Ready Player One

by Ernest Cline

Reviewed by Akshat Garg

REVIEW: READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline

ISBN#: 97080404190145

THE STORY:

Wade is introduced as a poor 18-year-old kid, living in a dystopian world filled with overpopulation, poverty, and drugs. The only escape from a crumbling reality is a computer simulation software called the OASIS, which is accessible to everyone. He goes to school on a free planet, Ludus, where years ago he met his best and lifelong friend, Aech. When Wade was young, the owner of the OASIS, James D. Halliday, died and left his entire fortune,

as well as ownership of the software, up for grabs in a great competition to find an easter egg in his simulation. The world goes crazy for Halliday’s interest in the years where he was a teen, the 1980’s. Also competing for the prize is an organization, IOI, who cheats in the competition, not knowing anything about 80’s culture. Using money, threats, and power, they defeat the spirit of the game. IOI is viewed by all egg hunters as the enemy, as they want to monetize the OASIS, making accessibility impossible for the poor. For years no one makes advancement, bragging about small discoveries and connections. Wade, going by his OASIS avatar Parzival, discovers the first of three keys, on his planet of Ludus, and while returning from this journey, he comes across one of his favorite celebrities, who also happens to be his cybercrush, Art3mis. He finds out that she has been trying to acquire the key for several weeks, while he won the final battle on the first try. After acquiring the key, he is now a media sensation, as he is the first change in the competition in years. He flies through adventures across distant lands in the OASIS, through emotional journeys with his friends as he helps and hurts, all of which under the looming danger of death. (299)

MY OPINION:

Ready Player One is a great combination of sci-fi and a rollercoaster ride of action and adventure taking the reader on a journey as the characters and story advance. The strengths of the book include the detail in the personalities of all the characters, the detail of the setting, and the sense of caring the reader feels as a character goes through hard times. The weaknesses of the book include low amounts of explanation for different references to 80s culture, which most readers do not fully know. This includes games like Joust, which I for one have a faint memory of. The author 'explained' the game as a mess of ostriches and lances, which a reader might not understand. The author used word choice that is both understandable, and relevant to the story. The word choice is not made-up by the author like most sci-fi books, and is intelligible by almost all ages. Overall, I believe that a teenage audience would most relate to the book, as the author enjoys an immature sense of humor, containing few adult references. This balance makes it unsuitable for younger ranges, but slightly more understandable for older-aged readers. If I went back in time, I would definitely read this novel again because when I started, I was compelled to finish immediately. This book feels almost too short for the reader, and it leaves them almost demanding a sequel. I rate this book at nine-and-a-half out of ten stars, as some of the language is strange to me, but I would definitely recommend/re-read this book.(256)

THEME ANALYSIS: 

In the novel “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline, there is a lasting theme of how internal identity matters more than external image. Wade is an eighteen-year-old kid who lives in a world where poverty dictates the lifestyles of millions. The only escape from reality is a digital interface called the OASIS, in which “you could change your name, age, sex, race, [or] height”, or “cease to be human altogether” (Cline 89). In the OASIS, one’s character can be anything one wants, and because of that, one’s appearance does not matter, but one's personality does. In preparation for the final battle against IOI for access to the final gate, the four friends meet up. One of Wade’s friends, Shoto, is a fellow egg hunter and is known to work with his ‘brother,’ Daito. Shoto explains to Wade that “[they] were not brothers . . . just in the OASIS” (Cline 242). Shoto and Daito never knew each other in person, but their personalities brought them together and formed a lasting relationship, calling themselves brothers. Later, in preparation for a battle against IOI, Aech, Wade’s best friend, has to pick up Wade in person and bring them to a nearby airplane hangar. This is Wade’s first physical encounter with Aech, and when he gets into Aech’s RV, Wade, who always thought of Aech as her avatar, an olive, light-skinned male, finds an African American teenage girl instead. Aech then explains that “when [she] first logged into [the] Oasis, she followed her mother’s advice and created a Caucasian male avatar.” (Cline 500). Aech utilizes the OASIS’s ability to hide her true identity, which portrays the OASIS as a type of blocker for image-based discrimination or differentiation. In this novel, internal identity is prevalent over physical qualities. (291)

STUDY QUESTIONS AND VOCABULARY:

FIRST SECTION

1Q. Why is the OASIS so important to daily life?

1A. The OASIS provides a break from reality, and with such a crumbling reality, a virtual escape helps everyone look away from the world’s issues.(pg. 52)

2Q. What is Wade’s home environment like?

2A. Wade barely has a home, and is kept with his aunt just for the government benefits.(pg. 27)

3Q. Why is the egg hunt so important to the Sixers?

3A. The Sixers wish to monetize, or make pay-to-win, the usually free OASIS. The egg would give them the power to do so.(pg. 50)

4Q. What influences all of Wade’s interests?

4A. Due to his obsession with Halliday, he completely immersed himself in 80’s culture, which largely impact his interests.(pg. 5)

5Q.Why does Wade persist on this goal?

5A.Having such a struggling reality, he has to spend his time on the OASIS, and with spare time in abundance, he works endlessly toward the egg.(pg. 99)

Encompassed

Dilettante

Frenetic

Meticulous

Labyrinthine

SECOND SECTION

1Q.What are Wade’s feelings about his friendship with Art3mis?

1A.He finds it nonsensical to be “friends” with a competitor, but is blinded by his temptation to spend time with her. (pg. 277)

2Q.Why does Wade tell Aech to run from his home from Sorrento?

2A.He is scared for Aech’s life after Sorrento shows that he knows all personal information about the friends.(pg. 233)

3Q.How does Wade feel about the hunt after he clears the Copper Gate?

3A.Wade starts to slack off and take a break, as he goes to dates and parties with Art3mis, and appearing in commercials.(pg. 272)

4Q.Why does Wade feel left out after Art3mis beats him to the Jade Key?

4A.He feels regret that he let his emotions get the better of him and slowed him on his way to the Jade Key.(pg. 324)

5Q.Why does Shoto tell Wade his real name, and what is it?

5A.He tells Wade his real name, Akihide, because he trusts Wade like a brother.(pg. 376-378)

Haptic

Unkempt

Grasp

Onslaught

Sprawling

THIRD SECTION

1Q.Why did Og let the gunters use his private bays for the battle?

1A.In the spirit of the game, he felt like lives should not be lost and so he therefore harbored them from the Sixers, for personal safety.

2Q.Why did the appearance of Aech in person not affect Wade?

2A.They had been friends for years, and as they talked they reverted back to the way they used to talk, like friends, and he saw gender, orientation, or race as negligible for that friendship.

3Q.Why did Wade make a fake identity, and what was the identity’s name?

3A.Bryce Lynch, his fake persona, was used as a way to gain access to IOI from the inside, being brought in for indenturement because of failure to pay credit card bills. 

4Q.Why does Wade notice the poor and homeless more than others of society?

4A.Wade, being the top gunter at the moment, is one of the only ones who can understand what they are going through, and still have a chance to save the OASIS, the only thing keeping the world from total collapse, as the OASIS helps these people escape from troubled realities.

5Q.Why does Wade survive the explosion that kills everyone in the final battle?

5A.Wade finished a minigame, one that gave him a mysterious quarter. This quarter gave him an extra life, and he survived the spell that killed every avatar in the sector. 

Apprehension

Indenturement

Illumination

Bogus

Irised