Review: Armada by Ernest Cline

Armada by Ernest Cline
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Since Ready Player One was one of my favorite books in the year that it was released, I had truly high hopes for this one. I think Ernest Cline has a really unique voice and I was eager to fall into the world he creates again. And this is a good book ... but it's no Ready Player One and it suffers from the comparison. I think that many of the less than positive reviews I've seen seem to be focusing on how this book wasn't Ready Player One. I really tried to see this book on it's own but it's difficult to do. I really struggled to not compare it to Ready Player One.

The story here was interesting - essentially a compilation of a bunch of different pop culture references. I enjoyed seeing how Cline put those pieces together. There is still a lot of gaming, Star Wars, etc. All of that is great. But, what's missing is that something that makes the reading experience sing. I'm not sure what it is but this book just didn't have that sense of awe that I had reading Ready Player One. It was quite good but just not everything I'd hoped.

I still highly recommend this one, especially if you have a love for 80's pop culture and gaming. But, don't go in expecting Ready Player One because this book is not that. It's definitely a good book in its own right but I do think it suffers from comparison. I still love Ernest Cline and can't wait to see what he has in store for us next!

(I struggled with rating this one. It's more a 3.5 than a 3 but not quite a 4).

NOTE: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher for an honest review.