Ready Player One: A Novel by Ernest Cline (Epub)

Description

In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the OASIS, a vast virtual world where most of humanity spends their days.

When the eccentric creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. Whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune—and control of the OASIS itself.

Then Wade cracks the first clue. Suddenly he’s beset by rivals who’ll kill to take this prize. The race is on—and the only way to survive is to win.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Entertainment Weekly • San Francisco Chronicle • Village Voice • Chicago Sun-Times • iO9 • The AV Club

“Delightful . . . the grown-up’s Harry Potter.”—HuffPost

“An addictive read . . . part intergalactic scavenger hunt, part romance, and all heart.”—CNN

“A most excellent ride . . . Cline stuffs his novel with a cornucopia of pop culture, as if to wink to the reader.”—Boston Globe

“Ridiculously fun and large-hearted . . . Cline is that rare writer who can translate his own dorky enthusiasms into prose that’s both hilarious and compassionate.”—NPR

“[A] fantastic page-turner . . . starts out like a simple bit of fun and winds up feeling like a rich and plausible picture of future friendships in a world not too distant from our own.”—iO9

User’s Reviews

Review “The science-fiction writer John Scalzi has aptly referred to Ready Player One as a ‘nerdgasm’ [and] there can be no better one-word description of this ardent fantasy artifact about fantasy culture. . . . But Mr. Cline is able to incorporate his favorite toys and games into a perfectly accessible narrative.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times “A fun, funny and fabulously entertaining first novel . . . This novel’s large dose of 1980s trivia is a delight . . . [but] even readers who need Google to identify Commodore 64 or Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde, will enjoy this memorabilian feast.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer“Incredibly entertaining . . . Drawing on everything from Back to the Future to Roald Dahl to Neal Stephenson’s groundbreaking Snow Crash, Cline has made Ready Player One a geek fantasia, ’80s culture memoir and commentary on the future of online behavior all at once.”—Austin American-Statesman “Ready Player One is the ultimate lottery ticket.”—New York Daily News“This non-gamer loved every page of Ready Player One.”—Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series“A treasure for anyone already nostalgic for the late twentieth century. . . But it’s also a great read for anyone who likes a good book.”—Wired“Gorgeously geeky, superbly entertaining, this really is a spectacularly successful debut.”—Daily Mail (UK)“A gunshot of fun with a wicked sense of timing and a cast of characters that you’re pumping your fist in the air with whenever they succeed. I haven’t been this much on the edge of my seat for an ending in years.”—Chicago Reader”A ‘frakking’ good read [featuring] incredible creative detail . . . I grinned at the sheer audacity of Cline’s imagination.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel“Fascinating and imaginative . . . It’s non-stop action when gamers must navigate clever puzzles and outwit determined enemies in a virtual world in order to save a real one. Readers are in for a wild ride.”—Terry Brooks, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Shannara series“I was blown away by this book. . . . A book of ideas, a potboiler, a game-within-a-novel, a serious science-fiction epic, a comic pop culture mash-up–call this novel what you will, but Ready Player One will defy every label you try to put on it. Here, finally, is this generation’s Neuromancer.”—Will Lavender, New York Times bestselling author of Dominance“I really, really loved Ready Player One. . . . Cline expertly mines a copious vein of 1980s pop culture, catapulting the reader on a light-speed adventure in an advanced but backward-looking future.”—Daniel H. Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse “A nerdgasm . . . imagine Dungeons and Dragons and an 80s video arcade made hot, sweet love, and their child was raised in Azeroth.”—John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author of Old Man’s War“Completely fricking awesome . . . This book pleased every geeky bone in my geeky body. I felt like it was written just for me.”—Patrick Rothfuss, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wise Man’s Fear

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Excruciating. I don’t understand how there appeared to be no one who edited this book. Some issues:1. The first 17% of the book (kindle says how far along you are) is pure exposition of the world. That’s one sixth of the book where nothing happens except our hero attends two classes in his nonsensical virtual high school.2. There is a chapter where the characters sit around and tell each other what’s already happened in the book. Why?!! I’ve already read it, why are the characters explaining it to each other.3. The insanely over explained pop culture stuff. Example “oh wow that looks like Rivendell!” “Yes it does! Rivendell, from the Lord of the Rings movies!” I’m surprised the author doesn’t break the fourth wall and just scream “GET IT?!”4. The swearing. The multi page treatise on the virtues of masturbation (Lord I wish I were kidding.) I’m not a prude and am all for profanity when it is natural and adds to the emotion of the story. Here it just feels like a 13 year old who just learned to swear and does it to feel grown up.I skimmed the entire second half and am much happier for it. The only joy I got from this book is reading the one star reviews so I could agree with all of them.

