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

Dec 19, 2016 Netanella rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, 2016-rrrc-challenge-addicts-reading, dystopian, cyberpunk, 2016-december-reading-challenge

I loved this book for the first 100 or so pages, then I got a little bit bored with the monotony of the hunt for the Easter egg and the game within the game. I felt like I needed to fast forward VH1's Decade of the 80's to get to the resolution. I really wanted to really fall in love with this book, but I just couldn't, even though I am a Child of the 80's and still have my collection of Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks on one of the many bookshelves. Ultimately, I was annoyed at the length of the b ...more

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Mar 09, 2018 Jak rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Ready Player One is the best book I have read for ages.

It’s set in a dystopian future where most of earth’s natural resources are spent and life is tough for the 99% as they live in stacks (trailer homes stacked atop each other some 50 stories high). So it’s no wonder that many close to live in an alternative reality called OASIS.

OASIS was created by James Halliday and is a MMPORPG or massive virtual universe with thousands of different plants offering everything from free education, war simul ...more

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Jul 01, 2013 Jennifer rated it it was ok

Wrote a review already, goodreads ate it :/

So, all I will say is this book while entertaining, was horribly written and just seemed like an excuse for the author to prove how much of a geek he is and how much he remembers of the 80's :/

The information dumps about the decade, stopped the book in its tracks every time they happened, which felt like all the time. I don't understand the hype about this book, the 80's were not that great of a decade. Near the end, I wanted the bad guys to win, so th ...more

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Feb 02, 2017 Colleen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, thriller

Okay, I see what the fuss is about now. I think it crossed the line between classic and thriller a few times, but that's okay. As someone who is an 80s baby, a gamer, and nerd all rolled into one (though you could argue those are all generational characteristics) -- this book is a future Last Starfighter, which the book does reference a few times of course...

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mixed with this movie:

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Still the trailer park setting, but it's a dystopian future, where the environment is wrecked, there's no more oil, ...more

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Jan 16, 2016 Amy rated it it was amazing

Equal parts critique and celebration of geekdom in the internet age, this is the most insanely entertaining book I've read in ages! Chock full of more nerdy winks and pop culture references than Geeks Who Drink trivia night at the pub, I couldn't put it down from the minute I started (minus requisite working hours). Every child of the 80s who ever wished for a holodeck needs to read Ready Player One immediately! ...more

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Feb 04, 2015 Guy rated it it was amazing

The year is 2044. Life is bleak. The future more so. The main character resides in a "stack" : mobile homes, RVs, railroad boxcars, anything a person might conceivably live in, stacked on top of one another. In this case in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. A vertical slum.

The Internet has been superceded by a virtual reality universe called the OASIS. Anyone who is able spends (virtually) every waking moment in the OASIS. Reality is too terrible to deal with.

The creator of the OASIS who if not the The year is 2044. Life is bleak. The future more so. The main character resides in a "stack" : mobile homes, RVs, railroad boxcars, anything a person might conceivably live in, stacked on top of one another. In this case in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. A vertical slum.

The Internet has been superceded by a virtual reality universe called the OASIS. Anyone who is able spends (virtually) every waking moment in the OASIS. Reality is too terrible to deal with.

The creator of the OASIS who if not the richest man in the world is certainly one of them dies leaving his entire estate to whoever can find the "Easter Egg" that he has hidden in the OASIS. He loved the pop culture of the 80's so the clues to the egg's location would probably be found there.

The thing that drew me to this book was the 80's references. I am also a big fan of that decade. It has also most of the elements I look for in a pleasure read: interesting characters, heroes and villains, a murder, romance, and most importantly a good story. This one is well written and has pace. With a quest thrown in for good measure.

I have never played a video game. I never owned a computer until 1999. (It was a Gateway. What ever happened to Gateway? They were a big deal back then.) So the references to classic video games and vintage computer models were mostly lost on me. And it didn't really matter. The story relied on the characters. Both in the real world and in the virtual world of the OASIS.

The author did a good job with the 80's references. He gave a shout out to William Gibson's novel Neuromancer without which this work would not be possible. The game creator's favorite 80's movie is Blade Runner which is also my favorite film depicting a dystopian future.

The musical choices are also right on. Particularly New Order and Duran Duran. All in all an enjoyable experience that kept me within reach of my digital reading device until I reached the end of the book. The author has another book coming out in July which seems to be in a similar vein and I will be on the lookout for it.

Now if somebody would just write a novel as homage to English football of the same era. Anyone?

...more

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Jun 06, 2017 Michael Johnson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, owned

I loved this concept, the characters were good, the plot works and all, but I can't give it a full five stars. I think I'm about 5 years too young to fully appreciate all the references and even though the book was originally released in 2011, 2017 has some of the aspects of future technology seeming almost quaint. These things are minor, my real problem with this book; lord have mercy on this, yet unborn generation, who would use a work like 'gunters' to describe themselves. Reading that word o ...more

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