#Millennial Book Club discussion

Here is the thread to discuss Level Three (Ch. 28-39) of "Ready Player One." If you have not finished chapter 39, we don't recommend reading or participating in this thread if you're concerned with spoilers - particularly as this thread contains spoilers for the final third of the story! If you would like to discuss something that happened in the earlier two parts, please post in the corresponding discussions.

Just saw this on my friends Facebook. We are heading into RPO.
https://www.facebook.com/gamexs/video...

I seriously need that work out thing he has.

But you'd need to have something you are entirely addicted to/dependent on to force you for it to work.

What would you build on your OASIS world?

Oh good question. I say some kind of crazy forest with comfortable living caves... Yes...

Oh good question. I say some kind of crazy forest with comfortable living caves... Yes...

Oh good question. I say some kind of crazy forest with comfortable living caves... Yes...

Redwood Trees, and I would live in a treehouse. Like a Wookiee or Ewok. And a nice river/lake/tropical beach

I was surprised there was no Hogworts. Or recreation of the hunger games

I'm guessing none of the modern stuff was included because of the divergence of the timeline. Since OASIS was invented everything changed and maybe hunger games and Harry Potter never happened.

I ended up reading the whole book in basically two sittings and really loved it, even though I didn't get all the references, being a 90s kid and not into video games.

Lily wrote: "I'm guessing none of the modern stuff was included because of the divergence of the timeline. Since OASIS was invented everything changed and maybe hunger games and Harry Potter never happened.

I ..."

It's true that the timeline could have diverged, but I also think that HP or Hunger Games wasn't included because James Halliday's obsession was in the 80s. And because of that, so was Wade's and all the other gunters. There must have been modern music and entertainment, but all Wade watched/listened to from from the 80s.

I think OASIS was launch in 2012 (was it?) so that means that those fandoms could have been included, but maybe Ernst Cline simply didn't have the room to include them.

There probably were HP/fandom worlds but they didn't need to be explored because Halliday wouldn't have hidden stuff there, like Katelyn said, he was obsessed with the '80s

I wonder if there's a rich private school that created Hogwarts so students could attend. If I had the money, I'd do it.

I'm pretty sure I remember reading a Quidditch reference, so I think Harry Potter did exist.

There was definitely a reference to quiditch. I think right before Wade found the first key when he said there were school teams he mentioned it.

I didn't have a chance to jump into the discussion until after finishing the book, so I'm just going to post my overall thoughts here :)

As an 80s kid, this book was right up my alley. I thoroughly enjoyed all the references; they really took me back. The one thing that stood out to me though, by the end, was how straightforward the narrative ended up being. I kept expecting some sort of betrayal or devastating twist. Maybe I've just become too suspicious in my reading. I kind of saw the Aech reveal coming, especially when he/she warned Wade before they met. But I also kept expecting Daito and Shoto to turn, and then when they met with Og, I expected him to have ulterior motives too. The whole "come to my mansion where you'll be safe" felt too easy. That said, how straightforward the story was definitely didn't detract from my enjoyment of it, especially since I seem to be in the perfect age-range to appreciate all the references (and I did the audiobook too, so the WW reference was delightful), but I did find myself, toward the end, somewhat thinking, "Huh. I guess that's it. Okay, that's cool."

Regarding not including HP or HG, I think such references would have greatly taken away from the vibe of the book. As someone who grew up with 80s stuff, and then enjoyed HP & HG fandom as an older fan (mostly in my 20s), the 80s stuff is completely separate in my brain.

The book reminded me a little bit of S.J. Kincaid's Insignia, though that book doesn't feature the heavy pop culture references. If anyone is looking for a similar read though, that series is great. It feels like a true cross between Harry Potter and Ender's Game.

If anyone is interested you should check out the documentary Atari: Game Over streaming on Netflix. Ernest Cline is in the documentary and it shows a lot of the early references in the book as well as the overall vibe of the Atari age that Cline was so nostalgic about. It’s only about an hour long.

I agree with Kate- I also kept feeling like there would be an ultimate betrayal and was wondering if I was also too suspicious. I feel like our current entertainment models make us feel like our favorite characters aren't safe, George RR Martin, I'm looking at you...,

Sara wrote: "I agree with Kate- I also kept feeling like there would be an ultimate betrayal and was wondering if I was also too suspicious. I feel like our current entertainment models make us feel like our fa..."

Yes, GRRM has ruined us. Absolutely ruined us.

I was definitely expecting betrayal of some sort too.

I was also expecting a betrayal or larger plot twist. Funny how we expect the unexpected to happen now.

JKR and GRRM have taught us to expect bad things to happen, and we have learned to well.

Yeah, totally. It was a little refreshing to have the book subvert my expectations, but I also felt a little like there could have been more conflict to push the resolution to feel more rewarding. Meh. It was still good times :)

Katelyn wrote: "Lily wrote: "I'm guessing none of the modern stuff was included because of the divergence of the timeline. Since OASIS was invented everything changed and maybe hunger games and Harry Potter never ..."

There is a quidditch reference on page 72.
"Each OASIS public school had a bunch of different athletic teams, including wrestling, soccer, football, baseball, volleyball, and a few other sports that can't be played in the real world, like Quidditch and zero-gravity Capture the Flag."

Imagine how much fun playing sports would be in the OASIS. Especially Quidditch, zero-gravity capture the flag, and other games that could only happen there.

There was a quidditch reference. I see your point. I am sure someone had a Hogwarts and created a Hunger Games, but Wade wasn't interested in it. I did see the Aech twist coming. At first I thought Aech was going to have a thing for Wade and would be hurt by his feeling for Art3mis, but it turned out Wade was able to create his distance from Aech on his own. I was expecting some sort of betrayal - like someone pulling the plug on Wade's OASIS pod while he was at Og's.

What do you all think about Education in OASIS? Clearly it was important to Og and his wife. From what Wade described, public education in reality was pretty low on resources. The OASIS school gave students the chance to learn with unique experiences that you couldn't have in reality. It seemed like a haven for an awkward kid like Wade. Did OASIS keep Wade from learning social skills, though? Did it also encourage obesity?

Someone created a playlist of the songs mentioned in the book on Spotify if anyone is interested
https://open.spotify.com/user/ernestc...

Oh awesome! Thanks for sharing!