Name: Jeff James's review of The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak
Item: The Impossible Fortress
Rating: 5
Author: Jeff James

Jason Rekulak

A love letter to the 1980s and to nerds everywhere--The Impossible Fortress will make you remember what it feels like to love someone--or something--for the first time. Billy Marvin's first love was his computer. Then he met Mary Zelinsky. Do you remember your first love? It's May 1987. Fourteen-year-old Billy Marvin of Wetbridge, New Jersey, is a nerd, but a decidedly happy nerd. Afternoons are spent with his buddies, watching copious amounts of television, gorging on Pop-Tarts, debating who would win in a brawl (Rocky Balboa or Freddy Krueger? Bruce Springsteen or Billy Joel? Magnum P.I. or T.J. Hooker?), and programming video games on his Commodore 64 late into the night. Then Playboy magazine publishes photos of their idol, Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White, Billy meets expert computer programmer Mary Zelinsky, and everything changes. "A sweet and surprising story about young love" (A.V. Club), and a "quirky, endearing, full embrace of the late eighties" (USA TODAY), The Impossible Fortress will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you remember in exquisite detail what it feels like to love for the very first time. Heralded as one of the most anticipated novels of 2017 by Entertainment Weekly, Bustle, and InStyle.com, The Impossible Fortress is a surefire "unexpected retro delight" (Booklist, starred review).

The Impossible Fortress

Jeff James

Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book from NetGalley, but I listened to the audiobook version instead.

The Impossible Fortress hits the exact right notes of eighties nostalgia without turning into a catalog of bygone pop culture. It definitely opened a flood of memories for me. I wasn’t a teenager in 1987, but I did spend my childhood teaching myself BASIC on my Apple IIGS and keying in machine language programs printed in the backs of my dad’s computer magazines.

Billy, Alf and Clark just want to see Vanna White in the May 1987 issue of Playboy, and they’ll try just about any harebrained scheme to get it. When they go into a local typewriter repair store and try to convince the owner that they look like serious businessmen who are definitely old enough to buy it, Billy meets Mary, an overweight social outcast who not only shares his love of computer programming but also his interest in making games, not to mention the fact that she has talent to spare.

Mary tells Billy about a contest judged by their personal game design hero, and it isn’t long before they’re heads-down, working feverishly to finish the titular game – an unfinished, unpolished concept created by Billy in his free time – all while Alf and Clark think he’s working a scam to get the Playboy.

The characters are so sharply drawn that they leap off the page. Rekaluk makes them both relatable and unique with only a few key details as well as a strong sense of the time and place. I fell in love with these characters, rooting for them to figure things out and make something out of themselves.

That’s why I was especially invested when the book took a turn for the dramatic and the stakes became much higher. Suddenly The Impossible Fortress wasn’t just a teenage sex comedy filled to the brim with programming nostalgia; it was also a story about how one wrong choice can ruin your life and how easy it is to watch your dreams slip through your hands. When things started going south for Billy, my stomach dropped, and I didn’t want to stop reading.

In fact, I listened to most of this book in one long sitting while I cleaned and packed for my holiday travel. I rarely get the chance to listen for such a long, uninterrupted period, so it’s especially nice to find a book compelling enough to warrant the attention. I highly recommend The Impossible Fortress, and can’t wait to read Jason Rekaluk’s follow-up, whatever it might be.

Originally posted at Full of Words.

"Until May 1987, fourteen-year-old Billy Marvin of Wetbridge, New Jersey, is a nerd, but a decidedly happy nerd. Afternoons are spent with his buddies, watching copious amounts of television, gorging on Pop-Tarts, debating who would win in a brawl (Rocky Balboa or Freddy Krueger? Bruce Springsteen or Billy Joel? Magnum P.I. or T.J. Hooker?), and programming video games on his Commodore 64 late into the night. Then Playboy magazine publishes photos of Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White, Billy meets expert programmer Mary Zelinsky--and everything changes"--Dust jacket flap.

A Novel

Alexandra Sklar

Enjoyable fiction. Straddled a line between reality (their new jersey town and a fantasty world (girl's school), and this is where it failed for me.

Moray Lyle McIntosh

This was a strange choice for me and I am definitely not the target audience, anything to do with video game and programming is enough to give me an aneurysm. That being said, I was a little puzzled about precisely who the book is aimed at. It reads very much like a YA novel but the young adults today seem unlikely to share it the nostalgia of the 1980s.

It's quite a fun story focusing on the antics of three teenage boys as they plot and plan to get hold of a particular issue of Playboy. Cue some ridiculous schemes including dressing as businessmen, posting an older stranger to but the magazine for them. Eventually they enlist the help of an older student of questionable character and dubious motives. Having bonded with the daughter of a store-owner over coding narrator Billy agrees to trick Mary into helping them get hold of the magazine.

