Thursday, December 13, 2012
Reviewed: Ready Player One book by Ernie (Ernest) Cline
My Rating: Loved it. Better than one of those great masturbation sessions. Absorb now!
Initial thoughts: I just finished Ready Player One. Overall, if you are into geek stuff, read it! This book is for you. Initially I was skeptical, especially since I opted for the audiobook version read by Wil Wheaton, and while Wil is one of the geek gods, I just kind of don't like him for some reason. It isn't that I have any problem with what Wil says, it is more like the way he says them. There is something in his tone of voice that goes beyond normal geek snark and that just rubs me the wrong way. I don't vibe with him. Maybe it is because he doesn't have the obligatory second "l" in his first name? Nonetheless, I still gave the audiobook an honest try, and I dug the shit out of it. Wil did an excellent job reading Ernie Cline's awesome book.
Nutshell: The book is set in the future where the energy crisis is in full swing, poverty is rampant, and the world is pretty much a shit hole. The best escape from a terrible world is in the O.A.S.I.S., a simulated universe that you access with a visor and varying levels of feedback gear that enables manipulation with the virtual world. Within this world the main creator has died and leaves his considerable fortune up for grabs, which can only be obtained by figuring out the creator's puzzles which are heavily dipped in 80s geek nostalgia references.
What I dig: The geek references go way, way deep, far deeper than what I know of. But Ernie spells it all out and you don't have any issue not relating. The plot is an exciting one and a solid hero's journey. This story isn't going to inspire a lot of introspection, but it is a great experience to simply enjoy and have fun with. It makes you wish OASIS was real. Good job, Ernie! Also, way to make me curious about a Rush album. I really dislike Rush, but you have made me open to listening to it, so giant bonus cookies to you.
What I don't dig: The speech patterns of the characters was often terribly cheesy, but so were the 80s, which is a culture they immerse themselves in, so I can't gripe too much. It was rather predictable, but what hero's journey isn't? Initially, I thought this would be a G rating adventure, but with the profanity I'd say it was at least PG, though a bit more PG13 would have been more to my liking. The 80s geek references are laid on pretty damn thick, which I don't have a problem with, but if you are not into the 80s it may annoy the shit out of you.
Final thoughts: Again, if you dig geek stuff, get it! If you don't, A) you kind of don't belong reading this blog and 2) skip it, unless you are a fan of hero's journey stories, then it may be tolerable to you.
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I'll definitely check this one out, based on your review. It will be interesting to see how well it stands in comparison to Ender's Game; to see whether it is individual enough to not feel like a window-dressed retelling.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment!
ReplyDeleteI'd say this is definitely a departure from Ender's Game. It is its own thing, but to compare it to Ender's Game I find that the comparison ends with them both being set in the future where the world is in terrible shape. The contrasts are that EG is way more deeply philosophical while RPO is lighter fare that just oozes love for the time period it reaches back to. I've heard some people state that it is too much of an 80s-loving masturbation session on Cline's behalf, but it didn't bother me. Once you get into it you'll totally see what I mean.
Honestly, if anything was (perhaps unintentionally) treading over the same ground as Ender's Game, I'd never say it is not Ready Player One, but instead I'd say it was the first Halo novel, Halo: The Fall of Reach, which overall, wasn't bad, either, but I'm also a huge fan of the first Halo game, so I was way on board for that ride that explains what happens before the events of the first game.