Thursday, February 22, 2018

Book Review #713 - Ready Player One by Ernest Cline



It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late twentieth century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle. Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions - and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.
 


My Rating: 10/10

I am definitely not a gamer and so I was a little hesitant to read this book but as I had recommended the movie adaptation of this book to my brother who is a gamer I thought I'd check out what I was recommending. I found that this book completely blew me away with how much I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I absolutely loved the world building in this book. It felt completely fleshed out after just the first chapter.

There were countless 80's references that flew completely over my head but they were done in such a away that I felt like I wasn't missing out on anything. I probably would have loved the book more (if that is even possible) had I understood these references though.

Wade Watts was such a reluctant hero but that was what made him so relatable. He also felt very genuine. 

The world inside the OASIS was amazing. The way technology controls the world also seemed like a plausible realistic setting of a future world.

The world outside the OASIS however is not so good hence why people spend the majority of their time in a virtual reality world.

I loved the whole mystery egg, clue solving element to the story. The way it was presented seemed like a video game in itself. 

The main antagonists in this book are called the Sixers. I hated them for obvious reasons but they surprised me numerous times throughout the book at the lengths they went to in order to get what they wanted. 

The massive battle at the end was my favourite part of the book as I loved how action packed and pop culture heavy it all was. 

The overall way the book was presented would make it translate well onto the big screen. 

No comments:

Post a Comment