Ready Player One

deleted my original review of the sequel many years ago during my ultimately short-lived commitment to a lifestyle of Love&positivity so it feels imperative that I memorialize one of the beliefs that I consider foundational to the psychic makeup of my consciousness/Who I Am 2day. I.E. ready player one numbers among the worst books ever published in the history of world literature and every time I remember that ernest cline has at any point in his miserable insipid wretched career been the recipient of anything besides unanimous condemnation and preferably divine retribution I begin to wonder whether or not we were too hasty in inventing the written word. I am generally not one to advocate for book-burning, murder, other unsavory show more criminal practices but this has long been the exception to my every rule. tried to assign to it one of the standard epithets that we reserve for any particularly repugnant work - waste of time, waste of space, waste of energy, waste of trees, waste of labor - but the things that ready player one wastes are so vast and innumerable that I do not think they can be encapsulated in any singular idea short of capital-W Waste, an anomaly that threatens all of spacetime, the profound and extrinsic Evil. show less

What a fun book! And I'm not even a gamer. But I loved all of the many 1980's pop culture references, from WarGames to LadyHawke to the TRS-80, and the mingling of every awesome science fiction universe, from Firefly to Stargate to Star Wars of course. And I thought that the premise was very realistic--if we ever invent an immersive virtual reality gaming experience that takes over every aspect of our lives, this is the way it might happen. Cline builds a believable real world as well as really cool virtual worlds (I so want to visit some of those planets!), and his hero Wade is likable, gutsy, brilliant, nerdy, and vulnerable all at once. The bad guys are good villians; the action was suspenseful and the gameplay was clearly described show more so that us non-gamers could follow along and feel like we were playing, yet not be bored by too much description of hit points or avatar skins. The scavenger hunt aspect and the puzzles Wade has to figure out were very clever. Lots of fun to read. Now I totally want to rewatch the many movies and anime mentioned, and try out some of the early videogames. I happened to also be reading The Eye of Minds by James Dashner at the same time I was reading this (one on audio, one in print) and unfortunately the juxtaposition made the Dashner book suffer a little in comparison. That one is clearly for middle schoolers and is more of a fantasy-based game idea, whereas this book is for high school and adult audiences (okay, and younger gamers too, although there's some adult language) and is much more reality-based. Interesting comparison. show less

It's sometime in the 2040s, and the real world is in bad shape. Fortunately, most people don't have to live in the real world because there's a whole virtual universe to inhabit instead, in the form of the Oasis. Think of it as a sort of three-dimensional Second Life, with some of the gaming aspects of World of Warcraft and more users than Facebook. The Oasis was created by -- what else? -- an eccentric computer genius, who reveals upon his death that he's planted a hidden easter egg somewhere in this immense online world and has willed his staggering fortune to whoever can find it. This leads, of course, to a massive worldwide obsession with hunting for the prize. It also leads to a massive worldwide obsession with 1980s pop culture, show more since said eccentric computer genius was himself obsessed with the subject, and he left strong hints that it would feature heavily in the puzzles players must negotiate to reap the reward. After five years of absolutely no progress, though, only hardcore devotees are still actively searching for the answer... until one day a poor, low-level high school kid solves the first clue. Suddenly the race is on, and some of the players are not interested in playing fair, or in using the prize for the betterment of humanity.

I could come up with a few nitpicks here. Like, the narrator spends a lot of time explaining things that nobody in his own world would possibly need explained. And the first clue really does not seem difficult enough to have stumped thousands of dedicated enthusiasts for five years. Things like that. But, you know, I don't think it really matters. The book works, anyway, mainly because it's just plain fun. I found myself quickly getting surprisingly caught up in the high-tech, high-stakes quest. Honestly, I never expected to feel this kind of tension just reading a description of someone playing Pac-Man.

There is, admittedly, something very sad about the idea of a world where people retreat from a decaying reality to spend all their time in virtual space wallowing in nostalgia for a decade most of them aren't even old enough to remember, and which, let's face it, wasn't exactly a perfect golden age, anyway. But even acknowledging this, it's still completely impossible not to enjoy this indulgent wallow in the pop culture of my youth, a youth in which an Atari 2600, a Trash-80 Color Computer, and repeated viewings of WarGames featured quite heavily. I imagine anybody more than a few years older or younger than my own just-turned-40 is likely to find less to appreciate here, but it seems I am exactly in the sweet spot for this, age-wise, and for me the constant, completely unapologetic blast-from-the-past feeling to it all was even more fun than the story itself. show less

If you've ever become irrationally obsessed with anything, you'll find a little piece of yourself in this book. If you also grew up in the 80s, you'll find a whole lot of pieces. Cline sets his cautionary tale in 2044, years after James Halliday, a Steve Jobs-like innovator, created a total immersion experience called The Oasis. Take our current society and fast forward 30 years - would you be surprised that people have become more interested in their virtual Oasis lives than in reality? Not only is it the ultimate escape through which you can shop, download any kind of entertainment, hold virtual meetings, or play a huge array of video games at a ridiculously low cost, it also allows for complete anonymity.


