Armada is a summer blockbuster in book form. It’s entertaining, it moves fast, and it’s a fun ride. It’s also not nearly as smart as it thinks it is. Armada walks the line between “homage” and “rip off” on a razor wire. To be honest I’m still not sure which side it ultimately falls on but I’m leaning strongly toward rip off. Aliens are invading Earth and only a group of clandestinely trained gamers can save us. Sound familiar? The X-Files tells us “The truth […]
Yes, it’s not Ready Player One. Let’s all move on.
Okay, let’s get this out of the way: If you’re looking to recreate the singular reading experience you had with Ready Player One, to recapture that same magical feeling of wonder and awesomeness, you’re going to be disappointed with this book. Just, straight up. Armada is not RPO. They have similarities, but there also a lot of differences, and those differences are going to cause a lot of people not to like this one very much. Them’s just the facts. RPO, as far as I’m concerned, […]
3 is a Magic Number
Ready Player One gave me a weird nostalgia trip into the past with a side of depression about our future. Other than a little Pac Man and Space Invaders, I didn’t play video or arcade games. My relationship with 1980’s pop culture is complicated by my having been an unhappy teen during that decade. I disconnected as much as I could from the time and place in which I existed. I loved very early MTV, but abandoned it when it became dominated by arena bands, […]
Here’s My Quarter, I’m Ready to Play
I had heard great things about Ready Player One but for some reason I didn’t read when it first came out, I think I’ll blame it on pregnancy or a baby–I had 3 in 4 years and I think this was one of those years, because this really does seem like this would be something that I would be dying to read…so I must’ve been babyin’ it up or something. The buzz has since died down a little, but every single time I asked someone […]
Continue the quest by taking the test.
This one almost feels like a cheat, since I knew going in I was likely going to rate this 5 stars. I enjoyed the book tremendously when I read it the first time nearly three years ago for Cannonball Read 4. This year I have tackled my dislike/fear of the audiobook experience, and decided on a whim that I really did want to hear the Wil Wheaton version of Parzival’s story. It was simply a delight. In case you aren’t familiar, here’s Goodreads to give […]
Pop culture like you wouldn’t believe
While it might not be necessary to be a huge video game lover in order to enjoy Ready Player One, it will help. And you will definitely need to have an affinity for pop culture — the 80s, in particular — or some of the lists of movies, tv shows, songs and games will get old in a hurry. Luckily if, like me, you generally enjoy these things, then you will freaking love this book. “If I was feeling depressed or frustrated about my lot in […]
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