Book Review : Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Published by Broadway Books
on June 5th 2012
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 374
Goodreads

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS.

Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.

When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

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I should have picked up Ready Player One a long time ago. Back in 2013, Erin reviewed Ready Player One on Blogger’s Bookshelf, and it’s my own fault for not picking it up sooner. It was the push from the movie release, I think, that made me finally pick up this book, and I am so glad I did.

What is Ready Player One about?

After James Halliday, creator of the OASIS virtual reality multi-player game dies, information comes to light that he’s hidden an Easter egg inside the game. The person who finds it will receive Halliday’s immense fortune and company.

Wade Watts (player name Parzival) has been wandering through the game for the past five years since the death of Halliday, until one day he stumbles upon a clue, a clue which will put him on the gaming leader board and alert of the world that the chase is on. While it’s every man/woman for themselves, Wade’s friends and companions make their way through the different stages and clues that Halliday has left behind, uncovering government agencies and high-flying millionaires with agendas of their own along the way.

My thoughts on Ready Player One

Ready Player One was so crazy good. I don’t think I remembered from the reviews I’d read previously that it was so geeky. Halliday loved the 80s, so all the clues, pop culture references and little quips and nods towards things of a time gone by were geek central, and so wonderful. From Star Wars to Back to the Future, Pacman to Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams to Monty Python, there’s a little of everything 80s in this book, which, of course, made it that more entertaining to read.

“I created the OASIS because I never felt at home in the real world. I didn’t know how to connect with the people there. I was afraid, for all of my life, right up until I knew it was ending. That was when I realized, as terrifying and painful as reality can be, it’s also the only place where you can find true happiness. Because reality is real.”

As well as the brilliant characters in this story, the concept was crazy. Virtual reality to this level is insane, and I hope it never comes this way in real life. While Wade, in the end, realises he’d rather spend time in the real world than be hooked into the virtual game the entire world plays and lives by, it was an incredible look into a possible outcome for the world’s love of technology. Definitely made you think.

What’s even more impressive is that this was Cline’s debut novel. Incredible. The Ready Player One movie was released last week, and I look forward to seeing it!

What do you think? Have you read Ready Player One? Seen the movie yet?