Ready Player Two
Ratings401
Average rating3.1
This was the worst disappointment in years... I loved “[b:Ready Player One 9969571 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) Ernest Cline https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500930947l/9969571.SY75.jpg 14863741]” and was eagerly awaiting this second instalment. After all, a sequel to an instant classic? What could possibly go wrong?! Turns out the answer is “everything”: Wade Watts was an underdog; orphaned, hunted but optimistic and positive with a great group of friends. In this book, though, he has turned into a vengeful spoiled brat: »I gleefully zeroed out hundreds of trolls in this fashion. If someone talked shit about me, I found them and killed their avatar.« And that's not the only instance in which Wade is completely unrecognizable. Our young hero has turned into a complete idiot. Even his one-week-girlfriend Art3mis has understood what a douchebag Wade has become and left him.His friends are mostly avoiding him but Wade doesn't really act upon any of that - apart from stalking (!) Art3mis, invading the others' privacy, etc. etc. We get told all that during almost the entire first quarter of the book. There's pretty much just Wade summing up how badly he messed up. Even that isn't really well presented: This entire part is mostly just boring and partly disillusioning. Exactly the opposite of the light escapism of the first book. Even worse: It's the exact same premise as in the first book. In “[b:Ready Player Two 26082916 Ready Player Two (Ready Player One, #2) Ernest Cline https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594220208l/26082916.SY75.jpg 59016474]” we get to read about yet another easter egg hunt - it even uses the same website... Not only does this feel lazy on the author's part but very risky as well because you cannot simply use the same plot devices over and over - which is exactly what Cline tries, though. Plus: Whereas IOI was the big evil corporation, now Wade turned things around and... »GSS absorbed IOI and all of its assets, transforming us into an unstoppable megacorporation with a global monopoly on the world's most popular entertainment, education, and communications platform.« ... now GSS is not much better, “weed[ing] out” whatever they deem “unsavory”. I found my hope somewhat renewed when Cline introduced “L0hengrin” and her “L0w Five” as the spiritual successor of both Parzival and his “High Five” but apart from a few “guest appearances”, this entire (promising) angle remained unused. The entire book feels like a badly implemented game with tons of repeating “fetch item quests'': Wade and his entourage are running one errand after another. Due to the time-limit Cline has imposed upon our fallen heroes they basically have to rush through those quests as well and everything remains pretty bleak and bland. At no point was I ever excited or rooting for anyone at all. At some points, to use the author's own words from the book, “I felt no sense of victory, because I had no idea what had just happened.”. Even Art3mis who was very critical of Wade for a long time, suddenly comes around and practically jumps back into his arms without any obvious motivation or reason... Worst of all is the ending, though... A certain device gives Wade the key to (virtual) immortality and he revels in his new-found abilities in a way that's outright horrifying. Wade's hybris in these final moments seems to reflect the author's who probably wrote this book not as a labour of love (like the first book very obviously was) but as one of simple, basic greed. For an in-depth review of this book, read this one: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3432736506Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram
★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
—
Like Marty McFly, I woke up at exactly 10:26 a.m., to the song “Back in Time” by Huey Lewis and the News.
This was courtesy of my vintage flip-clock radio—a Panasonic RC-6015, the model Marty owns in the film. Id had it modified to play the same song at the same time Marty hears it, after he finally makes it back to the future.
I threw back the silk sheets of my king-size bed and lowered my feet to the preheated marble floor. The house computer saw that I was awake and automatically drew back the bedroom's wraparound window shades, revealing a stunning 180-degree view of my sprawling woodland estate, and of the jagged Columbus skyline on the horizon.
I still couldn't quite believe it. Waking up in this room, to this sight, every day. Not long ago, just opening my eyes here had been enough to put a grin on my face and a spring in my step.
But today, it wasn't helping. Today I was just alone, in an empty house, in a world teetering on the brink of collapse.
READY PLAYER TWO
Joust
Ninja Princess
The Great Space Coaster
Sega Ninja
Ninja Princess
Joust
* And no, it's not just because I'm not a Prince fan—I probably like more of his songs than Rush's. Which isn't saying a whole lot.
“Some people define themselves by railing against all of the things they hate, while explaining why everyone else should hate it too. But not me. I prefer to lead with my love—to define myself through joyous yawps of admiration, instead of cynical declarations of disdain. “
READY PLAYER TWO
Ready Player One
Ready Player One
Ready Player One
I really enjoyed Ready Player One. The book.
I hated the movie, pure garbage. One day I will see a film of a book that actually follows the book.
I liked Armada.
But this book... well, I finished it but it was a struggle at the start. I wavered between it just liking it and abhorring it.
Wade is an asshole. The plot is drivel. The endearing nostalgia of Ready Player One is overdone and forced.
The ending was both interesting and yet more drivel.
Lightening doesn't strike twice, as the saying goes.
