Ready Player One panders to pop culture but the main character is BORING and FLAT

[Nikiverse]

Kind of like the protagonist in Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind, Wade from RPO is magically good at everything. He has never played this or that game but after one or two tries, he has beat the high score.

I dont understand why this book is getting such RAVE reviews. Don't get me wrong, it will make a fun movie. But the good guy is 100% good. And the bad guy is 100% evil (and is even part of a 100% evil corporation). The motivations behind the bad guy being bad and the good guy being good are the same: they just ARE that way.

And there are tons of 80s references, but nothing is symbolic or meaningful. It's just like a buzzfeed list of sh*t that happened in the 80s.

There are no sweeping, lyrical quotes from the book. There are also no twists, no betrayals, nothing. It's literally, so yeah this happened and then that happened [insert 80s reference]. And then after that, then this happened.

This is my first post here, so I hope I'm doing it okay. But I didnt really like Name of the Wind either because the main guy was also naturally good at everything. SO BORING.

[Lori S.]

Not everything is going to appeal to everyone. As someone who grew up in the 80s and remembers when video games became a phenomenon, I found the books a fun nostalgia trip. There's a little of D&D in there too, come to think of it (I've never played the game, though I loved the cartoon series). I think for a lot of people that might be the draw - the nostalgia. Also, I listened to it with Will Wheaton narrating.

[Amanda]

Yes, I think this book was only popular because of the nostalgia factor. I liked it enough to give his follow up, Armada a read as well. It was awful. If you didn't like Ready Player One you will hate Armada!! It's like all the shitty writing is laid bare with no cool factor to carry it.