Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - Video Game Writers

Written by J. Curtis | Friday, September 9, 2011

Platforms:	Book
Publisher(s):	Crown Books
Developer(s):	Ernest Cline
Genre(s):	Fiction
Release Date:	August 16, 2011
ESRB Rating:	N/A
Buy It/Rent It/Skip It?:	Buy It

Every once in a while I find a book or story that climbs into my brain, finds several of my nerd sweet spots, and vigorously strokes them. Ready Player One is, for lack of better description, weaponized nerd nuke. The premise is simple: in the year 2044 an uber-nerd named James Halliday has created The Oasis, which is a virtual world with thousands of planets themed with anything from Conan to Star Trek. This virtual world is ubiquitous in society, so much so that its in-game currency is more stable than any national printed currency. Upon Halliday?s death, he sets up a contest via a series of riddles which, when solved, will bequeath the controlling interest in The Oasis. Needless to say, this represents a substantial dollar value.

I for one welcome the new Overlord of Nerds.

Here comes the fun part: all of the riddles and challenges associated with this contest are predicated upon the things this man loved when he was young. Specifically, the 1980s, and all of the pop-culture (gaming, movies, music, etc.) that goes along with this decade. (If you can imagine Bill Gates dying, and tying the reins to Microsoft to your ability to decipher 80s trivia, you have an idea of what is at stake.) The story picks up five years after Halliday?s death, and most people have given up hope of solving the first riddle, let alone all of the riddles.

Enter our hero, Wade Watts, who is a 19-year old kid living in a 2044 equivalent of a trailer park. Between school and recreation, he spends almost all of his time in The Oasis, looking for Halliday?s epic Easter Egg and studying the 1980s. After he unlocks the first riddle, Watts is skyrocketed to fame, and finds himself in a unique position between those who would keep The Oasis as its current free-to-play entity, and those who would ?properly monetize? it. Again, as The Oasis represents such a large percentage of the world?s entertainment, you can imagine the stakes are high.

This book should not be confused for, nor written off as part of the hipster ?nerds and the 80s are cool? fad. While the writing is very straight forward, and the narrative follows Joseph Campbell?s hero arc almost to the letter, there is a certainly sublime nature to the references and nods he gives iconic franchises. Rather than taking the cheap one-liners everyone knows and recognizes by heart, Cline has instead opted for more subtle winks and nods that only those who truly know and love 80s pop culture will understand.

The only criticism I have is that the romance subplot felt unnecessary, and felt a little as though the author was padding out the length. However, at 372 pages, the book whisks by, never slowing down nor ceasing to be fun. The plot isn?t the most inspired I?ve ever read and doesn?t necessarily have anything new to say (corporations BAD, Japanese robots AWESOME), but it?s a helluva lot of fun, and I recommend it to anyone, though children of the 80s will certainly enjoy it best.

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About the Author

J. Curtis lives with his wife, daughter and smelly cat. In gaming years he is older than Jesus. He honed his skills on Intellivison (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons -- put that in your intertubez, kids) and his favorite past time is shooing punk kids off his lawn.

Source: http://videogamewriters.com/book-review-ready-player-one-by-ernest-cline-23011

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