A review of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Enjoy video games? Ever wonder (like your parents) how you could ever earn a living from playing video games?
Wade Watts might be about to prove it’s possible. He’s on a quest to solve the greatest video game ever created and to pull himself out of his poor circumstances. See, in 2044, there are few ways to escape the misery of daily life. Energy shortages and global warming have wrecked the global economy. School, work, and a decent standard of living are now out-of-reach except in the OASIS- an artificial, virtual-reality universe where interplanetary travel is possible.
Wade (known as Parzival in OASIS), is a high-school student with a knack for video games. When the creator of OASIS, James Halliday, leaves his vast fortune to whoever can solve “the contest”- an elaborate treasure hunt in which your chances of winning are based not only on your skills in video games, but on your knowledge of 1980’s pop culture, the story begins. Wade has the skills to be a major player, but he must compete against his best friend, Aech, and his crush, Art3mis.
Can he solve all the puzzles to find the Halliday’s egg- all while avoiding capture (or worse) by the deadly Sixers, who have the resources to win and warp the OASIS into a sinister place?
A great fast-paced, adventurous book for anyone who enjoys video games, action-adventure, and yes- all things 1980’s.
The movie version is about to be released, but you still have time to read the book first!
Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. New York: Random House, 2011.
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