Book Review: Armada by Ernest Cline
ONE STAR
In my lexicon 1 star is a terrible book to be avoided and in this case others should be warned against.
If I read this book when I was 16, I would have orgasmed in my pants.
However, I'm not sixteen and while all the late 70s and 80s references are my childhood and teen years, this book was not a nostalgic trip. It was more like getting waterboarded with nostalgia and self-indulgence.
Cline's previous effort "Ready Player One" was a healthy dose of nostalgia, but it was tempered by the main character's urchin nature and the pop culture references were plentiful, but restrained enough that you didn't get used to them. It was like a good, strong Scotch. A bit of burn and then a smooth finish. Armada, on the other hand, was like like drinking soda syrup mixed with pop-rocks and high-school anxiety about not being "cool."
Cline doesn't merely litter the book with pop-culture references, its like he started with pop culture references with no story as a first draft. The main character is treated to a series of "all your dreams come true" revelations. The supposed tragedies he suffers are tempered by seeming instantaneous recovery and, of course, proper and noble send-offs. This book could be titled "Everything's Coming Up Zack!!!!" with two thumbs up followed by enthusiastic finger guns and "pew pew" noises.
I think that Cline is a good writer. I'm going to assume that the system massively failed here. Either Cline's publisher forced him to "Do Ready Player One Again!" in order to get a third book or his publisher failed to realize that this book was over the top and not in a good way. I'll read Cline again, I've not lost faith in him yet. It seems appropriate to count Armada as Cline's equivalent to Highlander 2, and pretend it doesn't exist while quietly making sure nobody you like reads it.
In my lexicon 1 star is a terrible book to be avoided and in this case others should be warned against.
If I read this book when I was 16, I would have orgasmed in my pants.
However, I'm not sixteen and while all the late 70s and 80s references are my childhood and teen years, this book was not a nostalgic trip. It was more like getting waterboarded with nostalgia and self-indulgence.
Cline's previous effort "Ready Player One" was a healthy dose of nostalgia, but it was tempered by the main character's urchin nature and the pop culture references were plentiful, but restrained enough that you didn't get used to them. It was like a good, strong Scotch. A bit of burn and then a smooth finish. Armada, on the other hand, was like like drinking soda syrup mixed with pop-rocks and high-school anxiety about not being "cool."
Cline doesn't merely litter the book with pop-culture references, its like he started with pop culture references with no story as a first draft. The main character is treated to a series of "all your dreams come true" revelations. The supposed tragedies he suffers are tempered by seeming instantaneous recovery and, of course, proper and noble send-offs. This book could be titled "Everything's Coming Up Zack!!!!" with two thumbs up followed by enthusiastic finger guns and "pew pew" noises.
I think that Cline is a good writer. I'm going to assume that the system massively failed here. Either Cline's publisher forced him to "Do Ready Player One Again!" in order to get a third book or his publisher failed to realize that this book was over the top and not in a good way. I'll read Cline again, I've not lost faith in him yet. It seems appropriate to count Armada as Cline's equivalent to Highlander 2, and pretend it doesn't exist while quietly making sure nobody you like reads it.
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