Ready Player One

Hey guys,

Today is the day in which I talk a book I was dying to read but seriously disappointed me. Set book is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and before you guys ask, I don’t think I will be watching the movie.

As I was saying I was dying to read Ready Player one, but while reading it I was bored and disappointed. Seriously I think I have read few books that bored me so much. I think part of the problem is that I do not like video games so a book about the world being basically a videogame might not have been the best choice for me. However, I didn’t like the characters very much either so it was not entirely on me for a bad book choice.

In Ready Player One we follow Wade, a guy who lives in 2044 and that is obsessed with a videogame called OASIS. The OASIS is a virtual reality in which you can basically feel everything your avatar is feeling and act as you wish. There are several planets, among them one in which you can go to school without even leaving you house, which is kind of practical considering that in the future the word is shit. The thing is that the creator of the OASIS died and leave his whole fortune to whomever can decipher a serious of clues that are hidden in the videogame so there is a global hunt in search of the heritage of Halliday.

Premise wise seems like a modern and very loose retelling of Willy Wonka which I think it is and in fact there are a couple of references to that book in the story. There are tons of references to pop culture that either I didn’t get or wasn’t very excited about. I mean I thought I was a geek and after reading this book I feel that I am not. Or maybe it is that is very Americanised, and not everything was as famous in other countries.

Regarding the characters I have mixed feelings. I don’t think they are well portrayed. The reality is that we only get to meet Wade but only because he is the main character. But the thing is that I only liked his “IRL” perspective, which considering that almost 80% of the book happens inside the videogame is not good. As for the rest of the characters I have some mixed feelings, I don’t think we get to know them and I only liked Ach and was very annoyed by Art3mis.

The world building was well done however I felt it was excessive at times. There is page in which the author describes everything in the game and that was boring. Also, there were times in which he would be repeating the same thing over and over, I felt like the author thought the readers were idiots and I am not. Is like Mr. Cline didn’t trust that the reader could remind the rules or what happened if he didn’t remind it.

What I did like about the book was the writing style. I like how Ernest Cline told the story and how he used the words.  I also enjoyed the path of the book, it read it fast despite all its flows. That´s why I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars.

And I am not sure if I want to recommend the book or not. I would recommend to those who like videogames whereas if you are like me and don’t like them don’t bother and read something else.

¡See you all next Monday!