Any additional comments?

Not to be listened to by those who don't consider themselves well versed in popular culture. It would be like watching a sport without knowing the rules, or reading the third book in a trilogy and not the first 2.

Wil Wh. gave best book performance I EVER heard.

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I can see this book becoming an action movie, but it lacks the depth in characters, plot or credible technology.

OK but lacks credibility

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Came for Spielberg, stayed for the author.

He really didn't do you much credit in the movie. I only wish you started writing earlier.

Ernest Cline is the best gamer author

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loved it, takes longer to get onto then ready player one. but still worth your time.

slow start good finish.

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