Scan barcode
prettyangel98's review against another edition
5.0
NOOOOOOOOOO ITS OVER ALREADY?!?! that was something. far out i can't even think. I LOVED THIS BOOK THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH! so geeky and so funny it actually make me chuckle at some parts
halthemonarch's review against another edition
2.0
Uninspired and with a cast of mostly unlikable, entitled show-offs. Pretty sure the main guy is a sociopath for being directly responsible for his aunt's death but being like "eh, shit happens let's get an exercise rig and never mention her again". Giving it a three because the world and concept had potential.
hilikus_00's review against another edition
5.0
*Actually 4.5 stars.
This book was so much fun to read! The pace is probably the best feature about this book, never letting the reader get bored or disinterested. I loved the nerdy pop culture references, and they surely aren't for the non-nerdy types. If you're not into that kind of thing then I'm willing to bet you ten bucks that you'll just get annoyed and hate the book. I also really enjoyed the exposition in this book, a literary device that can really make or break a story. If you overdo it, it ends up heavy and boring. Cline executes it perfectly though, setting up the backstory just enough to draw you in. The only reason I gave this book 4.5 instead of 5 is that I found the dialogue choppy at times.
Overall, great! An engrossing, fact-paced, high energy geek book!
This book was so much fun to read! The pace is probably the best feature about this book, never letting the reader get bored or disinterested. I loved the nerdy pop culture references, and they surely aren't for the non-nerdy types. If you're not into that kind of thing then I'm willing to bet you ten bucks that you'll just get annoyed and hate the book. I also really enjoyed the exposition in this book, a literary device that can really make or break a story. If you overdo it, it ends up heavy and boring. Cline executes it perfectly though, setting up the backstory just enough to draw you in. The only reason I gave this book 4.5 instead of 5 is that I found the dialogue choppy at times.
Overall, great! An engrossing, fact-paced, high energy geek book!
ashkra's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
joshpro's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Ready Player One is a charming masterpiece. The characters are amazing and as someone who loves the history of technology the delve into retro video games was a super fun delight for me. The references and incorporations of 70s and 80s music and tv shows that also drive the plot are a delight. The characters and romances in the book are well thought out and you really do connect emotionally. This is one of my favorite books I have read.
markproxy's review against another edition
3.0
An escapist romp set in the near future, [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741] is the story of Wade Watts, a teenaged boy obsessed with winning a treasure hunt that demands deep knowledge of 80s pop-culture and video games. The winner will inherit the vast wealth and thriving business empire of the man who created the hunt, James Halliday, a recently deceased computer genius born in 1972 and freakishly nostalgic about his childhood. Halliday's empire includes OASIS, the virtual world where most of humanity spends most of its time. The value of the prize is so great that Innovative Online Industries, cold-hearted giant of the network-infrastructure industry, creates a department of expert contestants under contract to sign over their winnings should they be the first to find the coveted egg. The head of this special department, Nolan Sorrento, is the villain -- caricature of the calculating, cutthroat executive -- leading his army of corporate drones in a brutal, no-rules race to beat Wade and his friends to the egg.
I can see why this book has been so popular -- very high word-of-mouth potential. The number of 80s nerd-culture references is staggering, and it's hard not to want to mention this book to a nerd friend. But the story sometimes feels like a vehicle for movie, video-game, and anime references. For me, the thrill of nostalgia for Zork, Adventure, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Star Blazers (a personal favorite), Joust, Devo, etc. wore off pretty quickly. The core story was fun, albeit predictable, but I found the pure escapist enjoyment a little lacking. To give me escape, a book has to transport me. I too often found myself distracted by the pop-culture references, thin character development, and obvious mechanisms of storytelling. I also didn't come away feeling at all enlightened or inspired; the morals of the story -- seek satisfaction in reality-prime, true beauty lies within, and we nerds should get outside more -- all felt rather tacked on. I understand that this book wasn't meant to change my life, but I love it when a light read turns out to give me a surprisingly inspiring little push. ([b:Neverwhere|14497|Neverwhere|Neil Gaiman|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348747943s/14497.jpg|16534] comes to mind.)
[b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741] is a good example of the increasing overlap between sci-fi and fantasy. The use of v-worlds in sci-fi allows the writer to incorporate fantasy elements into a story that's ultimately grounded in reality-prime. I did a fair amount of this in my own novel, [b:Upload|16301231|Upload|Mark McClelland|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355677383s/16301231.jpg|21809175], but I always tried to keep it relevant to the speculative heart of science fiction. In [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741], I didn't find much to chew on in terms of ideas and questions about the future. It felt heavy on the fantasy, light on the sci-fi. Which is great -- just don't pick up [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741] expecting a lot of thought-provoking speculation on where we humans are headed. Think "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World", not [b:I, Robot|41804|I, Robot|Isaac Asimov|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320435960s/41804.jpg|1796026].
