#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
A young man harnesses his inner geek for the ultimate 80's pop culture challenge in this novel.
I picked up Ready Player One on a complete and total whim. I wanted something to listen to during my commute and the cover caught my eye. Boy, I am so glad it did! The book is a character-driven novel with epic world-building and a cool premise. Wade Watts is a driven, smart, and crafty character. The relationships he builds with secondary characters, even the villain, is rewarding. He even meets the girl of his dreams! Along with interesting characters is a well-constructed setting. Cline creates two worlds flawlessly - the dystopian United States and the virtual reality of the Oasis. Cline's descriptions occasionally got repetitive, but the other elements more than make up for it.
Now some people may be less enamored with this book than I. It focuses on gaming culture and the 1980′s decade. If those two subjects bore you to tears, you will not enjoy this novel. If you are interested in reading it, check out the audiobook narrated by Will Wheaton. It is absolutely phenomenal!
tl;dr A phenomenal dystopian novel featuring a driven protagonist, 80's trivia, and gaming culture.
