Ready Player One: A Book Review

Author: Ernest Cline

Publisher: Random House NY

Published on: August 2011

Genre: Science Fiction, Post-apocalyptic, Dystopian

Summary from Goodreads:

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.

Review:

This is by far the coolest book I have laid my utmost attention to. Yeah “attention” because I listened to the audiobook format narrated by the awesome Will Wheaton. If you don’t fancy listening to audiobooks, then maybe Will Wheaton can change that. I mean, he did so much justice to this book, with his amazing narration plus the story… everything became a LEGENDARY experience.

So here’s a question?

Are you a GAMER? Because if you are, sweetie, you got to read this book. WHY? because this is THE DREAM! Imagine yourself living inside a video game. All you have to do is just log yourself in and voila you are inside virtual utopia. Now this book is about a dystopic reality and the only way of escaping this tragic world is by logging into the OASIS. Inside the Oasis, you can actually do stuff you do in the real world only in a whole new level. You can go to school,  join quests to upgrade your avatar’s level and collect various artifacts, meet virtual friends from all over the world, buy your own planet and make it your stronghold, play sports such as Quidditch and all those other cool stuff. So you see, this isn’t JUST book. It will be your refuge, your sweetest escape. So if you’re interested why don’t you start by picking this book up. 😉

Now, now this book isn’t intended for gamers alone, because you have to understand that I am not a gamer and still this book exceeded my expectations. This book feeds the geeky-ness inside me. From all those star wars references, to some of the best fantasy authors and books mentioned, to all those sci-fi stuff.

But hey, this isn’t just about the fun and games. There’s actually some serious stuff in here. Yeah sure, the premise of living inside the video game and doing all those awesome stuff is enticing but when you come to a realization that you aren’t actually living in a real world, you start thinking. This book, could actually become one of our future reality. What with all the technology enslaving us right now, we could basically end up in this kind of world. And that is something we shouldn’t ever hope for. Because by then, we’d be living in a reality, that is so messed up, damaged and cruel. If today you see a lot of people is suffering from hunger, witnessing the government do nothing a lot of times, experiencing all those bad effects of climate change, gradually losing faith in humanity and still everyone is in front of their computers or mobile phones then by the year 2044 it will be a whole lot worse! And even in this so-called virtual utopia, the ugly parts are just hidden. And a sad thing about this online refuge— it is not real.

This book  is a different experience. A different kind of dystopian fiction. It is a book that is fun, cool and awesome but it has something deeper in it. That by the end of the day, you realize how ugly a world could be and how cruel a person can become. I think it is safe to say that this book is bittersweet!

I gave it a 5 out of 5 stars in Goodreads