Challenge: 50 Books discussion
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Ready Player One
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Group Read August: Ready Player One
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So, picked this up from the library on the 1st, then started and finished it in one sitting. What a great read!! Looking forward to discussing it with everyone to see what you thought of it.
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I loved the description on the cover... someone called it very fittingly a nerdgasm!
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It truly is!! :)
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1)Is it just me who keeps thinking of the Romanes eunt domus scene from Monty Python while wade is sitting in his latin class???
2)My armor appeared on my body, my shield appeared in a sling on my back, and my sword appeared in my scabbard, hanging down at my side.
I instantly pictured Wade as Link from the Legend of Zelda.
3) My avater was a third-level wimp, with nonmagical weapons and twenty-seven measly hit points.
The gamer in me winced at this and began to seriously worry about Wade's chances of survial!
Ok, pointless rambling over!! It's question time!
How did you feel about the idea of the OASIS? Is it something that excited you or did you think it was a further slip into fantasy and a bad idea?? Do you think something like it would work in a world that wasn't on the brink of disaster such as Ernest Cline has set his story in??
Hehe, I wanted to play in the OASIS... badly! I loved the idea of so many worlds (Firefly world!) and as a current Old Republic addict I don't think I'd leave my house (which would be bad) with so much more to explore. I think a game like OASIS in a horrible world would be like, using the worlds of Karl Marx, "opium of the people." I think this is how the game is used in the book, just like drugs the game makes the people feel good, gives them a purpose to live that isn't as bleak as the outside. OASIS would be a cool game, I'd play it against the reason of my rational mind, but it could also be dangerous and used as a tool/weapon to oppress people.
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I think you're right,I'm an rpg fan (haven't broken into the mmo world yet but the promise ofa firefly mmo early next year will change that) and have happily spent hours (read as months) glued to my playstation on the release of a new game. The OASIS excited me but I could also see myself becoming very addicted to it.
I found the OASIS both exciting and depressing. Such an immersive fantasy is appealing of course, but what it has done to the population in the book, and what it would do in our world, is rather sad. I wouldn't want to be sucked into a fake reality so deeply that the real world was less vibrant.
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Really enjoyed this book, recommended it to a bunch of people!
Carol wrote: "but the promise of a firefly mmo early next year"I was initially excited about it so I looked it up and was very disappointed. It isn't a true MMO, it is a multi-user, social online role-playing game that will initially be available for smartphones and tablets only. It seems more like a Facebook-like game than a true MMO (there is a reason I have an expensive multi-thousand dollar gaming rig and smartphones and tablets just do not make the cut for a true gaming experience). For some reason I was picturing a Mass Effect-like Firefly gaming experience but I am bracing for a disappointment.
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Carol wrote: "I believe, but I could be wrong, that this is the first step and that they are going to gain enough support to make it something more. But we'll just have to wait and see."I hope so! I fully developed Firefly MMORPG would be just amazing... I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Trey wrote: "I found the OASIS both exciting and depressing. Such an immersive fantasy is appealing of course, but what it has done to the population in the book, and what it would do in our world, is rather sa..."I would love to live in a world with OASIS, but it is a frightening concept - I think a lot of younger people would choose OASIS instead of real life.
Love the book, and would read it a third time.
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Ok, so if you we're to find yourself suddenly famous, what would you do???
How do you feel about the idea of internet dating?? Do you think love found in a cyberspace could ever be real??
And lastly, would you be able to resist the millions offered to Wade by IOI?? (I don't think I could!!)
Carol wrote: "Hi guys, Sorry the question's are late this week. Ok, so if you we're to find yourself suddenly famous, what would you do???
"Why would I suddenly be famous (hopefully not infamous)"; is it because
1. I won the Lottery; if I did I wouldn't want the world to know (certainty not some of my relatives!).
2. I made a hit record - if I sing outside of the shower I feel sorry for anyone within hearing range.
3. I marry Ian Somerhalder - might need a divorce first.
4. I wrote a more literate "Fifty Shades"; one that could win the pulitzer!
5. Or maybe my name is Kekerei and I'm Kris Jenner's skeleton in the the cupboard.
What ever reason it should only last 15 minutes.
I couldn't resist this book after Faye expressed her deep love for it!! :-) I got it and read it in one sitting and LOVED it as well. I have since recommended it to soo many. I hope I can join in on some of the conversation this month! Oh, and by the way, I never dreamt I'd LOVE a book on this topic, but I did. Just reaffirms my love and faith in Goodreads bc I never would have even come across those doozie without it! enJOY. I'm off to take a reading break and enJOY watching Pretty in Pink-gotta love Molly Ringwald! HA.
