Ready Player Two, by Ernest Cline- 2.5 rounded up to 3 Stars

[Joi]

So initial reviews came out of the questioningly anticipated/slightly unnecessary sequel to Ready Player One- and they were all BAD. Like capitol letters BAD. So I went into this with REALLY LOW expectations. Luckily, this left the lackluster book keeping me pretty satisfied. The problem is everything I really loved about the first one, wasn't really applicable here. It's difficult to review without comparing- but one standout of both, is our wonderful audio narrator- Wil Wheaton, who definitely could have influenced my review from 2 to 3 stars.

There are a few moving plots that interplay with each other. If you're going into this wanting the puzzle format with 80's references, I think you'll be happy. Instead of keys and gates, Wade is searching the Oasis for 7 Shards of the 'Sirens Soul'. We have a secondary plot of real life danger- where the ENTIRETY OF THE WORLD IS AT RISK. And a tertiary plot of Sorrento, our capitol E for Evil villain from book 1. Plus an unnecessary romance plot for "good measure". The puzzles and references were still very fun- we get video games, John Hughes movies, Prince, Lord of the Rings (personally, I rolled my eyes at this), lots of fodder for geeks/nerds, plus those of the generation.

The problem is that our underdog is now the richest man alive- and his qualities and traits are now more insufferable and annoying (and also creepy- he literally breaks the laws of the Oasis for personal gain), rather than charming and quirky. The book seems to think that in the sequel everything must be BIGGER and MORE EXTREME. But it made it just seem cornier. Everything was always extremely convenient plot-wise. Plus it felt like there was both a lot of fan service going on, as well as pandering to the audience. Things the author clearly got criticism for the first go around, Cline tries to address this time around, and it makes it seemed forced, and propaganda-like (female/male characters especially). I liked the addition of the 'Low five'- and wanted more about these NEW characters. Then the ending kind of just went off the rails- in a bad way. I didn't like how Kira was interpreted, I didn't like the forced study of existence and reality at the end.

[Nicole D.]

Yeah ... Wil Wheaton didn't even save it for me

[KateNZ]

Wil Wheaton was the only reason it got the 2.5 from me

[LibraryCin]

Joi wrote: "If you're going into this wanting the puzzle format with 80's references, I think you'll be happy...."

I'm hoping this to be the case. I also hope to listen to the audio (I think my library does have the audio, so...)