A review by crimsoncor
Armada by Ernest Cline

1.0

I liked [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1489368740s/9969571.jpg|14863741] well enough (give it 4 stars when I read it). This, unfortunately, is no Ready Player One. Instead you get a weak plot and paper thin characters filled out with a never-ending stream of geek culture fan service. The book seemed designed to trigger an endless supply of in-crowd dopamine when you get "yet another nostalgic nerd culture reference" and leaves things like a believable story or character arcs by the wayside. But we do have a hot hacker chick who immediately falls in love with our protagonist and his mom who is always on the verge of crying but puts on a stoic face. I couldn't tell you which of the hero's best friends was which because they seem to be interchangeable meme-spouters. And this is all before the utterly preposterous ending. I was at a miserable 2 stars until the last 20 pages, but just couldn't take it.