Ready Player One

Some reviews of this book say that the film is better. That is a matter of perspective since written medium is often different than film. However, the book is accurate to the 1980's, which is where the pop culture is set and the focus of the Easter Egg contest. You get a lot more background to the time the book is set, which is the near future, and how global warming and conflicts have made the world a miserable place to exist. Hence a lot of the worlds population now lives in the Oasis.In the film a lot of the gates are set in visual medium (e.g. the race at the beginning of the film), which is probably sensible since film is more visual. Whereas in the book, you are left to interpret the environment yourself, and for anyone who lived through the 1980's this will be a trip down memory lane. For younger audiences who have never experienced the games we had in the 1970's/1980's, it is a lesson in the history of gaming and what we had in this time.Overall, I think this book is brilliant and a good prediction of what the Metaverse will become under the stewardship of companies like Facebook/Meta and the other big IT companies (e.g. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon). It will be interesting to come back to this book in 20 years time (roughly the time this book is set) and see how accurate it is. I am guessing spot on.

What a fabulous amazing book that is full of thrill and adventure as it had me on the edge of my seat

I read this five years ago and decided right away that it was one of my all-time favourite books. When I saw that a sequel had been released, I decided to re-read this to avoid any confusion when reading book two. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it so much the second time. It's still a brilliant book, and one of the best in the genre, but I don't think it's as good as I thought it was back in 2016.It's the year 2044, and the real world has become a hideous place. Most people spend the majority of their time inside the OASIS, a virtual utopia where you can be anyone or anything you want to be. Wade Watts is one such person who does this, and he quickly becomes obsessed with the ultimate lottery ticket that lies within the alternative reality. The original founder has died with no heir and promised that control of the OASIS, along with his massive fortune, will go to the person who can solve the extremely difficult riddles he left. Unfortunately for Wade, thousands of people around the world are desperate to do so, and he quickly discovers that some will stop at nothing in order to succeed...When I read this book for the first time, I loved the setting. I loved how developed the OASIS was and the constant references to 1980s pop culture. When reading for the second time, I didn't love the setting quite so much, but still thought it was really interesting. There were so much 80s throwbacks that at times, it felt a little too much. The plot was also a bit silly sometimes... Wade very conveniently knew almost every 80s movie word for word, and knew the lyrics to almost every song from the era. It just seemed too convenient. I don't think the book as a whole has aged brilliantly; once or twice, there are a few words and slurs used that are extremely outdated, and, given how far we've come in the past few years, you can tell right away that the book was written ten years ago. The writing style was quite weird, but given the geeky nature of the story, I thought it worked quite well.I liked the majority of the characters. Wade was a strong lead and I really wanted him to win against IOI, but like I said, his knowledge of 80s pop culture just seemed far too convenient. The same could be said for the other characters, like Art3mis and Aech. Because Wade had only met these two characters inside the OASIS, we don't get to see their true selves until the end of the book. I really liked this, as I think it gave the reader a valuable lesson about talking to strangers online. I liked the villains too, but don't think they seemed that threatening. They only ever come into contact with Wade inside the OASIS, and never in real-life.Although I think this book does have several issues that I didn't pick up whilst reading the first time, it's still a really good novel, and I'm looking forward to reading the second one!8/10.

Enjoyed reading this after seeing the movie - interesting how the book takes a different approach, and clear why that wouldn't work on the big screen in some regards. As usual, the book is a richer experience.

Ready Player One is an entertaining and nostalgic romp through 1980s pop culture. Being born at the end of the decade, I missed the real 80s experience but I've always had a love of all things retro. Cline pays homage to many of my favourite movies, books and TV shows; including Star Trek, Back to the Future, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, LOTR, Blade Runner and Monty Python. All of these geeky allusions were really fun, even though some of the more obscure music and video game references were lost on me.  The story follows a teenage boy called Wade Watts and his epic quest to find an 'easter egg' hidden inside a virtual reality game called the Oasis. The game's creator, James Halliday, has left his entire fortune and control of the Oasis to the first person to find the prize, which triggers a Willy Wonka style hunt, with everyone desperate to find the three keys that will lead them to the egg. To do so, they must follow Halliday's trail of clues that are all based on his obsession with 1980s pop culture. Sounds fun, right?It is really enjoyable and hilarious. But what I didn't expect was that the story would take a darker turn. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but let's just say that the hunt for Halliday's easter egg turns out to have serious implications in the real world. Wade, who goes by the avatar name 'Parzival', is one of many 'gunters' that dedicate their lives to the hunt. He studies everything about Halliday's life and interests and he spends more time logged into the Oasis than in the real world. Wade is smart and funny, but outside the Oasis he is mistreated, ignored and isolated. I can understand why he wants to escape from reality. I liked him and felt sorry for him in equal measure.Aech was my favourite secondary character, but I really liked Shoto and Art3mis too. They were all intriguing, because we don't know who most of them are in the real world, we only see their avatars. I wasn't sure who Wade should trust and confide in, as they could be concealing their real identities. One of my theories turned out to be way off.There were two things that kept me from giving Ready Player One the full five stars. One is that I thought some scenes were very rushed. The book tries to fit in so much and sometimes we don't really get to experience the action first hand, but are just given a quick summary of it. The other is that I found Wade's extensive knowledge, hacking abilities and the security systems available to him quite unbelievable. I expected him to make more mistakes or face more threats, but the way he lucked out at certain times just seemed too convenient.Nevertheless, Cline's exciting and exaggerated writing style had me hooked from the first page. Just like the Oasis, I found Ready Player One to be incredibly immersive and addictive.I thought that it was a stand-alone, but I've since heard that there is actually a sequel in the works. I'm not sure how I feel about that, because although I would certainly enjoy reading more about this world, I also think that it had a satisfying ending that doesn't need any further explanation. I still won't be able to resist buying it, though. I also really want to see the movie now as I think the concept will translate really well to the big screen.I'd recommend Ready Player One to all lovers of sci-fi, fantasy and geek culture. I imagine that fans of World of Warcraft style RPGs or retro arcade games would really appreciate this book, though you don't have to be a gamer to enjoy it. If you like films like Wreck-it-Ralph, The Matrix and The Guardians of the Galaxy you will probably love this book as much as I did.