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Ready Player One
Group Reads Discussions 2011
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"Ready Player One" Player One - Ready?(No Spoilers)
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Bonnie
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rated it 5 stars
Dec 13, 2011 11:00AM
I started reading this book a few days ago and now I'm about 3/4 done. I absolutely love it so far! I play a MUD online, which is a lot like the D&D games mentioned in the book and there's so many references that I'm just geeking out! I also grew up in the 80's, so the book is doubly interesting and fun to read for me.
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What a strange book. My first impression was that the author really just wanted an excuse to talk about all things 80s, which is fun for a guy my age, but I didn't see how it would work as a story. I'm about a quarter of the way in, and am relieved that there is at least a decent story built around the nostalgia. But two things bother me. First, the society-trapped-in-virtual-reality thing is ground that has been walked over too many times, no none of this feels new. Second, can sci fi writers PLEASE stop it with the tween/teen hero who knows EVERYTHING? Even without the goofy list of all of his "research," the precocious kids like Wade just aren't believable. I'll blame Orson Scott Card for starting all of this, as he has milked the idea shamelessly since Ender. But I distinctly remember being that age and never knowing what the hell was going on. Can we have a young lead character that doesn't make the 45-year old reader feel like a complete moron for not knowing all of this stuff?
I like the book so far....
Monk - I agree that Cline didn't do anything particularly new with the VR game idea. But I doubt the monomyth will be going away anytime soon.
Not just a monomyth here. Frodo took such a journey, but no one in that story had all of the answers, even Gandalf. Harry Potter stumbles his way through 7 books. Those stories are compelling because the hero struggles through a learning process. My problem is with the young hero who is smarter than everyone in the universe. It's a character crutch that allows the author to hopscotch past more difficult plot development. In my view, better authors treat young characters as young characters and allow them to grow through the story.
Monk wrote: "Not just a monomyth here. Frodo took such a journey, but no one in that story had all of the answers, even Gandalf. Harry Potter stumbles his way through 7 books. Those stories are compelling bec..."I think there is a big difference between a 6 year old character like Ender and a 17 year old one like Wade. I agree Wade's knowledge was too detailed and all encompassing but I don't expect a lot of growth in a character who goes from 17 to 18 in a story
I thought this was great. Characters, plot, trivia, the hunt, everything. I don't know if anyone else listened to the audio, but I thought Wil Wheaton did a really good job and I don't know if it was on purpose but it worked perfectly with the overall story to have a Star Trek actor read it.Someone mentioned how it's supposed to be all 80's stuff, but there were things from the 60's, 90's, etc. Although Haliday was obsessed with the 80's I think anything Haliday related (including things and times he lived through) were fair game.
I will forgive everything else in this book because of the long inclusion of Ultraman, who came into the world the same year I did. Beta Capsule reference pushes this book to 6 stars out of 5. Not that I am sentimental about my childhood or anything.
I've only just started it but really liking it :) Have to fit it in with vacationing and running around Seattle
hmmmmmm...the plot thickens after chapter 15 and I REALLY like this!!!!
I finally started this today. Already a quarter or a third of the way through it. I am really enjoying it so far!
That's right.
I picked this book.
praiseme
I picked this book.
praiseme
87% done and loving it. I wanted to leave the kids in bed late this morning so I could push through to the end, but they staged a mutiny. We'll see if I can wrangle a naptime, otherwise I'll finish it tonight.
Ground them for some minor infraction, then finish the book :P
Good plan. I'm sure they deserve grounding for something. I'll go yell at them now.
Pre-emotive grounding works. You know they'll do something eventually. This will just give them time to think about it before they do it.
Like scared straight, only Y'know, beforehand.
Like scared straight, only Y'know, beforehand.
Lucky for me, the little monsters had a puzzle piece fight and I got to make them sit and have "quiet time" while the baby took a nap and I could finish the book! Yay. Not so lucky for me, I get to separate 6 500 piece puzzles back into their respective boxes.
That's way too much work.
