Basically pitching this as a counterpart to the "discuss and rate the last the movie you watched" thread. Only this time, it's stuff that you read. And by "stuff," I mean any form of media (books, comics, etc.), just as long as reading is the means of doing it. Also, unlike the other thread, I'm going to let you use your own rating system. For me, I'll give a simple guide for myself:
1/5 = Horrible
2/5 = Bad
3/5 = Average
4/5 = Good
5/5 = Excellent
So, on that note:
Ready Player One (3/5)
1/5 = Horrible
2/5 = Bad
3/5 = Average
4/5 = Good
5/5 = Excellent
So, on that note:
Ready Player One (3/5)
Got this as a gift for Christmas, but finished it in January. Most people seem enamored with the upcoming film (I'm not one of them), but taking the book on its own merits, I'm...mixed.
Basically, you could sum up this book as "Eighties References: The Novel," because by god do the protagonists (and by extension, the author) know their stuff about 80s films, music, etc. Or something. I'm a child of the 90s, but I will say that if the book was based around 90s culture, I probably wouldn't find it endearing, I'd find it pandering. Sci-fi often falls into this trap, of simply referencing 20th/21st century material even if centuries in the future. I understand why, but it gives the impression that everything after the work was created was a cultural vacuum. There is a reason for this in the book, since it's based around a literal easter egg hunt in a VR world called the OASIS (think an MMO that can do anything for anyone, that connects every person on the planet), where the creator was a socially awkward genius that creates a competition for a controlling share in his company (his last act before dying), said guy growing up in the 80s, so basically wants to share his love of that time with the world. You might think that's a bit vapid, but if you do, your views aren't shared by anyone in the novel.
So, there's a hunt for the three eggs, with "gunter clans" searching for them, coming into conflict with a company called IOI, which wants to control the OASIS so they can charge a monthly fee and get rich. Basically, the MMO ain't gonna be F2P anymore. The IOI people are the bad guys, using an army of "Sixers." IOI's Sixer forces are led by a former RPG designer who's quite willing to kill any gunters that get in his way. He tries to kill the protagonist, actually does kill one of his friends, and in case your mother dropped you on your head when you were a baby, I'll specify that he's the bad guy, alright? Luckily, in the final battle, while piloting Mechagodzilla he's taken down by the protagonist who's using Ultraman. No, I'm not making this up.
In fairness though, there are elements of the book that I like. While much of it is enamored with 80s pop culture, it does paint a stark, grim, all too plausible vision of the future. Much of the book takes place in 2047/'48, and things aren't good. The world's been in recession for at least two decades. Oil supplies are low. In the case of the US, many people used what remaining oil they had to drive to cities, and are effectively living in refugee camps, getting food stamps from the government, struggling to find work. There's two year waiting lists to get a job at McDonalds, and food factories are now the way to go (implied to be like greenhouses, because there's not enough oil to farm across wide spaces). The whole world is going to hell, and that's part of why the OASIS is so successful. It's not only a way of escape, but in a world where travel is hindered by a lack of oil, it's an easy way to communicate, since the Internet is still up and running. Humanity can still fuel its civlization through solar and wind power, but even so, the world ain't a nice place. The OASIS currency is one of the world's most stable currencies, many schoolkids go to school in virtual classrooms via the OASIS, etc. Indentured work is now quite common, but so many people are fine with it, because it's still putting a roof above their heads and food in their stomach. Of course, the protagonist doesn't care too much about this (his first inclination in regards to winning is to buy a mansion - it's actually a secondary character whose first thought is to use the money to try and improve the world), but in all fairness, the real world, while not seen much, feels frightingly plausible.
So, yeah. Average book, mixed thoughts. The author certainly understands how 'gamers' work, and his 80s references, but a lot of the time it was done without any self awareness. The protagonist is...okay, but for those who've read the book, am I alone in thinking that Art3mis is a much better character? She, at least, seems to give a damn about the real world. She, at least, understands that meeting in an MMO isn't the same thing as meeting in real life. Not that any of the characters really have arcs, but, um, yeah. Average.
Basically, you could sum up this book as "Eighties References: The Novel," because by god do the protagonists (and by extension, the author) know their stuff about 80s films, music, etc. Or something. I'm a child of the 90s, but I will say that if the book was based around 90s culture, I probably wouldn't find it endearing, I'd find it pandering. Sci-fi often falls into this trap, of simply referencing 20th/21st century material even if centuries in the future. I understand why, but it gives the impression that everything after the work was created was a cultural vacuum. There is a reason for this in the book, since it's based around a literal easter egg hunt in a VR world called the OASIS (think an MMO that can do anything for anyone, that connects every person on the planet), where the creator was a socially awkward genius that creates a competition for a controlling share in his company (his last act before dying), said guy growing up in the 80s, so basically wants to share his love of that time with the world. You might think that's a bit vapid, but if you do, your views aren't shared by anyone in the novel.
So, there's a hunt for the three eggs, with "gunter clans" searching for them, coming into conflict with a company called IOI, which wants to control the OASIS so they can charge a monthly fee and get rich. Basically, the MMO ain't gonna be F2P anymore. The IOI people are the bad guys, using an army of "Sixers." IOI's Sixer forces are led by a former RPG designer who's quite willing to kill any gunters that get in his way. He tries to kill the protagonist, actually does kill one of his friends, and in case your mother dropped you on your head when you were a baby, I'll specify that he's the bad guy, alright? Luckily, in the final battle, while piloting Mechagodzilla he's taken down by the protagonist who's using Ultraman. No, I'm not making this up.
In fairness though, there are elements of the book that I like. While much of it is enamored with 80s pop culture, it does paint a stark, grim, all too plausible vision of the future. Much of the book takes place in 2047/'48, and things aren't good. The world's been in recession for at least two decades. Oil supplies are low. In the case of the US, many people used what remaining oil they had to drive to cities, and are effectively living in refugee camps, getting food stamps from the government, struggling to find work. There's two year waiting lists to get a job at McDonalds, and food factories are now the way to go (implied to be like greenhouses, because there's not enough oil to farm across wide spaces). The whole world is going to hell, and that's part of why the OASIS is so successful. It's not only a way of escape, but in a world where travel is hindered by a lack of oil, it's an easy way to communicate, since the Internet is still up and running. Humanity can still fuel its civlization through solar and wind power, but even so, the world ain't a nice place. The OASIS currency is one of the world's most stable currencies, many schoolkids go to school in virtual classrooms via the OASIS, etc. Indentured work is now quite common, but so many people are fine with it, because it's still putting a roof above their heads and food in their stomach. Of course, the protagonist doesn't care too much about this (his first inclination in regards to winning is to buy a mansion - it's actually a secondary character whose first thought is to use the money to try and improve the world), but in all fairness, the real world, while not seen much, feels frightingly plausible.
So, yeah. Average book, mixed thoughts. The author certainly understands how 'gamers' work, and his 80s references, but a lot of the time it was done without any self awareness. The protagonist is...okay, but for those who've read the book, am I alone in thinking that Art3mis is a much better character? She, at least, seems to give a damn about the real world. She, at least, understands that meeting in an MMO isn't the same thing as meeting in real life. Not that any of the characters really have arcs, but, um, yeah. Average.