Ready Player One

By Ernest Cline

Four out of Five Stars

Normally I wouldn’t seek out a book like Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, but then again I didn’t need to, as Ready Player One sought me out. It was probably several months back that a friend of mine recommended the novel during a phone conversation. I believe he said Whoopi Goldberg had recommended the book to Robin Williams sometime before he passed away, and that had intrigued him (I can’t confirm this). He isn’t an avid reader, so maybe I should have taken note, as he was ready to read this book. After the conversation, I quickly forgot the name of the book and the author.

Several months later, another friend, who has no association with my other friend, said he had received a copy of the book, hadn’t read it, related the idea of the book to me and asked if I wanted to read it. I said possibly and quickly forgot about it. Months passed and this friend lent the book to another, and after he had finished reading it, gave it to me to read. I was hesitant, but read the first 30 pages and was intrigued. That was when my first friend, whom I had the phone conversation with called me again (we don’t talk that much) and once again said I should read it. In all my days of reading, no book has so randomly been recommended to me. Ready Player One wanted me to read it...so I read the damned book.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is a perfect example of taking a chance on a book that I normally wouldn’t have. The book, based on the blurb on the back, is centered around video game culture, not an area of interest to me. I don’t play video games; not that I don’t like them, I just have other ways I wish to spend my time. This is probably why I would have passed on it – luckily I didn’t.

The book takes place in 2044 where the world is not in the best shape (is it ever in the future?). Wade Watts, a teenager about to graduate high school is poor and spends most of his time ignoring the real world and living in a virtual reality world known as OASIS. The game was designed by an eccentric billionaire, James Halliday, who, upon passing away, has left his multi-million dollar fortune and the virtual world of OASIS to whichever gamer can solve a game he has created that will lead to an ‘egg’. Years have passed, with professional gamers, known as ‘gunters’ and an evil corporation all looking to inherit Halliday’s fortune, and when Wade stumbles across the first ‘key’ and challenge and completes them, the game heats up.

Ready Player One is a fun read. Despite my lack of interest in video games, Cline has created a world I enjoyed exploring. Having been a teenager in the 1980’s, I was also delighted by the fact the book is full of Eighties pop culture references, seeing how Halliday was a big fan of that era and made his search centered around knowledge of it.

While Ready Player One is a fun read, it also struck me as fascinating that despite there being some danger to the players in the real world, for the most part, I’m rooting for characters in the novel who are sitting in rooms, strapped into virtual devices, playing a game within the book. In many cases the only danger they face is having their characters in OASIS killed, which means having to start over from scratch. It is a testament to Cline’s writing ability and character development, that despite this, I found myself lost in their world and reading on. The book could have used a bit more suspense – some things seemed to be overcome too easily – but for the most part that didn’t detract too much from the books enjoyment.

Ready Player One wanted to be read, and it was, and for a book that fell into my lap, I have to say, it was a great read, and a journey I’m glad I took. Based on how much I enjoyed it, I’ll definitely be seeking out Cline’s other novel, Armada and reading it as well.