Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Synopsis:
It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.
Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.
And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune — and remarkable power — to whoever can unlock them.
For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved — that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.
And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.
Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt — among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life — and love — in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.
A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?
Review:
Ready Player One is a standalone and the first novel by bestselling author Ernest Cline, following the rags to riches story of Wade Watts – video gamer.
Set in the year 2044, the world has fallen to decay and poverty. The only light in the darkened future is the OASIS – a virtual reality MMORPG that has become one of the world’s largest powers. Everyone has taken the VRMMORPG as a way of living, using it as not just a source of entertainment, but for working, schooling, dating, and, especially for Wade, an escape.
For some, just living peacefully within the OASIS is enough, but for others the “Hunt” is what keeps them going. The Hunt was set into place by James Halliday, the creator of the OASIS, and its goal is to allow the winner of the Hunt to gain the fortune left behind after James Halliday’s death. Those that hunt for the easter egg are called “gunters,” and Wade has become the world’s most popular gunter by discovering the first clue in five years towards finishing the Hunt.
After discovering the first clue, Wade’s life undergoes a serious change. People are dying, money is being thrown around, and romance is blooming. Wade has no choice but to see it all to the end, because there’s no going back… ever.
Chalk full of 80′s Geekdom, Ready Player One is a terrific novel about a slightly apocalyptic future that has become governed by a virtual MMORPG. There are aspects that seem so magnificent about this possible future, but then there are others that just seem horrific. I’m very torn on whether or not I’d want this future…
Probably not.
I love the 80′s trivia involved in the Hunt for Halliday’s easter egg. It was such a nice throwback to such an amazing era for geekdom, and a lot of things I enjoy were mentioned which made me even more excited! It was exhilarating to see a story about a culture that embraces the wonders of the 1980′s.
On top of it all, the writing was brilliantly done. Author Ernest Cline expertly crafts a genius story about gamers trying to preserve their way of life, whilst improving it for themselves and for those around them. The ending was a very fitting one, and one I greatly enjoyed. This has worked its way into one of my favorites, and I swear this deserves to be a movie – NOW.
Five out of Five stars!
