Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (5 Stars)

[Jeremiah]

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
5 Stars

In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

The Positives of Ready Player One
There were many positives about this book for me, but the main one that I would highlight is this book stays true to the dystopian genre much more than recent dystopian novels do. I personally get frustrated because all too often dystopian and sci-fi are being mashed together and called dystopian. Ready Player One does not do that but rather stays true to tackling real world social issues and presenting a take on how we as humans are likely to deal with the problems.

I should also note that I believe one reason this book resonated with me is because of the modern Fortnite craze. This game is taking over with our young people and I see them being completely addicted to the game. They live within this virtual world and so much of it aligns with the idea behind OASIS in the book. This fact alone made the nature of the dystopia presented in Ready Player One more believable.

The Negatives of Ready Player One
I did not have a lot of negatives with this book. However, the one that I do have is that I would have liked the world outside of the virtual reality to have been developed more fully. I felt like the book was ripe for dealing with the political climate and how it lead to the dystopia of the book but the author stayed away from what could have been a powerful message. Otherwise, this book could have rivaled some of the greats in the dystopian category.

Overall, very pleased that I finally got around to reading this novel.

[Susie]

I’m glad you enjoyed it. It was my first ever audiobook and it was such a great introduction.

[Joi]

Totally Agree! I think one reasons this book read so YA to me, was because of your "negatives"- so much fodder for more, but we just skimmed the surface of the dystopian world.

[Jeremiah]

Joi wrote: "Totally Agree! I think one reasons this book read so YA to me, was because of your "negatives"- so much fodder for more, but we just skimmed the surface of the dystopian world."

I would agree although I do believe the retreat into the virtual world is very much a statement on politics, economy, and social issues from a dystopian view point.

[AsimovsZeroth]

I rated this one fairly low - only 2 stars. Not because I didn't enjoy it, I originally rated it higher, but eventually I realized that my higher rating was due to nerd nostalgia more than anything else. Lots of references and buzzwords packed in and I felt like at times, the relevance of the references was a bit of a stretch.

Well, okay, I originally rated it higher because of nerd nostalgia and the fact that it was narrated by Wil Wheaton, whose blog I'm a long time fan of. He did a fantastic job. I recommend anyone who hasn't read it yet to pick up the audiobook version because Wheaton's narration gives Wade a lot more personality than I actually felt the writer gave him.

Like everyone else, I was also really disappointed at getting such a thin overview of the world. It could have been so much better. Same thing with the characters themselves. On reflection, they kinda felt like cardboard cut-outs, so I found it really hard to care what happened to them.

However, I may give it another shot in the future, as I've recently found out that there is a sequel, so perhaps the author goes a bit deeper in that.