Ready Player One (spoilers) - My New Fav Book
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
- CataclysmicKnight
- Posts: 912
- Joined: 26 Jan 2015, 19:51
- Favorite Book: Ready Player One
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 1693
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-cataclysmicknight.html
- Latest Review: Simple Man Simple Message by Mark Dobosz
Ready Player One (spoilers) - My New Fav Book
The story follows a boy named Wade and his adventures in the OASIS, an online world that's essentially a cross between World of Warcraft and Second Life but infinitely larger. The OASIS has become as pervasive as the internet is today: people go to school in it, can make a living there, and now that James Halliday (the creator) has died, everyone is even more involved as a Willy Wonka-esque race for an egg will give one person absurd wealth, becoming essentially Hailliday's sole heir. The real world, however, has become broken, almost apocalyptic, and this is explored as well as the OASIS itself.
Here's the fun part - because there's so much at stake on finding Halliday's egg, and because of his addiction to all things 1980s (when he was a teenager), the world of Ready Player One has morphed almost entirely back to the 80s - people watch, play and study everything from the times, wear the fashions, debate, you name it! Hardly a page goes by without some reference, and because of the nature of the story, they're never forced.
The adventures of Parzival (Wade's OASIS name, which he named after Percival of the around Table, editing the name since the original was taken - how real is that!?) and his exploration of the OASIS are told in a manner that is easy to read, something that's not always easy to find in the sci-fi world. This is a story filled with adventure, mystery, suspense, exploration and plenty of surprises, one I devoured and wanted to live in forever, despite the whole crappy-world-outside-the-OASIS bit.
- gali
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 53653
- Joined: 22 Oct 2013, 07:12
- Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice in Space
- Bookshelf Size: 2288
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-gali.html
- Reading Device: B00I15SB16
- Publishing Contest Votes: 0
Pronouns: She/Her
"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you." (Mortimer J. Adler)
- ejcogan
- Posts: 246
- Joined: 26 Oct 2014, 21:19
- Favorite Book: Once Burned
- Currently Reading: The Truth of all Flesh
- Bookshelf Size: 31
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-ejcogan.html
- Latest Review: "Dehumanized" by Michael Loring
- CataclysmicKnight
- Posts: 912
- Joined: 26 Jan 2015, 19:51
- Favorite Book: Ready Player One
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 1693
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-cataclysmicknight.html
- Latest Review: Simple Man Simple Message by Mark Dobosz
And thanks for both of you reading it and replying!!!
- RStone
- Posts: 32
- Joined: 02 Mar 2015, 17:37
- Bookshelf Size: 12
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-rstone.html
- Latest Review: "Malevolent Shadows" by Abdul Sami
- Lisalovecraft
- Posts: 235
- Joined: 19 Jan 2015, 22:10
- Bookshelf Size: 21
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-lisalovecraft.html
- Latest Review: "A Devil of a Time" by Gretchen Jeannette
- Yates6600
- Posts: 8
- Joined: 16 Feb 2016, 14:33
- Currently Reading: 12 Years a Slave
- Bookshelf Size: 3
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-yates6600.html
- rborie1109
- Posts: 2
- Joined: 21 Mar 2016, 09:52
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- edelaoefi
- Posts: 7
- Joined: 31 Mar 2016, 13:30
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-edelaoefi.html
I also listened to the audiobook on this one, but then as so often happens with me, I liked the book so much that I had to go pick up a hard copy. I found the story to be very engaging and really enjoyed all of the video game references. It was definitely a geeky indulgence for me as I was reading.RStone wrote:This book is /amazing/! I haven't read it straight out, I actually picked it up as audiobook to listen to while working on knitting, and it's read by Wil Wheaton, who just did the most amazing job. He was perfect for it- so I listened to it twice! Great book. Clever, funny, and man do I want to go to the OASIS.
What really got me hooked though was the reading by Wil Wheaton, he really knows how to capture reader attention and get the story to come alive. Another book I would recommend listening to on audiobook that was also read by Wil would be Redshirts by John Scalzi. Not only does he do a great job with the reading of it, but the book will probably hold appeal for many of the same fans as Ready Player One, Redshirts is a spoof of Star Trek which focuses it's story line on the most replaceable characters of the series. Though be prepared if you do listen to this book around other people that it is quite hilarious and you might end up laughing out loud for no apparent reason.
- Lisalovecraft
- Posts: 235
- Joined: 19 Jan 2015, 22:10
- Bookshelf Size: 21
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-lisalovecraft.html
- Latest Review: "A Devil of a Time" by Gretchen Jeannette
I hear they might make a movie out of it!
- adria_charles
- Posts: 105
- Joined: 21 May 2016, 11:22
- Currently Reading: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
- Bookshelf Size: 268
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-adria-charles.html
- Latest Review: "Turka Bella" by Jonathan Feldman
The wonderful Steven Spielberg will be directing the film for this book and it should be released some time in 2018. CAN'T WAIT!
- Apollo
- Posts: 39
- Joined: 25 May 2016, 23:49
- Currently Reading: V.
- Bookshelf Size: 3
- dejab
- Posts: 5
- Joined: 12 Jun 2016, 14:09
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-dejab.html
- Sithlyone
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 26 Jun 2016, 14:16
- Bookshelf Size: 0
Ernest Cline did a fantastic job with this book. Drew me into this world and made it live. If you are looking for another book that is in the same ballpark, his 2nd novel Armada is in the same vein. Not quite as good and had many of the same themes but still a good read.
Thanks for the review!
- Sakuko
- Posts: 22
- Joined: 22 Jun 2016, 06:01
- Bookshelf Size: 0
But the whole old-fashioned feel of exploration and puzzle solving, that you don't have as much in modern video games, I liked that a lot. It's what the book was about for me, first and foremost.
I also loved how he portrait relationship and friendship in the virtual world. Most people tend to be negative about it, I liked how realistic and positive it came out.