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Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)

Ernest Cline

Start date: June 20, 2017

Finish date: July 1, 2017

Discussion: BOM: 2017

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Showing 2 of 9 topics — 161 comments total

BOM: 2017

June 2017 BOM: And Then There Were None
By Gavin · 10 posts · 17 views

last updated Nov 27, 2017 09:40PM

June 2017 BOM: Ready Player One
By Gavin · 5 posts · 8 views

last updated Jun 04, 2017 12:05PM

What Members Thought

Jan 04, 2017 Amy Sutton rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library, reviewed, 2017, e-books, audiobooks

I just wish I could read SFF universes where more than one woman (who conveniently functions as The Love Interest) exists. Overall, this was really good story telling and a really unique and fun universe. I just want women to exist?

Positives:
+Incredibly cool universe functioning on Virtual Reality
+Classism was a big theme of this book without being preachy. It was really interesting to read about homeless people still tuning in to VR and corporations having monopolies on VR and media.
+The 80s I just wish I could read SFF universes where more than one woman (who conveniently functions as The Love Interest) exists. Overall, this was really good story telling and a really unique and fun universe. I just want women to exist?

Positives:
+Incredibly cool universe functioning on Virtual Reality
+Classism was a big theme of this book without being preachy. It was really interesting to read about homeless people still tuning in to VR and corporations having monopolies on VR and media.
+The 80s references, though not my specialty, were so well researched and incorporated. Each reference was completely believable and accurate. (Some things I googled because it seemed as if they fit too perfectly and must have been made up, but nope, they were real.)
+When the story was focused on the adventure, it was fun and fast
+ The characters didn't just magically win the game. There was backstory of practice and months dedicated to researching and critiquing. Their victories were believable, and I loved that.

Negatives:
- Women don't exist in this universe?
Number of...
Characters who were at least mentioned or referred to as "she": 10.
Characters who were female and had at least 1 line of dialogue: 3.
Characters who were female and had had more than 1 line of dialogue: 1.
Women who were dead and not actually in existence but who were referenced to inspire male pain and male plot lines: 3/10.

Like, there's literally only one female character with more than one line of dialogue. There are not enough women to even talk to one another much less pass the Bechdel Test. Even taxi drivers and police officers and prisoners were all men? It was bizarre.

It was so frustrating, too, because Cline made slight references to sexism and how it was unfair that other VR characters thought the female may be a male in disguise because it was so uncommon for hunters to be female... BUT Cline was the one who wrote it that way? You can't just write a sexist book and then think because your characters acknowledge the sexism that makes it okay?
MAJOR (view spoiler)
- There was some transphobia
- There were some very random side plots that got very dull. I understand that roadblocks are needed so the adventure doesn't seem too implausible or easy, but I just got bored with how the tone shifted from action packed 80s adventure to dystopian suicidal introspection. ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jul 01, 2017 Gavin Abdollahi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017, novel, serious-readers-challenge, decades-challenge, dystopian, mystery, funny, comedy, sci-fi, thriller

"Whenever I saw the sun, I reminded myself that I was looking at a star. One of over a hundred billion in our galaxy. A galaxy that was just one of billions of other galaxies in the observable universe. This helped me keep things in perspective.”

This book had terrible characters, a conveniently cliche story, and not so good lessons.
But?
It was fun.

OWRs/b>:
Fun
Convenient
Worldly
Fast-paced
Page-turning
Entertaining
Geeky

Story: 7/10

The year is... 2048, right? Well, it's about that year, at least.
Humans h "Whenever I saw the sun, I reminded myself that I was looking at a star. One of over a hundred billion in our galaxy. A galaxy that was just one of billions of other galaxies in the observable universe. This helped me keep things in perspective.”

This book had terrible characters, a conveniently cliche story, and not so good lessons.
But?
It was fun.

OWRs/b>:
Fun
Convenient
Worldly
Fast-paced
Page-turning
Entertaining
Geeky

Story: 7/10

The year is... 2048, right? Well, it's about that year, at least.
Humans have destroyed the world. To escape from the horrors that live in reality, people have chosen to escape to a virtual world called the OASIS, a 3D fully interactive RPG that let's you do whatever you want.
The main story has a sort of One Piece-y vibe, with the creator of the OASIS, James Halliday, inviting fellow Geeks to a hunt for his enormous fortune.
He releases a video and gives the hunters one clue: a clue which, after five years, nobody has been able to crack.
Wade Watts is an overweight shut in who's life lies in the OASIS.
Oh, he's also the (view spoiler) After that, his life becomes a messed up mixture of adventure, friendship, love, an quote a bit of criminal activity.

The story was WAY too convenient, with things going right for Wase whenever something went wrong.
Also... How is Wade so smart? At the beginning he states that he's got about average grades, yet by the end he seems to be some kind of smart guy who was able to (view spoiler)
And, the quest?
It's too impossible.
But, it was pretty fun, so...

World: 9.5/10

Ah, this is where ROP shines the brightest.
The world that Mr. Clone created is alive, full of wonder, imaginative, and very, very fun. Well, the OASIS is, at least. The real world? Mostly pretty dreary.

Characters: 5.5/10

This is just about the lowest rating I've given to characters so far.
Wade and the rest of the gang are shut ins addicted to gaming. Like, get a life already, guys!
Wade also has a terrible attitude, terrible morals, terrible judgement, and an amazing lack of importance for human life. He is also pretty inconsistent.
I seriously don't like the idea of a world where eberyone's constantly in a video game. Sure, it made for a pretty fun story, but... There are limits.

All in all:

Ready Player One was a really fun, page turning book, with lots of references to the 80s. I was happily able to catch some (but not all).
Warning, though: this book has spoilers for retro video games. Not really a biggie, but...
Recommended for 80s geeks and anyone looking for a fun read.

4/5 Stars.
...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Dec 25, 2018 Niveditha Ravindra rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, sci-fi

This was an enjoyable story. Although I didn't immediately get all of the pop culture or vintage video game references, Ernest Cline takes a lot of effort to explain every one of them. I found the story lagging between the first and second quests; I was pretty sure up till that point that it was going to be a 5 starrer. The explanation given for Wade figuring out the clue on the jade key was flimsy, but then again, I may have missed something. Overall, it is a must-read for those who like quests ...more

4 likes · Like · see review