The story is highly ridiculous, I struggled to believe that the characters would really follow-through with their plans or that they could really be so foolish but it is a mostly entertaining take off you just go along for the ride and overlook the paper-thin motivations and the eyebrow-raising lack of consequences for all the characters but poor Mary. The happy ending was a little too pat but at the same time it was wholly in keeping with the rest of the story.

Thanks to Faber & Faber and Netgalley for providing a free advance copy in return for an honest review.

b.andherbooks

A plan to steal a copy of Playboy sets in motion a new friendship for a boy and a girl both obsessed with programming and creating computer games. Set in the 80s, this will be the perfect nostalgia read for those searching for their next Ready Player One or Stranger Things fix.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

Jessica Nottingham

Look, I'll be completely honest with you straight off the bat. I went into this book not sure if I was going to make it the whole way through. Billy, Alf and Clark started out as this misfit group of boys that, despite the fact that I'm sure teenage boys actually do act exactly as they did, drove me to the brink of madness. I honestly wasn't certain I was going to be able to follow them through the entirety of the story.
 
Then, something magical happened. Video games came into play! 80's nostalgia blossomed, and suddenly Billy was more than just a typical teenage boy to me. He was a video game obsessed, extremely talented, passionate young man. He was a character who wasn't afraid to put his heart, soul, and ample amounts of his time into doing something that he really loved. After that, I felt so much more connected to this story. I wanted Billy to succeed, and I so hoped he'd learn how amazing he really was.
 
Things picked up from there. Mary was introduced, and I instantly fell in love with her character. I adored that she was intelligent, unafraid to show her passion for coding, and full of the kind of wit that I can only wish for. She screamed "future girl boss" to me, and I ate it up. Her banter with Billy was perfection, her no nonsense look at the world was intoxicating, and I was hooked. If this book had simply revolved around Mary, I would have been smitten from the beginning. As it stands though, Mary was the part of this story that made Billy whole. Their little romance, even the rough parts of it, gave me life.
 
Jason Rekulak showed me that I really shouldn't give up on characters after the first few pages. Billy, Alf, and Clark turned into boys that I actually fell head over heels for. I didn't always agree with their thoughts, or their actions, but it didn't change the fact that they were realistically flawed human beings. They were just teenage boys, obsessed with Vanna White, intent on getting girls, and learning to navigate this crazy world we all live in. We'd all love to pretend that our teenage years weren't peppered with bad decisions, and mistakes. That's just life though, and Rekulak shows that in a way that is equal parts funny and honest.

It's 1987. Billy Marvin, the tallest boy in ninth grade, has just witnessed history. Wheel of Fortune presenter Vanna White is on the cover of Playboy. Billy and his friends, Alf and Clark, know that if they can get hold of the magazine, their world will change. For ever. But as Billy says, 'No shopkeeper in America was going to sell Playboy to a fourteen-year-old boy.' As they set out on their mission to find the most wanted images in America, they're blissfully unaware of the dangers, dramas and garbage dumpsters that lie ahead. And of how a girl called Mary might just change one of their lives. For ever.

Darice de Cuba

Another 80's retro book for the 80's fans. High-school, video games, computer programming commodore 64 and 'Wheel of Fortune'. I hold this book in the same category as Ready Player One and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. A good read.

Rachel B

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Matthew Washburn

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Patrick Arminio

A love letter to the 1980s and to nerds everywhere—The Impossible Fortress will make you remember what it feels like to love someone—or something—for the first time. Billy Marvin’s first love was his computer. Then he met Mary Zelinsky. Do you remember your first love? It’s May 1987. Fourteen-year-old Billy Marvin of Wetbridge, New Jersey, is a nerd, but a decidedly happy nerd. Afternoons are spent with his buddies, watching copious amounts of television, gorging on Pop-Tarts, debating who would win in a brawl (Rocky Balboa or Freddy Krueger? Bruce Springsteen or Billy Joel? Magnum P.I. or T.J. Hooker?), and programming video games on his Commodore 64 late into the night. Then Playboy magazine publishes photos of their idol, Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White, Billy meets expert computer programmer Mary Zelinsky, and everything changes. “A sweet and surprising story about young love” (A.V. Club), and a “quirky, endearing, full embrace of the late eighties” (USA TODAY), The Impossible Fortress will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you remember in exquisite detail what it feels like to love for the very first time. Heralded as one of the most anticipated novels of 2017 by Entertainment Weekly, Bustle, and InStyle.com, The Impossible Fortress is a surefire “unexpected retro delight” (Booklist, starred review).

Jeff James &
The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak

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Jeff James &The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak

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Jeff James &
The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak