Ready Player One takes place in the year 2044 and presents an Earth that is faced with an energy crisis, catastrophic climate change, and widespread famine, poverty, and disease. How realistic does this future feel? Are we headed down a similar path?

[Aaron (Typographical Era) , Opinionless]

I couldn't find any official discussion questions for this one, so I've taken it upon myself to write my own. Apolgies in advance if they're awful. :)

[Aaron (Typographical Era) , Opinionless]

The future is now?

[Jo Anne]

Well, with an energy crisis, my first question...in response to this question is, what is powering OASIS and every system that is used to connect to it? What kind of energy crisis is that?

That being said, I think we're headed down that path in a number of ways. 1. As a species, we are certainly depleting our resources at a rate that exceeds the rate of replenishment. But more to the point, it depends on the resource. 2. The social facets of the story indicate a world where people are growing up so plugged in and tuned out of real world, that they end up living a 'virtual' existence. His bff is a 'guy' who he has no personal connection with until the end of the story. (Although, I do love the irony - the stigma and stereotype that video games are all played by obese middle-aged men living in their mother's basements, and are usually playing female characters...and his best friend is the epitome of cool with a male av played by a triple-minority black, female lesbian!)

As realism goes, in fiction, isn't it always based on ones ability to suspend disbelief? It's real to me that an online community like OASIS could exist. But I admit, when I get into a book, a story, I am IN that world. The setting and story of the book IS my OASIS.

[Jo Anne]

LOLz