Ready Player One

One of the most enjoyable books I have read in ages. People often use the term “geek culture” in connection with this book, however, if you grew up in the Eighties and played any computer games, this is basically just childhood. There is a strong US-centric skew to the culture of the book, not too surprisingly, so those of us who were on the other side of the Atlantic might miss some of the references, but the shear volume of detail means it manages to touch on games, movies and music that are universal.

The book is quickly paced, fun and manages to encompass a wealth of detail without hanging around to dwell on anything for too long. There a couple of plot points that could maybe have done with some polish (an event in the first act should really have been more traumatic for the protagonist, and the discovery of a crucial artifact is perhaps just a bit too coincidental), however these do not detract from the overall story.

In any event, regardless of the above, it prompted me to write my first Goodreads review, so it is obviously doing something right.

I think this book is fantastic.

Ready Player One is fun. That's the one simple word I could find after finishing this. If you have the slightest interest in video games and/or nostalgic pop culture you will probably have fun too. Yes, sometimes the references are a bit too much, but not enough to put me off.

The book paints a dark future that felt eerily real. Nearly all of what's left of humanity is immersed into the most complex virtual world you can imagine. And I can easily see myself among them. The possibilitys are endless.

It's evident for the reader that Cline grew up surrounded by media and art that left a positive mark on him. Ready Player One is an homage to some of the great games, music, movies, and series made in the 70s/80s and a dream about a game that would allow us to be wherever we want and free us from the limited reality in which we live.

Cline raises some subtly interesting points in his dystopian world about the way we're currently ‘paving' our future and depicts the passionate ‘obsession' that us geeks have when we love and care about something.

I must say this book may not be for everyone. Some may feel the geeky references that drive the story forward a little bit too much.

However, if there's somewhere inside you a person that fondly remembers their child/adolescent years listening to music in their room, knowing all the secret ‘cheats' for a specific game, watching a favorite movie/series over and over again, Ready Player One may be a good book for you, and certainly, the time you take to read it will be time well spent.

So go ahead and read it. Even if it's just to pique your curiosity to listen to some band, see some movie/series, or play some retro game that, for some reason, you've never gotten into before.

If you are any type of fantasy, sci fi or video game fan this book is a must read! While I'm a 90s child not an 80s there were still some great memories that popped up. My parents and brother made sure I had my fair share of 80s influence. Coleco and Atari were my first video game systems and my mother loved Godzilla. We owned just about every VHS. The depth of imagination it took to piece together all these classics is amazing and I hope to see either a sequel, or another novel set in the OASIS. I did leave this novel with one question; why does Wade hate looking in the mirror? I wondered if it was due to his addiction to the OASIS. I enjoyed how this novel had a background story about game addiction. It is very easy to be lost in games, but ultimately Wade finds that the real world offers things even the virtual cannot. While this did not dominate the story, it was sprinkled in among the pages. And while it would have been a pain for Parzival and the rest, I wish Voltron had made an appearance :) Although Mechagodzilla was a nice touch.

Ready Player One is set in a rather bleak future-Earth. We've depleted our resources and never quite managed to bounce back from the most recent economic crisis. Rather than deal with the problems outside, people take to the OASIS - an online virtual reality that has become the center of most people's lives. The obsession only grows when Halliday, the OASIS inventor, dies and leaves his vast fortune to anyone who can use the clues to complete his epic quest of 70s and 80s pop culture puzzles. Ready Player One follows the journey of Wade Watts as he works to solve the riddles and claim Halliday's ultimate prize.

Looking at this story objectively, I really shouldn't like it as much as I did. It is the same old, over-used hero's journey (read some Joseph Campbell if you don't know what I mean) set in a virtual reality. We get the same sort of plot and tropes and life lessons we always get. The only difference is that most of the time spent in this world is used to geek out over pop culture references that the characters would never have experienced or cared about in their normal lives, but that the readers (most likely) will have a great deal of nostalgia for. I'll be honest - most of the references outdate even me, and not being a hard-core gamer growing up, there were a lot of references I didn't necessarily know about before reading the story. However, I had enough of a frame of reference that I still got more than a little excited when PAC-MAN, R2-D2, and Firefly class space ships showed up. And the writing was so good for the rest of it that it really didn't even matter that I'd never experienced it for myself; the character's experiences and the descriptions were enough to keep me immersed in the story.