So, when the creator dies show more and leaves his considerable wealth to the person who can solve a series of virtual challenges, thousands all over the world become obsessed. Among them is Wade Watts, a geeky kid who feels more comfortable and confident in The Oasis than he ever has in real life. His avatar, Perzival, is a low level warrior but Wade spends countless hours studying Halliday's obsessions - vintage video games, 80s pop culture, and more - searching for clues to solving the challenge. Wade and his companions aren't just competing with each other. An evil conglomerate will do anything to win, gambling that Halliday's wealth also comes with control of The Oasis, and therefore, a vehicle for great profit.



Cline captures the nature of obsession thoroughly and uses an entertaining milieu to illuminate contemporary concerns such as the decline of personal interaction, the importance of net neutrality, corporate corruption, and even discrimination. Knowledge of the 80s is not necessary but the references serve as a fun wink-and-nod to those of us who came of age in the greatest pop culture decade. show less

I am a child of the 80's and nearly the same age as the character of James Halliday. Being an awkward teen geek (but not nerd) during this time and all the pop culture references in this book were totally up my alkey. Everything from the initial references to Oingo Book's Dead Man's Party to more oblique references of the "oscillation overthruster" had me geeking out. I was enough of a loner that I didn't play D&D but owned the Tomb of Horrors module, and was more into TMBG than Rush, certainly. I wasn't so much into the video games as the movies, but for me this was a giant nerdgasm. Maybe not perfect, but just as good as Real Genius back in the day. This was totally intended for somebody exactly my age and temperament. Bravo.

Plot Summary: Set in the not-too-distant future, 2044, when the world has been plunged into a global fuel crisis by the loss of oil. Before the crisis began, an eccentric computer game designer created an online universe (OASIS) where site members can role-play D&D-style, or just hang out with friends. When the fuel crisis hit, fuel prices quickly reached the point where commuting to work, school, or vacationing were things only the rich could afford. This situation caused people to gradually move their businesses, schools, and social lives into the online universe, where users can earn money and socialize without ever leaving their homes.

Four years before our story starts, the game designer dies without heirs. In his last will, he show more informs the world he has embedded a quest in OASIS and the first person to complete it will win his $240 billion fortune.

Our main character is Wade, a teenage boy who escapes from his impoverished life by attending an OASIS public school, and hunts for the promised fortune in his free time. Aside from competing against any user who decides to invest the time, he is also competing against IOI, OASIS's chief competitor. IOI operates by recruiting gamers to work on the quest full-time, after they sign contracts promising to surrender the fortune to IOI should they win. This would allow IOI to seize control of OASIS and absorb it into the company, something gamers world-wide are united against.

What I thought: I loved, loved, loved this book. It was fast-paced and packed with '80s geeky trivia (not to mention plenty of shout-outs to all my favorite sci-fi/fantasy worlds: Star Wars, Firefly, Lord of the Rings, etc). Cline writes Wade very well, so much so that I found myself frequently caught up in Wade's enthusiasm for the hunt; and had to take breaks to relax whenever Wade made a new discovery or breakthrough in the quest.

Sidenote: Why do these virtual reality systems not exist now? I would be much more interested in RPG if I could actually be my avatar.

Cline also does a wonderful job of fully creating the panicked, nose-diving world Wade is trying to escape. He takes the time to insert little things about what happened to cars as fuel prices soared, how people cope with trying to live in the now-overcrowded cities, and how schools have been affected; these little bits of verisimilitude make the world seem real.

What I did not like: as awesome as the last battle is, I knew from the description this book will never become a movie. Can you imagine all the kitsch of '80s comic books/games and action figures pitched into battle against each other? There's no crowd that will be able to suspend disbelief long enough to not giggle through the whole scene.

However, this mild embarrassment in no way detracts from the great adventure 'Ready Player One' is, or stopped me from recommending it to my geeky friends. Go forth, and read! show less

I knew this was going to be good from all the hype from friends, just didn't know I would like it THIS much. Cline has tapped into something here and I think it probably really works because it's something he loves as much as his readers love it. It's not just the nostalgia-fest though, anyone could write with a bunch of references to stuff "we grew up with" and it wouldn't turn out this good. The characters were believable, the plot was interesting, the pacing was good, really the only thing I can think to complain about was the lack of detail about the "real world", but that wasn't a big deal because most of the story takes place in the virtual world.

So this is going to be really hard to top but I hope to read more great stuff from show more Cline in the future. I also really hope there's not a sequel because I feel like this story has been told and it would spoil it to change anything. show less