Ready Player One

Ernest Cline

Aug 2011 · Random House

About this eBook

*THE BOOK BEHIND THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY STEVEN SPIELBERG*

'Wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, Ready Player One is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut' Independent
'Part intergalactic scavenger hunt, part romance, and all heart' CNN
'Ernest Cline's novel deserves to be a modern classic' SciFiNow
'Gorgeously geeky, superbly entertaining, this really is a spectacularly successful debut' Daily Mail
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A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?

It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late twentieth century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle.

Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions - and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.
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Readers can't get enough of Ready Player One . . .

***** 'THAT WAS SO TOTALLY AWESOME, WOW!'
***** 'This is an exciting story, especially for geeks, and the key word is FUN.'
***** 'Ladies and gentlemen, from this day this book is my life and I will obsess over it constantly.'
***** 'I just kinda wanna cry right now. I'll have a proper review at some point, but I gotta let myself recover.'
***** 'I had the feeling while reading this book that it was written expressly for me. This is my childhood captured.'

Ratings and reviews

Although i wasn't around for the eighties, like all 90s children, i grew up with a healthy dose of 80s media and culture. Many of the references i understood and the ones i didn't Mr Cline excellently explained. I felt a real connection to wade, although I'm nowhere near an obsessive genius as he is. Never the less, do not be afraid of the obscure gaming references, I'm a life long gamer myself and i didn't know %70 of the games mentioned, few but retro gamers will. The best book I've read all year.

Hackers and heroes of the digital revolution will get a few wry smiles from this book which is peppered with fanboy references to old computer tech. If geek tech isn't your bag you may find it hard work. I enjoyed the trainspotter obsession with PC trivia and gamelore but am mystified by one or two blindingly obvious omissions. In short its a geek book, something to read while waiting for your opponents to log on. Everyone else may just find it more of a mystery...

Any self confessed geek (and even if you're not) should enjoy this adventure through a bleak future where people spend most of their time in the virtual world of OASIS. Ready Player One is an excellent read and Ernest Cline has written a great story. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this in my 40's and I will be suggesting my teenage son read it too, as I think he will enjoy reading it just as much as I have! It's a well written story that pulls you in from the start and continues at a good pace until the end. The story is full of references to 80's pop culture, from Video Games to Music, Movies, TV Shows and Cartoons. I'm a 70's kid and loved being reminded of some of the games, music and shows from my childhood.

About the author

Ernest Cline is a #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, screenwriter, and full-time geek. He is the author of the novels Ready Player One and Armada and co-screenwriter of the film adaptation of Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg. His books have been published in over fifty countries and have spent more than 100 weeks on The New York Times bestsellers list. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his family, a time-traveling DeLorean, and a large collection of classic video games.