Ready Player One

by The Scholar Reviews

A video game that allows the player to escape reality. A puzzle to be solved, and literally every 80’s reference that the author could scrounge up. This is the premise of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. This is a spoiler free review of the basic plot, characters, and book in general, as well as what I thought about it. So without further ado, let’s dive in.

(source: Audible.com)

Ready Player One is not currently available in paper format, but it is available as an eBook (specifically for the Kobo platform) for $11.99. It is also available as an Audible audiobook, for $31.50 if not a member and $22.05 or 1 credit if a member. The audiobook is narrated by Wil Wheaton (one of my favourite narrators) and is 15 hours and 46 minutes long.Unlike the last book I reviewed, it is both harder to find and more expensive,possibly because of it’s length.

Once again, I listened to this book on Audible. The narration is top notch, done by one of my favourite narrators. Wil Wheaton is very good at description and making the world he’s describing seem real, and although his characters tend to sound similar, he does an all around good job. This book is written in first person from the eyes of the protagonist, a character named Wade, and has a fairly decent pace. There are a few issues however, as the plot does not really kick in until an eighth of the way through the book. The narrative is put on hold until all the backstory is explained when some of the information the author gives the reader could be put somewhere other than the beginning. Also, there is the aforementioned issue of the author sometimes just listing 80’s references, trying to include every detail of pop culture from the era. This weighs down the book tremendously, and could be done without.

The plot of Ready Player One is, once it gets started, about a virtual reality game called “the Oasis” The real world of the book is on its way to an apocalypse, and the world in general has willingly lost intrest in it, in favour of the Oasis. The story starts when the creator of the Oasis dies, leaving behind a contest as his will. The person who wins the contest wins the creators wealth, as well as the Oasis itself. This plot is okay, but it is kind of flat, without much dimension or development, in favour of the aforementioned listing of 80’s pop culture. I personally would have liked to see a little more focus on the plot, and perhaps a better sense of pacing from the narrative (as mentioned before it tends to drag)

Wade Watts, also known as Parzival in the Oasis, is the main character. He is, again, alright, but is a bit of an unrealistic character. The character has no social life, instead turning to the 80’s for entertainment and purpose. He reads like an adult video game nerd living in his Mom’s basement, and that is really his only character trait. He also exhibits symptoms of what I like to call “Main Character Syndrome” basically what that means is he’s a very stereotypical “chosen one” character, who can magic his way out of any situation. All in all, he is similar to the narrative, okay, but lacking true detail and depth.

My personal opinion on this book can be summed up as “...Meh”. The book is pretty okay, but definitely not for everyone. There are some glaring flaws in its narrative, characters, and overall execution. If you are the kind of reader who really loves Sci-Fi, and isn’t turned off by a book that drags its heels a bit, then I would completely recommend it to you. Overall, this book scores 8/10, but anyone who wants to read it should try it themselves.