Ready Player One

by Ernest Cline

Reviewed by Harvy Chang

Fall 2021

REVIEW: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

ISBN#: 978-0-307-88743-6

THE STORY:

Wade Watts, a young man, lives with his aunt in the mid-southern United States in the mid-2040s. In this time period, Earth is trashed, and people turn to the OASIS, a massive multiplayer metaverse, for an escape from the Earth. After the death of James Halliday, the creator of the OASIS, Wade is dedicated to finding the easter egg Halliday hid deep inside the metaverse before his death. Wade starts the search for the Copper Key, the first of six steps to finding the egg.

After he unexpectedly finds it on his school planet, Wade becomes famous worldwide as the first person to find the key. However, just a few hours later, Art3mis, a well-known blogger who Wade admires, also happens to find the Copper Key, sparking excitement, anticipation, as well as anger all around the OASIS. Art3mis agrees to team up with Wade, and along with some of his friends, the group starts making great progress toward finally finding the egg. Unfortunately, many other people are also trying to find the egg, and the bloodthirsty employees of Innovative Online Industries, also known as IOI, are no exception. They are trying to get a leg up on the competition, and killing dozens of innocent people who are in their way is their fastest way forward. IOI both outnumbers and outguns Wade and his teammates. Despite this clear disadvantage, Wade has a plan, and he and his team feel confident that this plan will work, but it involves a possible sacrifice of one of his team members. After agreeing to take the risk by himself, he logs onto the OASIS for what might be the last time. (276)

MY OPINION:

After reading just the first few pages of the book, I quickly became immersed within the story’s world with its vivid details and descriptions. The author, Ernest Cline, does a great job of creating a riveting environment that makes the reader want to continue reading forever. He uses meticulous word choice to make the book even more exciting, and this book was so captivating that I finished the entire book in one sitting. I think that the OASIS, the metaverse in this book, will be very similar to something a large technology company could create in the next decade or so, which makes the story more realistic since it links to our current society. The dystopian setting of the story helps shape the background of the characters as most of the main characters in the book were born after the current year (as of writing this, the year is 2021). Other readers may like the use of many cliffhangers, but this did not apply to me as I finished the book in one sitting. One weakness about the author’s book structure is that the plot is sometimes very complicated and hard to understand. Something readers should keep in mind while reading this book is that the book contains some mildly offensive swear words, which may not be suitable for children under 12. Overall, I would rate this story a 9.5 out of 10 because of its enthralling plot and word choice, and I would definitely want to read it again someday. (252)

THEME ANALYSIS, written in collaboration with Aidan Chen, Andrew Cheung, and Xinhao Ling:

In the book "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline, the author is showing us a common theme that friendship is important and friends can help you in times of difficulty.The beginning of the story is about Wade trying to win the competition on his own, not realizing how much easier his life could be if he had some help from friends. While the media portrays him as a godly being, he develops faults and slacks off. Wade “. . . [finds himself] wondering how Aech and [him] [will] remain friends through everything that lay ahead” (131). Wade struggles with his own maturity and develops an attraction to Art3mis. However, after just six months of being together, Art3mis ends her relationship with Wade because she wants to spend more time finding the egg. This becomes a pinpoint of emotional turmoil for Wade and sends him spiraling into an abyss of depression. After the Sixers try to kill Wade, Aech comforts him by saying that “We will make them pay for this” (155). While Wade was still in this emotional turmoil, Art3mis finds the Jade key. It pulled Wade right back to reality and slapped him out of the daze he was in. Induced by the luck from winning the first key he mentally chides himself for expecting it to happen again, realizing that “did you think that lightning would strike twice?” (217). Wade might be one of the most powerful people in the OASIS. However, Wade, full of the attention and fame from the media, did not realize the stroke of luck bestowed upon him from Ludus. Wade realizes that by having no friends, Wade is blocking himself from winning the game, a greater metaphor for the life he has to live. (289)

STUDY QUESTIONS AND VOCABULARY:

PART 1

Questions

1. What is a gunter?

2. Who is Art3mis?

3. What is Wade’s OASIS nickname, and what does it mean?

4. What is the name of the game that players are required to play to obtain the Copper key?

5. Who are the first two gunters whose names are displayed on the leaderboard?

Answers

1. A gunter is a portmanteau of the words “egg” and “hunter.” It described people that “devoted every free moment of their life” to finding the easter egg implanted in OASIS. (8)

2. Art3mis is a famous gunter and blogger. Her name was derived from Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon and the hunt. (93)

3. Wade’s OASIS nickname is Parzival, and it is also the name of one of King Arthur’s knights of the round table. (34)

4. OASIS players are required to play the game “Joust” in order to obtain the Copper key. (86)

5. The first two gunters whose names are displayed on the leaderboard are Parzival (Wade) and Art3mis. They find the Copper key within hours of each other and become famous on the news. (108)

Vocabulary

1. marquee (86)

2. incessant (88)

3. metallurgist (94)

4. perpetually (77)

5. poseur (45)

PART 2

Questions

1. What happened to Daito while he was searching for the Jade key?

2. Who is Max?

3. Where does Wade go to live as his new identity, and what is the name of his new identity?

4. How does Wade survive his home stack being blown up by Sorrento?

5. What does Wade receive after achieving a perfect score in Pac-Man?

Answers

1. Daito was killed by IOI in real life when he and his friend were fighting against IOI on the planet Frobozz. (242)

2. Max is Wade’s system agent software. He is an AI that acts as Wade’s virtual personal assistant inside the OASIS. (194)

3. Wade goes to Columbus and lives as Bryce Lynch. (164)

4. Wade survived the explosion because he always logs onto the OASIS in a secret location, away from his home stack. (145–147)

5. Wade receives a mysterious quarter from the Pac-Man machine that he knows nothing about. (224)

Vocabulary

1. circumnavigate (217)

2. quatrain (176)

3. frugally (131)

4. squadron (148)

5. flibbertigibbet (169)

PART 3

Questions

1. Why did Wade hack into IOI’s database?

2. Why did Wade survive IOI’s detonation of the Cataclyst?

3. Why is Wade’s team happy even though IOI is already at the Third Gate?

4. Why does Wade resurrect his teammates after he gains control of the OASIS?

5. How is the battle at the Castle different from past battles in the story?

Answers

1. Wade hacked into IOI’s database to prevent the company’s employees from opening the final gate and to allow himself and his friends to do so. As stated in the beginning of the story, IOI’s motives were to take over the OASIS and make everyone pay them, which was strongly against Wade’s ideas.

2. Wade survived the detonation of the Cataclyst due to his extra life quarter he picked in the middle of the book.

3. Wade’s team is happy because they think they have figured out how to open the Gate, while IOI is still confused over what to do.

4. Wade resurrects his teammates after he gains control of the OASIS because they lost everything after they died and Wade doesn’t want them to feel bad.

5. The battle at the Castle is different because everyone is riding huge mechs instead of fighting regularly.

Vocabulary Words

1. indenturement (276)

2. sublime (311)

3. iridescent (318)

4. hangar (319)

5. skepticism (314)