Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - 374 pages

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

Armada - Ernest Cline

Armada - Ernest Cline - 368 pages

Armada is Cline's second novel, and follows closely in form and subject matter to his first (Ready Player One).  Lightman, a high school student with anger management issues, finds himself careening headfirst from the "real" world into an adventure most hardcore fans of everything geek only read about.  Alien squids are heading for Earth with vengeance inking out their slimy bottoms, and only the video game-inclined, armed with snacks, daddy issues, and top secret squid-derivative tech, can stop them.

Or can they?

Here's the thing: this book explodes like it has an alien in its chest with scads of sci-fi references from books, television, and films, but it also seriously lacks any real departure or plot structure that isn't directly derivative.  I wanted to LOVE this book like I LOVE the franchises it pulls material from, but many of the characters are one-dimensional and it tries too hard to be chic-ly meta.  I saw what Cline was trying to achieve here, and I think any reader familiar with sci-fi would, but he just didn't hit hard enough, early enough, or with enough originality to make it hurt so good.  It was a fun read, but I wanted more depth and less cliched references.