Armada

Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames hes spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure. But hey, theres nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues dont get chosen to save the universe. And then he sees the flying saucer. Even stranger, the alien ship hes staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armadain which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders. No, Zack hasnt lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what hes seeing is all too real. And his skillsas well as those of millions of gamers across the worldare going to be needed to save the earth from whats about to befall it. Its Zacks chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he cant help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesnt something about this scenario seem a littlefamiliar? At once gleefully embracing and brilliantly subverting science-fiction conventions as only Ernest Cline could, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming of age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing youve ever read beforeone whose every page is infused with the pop-culture savvy that has helped make Ready Player One a phenomenon.