What this book does so brilliantly is give us everything we've ever love about science fiction and fantasy (and I mean everything - if you liked it, it probably exists on OASIS), while still making the story feel new and exciting. A large part of that is due to the writing, which was absolutely fantastic. This was the sort of book I wouldn't have put down if I hadn't had other obligations. Like, you know, skating and eating and stuff. Sleep... may have been compromised in the finishing of this story. But it was worth it because it was good! So good. The worst part about this book is that it is over. And while I could re-read it, it won't have that same sense of exploration and discovery and danger and excitement that the reader has the first time through.

So anyway, this book is my new obsession. I loved it so much I may have even used the Ready Player One Fan Soundtrack Page to create my own iTunes playlist. Which I've listened to several times already. I'm wanting to go back and re-watch old films I haven't seen in years. I'm trying to figure out ways to play vintage video games. Heck, I might even want to search out Ladyhawke.

In conclusion, Ready Player One - READ IT!

Everyone has that song, movie, book, tv show that was “made for them”. This is my book. That should have been obvious from the synopsis, but I didn't believe it.

‘An adventure to find a dead man's treasure in the near-future's hybrid virtual reality of the Internet and an MMO role-playing game. Where solving the riddles and experiencing the world is done through a myriad of mostly-obscure 80's pop-culture references.”

I don't know why I put off reading it so long after hearing everyone I respect in media expressing their love for this book.

I can't recommend this highly enough for any child of the 80's like me who spent more time blowing into NES cartridges and watching every movie, good and “bad”, that HBO had to offer rather than going outside. From “Family Ties” to “Voltron”, this book touches on everything that makes you a nerd from the 80's and makes it so cool, that the future of the world is based around its obsession.

Minus the rampant poverty the book's world, I would champion this future whole-heartedly. I also think that this is the first book to make me shed a tear when (very minor spoiler) Wade meets Aech in real life. That is by far the best relationship in the book.

There's been word of a movie version of this since 2010 and I really hope they find a way to do it justice. Reading it with that in mind makes me realize how hard a movie this would be to just script, let alone make it with enough money for however they'd represent OASIS.

If you're between the ages of 30-45, start reading this book immediately.

I loved it. The best part, for me, was all of the eighties references. And, while I am not a total gamer, I love video games enough to really understand what Wade and his friends are doing.
The book gives enough information without ever getting so technical that you need a score card. I loved Wade from the first page and wanted to see him win the whole thing.
It is a page turner. I felt it lost a little speed on the second quest,but it sped right back up for the next stage.

This book is full of surprises. I know quite a few people who avoid fiction because they don't see themselves in the literature. This is the book for them.

Original read date: 6/11/11

Rereading review:

This was my second read of Ready Player One and I think I loved it even more than the first time I read it. Last time, I blazed through it because I couldn't wait to see what happened next, but this time I stopped to smell the virtual roses. I still love it, and I didn't notice the lag the first time I read it. I spent more time thinking about about Art3mis this time, and I just don't like her. I'm a little confused by her character's actions. I wanted to experience this again before Armada drops in October. I can see why it's taking so long to get the movie off the ground- there is no way to do it well. That's okay. Not every book needs (or should) become a movie.
Overall-holds up in a second reading (actually BETTER in the second reading because of the lack of stress over the conclusion).

The world-building is great, the OASIS is quite fun to imagine, as is all the related tech. The world outside, and the complications that arise from the game, are not very fun to imagine at all. It's unusually cheerful dystopia.

The pop culture references invading every page are never very well-integrated into the story. As others mentioned, it's mostly there to pander to nostalgia. They are fun at times, but a good 50% could have been cut, let's be honest.

The characters were pretty bland, but by the end I was admittedly invested in their fates. The twist related to Aech surprised me, and I really wish the book would have delved into that a bit more. It would have made a much more three-dimensional character, and there would have been opportunities for some poignant scenes.