Another great read from Ernest Cline. While I found it a little patchy with some sections a little slow I really enjoyed the ride and was totally immersed in the story as it hurled to its climax which I found to be thoroughly satisfying and thought provoking. Highly recommended.
I hated this and feel like my life is worse having read it. The plot was so disjointed and didn't make any sense. The logic they use to solve clues is insane. I groaned and rolled my eyes constantly. The pop culture references so endearingly sprinkled into the first book were now gratuitous and contrived. The characters I loved and rooted for in the first book were so unlikable in the sequel that I honestly did not care what happened to them and kind of hoped they'd fail at their quest. And while I'd braced myself to be disappointed by a tidy ending, the actual ending made me feel gross and almost violated. This was awful and it has ruined the first book for me. How am I supposed to root for Wade and his pals to win the contest in the first book, knowing what a garbage human he becomes? I regret reading this book.
This second outing was a disappointment. It feels a bit like Ernest Cline forgot who, and what the first book was about - gamers and video-game culture.
I have a big soft spot for Ready Player One - it kinda blew my mind when i read it all those years ago. But this book... why was it written? Really did not need to be made. To me it seems like Cline was like “Oh Armada didn't sell that well, guess I gotta go back to the ol RPO cash cow!”
Breezy Internet-age pulp (though I did find the post-humanist stuff near the end kinda interesting)
This book was a stinky pile of trash with some minimally interesting stuff tossed in the middle. Much less referential than RP1, though, for those of you that are into that.
IMHO: The characters, while carried over from the first book, were either flat cardboard cutouts or jerks, sometimes both. I guess that's what happens when the protagonists become rich beyond their wildest dreams and control a hugely popular and powerful cyber realm. I just could not find any point at which to identify with the characters, especially Parzival. Even when a situation arises which requires a call to action, ostensibly to serve as a motivator to kick start the plot after many long, boring pages, this franchise cannot be saved. A huge disappointment. DNF. I will have to go back and re-read Ready Player One to get the bad taste out of my mind.
Would've liked to give 3.5 stars. Good, but not great. The ending was really good though!
This book is a testament to the saying that you can have too much of a good thing.
Ready Player Two is a great sequel to Cline's blockbuster novel Ready Player One. Like the first book, this one is filled with references to the 80s and pop culture, and it is glorious. Some readers might criticize this book for being too similar to the original. Well...there are a number of similarities. Yet, it's also interesting to watch some of these characters trying to navigate the new reality they find themselves in. Could Cline have done more of this instead of sticking to his original recipe for success? Sure, but hey- if it's not broke don't fix it. I loved the first book and therefore I also loved this one. I listened to the audio version and Wil Wheaton's narration is superb. I'd highly recommend RP2!
I just didn't care about anything or anyone in this sequel. The quests were too convenient. The 80s trivia and references came across like I was reading a wikipedia article. The ending was a copout. That being said, I enjoyed revisiting the Oasis even if I was disappointed in the plot.
Awful book.
Pros:
Semi interesting ending.
A lot of action.
Same flavor as the first one if you liked it.
Cons:
Plot is very similar to the first one.
Boring, over the top pop culture references.
Exaggerated characters (everyone is super sarcastic, super rich, super smart, super strategic and have conquered all of humanity's problems as teenagers within a span of 3 years, all thanks to a VR game)
That was way better than I dated to hope it would be! Such a fun ride! If you enjoyed the first book you should enjoy this one too!
Started out promising but I lost interest halfway through as the search for the 7 shards was so dull. I read the Wikipedia synopsis of the last half of the book and I don't regret my decision, a disappointing sequel.
I feel like I need to write this review to help it out a bit. If you liked the format of the first book, you will like the format for this book. The characters pretty much stay the same, and Cline has to do a few things to reset it enough to start another quest. It's actually a decent reset in my opinion. And then here we go again. If you liked the first one, and want to go for the same ride again, the get Ready Player Two.
Certainly liked the first book a bit more. However, just the same as the first book, it felt as if I greatly overgrew Ready Player Two.
Some of the ideas were presented in such a childish way, that it was so painful to read about. I was especially irked by the idea, that GSS hired an equal proportion of men and women. I see what the author wanted to show, but it seems that he completely forgot that equality is not in numbers, but in something completely different - valuing a person's abilities no matter their gender.
This book was just a beat down. It was like someone reading the imdb trivia for 80's movies with some obscure video games (since the popular ones were in the first book) thrown in. Everything was described in excruciating details. This book left nothing for the reader to engage with. There was no way for the user to solve any mystery or puzzle. I listened to audiobook read by Will Wheaton and he has made career off his gamer/pop culture cred but he just is not a good narrator.
Still a fun read. But it would always be hard to create something as surprising as Ready Player One. There are still new things to learn about the characters but it becomes more of a criticism of AI and how it can degenerate.