⭐ I got this after seeing the movie and hearing from a few friends about how different the book is. My two main points after reading this book in 3 days:1. Love the 80’s pop culture references integrated into the story. No book I’ve ever read has ever gone this deep into 80’s game, movie, TV, music references. The writer is obviously a true 80’s fanatic and geek. No doubt about that, this guy has lived it and did his homework.2. The main character is completely unlikable. He never arcs or changes, even at the end (finding ‘love’ is not a character change). Honestly, I’ve never read a book where the main character is just a complete and utter unlikeable character even to the end. You never really want this jerk to succeed. His inner workings and thoughts are as just about as bad as the main villain.Conclusion-Steven Spielberg did a brilliant job taking the meat of this story and actually making the primarily character LIKEABLE because the writer was just down right horrible at it. If the filmmakers had followed the book, no doubt it wouldn’t have been successful. I did enjoy the 80’s references, but too bad the main character was unlikable.

⭐ Reads like it was written by a high-school student. And to the people that think that’s because it’s POV: ALL of his writing is like that. Everything that the protagonist needs to happen, happens fine and everything works out because he is the chosen one of some rich nerd’s world. It’s the worst kind of wish fulfillment. I hate the term Mary-Sue but that’s what this book is about.

⭐ I can hardly understand the allure of this novel. Or how it managed to gain such popularity. Feels like its written for a fourteen year old, which is in such contrast to the age group who would either understand or have experienced anything that happens in this book… those of us in our late thirties, early forties. It read like a list of games and game explanations, with zero character development. I never finished… because I really didn’t care about any of the characters in the book or what the outcome would be. I often found myself nodding off, chapter after chapter. It’s a poor write… and a poorer read.

⭐ I really like the story line and the idea. I had to read through to find out how the characters figure it all out. I have a soft spot for virtual worlds – I met my wife online the virtual world called Second Life. I enjoyed how the virtual world is described and all of the technology in this book is within reach (except maybe the huge bandwidth to feed the world to that many people – but it will come with time).So why only three stars? Ernest Cline writes really well, with one issue – the incredible amount of exposition. At least once every chapter, I found myself saying, “Enough already, get on with it.” Sure some of it is from my growing up in the eighties and EC explaining parts of the decade *in detail*, but not all. There is a lot of explanation of the main character’s life and how he got where he is. You don’t find out things a little at a time – there are multi-page explanations. The book could easily have been half the length – or could include more from the virtual world. I did enjoy the imagination of the author in the building of the worlds (after seeing the amazing variety of user created content in existing virtual worlds).So, I would have to say – very good book to read, but you can skip a lot of the exposition (or skim it so you don’t miss something).

⭐ It’s nothing but an attempt to pass every single 80’s nerd reference there is through the digestive tract of a cow, and fling the resultant mess at your brain. There’s no character development, no sensitivity – nothing to make you think. It’s just a non-stop breathless race to cram in as much nostalgia as possible.Look, I get it – I’m a nerd – I really am. I’m the kid that always wanted to grow up to be a Systems Analyst. I grew up on many of the references in this book. But being a nerd doesn’t have to mean you give up an appreciation for good writing. You want clever, entertaining future dystopia? Go read Snow Crash.

⭐ This books sucks and blows!I had high hopes this would be like SnowCrash Neal Stephenson, or Daemon or Freedom by Daniel Suarez it’s ANYTHING BUT!Hits you with the following before the story startsEvolutionClimate changeNo GodBarely get food to eat but fast internet for RPGTrailers set on top of each other in stacksSet in Oklahoma (Tornado Alley)Story may be ok but can’t suspend that much disbelief.