Despite all of this, I gave the book 4 stars. Mostly for its entertainment value, and pure imagination. With a slightly leaner plot and deeper characters, this could have been both fun and genuinely great. Alas, it's just fun.

This has been on my “currently reading” list since December 2012. I've given up and restarted it on and off since then. It was such a struggle to get through. I think the problem is that it irritates the same parts of my brain as The Big Bang Theory - it's supposed to appeal to nerds like me, but it's such a shitshow that I find myself getting annoyed. In place of any character development or story, we're treated to a never-ending string of “like that thing in $nerd_reference”. Right up until the last chapter. “It was a hedge maze. With the same layout as the one in Labyrinth”. This is cheap, lazy writing at its worst. Dan Brown, all is forgiven.

As much as I enjoy a good audiobook, I rarely have time for them, and I usually only listen to books that I've previously read. When my family needed something to listen to on a road trip last month, this was an automatic top contender – the printed version of this was probably my favorite book of 2011, and I was due for another read.

I'm so glad we picked this one, it was long enough (an important consideration for a road trip) and it was marvelously done. Wil Wheaton was an inspired choice to read this – not only is he an experienced, and accomplished audiobook performer (is that the right word?); but being who he is – an Internet/Nerd icon and a 1980's child star – he adds a layer of authenticity and authority to the book.

I'm not going to talk about the book, I can't. I've tried it before, and failed. But it's just about perfect – funny, adventurous, immersed in pop culture (particularly from the 80's, my formative years), smart, with heart – a lot of it.

So when you add one of the best performances of Wheaton's career to that, you've got something worth spending 15 hours with. If only for his Sean Connery impression.* Wheaton captures the flavor, the pathos, the charm of the book and the characters that inhabit it. Go grab the book and give it a read. The audiobook's almost as good. If you've read it, the audiobook's a good way to revisit it.

—–

Interesting idea for a book, wish the overall writing was better and it had stronger plot points.

I thought this was a great book, especially for those who were geeks in the 1980s. While I enjoyed the book right from the start I felt it really picked up pace in the second half. I highly recommend this book for anyone with an interest in '80s films, music and video games.

I loved this book! I'm so glad my daughter loaned it to me to read.

I was in my mid-20's in the 80's, so while not technically a child of that decade, I was pretty familiar with all of the music, movie and pop culture references throughout the story. Reading this brought back some fond memories.

The story had a good plot; I'd even call it a fun plot, that meshed well with the gaming subject matter. The characters were interesting and the dialogue was realistic. I've never been a gamer, but I know enough from friends who are and characters in other books, movies and TV shows to find myself able to follow along easily enough.

Highly recommended if you enjoy futuristic fantasy adventure science fiction mixed with a bit of magic!

Initial Reaction: My mouth is still gaping wide open... this book is phenomenal!!! I still can't get over it. Really.. go read it. I'll be on cloud nine for a while fangirling and freaking out... eventually I'll be able to form real sentences and write a real review.

5 stars... plus a few more!!

This review is also posted on Great Minds Read Alike.

A little later: As you might have noticed, EVERYONE is raving about Ready Player One. Well.. I'm going to join their ranks. I'm still reeling from this book... it's the ultimate of armchair adventures, the epitome of fandomness of all things that have a fandom - 80s music, 80s TV shows/movies, video games from the very extreme very beginning, even MIDDLE EARTH, Doctor Who, Star Trek - it covers it all.

Ernest Cline is obviously the ultimate fanboy and has created an uber detailed world all his own. The story is set in 2050 - there is extreme poverty because of a fuel crisis and James Halliday has created the OASIS - my best description of the OASIS is that it is every WOW player's wet dream. Period. Everyone can access it for free. There are millions of sectors with hundreds of planets each, some that have magic, some that have technology, some that have neither... some that are PVP zones... some that are business and shopping zones - it's basically become the new reality. I honestly want to go to this place... there are worlds that are exact replicas of Middle Earth, the Death Star, etc. There are video game museums for miles. There's a zero gravity club that's a huge floating hollow sphere. The OASIS has everything... and the descriptions are told with such vivid detail. There's no doubt in my mind that a ton of research and mind power went into the writing. It's superb.

