When I was in college, nostalgia wasn't about the 90s. They were too recent. It was all about the 80s. So many 80s parties. I'll be honest: with a few notable exceptions, the pop culture of the 80s generally doesn't move me. That was not a good omen for my enjoyment of Ernest Cline's Ready Player One. In the near future, there has been widespread economic and ecological damage done to the world. Luckily, there's the OASIS, an immersive virtual reality where people can escape and exist through avatars. OASIS was created by a Steve Jobs-esque reclusive genius called James Halliday, who created a sensation when he died a few years before the novel begins by bequeathing his enormous fortune to whoever first can get to the "Easter Egg" he left behind...with clues rooted in the (you guessed it) 80s pop culture he loved.

Teenager Wade Watts (avatar: Parzival) has a comic book-worthy origin story: after the deaths of both of his parents when he was young, he went to live with an aunt in what are called the "stacks"...mobile homes outside of major cities literally stacked on top of each other. When he's not attending school via OASIS, he's doing what lots of people are doing: being an Easter Egg hunter, or "gunter" for short. When his obsessive devotion to Halliday's favorite video games, music, and movies pays off and he becomes the first person to discover one of three keys that will lead to the final prize, he's locked into a race for the finish. Parzival, his crush Art3mis, his best friend Aech and a team of two Japanese gamers are all competing...and also trying to ensure that an evil corporate conglomerate doesn't snag the prize, and control of OASIS, first.

If you really enjoy 80s pop culture, you'll love this. The idea of a world where our favorite trivia is literally the key to fame and fortune is delightful, and Cline's joy in writing it shines through. The plot moves along quickly, and it's not hard to see why this got made into a movie: it hits all the beats you'd expect it to, so it plays in your mind as you read. There's an emotional satisfaction to knowing the general track of things while waiting to see what little detours the specifics are going to take you on, and some sequences (like the climactic battle) are genuinely thrilling.

As a whole, though, the book fell terribly flat for me. As a non-80s devotee, it often felt like just constant lists of references to things that held absolutely no charm or emotional resonance. The storytelling was extremely basic, and the character development even more so. The issues the book is patting itself on the back for highlighting: that people might not be who they pretend to be for reasons both good and bad, that beauty comes from within, that it's your connection with a person that matters and not what they look like, are dealt with in a shallow, facile fashion that only emphasizes the simplicity of the narrative and the people who populate it. I've read a lot of books that didn't hook me, but few have been so boring as to be as difficult to read as this one. I do understand why it would appeal to people: it's a straightforward adventure story rooted in an era that many find nostalgically compelling. If that sounds fun to you, by all means, you'll likely enjoy this book like hundreds of thousands of people have. If not, though, this is one to avoid. ( )

Video Review Here: https://youtu.be/7ugAwUOASuE

This is everything my little nerd heart wanted:
Video Games- √
Pop Culture References- √
Movies- √
80's Nostalgia- √
What nerd doesn't want to live in a Virtual Reality world?

The main plot of this story is that the creator of the VR world dies and leaves behind a scavenger hunt to win his fortune. In this dystopian world where daily life is a struggle, this is the opportunity of a lifetime! All you need to do is solve the clues and the first person to the end wins.
Unfortunately big corporations get in on the game and it turns into David vs. Goliath competition. Who can be faster, who can be smarter, who has better resources?

This book was engaging from page 1. I loved the world Cline created. The characters were relatable and felt like I could find them in my local geek community. This made me want to pick up the nearest game and start playing.

Definitley Must Own Hardcover... or if I can get my hands on it 1st Edition!
( )

This wasn't the first time I listened to this book, and it won't be the last. This is the book that made me love audiobooks. Wil Wheaton's performance is superb. The story is fantastic. Highly recommended. ( )

I wanted to like this book, I really did, but there were a few things that I couldn't come to terms with. First of all, I love everything this book is about, virtual reality, online gaming, dystopian futures, nerd culture and the 80's, for me this should be a recipe for an incredibly awesome adventure... But it wasn't. First of all, the writing was really flat, I understand it's supposed to be first person limited perspective of the kid, but I just couldn't connect with it. I'm not sure how to explain it, but the writing just seemed amateurish, informal, but not informal enough to be stylized.

Though frankly, my biggest issue was with the premise of being obsessed with the 80's in the year 2044. Don't these kids have modern bands / films / animation too, or is everything only a big throw-back? I understand that might be missing the point, I just for some reason couldn't buy into that reality, it's like the equivalent of every kid in the 2000's being obsessed with big band music or doing the charleston. Most of the book seems like a never-ending name drop, where every moment they'd throw in something like how the protagonist was listening to billy idol or marathoning knight rider while R2D2 served him drinks. It feels somehow artificial, like I was getting the sense of the perspective really being that of someone in the year 2012 writing about someone in 2044 talking about 1980's nerd culture. I had too much of a sense of the author's presence in this time period.

If I turned off my brain and just enjoyed it, this book was great! However when I started thinking about the world of the book and the writing, I had a hard time. Oddly enough if there's a sequel, I will probably read it. I like the characters and the world, but I just want to see beyond the never-ending sea of 80's references and an improvement in writing style. ( )

Loved this book. Page turner. Interesting story. ( )