Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - Paperback

Ready Player One is a thrilling adventure with an intriguing plot, captivating characters, and a unique virtual world. Cline's writing style is exciting and fast-paced, drawing readers into the virtual world of the OASIS. The characters are well-developed and real, and the book has great depth and detail. The story is full of suspense and surprise, and readers will find themselves rooting for Wade and his friends as they battle the corporate villains. It follows the story of Wade Watts, a teenage orphan living in a crowded future-world where the only escape is the virtual universe of the OASIS. When the creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves a challenge to find an Easter egg hidden within the virtual world. When Wade finds the egg, he must battle a powerful corporation to prevent them from taking over the OASIS and destroying it. Overall, Ready Player One is a great read for fans of science fiction and virtual reality. It is a captivating adventure that will keep readers hooked from beginning to end. Highly recommended! Thank you

My Thoughts: 1. Just like a real videogame, the plot had me addicted from the start. For me, being a medium gamer, I LOVED all the old classic 80's references. It's geeky, sci-fi and fun, all in one! 2. The author does an amazing job building such an intricate and yet simple, futuristic technological world. It felt like I was actually playing the game and experiencing virtual reality through the character. 3. Flawless. Is what I would describe the plot, the writing, and pacing. Cline's writing style seem so effortless and yet detailed enough for the reader to fully experience the story. 4. What I enjoyed most about the plot is that it has a realistic quality and believable element. Most dystopian or sci-fi novels I've read have far-fetched and over-the-top ideas that end up ruining the book. It's scary to think about how much time in our daily lives is spent on the internet and I wouldn't be surprised if in a few decades reality will be overruled by virtual technology. Cline does an amazing job with the plot by adding a few fun twists and turns which makes the journey much more adventurous and exciting. 5. I praise Cline for his ability to make so many connections from the 80's and incorporating them into oridinary clues and riddles. It amazing how every small detail plays such a crucial role in the hunt. I was so engrossed with the hunt that it felt like I was playing it myself. It was smart of Cline to get the reader involved and thinking along with the protagonist in solving the game. 6. I really admire Wade's character. He's just an ordinary, average-looking, slightly overweight teen who, like many of us, undergoes a virtual identity to escape reality (not to mention he has an adorable crush with a famous online blogger). Wade's character is much like James Halliday, the deceased multibillionaire, who never felt at home in the real world and is socially awkward. When Wade embarkes upon this new adventure, he soon realizes that not everyone is excited about his newfound discovery. I love how smart, determined, and calculating Wade is; he picks his battles rather than impulsively jumping into situations. Wade's journey was non-stop action and suspense and a total page-turner that kept me on my toes the entire time. 7. I had to pace myself and tell myself to slow down in order to enjoy the book or else I would have read it all in one sitting. Just like every amazing stand-alone book, I was so sad that it ended. I'm hoping Cline thinks about doing a sequel because there's so much more I want to know! 8. In all, if there's one thing I must say about Ready Player One is READ IT NOW!!

Ce livre est une tuerie. Je l'ai commandé en entendant parler d'une future adaptation de Spielberg en film, et je pense qu'on va se retrouver avec encore un chef d'oeuvre en puissance. Cette histoire de quète du graal pixelisée est palpitante. Et pour tous les enfants des années 80 comme moi, une vague de nostalgie assez rafraichissante. Le style est plutôt classique, mais les personnages sont attachants, les rebondissements nombreux et l'intrigue très bien ficelée. Au passage ces pages sont un vraie bouillon de pop culture qui ratissent large. Vivement le film !!!

ITA: Siete dei nerd? Intendo quelli veri, quelli "un po' derisi" ai tempi della scuola, con amicizie spesso relegate "ai propri simili", che quando si chiudono nella loro stanza con davanti a sé la loro grande passione (dal modellismo al collezionismo, dalla lettura ai videogame e ai film) finalmente si rivelano per quello che sono: persone troppo grandiose per un mondo troppo piccolo (inteso come "piccolo dentro..."). Wade, il protagonista del racconto, è uno di noi, e noi, nei suoi modi e pensieri, siamo lui: un nerd con davanti a sé l'opportunità della vita, quella di diventare qualcuno grazie alle proprie passioni, senza altri compromessi. Senza spoiler, la ricerca dell'easter egg defintivo è la ricerca di ognuno di noi. Un romanzo di formazione per chi è nell'età del protagonista, un romanzo di "mi sono formato bene" per chi quell'età l'ha già passata da più o meno tempo: per noi, ma solo (fieramente) per noi, un vero piccolo capolavoro! P.S.: anche se sono italiano, ho scelto di acquistare e leggere il romanzo in lingua originale, perché, come film e videogame, credo che la lingua originale esprima meglio il pensiero dell'autore. Se poi il tema è nerd... che ve lo dico a fare? ENG: Are you a nerd? I mean the real ones, those "a bit derided" at the time of school, with friendships often relegate "to their own kind", when they close in their room with their great passion in front of them (from modeling to collecting, from reading to videogames and movies) finally they reveal as they really are: great people for a world too small (understood as "small inside ..."). Wade, the protagonist of the story, is one of us, and we, in his ways and thoughts, are him: a nerd in front of his opportunity of life to become someone thanks to his passions, without other compromises. Without spoilers, the search for the easter egg is the search for each of us. A fiction novel for those in the age of the protagonist, a novel of "I grew up well" for those who have already passed that age for more or less time: for us, but only (fiercely) for us, a true little masterpiece! P.S .: even if I'm Italian, I chose to buy and read the novel in the original language, because, as film and videogame, I believe that the original language expresses the author's thought better. If then the theme is nerd ... what do I tell you to do?

