Synopsis: It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.
Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.
And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune--and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them.
For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.
And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.
Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt--among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape. (Goodreads.com)
Now, make no mistake, this book has its flaws. The Book Smugglers review of Ready Player One most succinctly points out the flaws, the biggest that stands out for me is how Cline basically ignores any and all female fantasy writers which is a travesty but that being said, I still had a great time with this book. I listened to it while working and while traveling in my car to visit family and frankly, I didn't want to stop driving. I'm not sure whose brilliant idea it was to get Wil Wheaton to narrate this book but it was pure genius. Considering how involved in the world of fandom and "nerds" Wheaton is, he seems like the only choice to read this book and wow, does he make his mark. Some actors are not meant to read audio books, it's just fact. I've listened to some audio books narrated by famous actors where it is an abysmal listening experience. Not so with Ready Player One and Wil Wheaton. Wil Wheaton brings eighteen year old Wade Watts to life through sarcasm, nerdery, and excitement over the contest. And not just Wade. Wheaton is not afraid to change his voice, to be dynamic and robust in his narration. There is a part where he is voicing a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the British touch is just right.
There is A LOT of exposition in this book. A lot. I think if I had been reading this rather than listening, I would have ended up skimming chunks of the text. But with listening, I was engaged because Wheaton makes even the exposition important and interesting. He is NOT a dull, monotonous narrator by any means and I was really thrilled to hear him seemingly get just as excited as Wade over some of the 1980s pop culture and trivia. Narrators can easily lose me in exposition but I was hanging on every word of this book.
Ready Player One is a 2012 Alex Award winner and there is no doubting why. This is a great quest novel. It's about friendship and reaching a huge, momentous goal. Yes, the villains are static, yes there really isn't a whole lot of character depth in this book but it is nonetheless hugely engaging. Fast-paced, filled with humor and sarcasm, plenty of swearing, a lot of crushing on a certain female Gunter, the chance to be greater than your parents before you, and the chance to put down the man. While this book really only touches very lightly on heavier matters, it makes for an extremely readable story nonetheless. I tend to love stories with character development and emotional impact. While this book has some character growth, it is truly about plot momentum, about story and setting. The Oasis is this amazing other world. It is leaps and bounds better than say, Second Life, which FINALLY seems to have died out. Wade's journey in the Oasis and the emerging story is where reader interest lies, NOT in ruminating on why people are much more interested in being part of the Oasis than real life.
If you like video games, the 1980s, movies and obscure facts, give this book a try. I cannot claim to be any real expert on the 1980s but I do know my movies fairly well and I enjoyed the references to movies I have seen and enjoyed. Ernest Cline did his research that much is obvious because this book brims with both the well known and the obscure. Wil Wheaton adds another layer of enjoyment to the book and I highly recommend listening to the audio rather than just reading it. There is something rather meta about having him narrate, considering his own role in Ready Player One (and not just as narrator). This is a very cinematic book! There are huge, grandiose villains, sweeping adventures where one has to use any and all knowledge at hand, and fun friendships formed along the way. Ready Player One is a climactic adventure and Wil Wheaton throws himself wholly into the experience, relishing the narration experience. It is quite obvious he took a lot of joy in the production of this audio book and in turn, readers are going to have just as much joy in the finished product.
Ready Player One is an unabridged production by Random House Audio. It is 13 compact discs for a total of fifteen and a half hours of listening.
Borrowed from local public library.
