“The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood. Which classic novel did you recently read for the first time? So, whether you are a high school kid who has never heard of a little 1984 science fiction film called The Last Starfighter, or whether you are old enough to have seen it in a movie theater, you will enjoy Armada.What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?Īpes don’t ask questions, even if they know sign language. The book also has a youthful optimism and humor and reading it is just as fun for young adults as it is for those of us that grew up in the 1980s and ‘90s. It shines a light on that part of ourselves that secretly hopes some great adventure awaits us. The novel speaks to the dreamer in all of us. It’s clear that Cline has a passion for epic story-telling influenced by his youth, but at its core, this is an action-filled, laugh riot that deals with friendship, love, family, and what it means to believe in yourself. Cline allows readers to equally identify and appreciate the story, whether or not you recognize the parallels between this novel and the lexicon of science fiction material that inspired him. The character of Zack Lightman has taken on a love of 1980s and ‘90s popular culture as a way to connect with his late father. It is essentially a love letter to nerd popular culture. Much like its predecessor, it is filled with pop culture references from science fiction films, books, and video games often presented in clever ways.

This adult fiction novel is an entertaining read. Zack is forced to question everything he has ever known as he is called upon to put his gaming skills to use in order to save humanity. It’s then that he rediscovers old notes left by his father that indicate a global conspiracy, in which films and video games have been used to secretly prepare humanity for an unimaginable threat from beyond our world. Raised by his mother, Zack works at a video game shop after school.īy all accounts, Zack Lightman’s life is pretty normal until he sees an alien craft in the form of a Sobrukai Glave fighter from the Armada video game flying outside his high school. His gamer talents run in his family, as his father Xavier was an arcade champion who died in an accident at the age of 19, while Zack was still an infant.

He is close to high school graduation, but his focus has been becoming one of the highest ranked online players of Armada, a space-faring fighter pilot video game that he has played for most of high school. In Armada, Cline presents our intrepid teenage narrator, 18-year-old Zack Lightman, from a suburb outside of Portland, Oregon.

The short answer: Armada published in 2015, is “out of this world.” Ready Player One is now a hit motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg… but some may wonder, “Does Cline’s second novel, Armada, live up to the hype of his first book?”

The debut novel by Austin-based author Ernest Cline,

Ernest cline books