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Tag Archives: ready player one

Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

19 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by Ermilia in Eliabeth, Reviews

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

book, book review, books, dystopian, ernest cline, fiction, ready player one, review, reviews, sci-fi, science fiction, YA, young adult

Ready Player One

by Ernest Cline

genre: adventure, science-fiction, YA, dystopian

Ermisenda has already reviewed Ready Player One, but I wanted to throw in my two cents. I’ve had it on my TBR list for over a year and thanks to my new Audible account, I finally got around to reading it. I came in with high expectations and I was not disappointed. Keep reading to see if I agree with Ermisenda and gave Ready Player One a four star review or if I thought it was good enough for five.

Synopsis from Goodreads

It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune–and remarkable power–to whoever can unlock them.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved–that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt–among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life–and love–in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.

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

Review

Amazing! I was gripped from the moment it stated, in part because I recognized the narrator. Wil Wheaton. Eureka, Big Bang Theory, Star Trek, Wil Wheaton. I was completely nerding out. I have no idea what Wade Watts looks like, because I had an eighteen year old Wil Wheaton in my head. Even though I grew up in the 90s and I’m not the gamer Ermisenda is, there were plenty of 80s references I knew. I didn’t mind the random tangents that occurred when a reference had to be explained because the plot was well paced and full of action. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but there was one point when I gasped and thought, “s**t just got real.” When billions of dollars at stake, people were not playing around. This was also the first time I’ve used the phrase, “wow, that kid has some balls.”

Ready Player One was a mixed bag of everything, with elements of fantasy, adventure, romance, and murder mystery, all wrapped up in a YA sci-fi package. One of the best books I’ve ever read. It also had some very thought provoking themes, for example:

  • If you only know someone online, how well do you really know them? Are you only seeing what they want you to see, or are you seeing them for who they really are without the prejudices of knowing their ethnicity, age, gender, or sexual orientation?
  • What would you do to win a billion dollars?

5 out of 5 stars.

amazonbutton2 copy-Eliabeth Hawthorne

To see what other books we’ve reviewed, or request a review, see our Book Reviews page.

Nerding Out to Ready Player One

04 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by Ermilia in Eliabeth

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

book, dystopian, ernest cline, ready player one, sci-fi, science fiction

Ermisenda has already reviewed Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, but as she read a paperback, she hasn’t gotten to nerd out on the audio book. What makes the audio book special?

Wil WheatonI have never recognized a narrator before. Perhaps because I’ve never listened to amateur hour, I’ve not been able to appreciate the better narrators. All of them are great, no complaints. I’m sure publishers probably have their favorites, but I think of them as voice actors and treat it as expected that they should be good at their job.

Ready Player One is narrated by Wil Wheaton. I cannot think of anyone better suited to be the voice of (ironically) Wade Watts, a nerdy seventeen year old obsessed with the 1980s in order to win a billion dollars in a video game last will and testament. For those of you who don’t know who he is, he’s a character in Star Trek and Big Bang Theory.

I am now in chapter 15 of the novel and have been listening for almost three straight hours, unable to go to bed. S**t just got read. Despite the somewhat lukewarm review from Ermisenda, I’m in love with this book. I’m in the middle of seven novels right now but this is the one that has me captivated, maybe because I’m a little older than her and grew up on many of the books and films referenced in the book.

A full review will come; I REALLY hope this isn’t like Wallbanger, which started out wonderfully then crashed and burned.

-Eliabeth Hawthorne

 

Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

28 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Ermilia in Ermisenda, Reviews

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

80s references, action, adventure, book review, books for gamers, dystopian, ernest cline, futuristic, games, geeky books, oasis, ready player one, romance, sci-fi, strong female characters

Ready Player One

by Ernest Cline

genre: dystopian, action, adventure, gamer, sci-fi, futuristic

Super geeky gamer-style adventure/action novel with copious amounts of 80s references. This is why I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars!

Summary

Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline(Taken from Goodreads)

It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune–and remarkable power–to whoever can unlock them.

[…]

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

[…]

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

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Ermisenda and Eliabeth are coauthors blogging about books, life, and everything in between. May Ermilia Blog inspire you today!

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