From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)

Ernest Cline

Start date: November 21, 2017

Finish date: December 20, 2013

Discussion: Book Discussions

Discussion leader: Andrea

Why we're reading this: Group Contemporary Novel Discussion December 2017
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What Members Thought

Sep 10, 2011 Ash rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: movie-tv, favorites, to-re-read, dystopia-adult, cyberpunk, audiobook, to-donate, 2011-read, virtual-reality

Thanks to Mith for recommending this book to me. If you have grown up in 1980s, then just get hold of this book already. If not (like me), then let me give you more reasons to pick it up.

I really loved the book, even though I grew up in 1990s and had never heard of many of those games or books or movies or pop singers. If you are into Online multiplayer games, then this is THE book for you. If you have grown up watching Sci-fi movies, have read sci-fi books/comics or have played any of those old Thanks to Mith for recommending this book to me. If you have grown up in 1980s, then just get hold of this book already. If not (like me), then let me give you more reasons to pick it up.

I really loved the book, even though I grew up in 1990s and had never heard of many of those games or books or movies or pop singers. If you are into Online multiplayer games, then this is THE book for you. If you have grown up watching Sci-fi movies, have read sci-fi books/comics or have played any of those old arcade games, this is THE book for you. If you like dystopia, then grab it. If not, get hold of it anyway since it has lot of suspense elements in it, that make it a page turner.

Dystopia - so you get the idea that world is no longer green and no longer a good place to live in. So people take refuge by logging into a virtual world called "OASIS". The best part about Oasis is that your avatar defines you. You can make yourself look fair, if you are dark; beautiful if you are ugly in reality and so on. The creator of Oasis sets up a contest, winner of which will inherit his multi-billion company (sounds similar to Charlie and the Chocolate factory? Yes it does and that is where the similarity ends). People have been trying to find the "Easter egg" for as long as 5 yrs, until one day our hero discovers the hiding place of one of the keys and thus the hunt for the Easter egg begins.

Considering that this is the first book written by the author, I am really impressed. He has done a great job and the plot is really intriguing and fresh. Only drawback though was the fact that I havent grown up in 1980s, so I couldnt feel the excitement everytime he mentioned about some 80s pop culture icon.

I started reading the ebook initially, but after reading Stephen's review, I got hold of the audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton (my first audiobook) and simply loved it. Audiobook is much better since he has narrated really well. Not sure if I would have given it 5 stars, if not for Wil Wheaton's narration. 1 star is just for his narration.

Only turnoff was the book was tooo long (not sure if others felt it too). Some descriptions were unwanted and some scenes were exaggerated - but it wasnt boring for even a minute.

I want a MOVIE based on this book. Hollywood directors, are you listening?

(view spoiler)

A quote from the book that I liked (just to tempt you guys to pick this book up):
"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. Do you understand?" ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

May 29, 2013 Alicja rated it really liked it

Shelves: dream-library, minor-lgbt-themes, cyberpunk, sff, science-fiction, dystopian, male-author, bookclub, nerdgasm

rating: 4/5

Wade's life is bleak and miserable, he escapes reality by logging into the OASIS, an MMORPG on a scale never imagined before. In his last will, Halliday, the creator of OASIS, leaves instructions for the whole world; find the hidden Easter eggs within OASIS and take over his position at the head of the company and inherit his vast millions. With no other hope, Wade sets off on a hunt, along with the rest of the world. Will he win or will it be GAME OVER?

I am going to borrow another r rating: 4/5

Wade's life is bleak and miserable, he escapes reality by logging into the OASIS, an MMORPG on a scale never imagined before. In his last will, Halliday, the creator of OASIS, leaves instructions for the whole world; find the hidden Easter eggs within OASIS and take over his position at the head of the company and inherit his vast millions. With no other hope, Wade sets off on a hunt, along with the rest of the world. Will he win or will it be GAME OVER?

I am going to borrow another reviewer’s term to describe this book because there really isn’t one that’s better: nerdgasm. Despite the futuristic setting of this novel, I felt like I fell through time back into the 80s; from TV to movies to video games through music. I am still a bit too young to have appreciated the 80s like those who were teens during that decade but I've soaked up much of the 80s culture through War Games and the Breakfast Club during their re-runs in the 90s, fell in love with Back to the Future (and loved Universal's ride-sadly, no longer in existence-over and over and over again until my parents dragged me away from the Delorean kicking and screaming), play Duck Hunt and Pac Man, old school Nintendo, etc.

For someone like me, who regularly plays MMORPGs, the story within the videogame was interesting and very well done on the details. I longed for an OASIS of my own to play. However, the world outside the videogame was not well developed; it consisted of a variety of generic doom and gloom scenarios such as widespread poverty, global climate change, running out of fuel and other resources, etc. It suffered from “reality” being neglected for the videogame world (which is also interesting since that was one of the main themes). Additionally, the ending was predictable and generic (however, it again mirrored endings in many videogames).

I loved the entertaining ride through nerd culture that brought back nostalgia and fond memories, developing into an exciting page-turner of a novel.
...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 01, 2013 Lisa P rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, 5-star, aaa-2014-challenge

This story takes place in a dystopian future here on earth. The "real world" is so miserable to some, that they escape into a virtual world that has been created, called the OASIS. When the creator of this virtual world dies, he leaves behind all of his fortune to whomever can find the "Easter Egg" he has hidden somewhere inside the OASIS. There are many keys to find and gates to discover in order to be the victor...The race is on, and it is quite a ride. I love the virtual world that is created ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 12, 2016 Christine rated it really liked it

Read this for the Adult Book Group at C. M. Brakensiek Public Library in Bellflower, CA.
Although this book was set in 2044, it was a feel-good read for me with the all the computer, gaming and '80's culture references since I played role-playing game in high school, college and beyond plus I was in college in the early 1980's. ...more

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Sep 15, 2016 JoeBlack rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was just... amazing, awesome, brilliant ... (add any superlative of your choice). Clever story, catchy plot, quite likeable characters and maybe even frightening vision of the future. Beware what can happen if we stay too long in the virtual reality and computer games. The best book I've read this year for sure! Recommended! <3 ...more

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Feb 13, 2012 Greg rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, post-apocalyptic, kindle-ebook, librarybook

This was his first book? Wow...

You've all read all the reviews and you know the background of the story so I won't go into all that... (if not, there's about 1.96 gazillion reviews here on GoodRead and Amazon)

As a teenager of the 80's (Class of '84 here) and someone who lives and breaths computers, there's no way this book couldn't reach out to me.

Later generations will probably not get it, but Gen X'ers sure will.

I borrowed this from the Library (love Overdrive! :) but now think I'm going to ha ...more

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Jun 04, 2014 Kelsey rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites

WOW. I don't even like video games, or know anything about the 80's but this book was so fantastically written that I was sucked in the entire time. I hate myself for finishing it in one day. ...more

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