Ready Player One – Ernest Cline

Ready Player One, the debut novel from Ernest Cline, is set in the not-so-distant future, where a long depression brought about by a combination of climate change, overpopulation, and an energy crisis has led most of the world to spend most of their time in a virtual reality simulation known as the OASIS. When the creator of the OASIS dies, he kicks off a years long hunt to inherit his fortune, and control of the virtual world. A band of kids sift through 80s pop culture to figure out the clues and stop the evil corporation IOI from taking over the OASIS and, with it, the world.

When I first heard about Ready Player One, it seemed right up my alley. But, for whatever reason, I never got around to buying it and, over time, my enthusiasm for it waned. The release of the movie last year, if anything, pushed me further away from it.  While the movie didn’t wow me, it wa better than what I expected. After a few recommendations about how the book was so much better than the movie, and a sale in the Kindle store, I finally picked it up.

I cant believe I waited this long. The story was like a roadmap through my childhood, hitting on the movies, music, and video games that I grew up on. While the movie hits most of the main beats of the book, the book does it better, with quests that, while less cinematic, are more engaging and draw you further in to this strange virtual world.  I just may have to keep a look out for any future work by Cline and hope it measures up.