Ready Player Two

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


(Rated 4, but Closer to 3.5)

2011’s Ready Player One, where a world-wide “Easter Egg Hunt” in the virtual world of the Oasis ends with young Wade Watts becoming the heir to Oasis creator James Halliday’s fortune. (Think: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets the Matrix—I didn’t make that up, it’s a review on the back of the book.)

Ready Player Two is the long-awaited sequel, and it begins just days after that contest ends. Wade a.k.a Parzival (his avatar within the simulation) discovers a dangerous secret implanted within the Oasis and before he knows it, he is thrust into another quest with his friends, including his now estranged ex-girlfriend Art3mis as well as his best friend Aech, as well as Sho and Daito. But this time, (because it is a sequel) the stakes are much higher, up to and including the very fate of humanity.

Along the way there are 80’s references galore: John Hughes, Prince…as well as the standard Lord of the Rings and other tropes of the Dungeons and Dragons foundation that lays the foundation for many of the quest video games from which this series derives its inspiration. It can be overwhelming and a tad confusing if you are not well-versed in this stuff. But to Kline’s credit, he devotes many words to explaining things.

Some criticisms I had: the initial excitement I had in reading this was somewhat tempered by the stain of Parzival no longer being a lovable underdog. In Ready Player One he was the little guy, poor and desperate with nothing to lose, while here, it becomes necessary to put him in a REALLY bad spot for us to care about his fate. Also (in the nit-picky category) there are flaws: the release date of the Tim Burton Batman movie is listed as 1990 (it was actually 1989); he mentions Magnum PI wearing a Detroit Lions hat (um, I never watched the show, but I think he meant Tigers) and I don’t want to spoil anything…but there is a live action stunt by one of the characters that I quite simply do not believe. I didn’t toss the book away in nerd disgust, but nonetheless here we are.

If you are a fan of the first book, you will most likely enjoy this one. If you are reading this first, maybe go back and read Ready Player One, but you don’t have to, as all you really need to know is written in the book jacket to this one.
All in all, Ready Player Two is a fun sequel that leaves us in good position to either end the series or to continue…..





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