I meant come across THIS doozie. Sometimes I hate autocorrect! ;-)
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Ok, so if you we're to find yourself suddenly famous, what would you do???
"Why would I suddenly be famous (hopefully not infamous..."
Right there with you on 1&2!!! A lotto win would be fantastic and no one needs to hear me sing so I can't imagine me making a number 1 hit!!!
Also, if you make a more literate version of Fifty Shades I'll happily read that!
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Hi Sarah!! it is a doozie isn't it!!! I was recommended it by a friend and, as a big gamer, headed straight out to buy it! It's a fantastic novel. I look forward to your thoughts on it as we go along!
Ouch, internet dating... I have a friend who met her husband this way and then many more friends whose mailboxes are filled with, uh, sexual requests, to put it mildly. It has been a disaster for me and after two years of internet dating I met my current partner the traditional way, in a bar!As far as the millions... I would hope that I could actually do something useful with them instead of spending on frivolous and harmful crap (such as private jets, games of poker in Vegas, strippers, and on amoral corporations whose only goal is to make more money at all cost) as rich multi-millionaires tend to do. Although, if I was rich enough I'd spend it reviving Firefly and classic Torchwood because we need more of that on TV. ;)
Alicja wrote: Although, if I was rich enough I'd spend it reviving Firefly and classic Torchwood because we need more of that on TV. ;) If I had millions I'll donate some to this cause too.
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Ok, so we're two gates down with one left to go. How is everyone enjoying it so far??
The book seems to be following the classic movie trilogy style of things going well for our hero's in the first installment and the bad guys appearing to be winning in the second. Did we like this idea or was it a little predictable??
And lastly, what games or movies would you have liked to see played out either as part of the hunt or as a planet visited by Wade??
Personally, if the OASIS did exist and I could play through the movie The Labyrinth or the game Final Fantasy VII (as either Cloud or Tifa because they rock) I'd be a seriously happy camper!!
Just grabbed this book at the library, so I'm waaayyyyy behind but I'm excited to join the convo, albeit late in the game!
They mentioned Firefly and Star Wars worlds which sounded really cool but I would also love a Doctor Who world come complete with a TARDIS (and yes, I love Deloreans but I would choose a TARDIS over one). The book was mostly focused on the 80s so none of my suggestions would work but playing out Mass Effect as if you really are in the story would be awesome too.
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Jump on in Kate!! It's a gem of a novel!
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I second the TARDIS but the question is: which Doctor would you like to play as???
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Good answer!!! I couldn't agree more!!!
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Well the month and the hunt for Halliday's egg is over. How did we all like, or in my case, love it?? How much fun would it have been to plahy through the Holy Grail?? Did anyone think the ending was a little too cheesy??
Personally I loved it all right up to the end. And I've never been against a little cheese. I loved the idea of the love story imposed over the hunt and the hope to change all their lives with a big lotto like win.
I think I'll have to dig this book up again every couple of years.
Carol wrote: "Mekerei wrote: "David Tennant"Good answer!!! I couldn't agree more!!!"
I'd be the female version of David Tennant! always said we need a girl Doctor one of these days...
And yes, the ending was cheesy and predictable but it also parallels how video games usually end, with cheesy endings and the hero getting the princess, of sorts. If the rest of the book parallels video games, then why shouldn't the ending?
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Good answer!!! I couldn't agree more!!!"
I'd be the female version of David Tennant! always said we need a girl Doctor one of these days...
And yes, t..."
Good point!!
Challenge: 50 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Ready Player One (other topics)Authors mentioned in this topic
Ernest Cline (other topics)Ernest Cline (other topics)
Wil Wheaton (other topics)
So here are the details:
Schedule
Week 1 Level 1, Chapters 1-9 (pgs 1-117)
Week 2 Level 1, Chapters 10-16 and Level 2,Chapters 17-18 (pgs 118-223)
Week 3 Level 2, Chapters 19-27 and Level 3, Chapters 28-30 (pgs 224-339)
Week 4 Level 3, Chapters 31-End (pgs 340-end)
Summary
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?
Ready Player One (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_Pl...
Ernest Cline (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_C...
This book is also available on Audibles.co.uk/.com (http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/ref=sr_1_...) as read by the extremely awesome Wil Wheaton.
I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did the first time I read it and, fellow gunters, game on!!!
**Please feel free to share your thoughts as you read.
**Please remember to mark your spoilers.