Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)

by Ernest Cline

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Now a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.

“Enchanting . . . Willy Wonka meets The Matrix.”—USA Today • “As one adventure leads expertly to the next, time simply evaporates.”—Entertainment Weekly

A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?

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

Reviewed by violetpeanut on

5 of 5 stars

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What a fantastic read!

A billionaire and 1980's obsessed video game designer dies and his will states that the first person to find the "easter egg" hidden inside his virtual world will be his sole heir. Thousands of people make it their mission to be the first to solve the riddles and inherit the fortune.

Having been born in 1979 and spending my early childhood during the 80's, much of the pop culture referenced throughout this book was familiar to me. It was a fun ride through my earliest decade. At the same time, this was an amazing look at modern technology and video games (virtual reality in particular) and is a history lesson for fans of video games. The quest to find the Easter Egg mirrors the quests from my favorite video games of today.

On it's surface this book is full of action, bad guys, good guys, a little romance. Underneath, this book is a look at what happens when people throw reality away in favor of a virtual existence. It's also a look at relationships. What makes us like someone? How much can we trust the persona that someone shows us online? It's a look at greed and how money can be a blessing and a curse. It's a commentary on where our society is heading (or already is?).

I enjoyed Wade and his supporting cast. They were all fleshed out enough to make them believable and each had distinct personalities which were sometimes unexpected.

The only thing I wish is that the "real" world had been fleshed out some more. It wasn't necessary for this story and the book is not missing anything without the extra information. I'm just curious as a reader how things got the way they did. Who is in power and why? How did things deteriorate so far? Some of these questions are alluded to but I would love to read more about this world. Maybe another book? In my opinion, that's the mark of a great author. He makes me want to know more and read more about the world he created.

Highly recommended! If this author continues writing, I'll continue reading his work.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 9 September, 2012: Finished reading
  • 9 September, 2012: Reviewed
  • Started reading
  • 23 April, 2018: Finished reading
  • 9 September, 2012: Reviewed