(3 / 5)
To sum Ready Player One up briefly, it’s the year 2044 and the internet has transformed into the OASIS, a virtual reality world where anything is possible. Much of humanity work and play in this virtual universe. The mega rich, uber 80’s nerd James Halliday, creator of the OASIS, has passed away. As he had no living relatives, he created a complex game inside the OASIS – and the winner gets all of his fortune. In his video will, he stated that he has hidden his fortune somewhere in the OASIS, and that to decipher all the clues, one must be extremely well versed in 1980’s pop culture! Suddenly the majority of people want to find the fortune, but the clues are difficult to interpret. When high school student Wade almost stumbles across the answer to the first clue, this virtual game becomes very real, when his life and the life of his friends, are put in danger in the real world.
I don’t even know where to begin to talk about this story! It was just so different to anything I have ever read (or listened to) before. What a blast from the past! I can’t believe how the author brought the 80’s back to life so easily! The games, the movies, the music! Even though I wasn’t a teenager in the 80’s, I still remember a lot of the things that are referenced. Even the parts I was not familiar with I still enjoyed! I loved how the whole world went 80’s crazy after Halliday died. The young kids were studying all things 80’s and leg warmers were back in fashion!!
I just LOVED the OASIS! Its not so far-fetched really, to imagine that soon we will all wake up, go to the bathroom, eat breakfast and then log on to the net. There we will be able to sit in a virtual classroom and not have to leave our house, or work in a virtual office… That aspect of it is quite believable. The rest is total science fiction, but still SO MUCH FUN! I just thought the whole thing was so cleverly done. It was exciting, interesting, and you almost felt like you were in a computer game just listening to it!
I found myself totally engaged in Wade’s journey! I loved how the story progressed and the characters developed and virtual romance blossomed. The characters were all total nerds and I really enjoyed the dialogue between them and their “avatars”. There were so many twists and turns in the book too! Thought everything was just so darn clever! I enjoyed the big corporation vs a handful of 80’s nerdy teenagers aspect to the story too.
HOWEVER, it was full of 80’s info dumps. Dump after dump after dump. It didn’t bother me at first, but I can see how it is copping a lot of criticism for being badly written. But I still enjoyed getting swept up in the nostalgia!
The audio version: Will Wheaton! What can I say? What a fantastic performance! It sounded like he had SO MUCH FUN doing it too! There were so many times that I was laughing out loud!
Would I recommend it?
Absolutely! Ready Player One is for 80’s nerds, its for anyone who loves a good story and wants to escape for a while. Lots of nostalgia – Fantastic!
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