Ready Player Two (Ready Player One #2)

by Ernest Cline

She laughed and turned back to look at me, then made a come-hither motion with her index finger.

I could just make out a short bald man in a ragged shirt, in the midst of yelling something in a thick Cockney accent. This had to be Kira’s drunken stepfather, Graham—who was clearly enraged,

“Clearly enraged”

In that instant, I also felt her intense physical reaction to Og’s glance and his smile, and it gave me a sense of just how profoundly Kira had loved him. Samantha’s smile still gave me the exact same sensation—a sensation best described as devastation.

I recognized it immediately as the coat of arms of Queen Itsalot, sovereign ruler of the magical kingdom of Itsalot on the planet Halcydonia.

On one hand, this was a huge stroke of luck. I’d spent a huge chunk of my childhood on Halcydonia, and my knowledge of it was encyclopedic, even by gunter standards. But I hadn’t set foot on the planet in over ten years. And after my last visit, I’d vowed never to return.

an endless assortment of furry friends and anthropomorphic animal teachers who were always overjoyed to see them,

TIL in the OASIS, all children are taught by furries

Being able to put on my OASIS visor and be transported to the magical kingdom of Halcydonia was one of the things that kept me sane,

It did a really bad job

I never wanted to leave. And for a few years, I almost never did. Those were the last few years of my mother’s life, when she was slipping deeper into depression and the addiction that would end up killing her.

He’s so close to almost saying something about trauma driving him and his mother to treasure their precious time together in the OASIS. This could be a whole aspect of the character to explore both Wade’s relationships with others, and his mother specifically, through technology. You could dive into technology bringing people closer together, but also further apart. This vein is so rich, but Cline is uninterested in mining it.

Like all of the treehouses, mine had a large hollow tree trunk at the center, containing a spiral staircase leading to the ground. I’d decorated the interior so that it resembled the treehouse where Chewbacca’s family lived on Kashyyyk in the Star Wars Holiday Special. Aech noticed this a few seconds after we arrived and chuckled, then she let out a long Wookiee growl of recognition. I didn’t laugh. I was too busy teetering on the verge of an emotional breakdown, as I took a long look around the room.

My brain is numb to passages like this that really should evoke rage

Shows like 3-2-1 Contact, The Big Comfy Couch, Captain Kangaroo, The Electric Company, The Great Space Coaster, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Romper Room, Reading Rainbow, Sesame Street, Zoobilee Zoo, and many, many more.

Can I just point out how much more rote this reads once you notice the list is alphabetized