Author: Ernest Cline
Title: Ready Player One
Genre: Intellect—Science Fiction
Publication Date: 2011
Number of Pages: 384
Geographical Setting: Oklahoma City, Columbus OH, and cyberspace
Time Period: 2045
Series: Ready Player Two is the sequel
Plot Summary: In the not-too-distant future, climate change and an energy crisis have caused reality to become pretty bleak. Teenage Wade lives in abject poverty with three other families in one of many towers of trailers in a neighborhood known as the Stacks. To escape reality, he and the rest of civilization tune in to OASIS, a virtual reality world that dominates all culture and commerce on Earth. The brilliant and eccentric creator of the OASIS dies and leaves his fortune to whoever is the first to find an Easter egg he has hidden somewhere in the OASIS world. Wade and other egg hunters, known as gunters, are on the hunt but so is IOI, a corporation that wants to take over and monetize the OASIS by any means necessary. When Wade finds the first key in the puzzle, his avatar becomes instantly world-famous. 80’s pop culture—both mainstream and nerd-specific—is embedded in many of the games, clues, and conversations.
Subject Headings:
Utopia–fiction
Dystopia–fiction
Virtual reality–fiction
Video games–fiction
Pop culture–fiction
Appeal:
Character: Features orphaned teenage and young adult computer/gamer geeks obsessed with 80’s pop culture.
Setting: Cline describes a bleak, chaotic, and violent reality rife with poverty and crime and also presents a virtual world where anything is possible yet much relies on 80’s SciFi lore.
Time Frame: Set just a generation into the future (2045), the book challenges readers to make the all-too-easy leap from our present-day sociocultural circumstances to a worst-case tomorrow.
3 terms that best describe this book: teen, adventure, virtual reality
Similar Authors and Works (why are they similar?):
3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors
The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality, Blake J. Harris
Like Wade, the creator of Oculus was a teenager living in a trailer. Like Ready Player One, the history of Oculus’s creation is a collaborative adventure story.
Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100, Michio Kaku
Ready Player One is set halfway to Kaku’s imagined future; both consider the economic ramifications of technological advances.
Dawn of the New Everything: Encounters with Reality and Virtual Reality, Jaron Lanier
Lanier, the “father of virtual reality,” offers a book that is at once autobiography, science writing, and cultural commentary.
3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors
The Impossible Fortress, Jason Rekulak
Less action-oriented, The Impossible Fortress also features a teen romance and technological strategies, but this novel is actually set in the 1980’s.
The Endless Vessel, Charles Soule
Both books are set in near-future dystopias where technology is required to fulfill a quest.
This is Not a Game, Walter Jon Williams
Both near-future books feature a culturally-dominant virtual world that focuses on games and blurs the lines between reality and VR.
I loved this movie. I was surprised to find out it was a book. I can honestly see our world evolving into this type of society. Everyone it seems is obsessed with technology.
ReplyDeleteI hated the book, but the dystopia Cline described did resonate with me. I don't see it happening as soon as the book describes, but who knows? Technology has always advanced faster than ethical considerations.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenni! I saw the movie when it came out and had a blast! Now only about 6 years later, OASIS is feeling a little much like real life; too often I find myself disassociating into my screen/Instagram/Netflix/etc. and forget that my real life isn't garbage, other people just have more time to create content and romanticize theirs. I guess I shouldn't be too critical given that readings books is also a valid way to escape and expand the mind!
ReplyDeleteI probably would have tolerated the movie--I grew impatient with the book!
DeleteHi Jenni, I really like your non-fiction picks for how well they complement the subject matter (virtual reality and technology) of Ready Player One.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenni! I've heard very mixed reviews about this story, some people love the book and hate the movie and others love the movie but don't like the book. I haven't seen or read it, but from your summary it reminds me a bit of They Eye of Minds by James Dashner with the virtual reality and escapism connections. I also think it's pretty cool how much it seems that the world of Ready Player One is obsessed with 80s pop culture, because aren't we all!
ReplyDeleteHi Jenni! I have yet to read or watch Ready Player One, but I have heard so many things about it. At the library I work at, it is always being circulated.
ReplyDeleteI think your appeal for this novel is great! I mean, it definitely made me more interested!
I have read the book, but I haven't seen the movie. But your annotation makes me want to read the book, watch the movie, and compare it.
ReplyDeleteI listened to the audiobook years ago and it was so fun! I loved all the pop culture reference. Great job on your summary and appeals!
ReplyDelete