Armada
Audio CD | Audible Edition | Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle Edition
Written by Ernest Cline
Read by Wil Wheaton
Random House Audio
Release date: July 14, 2015

Armada is the much anticipated follow-up to Ernest Cline’s first novel Ready Player One and he travels much of the same territory as his first novel. Armada is a novel that positively overflows with references to the movies and video games of the 1980’s, and Cline’s passion for the cultural items of the period can be found on every page. Cline weaves a story that feels familiar, largely because it is rooted in movies and games that you’ve seen before.

This week, the Apple Watch has arrived, so has HBO Now, a divorce over Facebook, the Russians invade the White House, Star Wars arrives on digital, and can the NSA see your dick pics?… and much much more…

This week, Windows pirates don’t get a free ride after all, Google & Intel jump into the luxury smartwatch game, YouTube wants a cut of the esports market, is the Mars One mission a scam? and the truth is STILL out there! … and much much more.

Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg loves to keep busy; he’s currently shooting Bridge of Spies with Tom Hanks before he moves on to the Roald Dahl adaptation The BFG. Terrified at the possibility of having free time on his hands, today the man who brought us Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and much more has lined up another feature he intends to direct in the near future, an adaptation of Ernest Cline‘s 2011 sci-fi adventure novel Ready Player One for Warner Bros.

Spielberg is the first director to officially sign on to this long-developing project after previously attracting attention from the likes of Robert Zemeckis and Christopher Nolan.

Ready Player One
By Ernest Cline
Hardcover | Kindle
Crown
Release Date: August 16, 2011

In a not so distant future, the world is in shambles. Instead of the dealing with the truth of reality, the people of this bleak world create an escape by using OASIS, a virtual reality world where you can create your perfect reality and do everyday things like going to school or meeting new people. When James Halliday, the creator of OASIS and the richest man to ever have lived, dies, it initiates a contest that Halliday leaves behind in his will. There are three keys that for whoever finds all three will win Halliday’s entire fortune. The contest won’t be easy to win, but protagonist Wade Watts is determined to be the victor.

Ready Player One was one of the most innovative and entertaining books that I’ve read in a very long time. The book is truly a love letter to the era of the 1980s. With references to 80’s video games, movies, and television, the book is like a geek bible to those who grew up in the 80’s or is just a fan of that time period. The author, Ernest Cline (screenwriter of 2009’s Fanboys), has a vast knowledge of the 1980s and it definitely shows. Cline also makes very likeable characters in the novel. Wade and his group of friends were very relatable in the book. You understand their poverty stricken world and their need to constantly escape into OASIS to make a new world for them.