Rating: 4 stars (Spotlight Review)
Ready Player One is a collection of all things good and creative: Harry Potter, Willy Wonka, Tron, The Matrix, Avatar… you get the idea. Screenwriter Ernest Cline is no stranger to geek-driven plots, evidenced by his cult-favorite Fanboys.
Now, in his debut novel, Cline weaves a fascinating futuristic, semi-dystopian tale of our world thirty years in the future. Having continued its rapid decline, the Earth’s natural resources and food supplies are nearly depleted, habitable housing is in short supply, and the main form of employment and personal solace comes in the form of a virtual world video game called OASIS.
On the eve of his death, the creator of OASIS, James Halliday, lays down the gauntlet to millions of dedicated OASIS users world-wide: find three keys (copper, jade and crystal) hidden among any of the 10,000 virtual worlds, which opens three corresponding gates that lead to one well-hidden, electronic Easter egg.
The keys can be found and the gates cleared by solving riddles and clues based on 1980s pop-culture. By possessing boundless knowledge and unparalleled skill as it relates to trivia of the decade and vintage, coin-operated video games, players have a chance at winning the grand prize: ownership of OASIS and Halliday’s multi-billion dollar estate.
After five years with no results, the Hunt was beginning to be denigrated as a hoax—at least until unlikely hero and all around nice guy, Wade Watts, finds the first key. Now an overnight celebrity and a target for the corporate conglomerate, IOI, Wade must trust his instincts, and friends he has never met, to survive the game and ensure OASIS doesn’t fall into the evil hands of IOI.
Though he lobs a few softballs in the form of mainstream movie quotes and popular song lyrics, Ernest Cline digs deep to create mind boggling puzzles and riddles that will stump even the most knowledgeable trivia expert, and which definitely keeps the reader guessing.
Despite being scriptwriter, Cline’s voice comes off just a bit weak at times; but, what he lacks in technicality, he more than makes up in creativity. Mr. Cline bestows one of the most loveable protagonists in geek history. Wade is sweet, smart and unassuming, and embodies everything an unlikely hero should: he’s caring, honest, sensitive, and oh so deserving. Wade Watts lives up to his Peter Parker, superhero persona in spades.
Ready Player One is an action-packed, highly entertaining, nostalgic thrill ride through the past, while experiencing the danger and excitement of a not-too-distant future. It combines the fantastical world of Harry Potter with a touch of Orson Scott Card, where fantasy is reality, geeks are cool, and the possibilities are endless.
------------------------------------------------------
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Crown (August 16, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0307887436