Armada

Zack Lightman is a high school senior with a temper, a love of video games, and a life shaped by his father’s absence. One day he sees a flying saucer outside his classroom window that seems to match the enemy craft from his favorite game, Armada.

What follows pulls Zack into a larger conflict: a secret government-backed effort, a world-spanning alien threat, and a network of gamers whose skills may matter more than anyone expected. As Zack tries to figure out whether he’s hallucinating or witnessing the real thing, he also has to confront the legacy of his father’s theories and journals.

The story moves through recruitment, preparation, and combat as Zack and other players are enlisted to defend Earth through game-like interfaces and drone warfare. Along the way, the book leans hard on pop-culture references, sci-fi homages, and the tension between fantasy, memory, and reality.