Ready Player One

Ready Player One

Author: Ernest Cline
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Reviewer: Lydia

Ready Player One is an exuberant novel that will appeal to kids, teens, and adults of all ages. Whether you like 80s pop culture, dystopic novels, high-tech thrillers, or a combination of all of the above, then this book is for you!

The story follows Wade Watts, who lives in a future American society that has collapsed. By day he struggles to stay alive by roaming the streets, fending off muggers, and avoiding his family. However, there is one bright spot in Wade’s life, and that is the OASIS, a completely interactive multi-player game. Created by an eccentric computer designer named James Halliday, the OASIS has become society’s crutch; millions, if not billions, of people escape to this world instead of confronting their problems in reality.

Suddenly, though, James Halliday dies. The vast amounts of wealth he earned then comes into question; namely, who will receive his fortune? It turns out that before he died, Halliday created a “game”, like a contest, and the first person to win this contest also wins his fortune. Sounds easy, right?

Wrong.

As Wade races to win the game, he also races against time to stay alive. Many people want to win this same contest, and they’ll stop at nothing to be victorious—including murder. The novel is extremely well-written, fast-paced, and the plot is totally unique. My favorite part of the novel was the characters, and their humor and camaraderie in the face of so many obstacles.

The only drawback in this story is that everything fits perfectly together like a jigsaw puzzle, which makes the story a little too neat and convenient. There is always some magic spell, potion, hint, or virtual weapon that one of the characters uses in order to help them advance in the game. All in all, besides this one fault, Ready Player One is fun, fresh, and innovative.