Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) in Baltimore County Public Library Summer Reading BCPL SRC

Aug 29, 2011 Paula rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, young-adult, adult-fiction, read-for-ppya-2013

Do you know what a lich is? If someone taunts you with, "Answer the question, Claire," who are you being compared to? (Extra points: what's the question?) What will an oscillation overthruster allow you to do? And have you ever found yourself in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike?

A stray facetious comment worked its way into a discussion about the popularity of teen fiction among adult readers last week. "What about YA novels that are written just for adults?" I'm paraphrasing, I don't Do you know what a lich is? If someone taunts you with, "Answer the question, Claire," who are you being compared to? (Extra points: what's the question?) What will an oscillation overthruster allow you to do? And have you ever found yourself in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike?

A stray facetious comment worked its way into a discussion about the popularity of teen fiction among adult readers last week. "What about YA novels that are written just for adults?" I'm paraphrasing, I don't remember the exact wording. Just an offhand jokey comment, right?

But then I read Ready Player One yesterday. Ready Player One is a virtual reality adventure with a teen protagonist, a love interest, and a wing man. Our isolated, socially awkward hero must work his way through riddles and duels to win keys, open gates, and sort of save the world; and along the way he will develop leadership skills, learn to work with others, and listen to his instincts. Classic YA plotline.

But this book is not for teens. Not because there's bad language (in fact there's not enough bad language to make this book suitable for teens), or sex, or complicated themes involving generational anguish or crippling guilt. None of that. No, this book is for adults - this book is for ME - because the quest that it follows is set entirely in a 1980's pop-culture hurricane. Characters have to play a perfect game of Pac-Man; recite every line of Matthew Broderick's dialogue in WarGames. I counted as many as three different references in once sentence.

Allowances are made for one or two extra-80's cultural phenomena. You can probably guess which ones. That's right: Rush's 2112 album (1976) and Firefly (2002).

And you know what? It's not obnoxious. It's not 'look how clever I am,' instead, it is 'Oh my god do I really know every line of Real Genius? I'm so ashamed. But it's so funny! I think I'll watch it again.' Ernest Cline made the movie Fanboys, which, yes, I'll watch almost as many times as I've watched WarGames.

Sigh. A YA novel written just for me. ...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Arlene Caruso rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I really enjoyed this -- mostly because I totally remember most of the 80s references in the book, especially the gaming ones, and I have fallen in love with someone I never met in person while I was in a fake online world. It happens! Made me want to get back into gaming since I haven't had time for it much this past year. Not sure if that's good or bad! :D ...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Laura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: i-read-grown-up-books-too, ya-lit, 2012, kindle

Such a fun read! Wade, a high school student living in a dystopian American future, becomes obsessed with an alternate reality contest. Ready Player One deftly combines 80's pop culture and video gaming to create a compelling and interesting narrative. When the creator of the alternate reality, called OASIS dies, Avatars become obsessed with completing his challenge to become wealthy and gain control of the company. Wade and his online friends comb through clues and obscure references to find 3 ...more

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Jan 22, 2015 Eric Rutledge rated it liked it

I really enjoyed the first half of the book. All the 80's references, and in a way, reliving some of my childhood. After the halfway point, I felt the story was lacking. I also felt like the book was missing something. After talking with a few people, I was able to figure it out. To me, the world as a whole was lacking.

The book just didn't feel sci/fi to me. You have this desolate world in which the people live, and they go into OASIS to get away from reality. While I get the main focus was fin ...more

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Oct 15, 2011 Sam O'Heren rated it liked it

Shelves: suspense-thriller

Good teen-crossover book, especially for boys who are gamers. The real world is in terrible shape, so most people retreat to the Oasis, a virtual online world in which people can create their dream lives. The creator of the Oasis has dies, and in his will he reveals a game with the ultimate prize--the winner will inherit the Oasis and all of his wealth. Players must find 3 keys, hidden somewhere in the Oasis, which will help them locate an egg and thus win the game. Over the course of many years ...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Krystal rated it it was amazing

loved it!

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Nov 19, 2013 Matt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: from-mary

As a child of the 80s, I loved this book. More specifically, as a nerdy boy in the 80s I felt transported back in time to days when I:

- Spent endless hours playing Dungeons & Dragons (go Gygax go!)
- Conquered every game on the Atari 2600
- Tried to program on a TR(a)S(h)-80 and then moved up to an Atari 800XL (BASIC baby!)
- Memorized every crappy song on the radio...and the accompanying videos on MTV (back when MTV still played them I could have easily won Remote Control, or so I tell myself)
- Im ...more

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Sep 18, 2017 Erica rated it it was amazing

Can't summarize it any better than the review on the cover from USA Today "Willy Wonka meets the Matrix." Though, perhaps adding in that Wonka is 80's obsessed. I do wonder how much the book would appeal to those who did not grow up in the 80's. ...more

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Jul 24, 2017 Melissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: juvenile, audiobooks, pbs-great-american-read

This had me hooked from the first chapter. I loved it. I loved the premise, I loved all the awesome nerdy references, I loved the twists and turns, I loved the epic boss battle. It kept my on the edge of my seat and I had to know what the next puzzle would be, had to know just how they would stay ahead of the bad guys. It made me want to play some video games :-) Plus, it gets bonus points for being partially set in my hometown of Columbus! And, Wil Wheaton needs to narrate more audiobooks, beca ...more

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