It’s not often I read a book more than once. Ready Player One is one of those exceptions. It’s one of my favorite books, and in 2014, got me back into reading. Prior to 2014, I read only a small handful of books a year, and mostly non-fiction. I always have enjoyed good stories though, as some of my favorite non-fiction books are about events that actually occurred – books like Bringing Down the House, Barbarians at the Gate and Den of Thieves. I also liked biographies, the most recent were Jobs, and John Adams. Oh, and almost anything by Michael Lewis. Other than that, it was mostly business and entrepreneurship related titles.
In 2014, three books changed that. Red Rising, The Martian, and Ready Player One. Since then, I have been fairly prolific about consuming fiction novels. And most recently, I’ve been on a sci-fi kick. But I digress, this review is about Ready Player One. So let’s get started!
The story is told from the perspective of 18 year old Wade Watts. Wade is living in a semi-dystopian 2045, where most people spend their days plugged into an an online virtual world called the OASIS. Wade himself physically lives in Oklahoma. He spends time shuffling between his aunt’s trailer located in the “stacks” (think makeshift stack of trailers), and his secret van hideout buried deep in a mound of old cars nearby. The van is where he connects to the OASIS via VR googles and haptic gloves.
5 years ago, OASIS founder James Halliday died, and willed his entire fortune to whoever can unlock the hidden “easter egg” he’s coded deep in the virtual world. To discover the easter egg, players must find hidden 3 keys, each of which unlock a hidden gate.
The kicker is that Halliday grew up in the 1980’s, and to crack the clues leading to the keys, users must basically re-live the best parts of Halliday’s childhood memories. They must become experts on everything 80’s pop culture! Many users dedicate their lives to learning about the 80’s, and these egg hunters aka “gunters”, are generally the protagonists of the story. On the other end of the spectrum are “sixers”, corporate drones working for the IOI company. IOI’s goal is to take over the OASIS after inheriting Halliday’s fortune, and reshape it to serve their own corporate greed.
Wade’s avatar Parzival, becomes the first gunter in the Oasis to find the first key. This re-ignites a worldwide frenzy, and sets the stage for the story.
The remainder of the story follows Wade/Parzival from a first person perspective as he unlocks the gates and solves the puzzles left behind by Halliday. It’s a super fast read, and a fun book. The highlights are the 80’s references, ranging from old school video games such as Adventure, Joust, and Pacman to movies and Japanese shows like WarGames, Monty Python, Godzilla, and Ultraman. All of this set in a VR backdrop of nerdy sci-fi and internet culture.
I remember the first time I finished the book. It was so satisfying I didn’t want it to end. Ready Player One really helped solidify my interests in fiction books. I also bought a copy for Uncle Dennis, since he’s 6 years older than me, and the 80’s was an even bigger part of his childhood. He loved it as well.
Love,
Dad
7/6/2017
Got up at 5:30am to start this post, and finished it during my lunch break at Veggie Grill. We’re just about done fixing up the house. Your birthday party is in a few days and it’s been crazy getting everything ready. Mamma is hardcore.