Next, the plot... it's GENIUS. James Halliday writes a series of secret keys and gates into the OASIS before he dies, the last of which contains the “golden egg”, and the person who solves all the riddles and finds the egg first will inherit sole power of the OASIS and James Halliday's entire fortune. The race for Holliday's “golden egg” takes off from the very beginning and literally keeps your heart racing the entire story. And the riddles are so well developed... the cleverness still makes me tingly inside.

There are overarching themes of true friendship, political unrest, and facing reality. The author reveals his opinions through his main character, Wade's, opinions on several issues, such as, atheism, the current state of humanity/government, and huge corporate giants. It's easy to tell where Cline stands but it's done very subtly and does not distract from the story itself. But I like books that take a stand, anyway.

Overall, I loved this book, and I immediately purchased a hard back copy for my bookshelf, so I can shove it in all my friends' and my husband's faces and make them read it. And (here's the big shocker) I'M NOT EVEN A GAMER. In fact, I'm one of those who has sworn off video games for most of my life.. I'm way too busy reading.

This story is really just an adventure, and I say that anyone who loves adventures would enjoy it. Even if you are not an 80s fangirl/fanboy, you will not have a problem getting any references... we all know what Pacman, Gallaga, and Sega are... plus, everything is explained, if needed.

I happen to be a concert junkie, so this really hooked me:
A concentrated, pulsing mass of ships and avatars covered the ground. It was like some otherworldly Woodstock.
Just one of many awesome descriptions throughout the story.

So... go get this book.. wherever you can. And read it. Just do it.

Very great book! It only has a few minor flaws, the most egregious being that most of the world is described through an infodump. It kind of works, but I would've liked descriptions to be a little more subtle.

If you are into 80's video games, music, movies, or other geek culture, this would be right up your alley!

really great book. lots of old computer and arcade game and 80s pop culture references. combined with programming and virtual reality and there is no way I couldn't like this book. highly recommended to other geeks and people that grew up in the 80s

This book has been recommended to me by probably four separate individuals who didn't understand that it was on my list and I MUST FOLLOW THE LIST. That said, I'm glad to have finally reached it in the list because it was everything I enjoy about light-hearted sci-fi.

Since I've never been huge on video games, I thought I might miss out on some of the humor, but there was plenty of referential humor for every 80s child. It's basically 400 pages of nerdy peacock displays. I am ... basically all about that. The actual story, though, is not in any way devalued by the references. Cline's characters are a diverse bunch who are very real in an unreal world. The pacing is lightning quick and I stayed up way too late last night trying to knock out the last hundred pages because there was just no where to stop. Also there was a frickin' Gundam.

The world-wide Easter Egg Hunt is a pretty simple premise that goes off on a thousand tangents, each one more enjoyable than the last. Admittedly there is an Evil Corporation and a 80s high school Love Story with the standard arcs and valleys, but part of that is the homage to the genre, in my opinion. My favorite part was the bits with Wade working within Evil Corporation. Cline reinvents indentured servitude in a very page-turning away.

The only thing that kinda bugged me was the portrayal of the two Japanese characters. I have never known any Japanese person to say “he has no honor.” Klingons say that. Not Japanese. Not even Japanese who enjoy samurai films. They had this stilted, austere presence which in no way resembled anyone I met in Japan. It's very hard to write someone who is not fluent in the language of the author, and I think those characters stuck out against the rest of the cast.

Overall, though, if you have an ounce of 80s nostalgia in your body, you will enjoy this book and should definitely give it a read.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

The first thing I'm going to say is part of the reason why I was so surprised by this book is that I picked it entirely based on the cover. I had not heard of Ready Player One, I was just in Waterstones looking for something to read on a long train journey. Ready Player One just happened to be in the ‘buy one get one free' section, like literally the only reason I bought this book was because I would get it half price. I'm sure everyone knows that picking a book based on its cover is very hit or miss so I was amazed that not only was it better than I expected, it was about all the things I love.

