#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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**4 and a half stars**
**i don’t just recommend this book, I highly recommend this book**
Nostalgic too. Love all the 80s references.
Original sci fi!!!
Colorful futuristic world with inspiring down-to-earth characters, a few lessons in morality, ethics, and having a conscience. It’s all done with a light touch, a lot of action, and some great humor. I look forward to reading this one with my great grandchild!
A fun & satisfying sci-fi novel, Ready Player One is an adventure-filled love letter to geeky/cool pop culture & video games of the 70s & 80s-set in 2044. A must for Gen-exers. Psyched to see the movie.
Fun story. Loved the 80s arcade game references.
I liked the book; the writing is exciting and sweeping. The plot has an excellent pace, quite a bit of action.
I want to point out that this isn’t just another book about how technology takes over us (although it’s a big part of the plot). This book manages to raise interesting thoughts on various topics mentioned in it, and also keeps the tension.
All the characters in the story are well written.
In short, this is an excellent book.
It’s been a while since I was absolutely captivated by a book in way that brought me complete and total joy. I’d seen the movie, which was excellent, but the book blew it right the hell out of the water 100 times over the usual that books tend to blow movies out of the water. The moment I finished, I shoved it in my 13-year-old son’s face and said “READ THIS ASAP.”
amazing
This is a movie too, but the movie and the book don’t ruin either one. The movie follows the story line, but the events in the movie are different.
The book was amazing. The movie was meh.
As a child of the 80’s, I was thrilled with this book. As usual, much better than the film.
I read this book after learning about the litRPG genre and seeing the upcoming movie trailer. I heard this story is a good introduction to the genre, so I picked it up first before diving into a bunch of other litRPGs. Ready Player One definitely has that prominent video game aspect of a litRPG, but it felt more like a dystopian sci-fi adventure to me. Not a bad thing. I’m still new to litRPGs, but the others I’ve read feel more like playing actual RPGs with character stats, leveling up, and that rush that goes along with those increases in power.
Okay, so what did I think about the book? I quite enjoyed it. I’m gonna go ahead and give it five stars because I don’t really have a complaint. It was enjoyable all the way through, and I read it quickly. I always give praise when a book gets me hooked and demands I read it fast. At times, the references could make you feel like you were missing out on something if you aren’t well-versed in 80s pop culture, but that was also a big part of the story’s charm. It wouldn’t be the same without it.
The story is that search and find adventure formula. The creator of the OASIS (this huge game pretty much everyone in the world plays because you can do anything inside of it and escape crappy reality), James Halliday, was obsessed with the 80s. He had this video released after his death telling people to search for an Easter egg he hid in the game. Whoever finds it inherits his entire corporation. That’s where all the references come in. The gunters (Easter egg hunters) have to know all about the 80s and Halliday’s obsessions to have any chance at finding his Easter egg. It’s a race to find keys and unlock gates with real life coinciding.
Wade Watts is the main character. He wants to find this Easter egg like everyone else. He’s the first person to find the first key in the game and knows all about Halliday’s 80s obsessions. He lives those obsessions. He doesn’t have much of a life outside of the game just like a lot of people in this dystopian future. His best friend is in game, and he’s never met him IRL. He doesn’t have anyone IRL who is close to him. Nothing in real life matters aside from survival.
The adventure in-game playing out side by side with reality was engaging, how everything came together and how the characters grew and changed. I like how it all culminated in the end. I hate spoilers so I’m going to avoid that by not saying much else, but I will say I was quite satisfied with the ending and where all the characters ended up with the game and with the real world. I grew fond of them and wanted things to resolve in a way they deserved after all they fought for. That’s the kind of ending I’m about. I don’t need a specific kind of ending as long as it was the kind of ending that story deserved, good or bad, happy or sad. This ending did that for me. Well done!
Fantastic. The general 80s cultural references, and more specifically the 80s geek culture references flowed like flood waters in this interesting and unique near future dystopian romp.
It was exciting and unpredictable. I enjoyed it.
Amazing book for all ages. I couldn’t put it down
Brings back my childhood with all the 80’s references
The nostalgic aspect alone is worth the purchase price of this book. I love the 80s references and the many references to the movies, music and definitely all the games that take centre stage. A 5-star effort for sure.
This is the dystopian future story that takes place in the year 2044. The world is in terrible shape. Most people are very very poor and live in “stacks” which are mobile homes one on top of the other. The main character – Wade – doesn’t live with his parents. He was taken in by an aunt after his parents left him. The aunt could care less about him – sees him as just another mouth to feed. To escape his reality, Wade does what most people do these days – escape into a computer world called the Oasis. He even attends school there. This world has 1000s of planets and lets people be anonymous and anyone they wish to be.
When the developer of the Oasis dies, he leaves his entire fortune to a winner of a game he has designed. The first person to finish the game in the Oasis, wins billions of dollars. The trick is – the developer was fascinated with the 1980s, so the player has to be knowledgeable of everything and anything in that decade. It takes 5 years for someone to finally break through the first clue of the puzzle the developer has set up, and then it is a race to the finish line.
This was a pretty decent book. My husband really liked it, so he encouraged me to read it. AND, since it is being made into a movie, I decided to give it a shot. I like the idea of the book, and I liked the characters. The flaw I found was – everything works out for Wade. His character in the Oasis always escapes problems, gets enough money, becomes invincible. There really wasn’t a challenge, per say, for Wade because he could do anything he wanted inside the Oasis. It just seemed to be a bit of a far stretch. Other than that – good read. If you are a fan of the 1980s, I say you should give it a try.
Way better than the (still quite good) movie.