It means this ‘review’ is from someone who works in book promotions, the links go via double click and you should trust Laura Hudson’s review for Salon linked upthread instead 
I was not aware this was a sponsored item. Turns out it was. It is mandatory that such things are disclosed, so it was added.
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Thanks for keeping on top of this. Even if it weren’t mandatory to disclose such things, I still think it’s a good idea.
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Not just you. It kind of feels like the review was drafted in a classic three-part format –
1. Why I liked the previous book.
2. What this book is about, in case you don’t already know.
3. Why I liked this one.
And somehow the second step was left out. (Why?)
Well, I didn’t already know what the book is about. I still don’t know, actually. Something to do with drones and nostalgia and videogames, I guess.
Did someone make you reply with “Is someone going to make you?”
Did someone make you ask me if someone made me reply with “Is someone going to make you?”
But moooooooom!
Agreed. I had been marginally interested in checking out Ready Player One, based on its numerous positive mentions (by writers for BoingBoing, etc.), but balked once I made the connection with the guy in that documentary. Something about his clearly all-consuming-yet-shallow nostalgia fetish really rubbed me the wrong way (despite my own nostalgic enjoyment of the typical things my cohort nostalgically enjoys) and highlighted the absurdity of the entire documentary. Only the USAian Gen X/Millennial would get so feverishly excited (years of planning, municipal wrangling, scores of worshipful pilgrims) about digging copies of a terrible video game out of the trash. Embarrassing.
I kinda feel like I need to read this book, like I̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶ ̶h̶o̶l̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶h̶e̶a̶d̶ the author needs a second DeLorean.
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Yeah, I’m inclined to side with Ms Hudson’s opinion here. She said, “Ready Player One was far too joyously self-absorbed in its referential excesses to step back and examine what they might mean. It was still a page-turner, though,” and I’m with her 100%. Fun read, but all the references (and especially how every goddamned 80s thing Cline mentions in the book is labeled as “classic” or “vintage” like nothing sucky ever happened in music , movies, or games in that decade) really got to be too much real fast.
If she says Armada is more of the same, but without the page-turning part, I’ll take her at her word. Pass.
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You shouldn’t let the author spoil a well written book. I enjoyed the book immensely.
Ya. I trust I will wind up where she did in her well-detailed review.
I got RP1 based on Cory’s review here, and found it to be quite a fun romp. Nothing deep about it, but breezy and entertaining because it hit my nerd buttons in proper Konami sequence.
Because of that fun, I pre-ordered Armada some months ago. It arrived today, and I’m apprehensive about opening it.
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Let me know what you think about it. There was a lot to like about Ready Player One. I believe I would have enjoyed the plot even if it hadn’t been so weighed down with relentless 80s-worship. I have to think Cline can write, but Hudson’s review makes me think he stuck with everything I didn’t love about Ready Player One, rather than the stuff that actually worked for me.
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I read a review somewhere (the Verge?) where the guy said if he’d read it as a 12 yo he’d have loved it, but he was 37.
More than anything else, Armada reads like fan fiction, but with a wider set of source material than just one book or movie. There’s a simple joy in fandom that’s hard to be cynical about, and Armada is so far from anything resembling cynicism that it can be refreshing. The 12-year-old version of me would have really loved this novel. But the 12-year-old version of me existed 25 years ago, in the American-centric suburban white geek culture that infuses every corner of Armada. For today’s 12-year-olds, I have to wonder if the Star Wars, Queen, and Robotech references are really going to be worth the effort.
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I loved RP1. I have not forgotten what a great book it was. It wasn’t just a gimmick, it was a great book. I’m not letting anyone else’s review stop me from reading Armada.
I’m guessing I’m in the minority for really liking Ready Player One. And I’m not a gamer in any sense of the word and I’m thinking that most of the 80s references went over my head as I was only 7 years old when that decade ended. I just thought the book had a really cool and fast-paced plot and I’m going to read Armada too.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Headline should be “A joyous, rollicking read for those being paid to do so”?
I like RP1, but am probably going to library this one. I spent a lot of time wondering what my kids are going to have that is their version of Star Wars. I mean, is their culture going to be something we shove down their throats and force them to study like the protagonists did here? Where was their version of Joust, all they did was recreate the 80’s because living in stacked trailer parks sucks. Does our protagonist change the system at the end or only help perpetuate it and stay stinking rich?
In the coming depression, kids will be happy to eat and have any schooling.
I keep reading that this book is like Ender’s game, but in bad with 80’s references scattered around like in Ready Player One. Can somebody expand on that idea?
For the record, i liked Ready Player One.
Thanks
