Ready? OK. Ready Player One.
Saturday, June 2, 2012 at 11:48AM 
Few things delight me more than receiving books in the mail, especially when I've forgotten that I've ordered them or when I forget that I signed up for a free copy through my online bloggers bookclub, From Left to Write. It's like finding $20 in the pocket of a coat, except better. Way better.
My copy of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline showed up the day before my back surgery. I'd forgotten about it, and thought it was just this miraculous occurrence, some little book-fairy knowing that I was about to have a whole lot of time off work, time to read -- best thing ever. A card from the publisher was tucked inside. Really, I thought I'd just gotten lucky, somehow, but then was reminded that I had actually signed up to receive it through the club.
Whatever, I'm still lucky.
Lucky, 'cause I got to read this great story for free. Can't beat it. SO much better than $20 in a coat pocket.
And if you comment on this post, guess what? You, too, can receive a copy of this great book for FREE.
I'll be honest: I wasn't sure starting into the book. I mean, really, it's a lot about video games and that wasn't/isn't so much my thing. But on the other hand, it's a really cool cross between Mad Max and Blade Runner and Matrix, you know, a future dystopia in which virtual reality is full-on reality, with a hero's quest, at the center of which runs a fan's deep and abiding love of the 1980s. Uh yeah, that grabbed me completely, because that is my era, one I look back on with so much fondness as so innocent in a way, so goofy, so earnest.
Ready Player One takes place in the year 2044. The hero, Wade Watts, is a teenager who lives in the stacks (and these ain't no library stacks), but who really lives, as everyone in 2044 does, in OASIS, "a globally networked virtual reality most of humanity used on a daily basis." OASIS had begun as a multiplayer online game, but then morphed into "reality," as the state of the planet took the dive we always read about here in the relative comfort of 2012.
The story has a charm all its own -- it's sweet, it's creative, it's funny. I rooted for the characters, I hated the bad guys, I was stoked at the end. But mostly I laughed, totally taken in by the quest of the hero, this searching for clues in 80s pop culture designed (or so it felt) to grab people my age and make us remember things we thought we'd forgotten. I read it like a love letter to that era, to all that goofiness of Return of the Jedi and Kajagoogoo.
Wait: goofiness? I mean AWESOMENESS.
Like this:
Oh yeah, so if language bothers you, this may not be your book. But as you know, that doesn't fucking bother me one bit, so...
Listen: Ready Player One is a great, well-crafted story. I was hooked early on, not just by the 80s, but by the characters themselves, and this idea of the reality they inhabit in this burned-out world of theirs, the way that what we think of now as virtual reality finds it full expression, as a place that people really inhabit via their avatars. Cline pulls it off really well, in my opinion. And of course, there's a little love story, super cute. And twists and turns you don't expect. And action. And lots and lots of smarts.
The paperback hits bookstores on June 5. And as I was reading, I could totally see this as a movie some day. But don't wait for that: make your own movie. Right Now. Jump into the virtual reality that is this book.
You're up. Ready Player One.
As a participant in this From Left to Write book blog tour, I received a copy of the book for review. Check out the other stops on the blog tour for a chance to win a copy of Ready Player One. AND Don't forget to comment below by June 19th, 2012 for your own chance to win! YES! The utter awesomeness of a FREE BOOK can be yours!! :)
Reader Comments (6)
End of the world... check, as much 80's references you can take.. check, great single hero plot line... check. I have loved many books, but i have never wanted to be part of a book's reality more than this one.
I haven't read this yet, but I can already tell if you like this book you'll love Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. It's the granddaddy of the genre -- a hero's quest set in a world where people prefer a shared virtual reality over a badly declined civilization -- hilarious and erudite, and mercifully free of pop culture references that can often ruin a book for me.
I remember the 80's fondly, too, and I'm looking forward to reading Ready Player One, but I fear an abundance of those references. If they're obscure, then they're just the author showing off. The storytelling comes to a dead stop. (This happened in the middle of World War Z [which had other serious problems too] when one character inexplicably gets a group of soldiers to begin performing material from Free To Be You and Me.) If they're moderately well-known, then they're wink-winky and make the story immediately dated. Only if the material being referenced has become a cultural touchstone can it work -- e.g., the Star Wars references in the movie Clerks.
On the other hand, if the references are organically integrated into the story it can work well too. I guess I'll see soon enough!
Awesome, Bob. Thanks!!
I think it's interesting that Bob mentioned Neil Stephenson. I'm reading one of his books now, based on a friend's recommendation. I hadn't heard of him until last week. I'm not normally into sci fi but I'm starting to like it and I really want to read Ready Player One! The description reminds me of SecondLife which I never got into but I knew plenty of people that were obsessed with it!
Ready Player One is the finest book I've read in the last couple of years. I'm so glad you posted this. I would love a chance at a free book. When I first took it in, it was in the audio format, but nothing can beat a paper copy of this book. I want to have this signed by the Clinester in the very near future. He's going on tour and that would be wonderful!
I am an 80s child and all of the references to the movies, video games, and pop-culture of the decade drew me in. The story was what made it amazing though - An Egg Hunt in the middle of it all? Whaaa? Terrific!
The language didn't bother me one bit - this book is fucking excellent! I agree with the blogger - well crafted, well-written, clear, full of action, the unknown, some romance, and packed full of wonder and excitement! LOVE IT!
The fact that he already conceived of putting a hidden egg somewhere in the book makes this man a genius.
If you haven't read this book yet, you're missing out. Period.
Thank you for the opportunity for a free book! And all praise to Ernest Cline for this amazing piece of literary action and 80s nostalgia.
Great review! I look forward to the read.