I will fully admit that this is one of my all time favourite books, but it's really not the greatest story. Large parts of it are based on other games and movies, there is even a chapter when Wade (our main character) plays Matthew Broderick's role in Wargames. This is also a part of the reason why I think a movie adaption could be extremely difficult to make.

But I don't think it's good enough to say I like this book because it mentions nerdy stuff, I already liked that and would still like it if I hadn't read this book. I think I like the fact that it acknowledges nerd culture and acknowledges the fact that nerd culture is becoming mainstream. I mean it's now cool to like Star Trek and Doctor Who. I love the fact that people don't have to hide that part of themselves and this book celebrates it. Being a nerd and knowing lots of stuff about movies and games makes you cool.

I love the fact that a huge part of this is set in an MMO and even mentions some of the downsides of being a gamer (weight gain and living in your parents basement). Though I am not a child of the 80s and sometimes didn't know what Wade was referencing I still enjoyed those parts. I also really love how it comments on data privacy. Look if you're a nerd and you like science-fiction, gaming and the 80s you will probably like it.

It took me a little bit to get into this book because of all the 80s references. It was a little bit annoying that every other page had some kind of reference and if you didn't know it, the concept might have been lost on you. The author does an alright job at least describing what's going on even if you don't get the reference. Over all it was a fun adventure story and it got better as it went along.

July 2017 re-read

OH MY GOD I STILL LOVE THIS BOOK.

I am so so glad i decided to give it a re-read, it's just so damn fun! There were many details I had forgotten and it was so fun going on the journey again. I still hugely recommend reading this book!

—————-

OH MY GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK.

I have been an avid online gamer in my time (WoW), I also love the 80′s (born in '87 but love the music & films), and I love love love the idea of virtual reality gaming! The book was wonderfully descriptive, which allowed me to really get into the story – the sign of a great writer if you ask me. I think it's well prepped to become an awesome film – GEEK HEAVEN. One of the other reasons I loved the book is the happiness it filled me with as I read it... there's much fun to be found in this book, It made me laugh, and I couldn't put it down (particularly the second half!).

Do yourself a favour and get the book already!

I've done a You Should Read This Book/Review at my blog “Be More Book”

I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! Cline is a genius writer, the entire story kept me captivated. I loved the characters, the storyline, the world it was written in. Wil Wheaton did an AMAZING job as the narrator. The tale of the world took be back to my days as a teenager in chat rooms with my closest friends. I can't recommend this story enough for people like me. LOVED it!

If you are trying to figure out whether to read this book or not, you should probably read someone else's review. This book was written precisely for me. Not only am I a high-brow, science-fiction futurologist, virtual world, romantic comedy is my favourite subgenre.
Obviously, I loved the book. In fact, I enjoyed it so much and consumed it so rapidly, that I cannot be sure how good it actually is.
The setting is clever and complete.
The conflict is established early and the plot flows well throughout the novel.
The only thing that might put people off is all the 80s references. Sure, it might be fun to see which ones you know, but it can get old. Was not really a problem for me, but wanted you to keep it in mind.

Anyway, this is likely the best non-graphic, virtual world novel written. I have not read Sword Art Online, but it is a light novel (and thus expensive).
Get ready...

I recommend this read if you love 80s geek culture (TV, Video Games, movies, music, sci-fi and fantasy). The year 2044 is crappy so most of the story takes place in the virtual world. The trivia can be a bit heavy but that is kind of the point.

Ready Player One was pretty mixed bag for me. On one hand, it was a very quick and entertaining read that I couldn't put down until I was finished. On flip side and even though I cruised through it, I can't really say that it was a great book.

I loved all the references and nods to some of my favorite movies and games, though some of them went over my head as the 80s-centric focus of the references were a bit before my time. While Cline does a good job of explaining a lot of them, it was the subtle nods that I found most rewarding (nn particular two references to Brazil that I noticed due to just watching the film before I started the book).

Unfortunately, all these references mask what otherwise is a pretty standard story. Its been a few days now since I've finished the book and I can't say that it has really stuck with me at all. I'd recommend this as a quick, easy read for people looking for something along those lines or to serious pop culture junkies, especially if the 80s are your thing, but I'm really surprised how little impact this left considered how quick and excitedly I actually consumed the material.