From the Bookshelf of Apocalypse Whenever…

Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)

Ernest Cline

Start date: June 20, 2013

Finish date: July 1, 2013

Discussion: AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

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AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

* What is a good book for AW discussion? (Nominations pool)
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* AW Book Club: what we've read
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What Members Thought

May 04, 2013 Lena rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mulitple-times, favorites, best-of-the-best

Loved it. Third time reading it.

Third in November 2016. Fourth now

11 likes · Like · see review

Oct 14, 2016 Kandice rated it really liked it

I was a child of the 80’s so this movie touched all the nostalgia chords of my heart. It’s clear from page one that Cline adored and misses that decade so very much, and while I can’t say I long for it in the way that this novel implies he does, I did love it. Who didn’t love our goofy video games, in arcades no less, John Hughes movies, Godzilla, Jurassic Park, colored hair, which has made a comeback, Michael Jackson in his prime, and oh so much more.

Cline dumps us right in a future which is b I was a child of the 80’s so this movie touched all the nostalgia chords of my heart. It’s clear from page one that Cline adored and misses that decade so very much, and while I can’t say I long for it in the way that this novel implies he does, I did love it. Who didn’t love our goofy video games, in arcades no less, John Hughes movies, Godzilla, Jurassic Park, colored hair, which has made a comeback, Michael Jackson in his prime, and oh so much more.

Cline dumps us right in a future which is bleak as hell. There is the usual overcrowding, pollution and poverty that is found in dystopic literature, but this is dystopia presented in a very fresh and unique way. He deals with the overcrowding with “stacks.” I LOVE this idea and the images they invoked in my head were fantastic. As a side note, Spielberg also “showed” them to us perfectly in the film adaptation. Because of real world despair people are escaping into a virtual world. That’s where the story lies.

Our hero, Wade Watts, is on an Easter Egg Hunt, which makes him a Gunter. Personally, I am obsessed with Easter Eggs. Not the kind dyed by children, hidden by adults and then found by said children, but those hidden by creators in their work. George Lucas, the SyFy network, Stephen King and Joe Hill are among the best hiders ever! Just ask any fan of the series Haven how many times they watched each episode trying to spot every Easter Egg. In my case, sometimes nine or ten. Seriously.

The Easter Eggs Wade is looking for were hidden in the Oasis (the virtual reality in which everyone is escaping) by the creator, Halliday. After his death it was announced that whoever finds them all inherits the Oasis. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but in a nutshell, that’s the story. Wade hunts, as do his friends and everyone else. Everyone else includes the BIG BAD, IOI. IOI is a rival company wanting control of the Oasis to use it for advertising and the ever powerful dollar. IOI will stop at nothing to find the eggs. I mean nothing. Not money, lost lives, illegal activities, virtual slavery, you name it. When I say BIG BAD, I really mean BIG BAD.

This novel really is about the journey, not the destination, because anyone who has read any more than a handful of novels can predict the ending. The way Cline gets you there is the treat. It’s clever, exciting, and suspenseful, there’s romance (ick!), friendship, loyalty, aforementioned Big Bads, and all you need for a fantastic ride.

My favorite quote of the whole book is “People who live in glass houses should shut the fuck up.” -- says it all crudely, but effectively. Thank you Ernest Cline.
...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jul 17, 2012 Robert rated it it was amazing

Shelves: x2011-12-season

Fast-paced and entertaining, I tore through this in a day. While starting with a standard treasure-hunt structure, a de-riguer orphan hero and a slightly clichéd evil corporate antagonist, Cline overcomes these uninspired building blocks with an original conceit that lets a futuristic sci-fi novel be flooded with late 20th century pop nostalgia.

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 28, 2011 Judy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, audiobooks, my-2014-books

I've been trying to get to this one all year. Finally I'm reading it on audio. The reader is Wil Wheaton, what fun! I just started it yesterday, but the story is already a hoot.

Update: Finished the book a few weeks ago. If I'd had my way, it would never have ended. It was so fun to read and a great romp through a virtual universe. I hope Wil Wheaton narrates Cline's next book also. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 04, 2011 Josh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction

Videogames, intrigue, mystery, romance, a great cast of characters, and TONS of references to 80s pop culture.

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 08, 2016 Wende rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction-favorites

Wil Wheaton narrator on audiobook

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 25, 2014 Samantha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, all-time-favorite, ya, audio-books, read-in-2014

I loved this book so much that even before I finished listening to it on audio I bought a paperback copy at the local friends of the library bookstore.
For me, being a child of the 80s the references to that decade were fun and a great reminder of all the good things of that decade, I might not have been a huge gamer back then but I could appreciate the nostalgia.
The game play and the adventure was top notch, a very interesting version of dystopic future where people live and breathe in an onli ...more

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Aug 26, 2011 LeisureSuitLarry rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 101-in-2011, wrote-comment, 100-in-2014, 100-in-2015, 100-in-2017, 100-in-2019, favorites

I want to live in the OASIS.

Any time I want a light easy read or need a pick-me-up I turn to Ready Player One. The words are always the same, but the adventures of Parzival, Art3mis, and Aech never disappoint me. I love all of it. The impossible odds, the love story, the puzzles. Every single bit is a piece of magic. The references to old video games, movies, television and everything else are like pieces of my past dripping off the page.

I cant' stress this enough. If you're wondering "should I ...more

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Jun 05, 2012 Kevin rated it did not like it · review of another edition

After my laptop fused to my lawn mower due to a freak lightning strike, I discovered that I could use it to travel through time.

fakemare. avoid this poor man's vonnegut at all costs. the spirit of Wonka ain't here. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 13, 2016 Michael rated it liked it · review of another edition

Really 3.5 stars in my book (pun intended). A very good recommendation from my friend who lent me his kindle to read it, which meant I could never figure out a page number. I really liked the dystopian future vibe but I felt it was a bit ruined by the surfeit of '80s references. A friend pointed out its similarity to Daemon (another book I really liked). I'd be interested to read more of his work and I'm excited to see the movie! ...more

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Oct 17, 2012 S. A. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sf

Ok, this book is everything everyone says. It brought back my gaming childhood like I imagine nothing else ever could, from the hours over pencil and paper games in the basement with the boys to the intense concentration over a few crude pixels on a TV screen as monitor.

Awesome.

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