⭐ Ready Player One has been one of the most hyped movies lately. The book had been on my TBR list for quite a while and I decided to read it before seeing the movie.The world has evolved into a society filled with even more inequality than we have now. Most people live a hard life in trailer stacks (a form of housing where trailers/containers are haphazardly stacked on top of each other – see book cover) and endure a world that’s challenging and unforgiving. Imagine growing up in that environment, but then imagine having an escape that you could retreat to whenever you feel the need.The OASIS is that escape. It’s an incredible free virtual world where people (regardless of where or how they live) can be whatever they want and live exciting lives and explore incredible worlds. Just strap on a virtual headset and leave your troubles behind. This is how, Wade (Parzival), has grown up. He learned everything he knows online – he knows no different (Like my kids who have grown up with Apple keyboards, which are frustratingly different to the normal keyboards that I grew up with – they find standard keyboards alien!). And so there is the fundamental problem. Everyone is so poor and tormented by the real world that the escape from reality has become a natural daily obsession for most. The virtual world has overtaken the real world. No one wants reality – they just want virtuality.Add to that a chance to become the sole owner and controller of the OASIS (worth $500b) and you have a recipe that drives the world’s virtual obsession to an incredible new level. The underlying story centers around hidden eggs within the virtual world that need to be found. The one who finds the final egg first becomes the winner of the OASIS. The creator’s intention to pass on his legacy to a deserving player is challenged when a company hellbent on total control and profit comes into the mix. It’s a recipe for conflict and challenge worthy of the most complicated online games.I was engrossed in this book from the start. Hooked from the get-go. The settings are extreme and varied, changing from one page to the next but never becoming confused. The virtual world has the power to do that, so it makes sense when it does. One core fact that this book portrays so well is how easily we can be drawn into things that aren’t real. It shows us the extreme and of how best friends, connections, and relationships form even though players have never met in reality. It shows the power of the virtual world in masking the identity of players who have created a ‘life’ that is everything they want but don’t really have. It also explores the power of data and of how it can be used against us.Although it’s extreme, I believe it’s a very real scenario. And as AI starts to explode in the years to come, it’s not an unimaginable outcome. We are already obsessed with our phones and online interaction is already overtaking face to face. It’s just a matter of time before we retreat further into our own virtual worlds. I hope we don’t lock ourselves away in our homes like they do in this book. I believe this story is a warning – one to remind us to stay grounded in the real world. But with all of the terrible things that hit the real headlines each day, it’s easy to see why we would want to retreat and hide from it all.Another cool aspect of this story was the nostalgia. Pop culture from the 80s was a core component of a story with never-ending references to everything from songs to games to places to people. I loved this as it added so much detail to which readers could relate. I won’t go into detail but there is a section of the book that includes a Monty Python classic – I chuckled out loud as the coconuts clopped.A lot of my reading is done on my commute to and from my day job in the city. The whole virtual reality thing took on another level as the movie was being heavily promoted around me while I read. Many times, as I stood reading the book on the train platform, the trailer for Ready Player One looped on the big screens around the station. It was moments like that where I felt like I was in the game, reading the story in a virtual background of the sounds, the music, and the vision of the story.In A Nutshell – It’s a feast of the author’s imagination that explores the world of virtual reality and all that comes with it. Due to its core content, this book is rich with settings that span time, space, games, movies, memories, and places. The huge mix of material has been put together so well. This is my best read of 2018 so far and I think it will be a hard one to top. Highly recommended.

⭐ Tolkien wrote Lord of the Rings as a ‘myth for the machine age.’ I think RP1 is an imaginative fairy tale for the online-gamer / virtual reality age. And the picture isn’t pretty. I’m not talking about the cliche’d environmental apocalypse’ of the outside world that the gamers actually live in, but the way that VR *is* their reality, and, to the characters, and in a very truthful way, the only reality that matters.That disturbing aspect of Cline’s novel is imaginatively and entertainingly written. The first third of the novel is a marvel. I’d give it ten stars. The second two-thirds, like The Martian in many ways, is a bit repetitive and predictable in a TV-series sort of way.The novel is worthy and well-written, and the fairy tale aspect is touching. You end up rooting for the heroes and heroine, and even get a small glimpse into the motivations and heart of the villain (though I think he could have been much better presented, a la J. K. Rowling’s villains).All in all, a highly enjoyable book. The best take I’ve read on VR and online gaming. Plus it’s lots of fun!

⭐ While it was entertaining – it was nothing more. There is no breadth or depth or even anything particularly new about the story. The characters, while not entirely flat, are cliches, offline and online. The “powers” that masquerade as evil are the usual cartoonish corporations and megalomania of a Lex Luthorish villian. If this novel appeals, it is to a nostalgia for an earlier period of the web, and of gaming, when neither had the complexity they have today. Anything more involved, more demanding of our interest and intelligence – and the story fails. I recommend it for a rainy afternoon when the power is out and we can’t game; nothing more.

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