Ready Player One’s Back-of-book Description:

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 10,000 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 20th 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.

My Thoughts

Holy cow I loved Ready Player One! I read it in like three days, couldn’t put it down. The way Ernest Cline built this futuristic Earth and all the millions of virtual worlds within it was truly mesmerizing. His setting descriptions and character examination were so involved that I found myself completely sucked into the story. And I think this was his first book, which is incredibly impressive.

The virtual world was easy to visualize and the characters were interesting – especially the main character, Wade. His internal dialogue and narration were incredibly witty and very relatable. I had no trouble picturing the setting and imagining myself there. I also easily felt that I had an emotional investment in the characters and what happened to them.

The only thing I didn’t love about it was some of the dialogue between characters. But for a futuristic story revolving around 1980’s games, movies, and music, it was as good as it gets! I would recommend Ready Player One to anyone who’s interested in the idea of virtual reality, as well as 80’s lovers, and people who like a nice geeky main character.

Fans of the 80s are sure to love this futuristic story with an awesome throwback twist! Click To Tweet

Favorite Quotes From Ready Player One:

“For me, growing up as a human being on the planet Earth in the twenty-first century was a real kick in the teeth. Existentially speaking.”

 

“I felt like a kid standing in the world’s greatest video arcade without any quarters, unable to do anything but walk around and watch the other kids play.”

 

 

“The once-great country into which I’d been born now resembled its former self in name only. It didn’t matter who was in charge. Those people were rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic and everyone knew it.”  

In Conclusion

I’d give Ready Player One  4.75 stars. This definitely belongs on your ‘must read’ list, or even gifting list – it’s so good that you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t love it.

Be sure to check out the great Pin-able quotes below!