Ready Player One Review by Nick
Hello people,
I recently read Ready Player One for the first time since 4th grade and unsurprisingly it felt like I was reading a brand new book. I remembered the general premise of the book, but I forgot almost every detail about any of the characters or the plot. This made rereading the book much more enjoyable because I knew that I liked the basics of the plot, but I would still be able to become invested in character and plot development because of my limited knowledge. I was also looking forward to understanding more of the story because I am now 5 years older than I was when I first read it.
Here is a spoiler-free summary in case you haven't read the book or seen the movie: In the year 2045 most of the world is ridden with unemployment, overpopulation and energy shortages. In order to escape their horrible real world lives almost every one logs into the OASIS, a hyper-realistic video game world, daily. 18 year old Wade Watts is this story's protagonist and the book starts almost immediately with an announcement of an Easter Egg that has been hidden inside the game by it's eccentric creator, James Halliday. Players must find three keys to three gates to unlock the Easter Egg. Most of the hints to these keys are based around video games, pop culture and the 80s, which James Halliday has an obsession with. In addition to all of the players that are searching for this Easter Egg there is an internet service provider, IOI that has deployed an army of sixers to find the Easter Egg so that they can control the OASIS. Ready Player One follows Wade and the friends he meets in the OASIS in their attempt to find the Easter Egg which will reward them with digital immortality and all of Halliday's money.
The first time I read Ready Player One I found the plot to be quite original and I think that I would still agree with that now after reading it again. The idea that the whole world is looking to solve on puzzle hidden inside a video game is spectacular to me and I love the way that it requires immense knowledge of video games, pop culture and the 80s to be accessible. The amount of knowledge the characters possessed in the book was shocking and I felt that it showed how much they valued the OASIS over their real lives. People searching for the Easter Egg appear to have dedicated so much time into learning about Halliday's life and games its almost as if everyone knew him on a personal level. The ways that Wade, better known by his OASIS name, Parzival and his friends solve the puzzles presented to them is quite unique and I found them quite interesting. Nothing seemed repetitive or obvious and the race between the Sixers, Wade and the rest of the community created a high adrenaline plot for most of the book that never failed to keep me interested.
Compared to my first read through I would say that the story felt a little less interesting and intense, but that is to be expected and I think that the interest it provided during the second read through was more than most books which impressed me. If you don't love video games or keep up with pop culture or know a lot about the 80s then you might not get all of the references (I know I didn't either of the times I read it), but I think that the way the knowledge is used might teach the reader more than they expect and by the end of the book you will likely understand much more than before. I would recommend this book to any kind of reader because I think it does a great job of keeping the reader's interest and has such a unique story.
Thanks for reading!
-Nick
I recently read Ready Player One for the first time since 4th grade and unsurprisingly it felt like I was reading a brand new book. I remembered the general premise of the book, but I forgot almost every detail about any of the characters or the plot. This made rereading the book much more enjoyable because I knew that I liked the basics of the plot, but I would still be able to become invested in character and plot development because of my limited knowledge. I was also looking forward to understanding more of the story because I am now 5 years older than I was when I first read it.
Here is a spoiler-free summary in case you haven't read the book or seen the movie: In the year 2045 most of the world is ridden with unemployment, overpopulation and energy shortages. In order to escape their horrible real world lives almost every one logs into the OASIS, a hyper-realistic video game world, daily. 18 year old Wade Watts is this story's protagonist and the book starts almost immediately with an announcement of an Easter Egg that has been hidden inside the game by it's eccentric creator, James Halliday. Players must find three keys to three gates to unlock the Easter Egg. Most of the hints to these keys are based around video games, pop culture and the 80s, which James Halliday has an obsession with. In addition to all of the players that are searching for this Easter Egg there is an internet service provider, IOI that has deployed an army of sixers to find the Easter Egg so that they can control the OASIS. Ready Player One follows Wade and the friends he meets in the OASIS in their attempt to find the Easter Egg which will reward them with digital immortality and all of Halliday's money.
The first time I read Ready Player One I found the plot to be quite original and I think that I would still agree with that now after reading it again. The idea that the whole world is looking to solve on puzzle hidden inside a video game is spectacular to me and I love the way that it requires immense knowledge of video games, pop culture and the 80s to be accessible. The amount of knowledge the characters possessed in the book was shocking and I felt that it showed how much they valued the OASIS over their real lives. People searching for the Easter Egg appear to have dedicated so much time into learning about Halliday's life and games its almost as if everyone knew him on a personal level. The ways that Wade, better known by his OASIS name, Parzival and his friends solve the puzzles presented to them is quite unique and I found them quite interesting. Nothing seemed repetitive or obvious and the race between the Sixers, Wade and the rest of the community created a high adrenaline plot for most of the book that never failed to keep me interested.
Compared to my first read through I would say that the story felt a little less interesting and intense, but that is to be expected and I think that the interest it provided during the second read through was more than most books which impressed me. If you don't love video games or keep up with pop culture or know a lot about the 80s then you might not get all of the references (I know I didn't either of the times I read it), but I think that the way the knowledge is used might teach the reader more than they expect and by the end of the book you will likely understand much more than before. I would recommend this book to any kind of reader because I think it does a great job of keeping the reader's interest and has such a unique story.
Thanks for reading!
-Nick
This is one of the few reviews where I am actually going to read the suggested book. I've had Ready Player One laying around my house for a while and I'm not sure why I haven't read it yet. I really like the spoiler-free review since it does a much better job of inspiring people to read the book. Thanks for the recommendation!
ReplyDeleteI've only read the first few chapters of this book and watched the movie (which I heard didn't represent the book well) so hearing your summary and thoughts of it was nice. I get what you mean when you talk about your second read being less interesting and I think that happens with a lot of books, but especially with Ready Player One as you are already aware of the crazy setting. Great post!
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