Description
From the author of Ready Player One, a rollicking alien invasion thriller that embraces and subverts science-fiction conventions as only Ernest Cline can.
Zack Lightman has never much cared for reality. He vastly prefers the countless science-fiction movies, books, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. And too often, he catches himself wishing that some fantastic, impossible, world-altering event could arrive to whisk him off on a grand spacefaring adventure. So when he sees the flying saucer, he’s sure his years of escapism have finally tipped over into madness. Especially because the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of his favorite videogame, a flight simulator callled Armada–in which gamers just happen to be protecting Earth from alien invaders. As impossible as it seems, what Zack’s seeing is all too real. And it’s just the first in a blur of revlations that will force him to question everything he thought he knew about Earth’s history, its future, even his own life–and to play the hero for real, with humanity’s life in the balance. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking: Doesn’t something about this scenario feel a little bit like . . . well . . . fiction? At once reinventing and paying homage to science-fiction classics, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a coming-of-age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing you’ve ever read before. Praise for Armada “A thrilling coming-of-age story.”—Entertainment Weekly “Nerd-gasmic . . . another science fiction tale with a Comic-Con’s worth of pop-culture shout-outs.”—Rolling Stone“An amazing novel [that] proves Cline has the ability to blend popular culture with exciting stories that appeal to everyone.”—Associated Press
“Mixes Star Wars, The Last Starfighter, Independence Day and a really gnarly round of Space Invaders into a tasty sci-fi stew.”—USA Today
“A fantastic second novel . . . fans of Ready Player One, it is time to rejoice.”—Huffington Post
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?
