I loved this fast paced, inventive sci fi story. Full of twists, awesome tech/gadgets and action. It had all the fun and joy of Cline's Ready Player One and this would make for a spectacular TV/Movie adaption.

I talk about Armada in my #ARCAugust Wrap-Up starting from 8:28 and ending at 10:39

https://youtu.be/03DiFs4EzQw?t=8m28s

After I adored Ready Player One I went into Armada with pretty high expectations, which unfortunately it didn't quite live up to. As with Ready Player One, I decided to listen to the audiobook, and as usual, Wil Wheaton's narration was fantastic, but for some reason, I still found I just never got truly hooked on Armada like I did Ready Player One.

There's plenty to like: the plot is fun, the characters are likable, it's got the same love for geeks vibe as Ready Player One, but Armada just didn't wow me like I expected it to. I think actually what killed Armada for me, was one of the things I loved most about Ready Player One - the constant pop-culture references. They were a fun addition that made me feel awesome whenever I got them in Ready Player One, but even without them, the story was addictive enough, and the characters relatable enough, that I'd have been hooked. In Armada, I felt like a lot of the humour, and even plot points and emotional depth, were supposed to come through these references, and that meant wherever you didn't get one, the story just felt a bit flat.

I’d spent my entire life overdosing on uncut escapism, willingly allowing fantasy to become my reality.

I loved the idea - Ender's Game is a huge favourite of mine and it's the same principle - and I loved the mystery of the video game that showed up in arcades, drove a few kids insane and then mysteriously vanished again. I loved Zack's mother and their relationship, and I liked the constant banter between characters. There's a plot point which I can't talk about without spoilers but which I thought was clever, and fun, and that I loved.

Ultimately, maybe I'm just the wrong kind of geek for this one to ever truly click for me, because I felt like there were a lot of game references that went over my head (I really want to love gaming but my skills are still hovering around about Crash Bandicoot and Pokemon so I tend to give up very early on...). I wonder if I'd picked this up having not read Ready Player One I would have enjoyed it more, but to be honest I'm not sure that's the case - I think if I hadn't already trusted Cline because of Ready Player One, I'd have got fed up of the pop-culture references and eventually DNF'd the book. There were moments very early on in the story when I couldn't seem to get hooked and the only thing that kept me going was knowing that I'd LOVED Ready Player One and trusting that Cline would do something awesome with this book too. Overall, Armada was a fun read and I enjoyed it - but I didn't love it. I'll definitely be giving it a re-read later on though, because I think expectations really let this one down, and I think I may well like it a lot more going in with a better idea of what to expect.