Ready Player One is the bestselling science-fiction novel by author Ernest Cline.
I read it to get some inspiration for my own work in progress, and I'm glad I did!
The story is action-packed with excitement and adventure.
After reading the book and loving it, I watched the movie...
and I was totally disappointed!
Synopsis
In 2044, Earth is decaying. No oil, climate change, poverty, famine and diseases are widespread. The only place people enjoy is the Oasis, a virtual reality utopia where people can be whoever or whatever they want, and live the life they've always wanted.
Wade Watts, the main protagonist, is a teenager who like most people, spends all his days in the Oasis, with his best friend Aech.
When the founder of the Oasis, James Halliday (a man obsessed with the 80's), dies without an heir, his estate is the prize of a contest. The Egg Hunt.
Hidden somewhere in the Oasis is a golden egg. To reach the egg, gunters (i.e. egg hunters) must find three keys. Each key grants access to a gate. in order to find all keys and gates, gunters must solve riddles, all about 80's trivia. Whoever finds the egg first, will inherit Halliday's massive fortune.
Five years after the contest is announced, Wade becomes the first person to obtain the first key - the Copper key - and complete the first gate. This event is just the beginning of a fierce competition as everyone is pitted against him for the ultimate prize, including the I.O.I. and its Sixers - people who will go to any lengths to get rid of Wade and his friends in order to take control of the Oasis.
What I loved about this book
The world-building in this story is extraordinary. The author created a virtual world where people can go and be whatever they want to be, go to school (as there are no more schools in the real world), get jobs, play games and earn money that can use in the real world.
The Oasis itself is very complicated. There are different worlds and planets, divided into different sectors, so finding the keys is not an easy task at all.
In the story, Wade falls in love with Art3mis, a girl he met in the Oasis. Him falling in love with a girl he has never met is just ridiculous, but the author obviously realised this, and makes the story more realistic by letting Art3mis and Aech constantly remind Parzival (Wade's avatar) that for all he knows, his love interest is a fat guy named Chuck in the real world.
Another element in the story that made it realistic, was the fact that Wade's fame - once he found the key and completed the first gate - got to his head, and as a result, he lost his two best friends. This led him to a period of laziness and procrastination, where he loses focus on the egg hunt.
I think what made the story interesting was the different riddles and following Wade's research to solve them. I love how at the end of the story, all the little incidents the characters went through made sense and it gave me a sense of satisfaction.
My rating
Ready Player One was unputdownable. There is some action and excitement going on, that it was impossible to get bored at any point throughout the book.
I rate this book 5/5 stars.
The Movie
The movie adaptation of Ready Player One however, was a total disappointment!
The movie story line follows the basic plot: teenagers hunting for an egg.
But that's about it. Everything else that happens in the movie, does not happen in the book, or it doesn't happen the way it does in the book.
Parzival meets Art3mis in his everyday life in the Oasis. He obtains the first key by driving backwards in a race car. He meets Art3mis in the real world way too early.
Art3mis infiltrates the I.O.I. as a Sixer. Parzival simply plays a videogame to complete the final gate. Daito fights in the war against the Sixers. Aech dies in that same battle.
None of this happens in the book.
It was hard not to scream at my tv while watching this movie.
I have to rate it 1/5 stars.
Have you read Ready Player One or watched the movie? What were your thoughts?
Let me know in the comments below and share this review with friends.
Happy reading!
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