Book Review: Armada

I have enjoyed both of Ernest books.  Perhaps it is the nerd in me and the many nerdy references.  I am sure that is part of it.  But part of it is the writing style.  It is simple...and I don't mean that in a bad way.

Years ago I was accused of "writing like I talk" and I feel that way here as I read the story.  It felt more like a transcript of an oral story rather then a novel.  As much as I like Stephen King he often takes paragraphs to say what could have been said in two lines.

Both Ready Play One and Armada had good pacing without feeling rushed and I enjoyed the story in both.  Nothing ground breaking or anything like that but just good solid story telling.  I didn't care for the ending but no matter which directly it was taken I think I would have disliked it.

I also think I liked this book because it hit close to home.  I related to the Zach character.  As a young man, like most who lose a parent, I used to dream of my dad coming back.  Being a secret agent or in hiding from the mob or something!  Of course stuff like that rarely happens in real life but a boy can dream right?   I also have what some would call an anger issue so I understood the Zach character more then some might have.

There were issues with the story I didn't like.  The Lex character seemed a little stereotypical and a few of the other "politically correct" items seemed slightly forced/didn't add much to the story.  I guess it just kind of took me out of the story instead of showing "real people" which I think was the point.

Overall I really liked it, 4/5.  The few things above is all that stopped me from giving it 5/5.  Check this out for a quickish fun read.