#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 … 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
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This was a great read populated with great characters and many twists that kept me engaged from the first sentence until the end.
(3.5 / 5)
Over 100 years in the future, mankind has been largely driven inside the virtual world. They work in the OASIS, go to school, hang out with friends, rely on it for entertainment, and even treasure hunt in the OASIS. The main storyline in the book is a treasure hunt that was created by the man who created the OASIS. The person who finds the Easter egg hidden in the virtual environment, by following all of the clues, will basically be the wealthiest person alive.
Ready Player One is my husband’s favorite book. He’s tried to get me to read the book or watch the movie here and there, but I told him that I didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much as him, because the 80s references would largely be lost on me. I was a teenager in the 90s, and a fairly sheltered one at that. I don’t even know much about pop culture in the 90s and know way, way less about pop culture in the 80s. But now that I’ve started to get back to my bookworm roots, I knew it was time to give this book a read.
Keep in mind when reading the rest of this post that I was correct about the heavy 80s references not providing much nostalgia for me. However, I don’t think that’s the only reason that the plethora of references fell flat for me. I came to a point pretty early on when I realized how shallow most of the references were. Movies, games, books, TV shows, comics, music–all of these things were briefly named, often in lists, but that’s about it. So I guess the people who get the references get to go, “Oh! That show!” and move on. Not much substance.
On the flip side, however, the times when the 80s pop culture was part of the challenges in The Hunt, even though I didn’t get the hit of nostalgia during those sections that others would get, I really enjoyed them! So not diving into spoilers too much, the Easter egg hunt involved finding 3 keys, which each opened a gate. So the hunters had to find the keys, find the gates, and “clear” the gates, all of which involved solving some sort of challenge, even if just a riddle. Those were my favorite parts of the book. Unfortunately, in between these sections, the book mostly dragged for me, especially when the main character, Parzival, pushed his friends away and was alone for a while.
Another thing I enjoyed about the book was the way the author described things inside the Oasis. I actually thought it would seem silly or weird to read about the mechanics in this virtual world, but Cline did a good job of explaining it. I’ve played a decent amount of games that allowed me to imagine how the interface worked, so that might have helped.
As the book ramped up to the end, I kept expecting a huge twist. A certain specific trope that I won’t mention so I don’t spoil that it doesn’t happen was especially on my mind, but it doesn’t happen. Not that there wasn’t any kind of twist near the end, but not what I was expecting, and not as big as I was expecting. I weirdly found the end of the book and the challenges the characters had to go through too easy and very difficult at the same time. It’s hard to explain without giving anything away though.
i seriously recommend this book to people who like videogames. very inspirational and humorous. i have read it back to back and i never seem to get tired of reading it!
It’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the Matrix full of 80s nostalgia. How could it get any more perfect than that?
The hardest part was persuading myself that a videogame could actually matter.
If you are an 80s baby, you will LOVE all of the 80s references and music and games. This is one monster-packed nostalgic, yet futuristic book. It’s a perfect mix of sci-fi, adventure, and it keeps you excited along the journey. The movie changed so many aspects of this, which is disappointing; but if you like video games and adventure, you’ll love this book!
Too much swearing! I did appreciate that the characters came to realize that being in real life is better than being stuck in a game. But I also like that the relationships that they formed online were real and carried over when they met in person. Full of action and adventure. A very clever book.
Ernest Cline is one of my favorite writers. Video Game Sci-Fi is a much-needed subgenre, and he’s bringing the goods with Ready Player One. Excited for Ready Player Two this fall!
I think all adults should read a book like this once in a while. I don’t think we can only read YA but this goes beyond that. Playing a video game is teaching you skills for real life? Yes, and to save the world
Read this book before the movie and loved both. A really fun read.
A fun read. Scary trumpian future, but feels that there is hope
It was thought provoking. However, following the sad life of a video game obsessed teen was sickening. Overall the writing is amazing, however, the content of the writing? Not my style
As someone who is not a gamer, nor do I own/play any video games at all, this book superseded my expectations by far! From the start I was pulled into the Oasis and Halliday’s challenge. The descriptions were so well done and explained, that I felt as if I was playing the games myself. Extremely well-written.
Full of references to the 1980s. While I enjoyed the movie, I felt the book was a better story.
Gripping page turner, full of popular culture references and fully loaded with nostalgia! Clever, witty and a lot of fun. I was gutted when I finished it. Excellent book.
Much better than the movie! Good mix of futuristic sci-fi but weaving in great characters and story line. No heavy themes but an artful and entertaining story about virtual reality, corruption, greed, love, freiendship
This was the book that launched me into LitRPG’s and Gamelit. I suggest anyone who has ever enjoyed a video game try it out.
If you hate the 80s you will hate this book. Though to be honest, I can’t imagine anyone hating the 80s, it’s just the only scenario in which anyone would dislike this book. It’s that good. There’s something for everyone and whether you listen to Will Wheaton read it to you (like I did) or read it cover to cover in one night (like I did) you will love it.
It is an amazing book. I couldn’t stop reading it. Definitely recommend it.
The movie was good. The book is better. Really impressed. I flew through this book, it reads fast and keeps you engrossed. Great story, well done. And the tributes? Overflowing with tributes.