Is it the lure of nostalgia or simply the epic feel of Ready Player One that makes it so deliciously entertaining? It is perhaps, a bit of both. Ernest Cline playfully reminisces while offering up a heady eighties banquet in his futuristic piece about a quest to end all quests that jet-propels the minds and hearts of readers from the very first page. I can still remember the very first time I saw Star Wars and Tron, the first time I delved into books that epically moved me...Watership Down, The Hobbit, Neuromancer, Holy Fire, Heart of Darkness, even Harry Potter...diving into Ready Player One, with my haptic gloves, visor, and OASIS immersion rig was no different-an absolutely electrifying and unforgettable experience. Cline manages to convey a bit of prescience in his portrayal of the world that Wade Watts lives in...a virtual world that is more comforting than a bleak future, where millions grow up in the OASIS, through its schools, its libraries, and its simulated cities and towns-all digitally recreated-its seamless worlds-within-worlds offering up a never-ending adventure. Sound familiar? Clines' futuristic grail quest takes off when the creator of the OASIS and owner of Gregarious Simulation Systems James Halliday dies, thrusting the entire planet into a frenzy (much in the same way Steve Jobs' demise did). Within the OASIS, Halliday has programmed clues to unraveling a treasure-his treasure-roughly two hundred and forty billion dollars' worth and a controlling interest of the most powerful company on the planet. All are at stake and up for grabs. One only needs to have an excellent knowledge of the eighties, the background of Halliday's life memorized, and an unbeatable strategy to unravel the scavenger hunt-like clues hidden within the OASIS. Cline plays up his inexhaustible eighties references, as Wade Watts does his pasty-white-best to unravel the clues to three keys left by his idol Halliday-whether it is acting out the scenes in War Games, playing Joust, Dungeons of Daggorath, or playing a perfect game of Pac Man (which is still on my bucket list) on top of competitively racing against thousands of gunters bent on finding the keys for themselves. At their heels an evil multinational company lurks in the wings willing to do anything, include kill, to get at all three keys. Cline manages to craft a formidable opponent out of the Sixers, those cretinous suits from innovative Online Industries (IOI) bent on sussing out the keys for their own motely gain and the inevitable control and monetization of the OASIS. With the emergence of the Sixers, Wade must pit his smarts and knowledge against them, and band together his friends and fellow gunters worldwide. With Wade's selfless perseverance to save the spirit of the OASIS from the Sixers, Ready Player One becomes ceases to be a quest and morphs into a worldwide mission. Instead of the billions at stake, the very life blood of the OASIS is threatened and the unified front that Wade and his teammates drum up conjures up visions of every epic fictional battle fought: the war of Middle Earth, the Battle of Endor, Luke Skywalker launching his torpedo into the Death Star's reactor...to Cline's Battle of Chthonia and Castle Anorak all thrust the reader from apathy to become a part of something greater. Cline has managed to imaginatively deliver the most essential ingredients to a great story or movie in a shiny, new, wrapper: charity, hope and faith. Ready Player One is striking, unstoppable and epically good. There are so many good and genuine aspects to Cline's novel that I don't even know where to start. Cline's peek at the future is believable at times with a hint of wry humor (i.e. the Portland Avenue Stacks where Wade lives...is freakishly comical...and yet just a bit sad) Who could imagine poverty-stricken families scraping out a meager existence in RVs stacked high in the sky? Visually it's like the Jetson's in HELL or the great garbage avalanche of 2505 in Idiocracy (2006). As is his reference to a C-section (cutting an OASIS user out of their apartment and haptic chair) nearly made me roll on the floor laughing and Wades' stint as an IOI indentured Tech Support employee was insanely good, (almost as good as his maniacal plot to somehow crack the hold of the Orb of Osuvox over Castle Anorak). After reading Ready Player One FIVE times, I have to say without a doubt it's been the best book I've read all year. Hopefully, Ernest Cline will channel Yoda's last words "...there is another Skyw-..." and deliver an equally geek-worthy sequel. Bravo! Parzival Lives! A Fiendishly Bookish Review