Burn the puzzle pieces and buy new puzzles :P
Burn the puzzle pieces and buy new puzzles :P
sadly, since we are sans OASIS where all that ever was written is instantly available, i had to actually wait for my name to percolate to the top of the library's list, and that only happened today, a whole month late :( while i'm pondering the magic if instant library loans digitally... does anyone else ever geek out on their book technology whilst reading stuff like this? if wade is going to plug in and absorb everything virtually, i rather enjoy not having a dead tree book in hand.at just 2 chapters in, it's already caused me to send out an apb to several gamer friends who would unreservedly love this.
Hey Michelle! I just got mine from the library too, a few days ago, as I had to wait aabout 5 weeks to percolate to the top of my library's list as well! So you won't be reading alone! I just have to finish a book that's due in a few days but I'll be done today!Michelle wrote: "sadly, since we are sans OASIS where all that ever was written is instantly available, i had to actually wait for my name to percolate to the top of the library's list, and that only happened today..."
finished it today, too, and loved it!
you know, actually, only sorta for the first half or so. it was a little too silly in its incessant, meaningless pop-culture name-drops. nothing subtle or sly or subversive, just a barrage of classics. then, from out of nowhere, it shifted into being more 'neuromancer' and less 'scooby doo', and then that @#$% got good.
More neuromancer and less scooby doo?
LOL, I love that description
LOL, I love that description
there was some moment about 2/3 through or some such where it occurred to me that the book's structure was exactly like the plot of one of the stereotypical 80s geeky movies he's referencing, where the misfit kids have to beat the corporate weasels/frat boys/"the man" to save their beloved summer camp. and then there's a body count and imprisonment and whatnot, but then it ends all john hughes-eriffic, so i guess it's still kinda scooby doo after all.
Michelle wrote: "there was some moment about 2/3 through or some such where it occurred to me that the book's structure was exactly like the plot of one of the stereotypical 80s geeky movies he's referencing, where..."I'm totally cracking up over here. I love your descriptions!
Well I'm pleasantly surprised by this book. Nothing new, but he's doing the genre well. i'm about half way.
What do you think of all the references and whatnot?
I read this one just shy of a year ago. From the very start, I was hooked. This book is a geek's delight, especially if that geek is a product of the 80s.
Consider my interest piqued Valerie. :)
I am about 20% in now and have to agree with Valerie. This certainly is a bit of a trip down memory lane for some of us. The construct of the Oasis reminds me a bit of the Otherland Series by Tad Williams. Good stuff, and Wil Wheaton's narration of the audiobook version is perfect.
I enjoyed it as well
Just ready for tomorrow.
Just started and it appeals so far.
Valerie wrote: "I read this one just shy of a year ago. From the very start, I was hooked. This book is a geek's delight, especially if that geek is a product of the 80s."This was definitely a unique book experience for me. I can almost remember the point at the beginning when I first felt the sensation: wait, this book is about... me! (Halliday's generation, not Wade's).
I just started this book but it won me over on page 3 by having the references to Heathers. I watched that movie SO many times in junior high and high school. I have no idea why because it was quite horrible. Anyway, I was practically bouncing off walls when I saw that.All of the times that I've read about Atari in books and they always mention Asteroids, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders. Did anyone play other games? Did anyone play Q-bert? I inevitably killed my first guy by not switching my joystick position. But there were a lot of other games so I don't know why they don't talk about more of them. They mentioned Pong on NCIS once.
Lots of fun so far. It does help that I was born late 1960s. The author list mentioned is almost a carbon copy of what I read. Having once lost lots of my life to WoW, I enjoy the game references.Some more troubling themes lurking just below the surface too.
Just finished. An enjoyable, light read with some deeper themes just below the surface. It took me back to my formative years and more recent times when a few of us would log into WoW, chat on Skype and get trashed by the game.Good goodies and nasty baddies. Certainly helps if you grew up in the 70s and 80s. Can't quite give it 5* but a good 4* and a bit. Great fun.
