Author: Ernest Cline
Series: Ready Player One #1
Pages: 374
IN THE YEAR 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.
But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.
Young adult: This book tells the adventures of Wade, a.k.a. Perzival, a gamer in a near future who lives in a digital world called OASIS. He must find the hidden egg of that world before IOI, the evil company, does the same. Otherwise, his lifestyle and that of million of gamers will be at risk. But the evil company has resources and no shame. So it will do everything on their power in order to get the egg first.
Sci-Fi, Dystopia: The setting of this book is great. That OASIS world is full of possibilities and that is what I have enjoyed the most. I must admit that my entertainment comes more from my imagination than from what the writer tells us. For such a massive idea, the worldbuilding feels a bit scarce. Maybe I’m thinking too much into it, but I find hard to believe that OASIS could be so popular when it seems it is a pretty hardcore game. Nowadays, casuals in online gaming are more common than “professional”. I try to imagine the current profile of most online gamers inside that OASIS world and I think most of them wouldn’t find it appealing. Too much effort. Too cruel when mistakes are made.
Even though I like the book a lot, I also must say that the author is a bit repetitive. Several trials form the hunt for the egg, but most of them are pretty similar to each other. That is something that was better done in the movie. Although, the quests in the motion picture don’t make any sense. I guess you can’t have all…
Something else I enjoyed more in the movie is the relationship between the characters. In the book there is almost no contact between them and most of the time is pretty tense. Isn’t OASIS a game? Make friends, already!!
Bad cover: No art. All letters… it feels constraining…
Myshelf 