Kirkus recommends [b:Upload|16301231|Upload|Mark McClelland|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355677383s/16301231.jpg|21809175] as similar to [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741]. I was downright ecstatic when I saw my book placed alongside such a popular title, and I do think someone who liked [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741] will probably enjoy [b:Upload|16301231|Upload|Mark McClelland|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355677383s/16301231.jpg|21809175], but the two books are very different in feel. [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741] is fun and pretty fluffy, and felt to me like it was written for a teen audience -- and for children-of-the-80s looking for a little nostalgia. [b:Upload|16301231|Upload|Mark McClelland|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355677383s/16301231.jpg|21809175] is a good deal more intense, more noir, more adult. In both, the hero had a difficult childhood and received much of their "parenting" in virtual reality. Both stories also have the hero on the run. But in [b:Upload|16301231|Upload|Mark McClelland|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355677383s/16301231.jpg|21809175] there's a lot more internal struggle, meatier relationship issues, more focus on science, and serious questions about where technology is taking us.
For me, [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741] gets three stars. Would I recommend it? To a trivia hound or 80s pop-culture fanatic, yes. Otherwise, no, because I think there are lots of books equally as fun but with more artistry, more charm, richer characters, or a more compelling world.
I can see why this book has been so popular -- very high word-of-mouth potential. The number of 80s nerd-culture references is staggering, and it's hard not to want to mention this book to a nerd friend. But the story sometimes feels like a vehicle for movie, video-game, and anime references. For me, the thrill of nostalgia for Zork, Adventure, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Star Blazers (a personal favorite), Joust, Devo, etc. wore off pretty quickly. The core story was fun, albeit predictable, but I found the pure escapist enjoyment a little lacking. To give me escape, a book has to transport me. I too often found myself distracted by the pop-culture references, thin character development, and obvious mechanisms of storytelling. I also didn't come away feeling at all enlightened or inspired; the morals of the story -- seek satisfaction in reality-prime, true beauty lies within, and we nerds should get outside more -- all felt rather tacked on. I understand that this book wasn't meant to change my life, but I love it when a light read turns out to give me a surprisingly inspiring little push. ([b:Neverwhere|14497|Neverwhere|Neil Gaiman|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348747943s/14497.jpg|16534] comes to mind.)
[b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741] is a good example of the increasing overlap between sci-fi and fantasy. The use of v-worlds in sci-fi allows the writer to incorporate fantasy elements into a story that's ultimately grounded in reality-prime. I did a fair amount of this in my own novel, [b:Upload|16301231|Upload|Mark McClelland|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355677383s/16301231.jpg|21809175], but I always tried to keep it relevant to the speculative heart of science fiction. In [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741], I didn't find much to chew on in terms of ideas and questions about the future. It felt heavy on the fantasy, light on the sci-fi. Which is great -- just don't pick up [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741] expecting a lot of thought-provoking speculation on where we humans are headed. Think "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World", not [b:I, Robot|41804|I, Robot|Isaac Asimov|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320435960s/41804.jpg|1796026].
Kirkus recommends [b:Upload|16301231|Upload|Mark McClelland|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355677383s/16301231.jpg|21809175] as similar to [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741]. I was downright ecstatic when I saw my book placed alongside such a popular title, and I do think someone who liked [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741] will probably enjoy [b:Upload|16301231|Upload|Mark McClelland|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355677383s/16301231.jpg|21809175], but the two books are very different in feel. [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741] is fun and pretty fluffy, and felt to me like it was written for a teen audience -- and for children-of-the-80s looking for a little nostalgia. [b:Upload|16301231|Upload|Mark McClelland|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355677383s/16301231.jpg|21809175] is a good deal more intense, more noir, more adult. In both, the hero had a difficult childhood and received much of their "parenting" in virtual reality. Both stories also have the hero on the run. But in [b:Upload|16301231|Upload|Mark McClelland|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355677383s/16301231.jpg|21809175] there's a lot more internal struggle, meatier relationship issues, more focus on science, and serious questions about where technology is taking us.
For me, [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576871s/9969571.jpg|14863741] gets three stars. Would I recommend it? To a trivia hound or 80s pop-culture fanatic, yes. Otherwise, no, because I think there are lots of books equally as fun but with more artistry, more charm, richer characters, or a more compelling world.
alyssahugs's review against another edition
4.0
I never would have picked up this book if it wasn’t for the Popsugar Reading Challenge … but other than getting lost in some of the video game talk (I’m the person my family begs to okay Mario cart so that they can feel good about themselves) I really enjoyed it! I do love a good dystopia so reading it from the perspective was fun … and terrifying.
librarydoc's review against another edition
4.0
I am embarrassed that I liked this book so much. It appealed to my techy geeky side, plus there is the 80s nostalgia on every page. I really liked the double characters (avatar vs real people). I am a little freaked out about how realistic the plot is... there is a fine line between virtual and reality.
sterlingprimerius's review against another edition
5.0
A feast of recognition, geek outs and nostalgia from start to finish!