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Ernest Cline Shows Off His Geek Cred At Armada Paperback Release

Published Sun, 24 Apr 2016 14:00:59 -0500

By Jonathan Rich

While many entertainers have recently decided not to visit North Carolina in protest of Governor Pat McCrory's controversial law on transgender residents and same sex bathrooms, author Ernest Cline had no problem in visiting Asheville near the end of his book tour promoting the paperback release of his second novel Armada.

I have gay characters in my books and even gay heroes in them, so I figured appearing at a book store to talk about them shouldn't pose a problem," Cline said as he signed copies of his work at Malaprops Books earlier this week. "My stories are all about acceptance of who you are and others as well."

While the sexual orientation of his characters did not directly come up in his 90 minute conversation at a packed bookstore, just about every other facet of Cline's rise to fame from working tech support to becoming a screenwriter and now novelist did and the crowd hung on his every word.

Coming across as a much less ego-centric version of Kevin Smith, Cline told all in attendance of how his fan-fiction script for a sequel to his beloved "Buckaroo Banzai" first circulated as the Internet gained cultural prominence leading to both triumphs and pitfalls in the production of his love letter to the "Star Wars" generation in the form of the film "Fanboys" before he focused on the development of his first novel, the critically-acclaimed Ready Player One and his second book Armada.

When I was a kid, I loved the things I loved but I went overboard with it," Cline said reflecting on his awkward pre-teen years as an outsider who loved all things science-fiction until he found more of his tribe in high school. "When I started writing, I wanted to share my love of these types of pop culture characters with other people and I found that resonated."

The long and winding road from playing with figures from the original Star Wars trilogy eventually led Cline to visiting George Lucas' famous Skywalker Ranch for the final audio mix of "Fanboys" and writing several drafts for the screenplay of his first novel which will be directed by another cinematic icon, Steven Spielberg.

When I went to Skywalker Ranch, I stole everything that wasn't nailed down," he joked, later adding "I was the only Star Wars fan to break into Skywalker Ranch by making a movie about breaking into Skywalker Ranch."

Cline also detailed the frustrating experience of having "Fanboys" taken away from its director in favor of retooling it to be less of homage to sci-fi loving friends and more of a film critical of nerd culture akin to "The 40-Year Old Virgin."

The new director didn't even know who Boba Fett was," Cline exclaimed. "The parts of the film I still really despise are when the characters are ridiculed for their enthusiasm. That really made me rethink the experience and focus my efforts into a novel."

That novel, Ready Player One, eventually topped the New York Times bestsellers list and started a bidding war for the film rights. Now that beloved sci-fi actor Simon Pegg and director Spielberg are attached, Cline said he believes his work is in the best possible hands.

It is ridiculous to me, the idea of one of my heroes helping adapt a book I wrote into a film," Cline said of the "Jaws" director preparing to sink his teeth into Cline's story about a reclusive video game designer (played by Pegg) leaving pop culture clues to his fate in a dystopian future. "I haven't met Mr. Spielberg yet, so let's not even talk about that."

What Cline did talk about, though, was his love of classic video games and how his early experiences with games on the Atari 2600 and TRS-80, as well as 1980s aeronautic films, influenced his follow up work Armada.

Who out there loves the movies Iron Eagle? Top Gun? The Last Starfighter?" he polled the bookstore crowd to applause. "Who played "Space Invaders" or "Star Master" on their Atari 2600? This book is about what would happen if a generation of video game masters were called upon to defend the Earth from an alien invasion from their Xboxes."

And the love for video games doesn't just stop there. As with the release of Ready Player One, Cline's new book has an online promotion where readers are encouraged to play a video game inspired by the events in the book. This time, those who submit a photo of their high score on a flight simulator called Phaeton could win an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset or a Thrustmaster Warthog joystick.

If you are good enough to get the highest score you can win one, but everyone who scores 525 points get an embroidered Earth Defense Alliance patch," he explained, comparing the promotion to the one Activision offered for their games in his beloved 1980s.

Cline proudly showed off his personal collection of those vintage patches in his slide show to the crowd, but while avid readers waited to have their books signed by their favorite outsider turned geek superstar, he offered some words of advice to those hoping to follow in his footsteps.

You could just buy the patches off eBay, but to me you really have to earn them first," he said.

If the growing Cline fanbase is any indication, he has clearly earned all his accolades so far and is due even more when Ready Player One hits the big screen in 2018.

To enter the Armada contest, go to www.armadabook.com/contest before April 25.

Jonathan Rich is a freelance journalist, high school educator, and self-professed comic book nerd working in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. He writes about entertainment and pop culture for various print and web publications, including bleedingcool.com.

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