Ready Player One

When I saw the movie “Ready Player One”, I had no idea it was based on a book. I enjoyed the movie and it’s in my “would watch again” pile. When the book came across my suggested reads on Goodreads a few weeks ago, I added it to my want-to-read pile…then I had the luck to find a copy of the audiobook available through my local library. Let me say this: This book (as is the case normally) is 10000000 times better than the movie!!!

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Wil Wheaton, and managed to get through it in 2.5 days – I enjoyed it so much I may go get a printed copy to read again at a later date.

The premise of this novel is essentially this: the world has gone to shit, no one can figure out a way to fix anything, so everyone ignores reality by submerging themselves in a video game/alternate reality called OASIS.

The book serves as both an extremely entertaining escape and a warning/observation of what humanity is slowly (some days slower than others) devolving into. While the warning-to-the-reader side of the novel is prevalent, it’s not a “beat you over the head” with it theme, which I appreciate (we get enough of that every day, in my opinion). However, Cline is able to take those very real possibilities and make an entertaining and immersive story to put into perspective the aftermath of all the issues we, as humanity, face today.

There was a lot of humor throughout this book and several times I laughed out loud (some of that due to Wil’s excellent sound effects/narration) and the 80’s pop culture references are wonderful.

Even if you’re not into video games, this book is very good and highly recommended. [Side note: I play some video games, and have had exposure to them throughout my life (from an original Nintendo housed at my grandmother’s to a Wii to a PS5), but I wouldn’t classify myself as a gamer at all.] Cline does a phenomenal job explaining different, and sometimes more obscure, video games and doesn’t assume that his reader is familiar with the objectives of the games played throughout the book by the main characters. I will also commend him on not over-explaining the games either – it’s just enough detail to understand why the main character (Wade) is doing what he’s doing and to visualize what he’s seeing.

His use of imagery is fantastic and there were many times I felt as if I was in the OASIS or on the run through grungy cities with Wade. Sometimes authors get a bit carried away with setting the scene and drawing the reader in, but not once did I feel this way about Cline’s writing.

One aspect of the book that didn’t flow quite as naturally for me as most of the book was the love arc presented. While akin to the use of dating apps and online dating that is prevalent in today’s world (much to my chagrin, but I digress), I had a hard time accepting the development of a true relationship between Wade and Samantha at first. This could be due to the fact that Cline introduced this as more of a side theme to help drive/explain some of Wade’s actions and decisions, so the relationship between them wasn’t quite as developed as it could have been. However, it wasn’t disruptive to the story, nor was it something that I felt was a detriment to my enjoyment of the story (hence the 5 star review).

*Purchase Ready Player One on Amazon, available as an ebook, audiobook, hardcover, and paperback

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