Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One is a wonderful mix of 1980s nostalgia and a dystopian story set in a near future where mankind has basically ruined earth. With almost all resources depleted, people live in trailer homes stacked upon each other and struggle to survive. The only escape humans have is the OASIS, a virtual reality created by James Halliday. When Halliday suddenly dies without heirs a treasure hunt starts to find his hidden keys in the OASIS and gain the power over the game. The book is set five years after his death, when the player Wade Watts suddenly finds the first key. The entire rest of the book follows Wade and his fellow contestants through the game in their attempts to reach the goal first.

Since Halliday’s obsession was the 1980s, the keys all have references to 1980s pop culture – everything from fashion to music to games to computers. Being born in this decade myself, I enjoyed these references immensely!

I also really liked the main character Wade, and his squad with the sassy Art3mis (who is also his long-time crush) and the lovely Aech. They were all so relatable and loveable, and with distinct personalities.

The only complaint I have, is that I saw the movie a few months ago and actually felt that the movie was better than the book. Or rather, that they were two different stories. Well yes, they were both based on VR and the OASIS and Wade was still the main character and his squad was there, but all the important scenes had been changed. Like how they entered the competition, how Wade found the first key, how he and Art3mis and the others met, even how they won the competition and the entire ending, everything was different!

A thing that bothered me in the movie adaption though was the way they changed the characters appearance. I think a really important message in the book was the inner beauty and that they fell in love with each other’s persons not the looks. But most other things were better in the movie. For example, I liked Wade’s character so much better in the movie. In the book his and Aech’s friendship was not at all as strong and easy-going as in the movie. And the part in the book where Wade was hiding out alone in his apartment and turning from chubby to super-fit just felt out of place for the story line, so I’m glad that was left out completely in the movie.

But overall, this was such a fun and original story! Both the movie and the book were such a wonderful trip down memory lane. There were so many amazing details that went in to creating this story and the world building was so well done. And the characters were adorable. If you grew up in the 1980s, or if you enjoy video games and pop quizzes, you will absolutely devour this book!

Rating:
4 stars

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​Author info:
Ernest Cline