Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Genre: Scary Future

Let me start with the disclaimer: I only read Ready Player One because I really enjoyed the movie. It imagines a futuristic world where the have-nots escape the drudgery of their existence by living in OASIS, a virtual cyberworld, where they can be anyone or anything. The possibilities are endless.

And in this future world, somewhere in Ohio, in a tottering city of trailer parks, Wade is actively part of the Egg Hunt. It’s a contest that launched at the death of OASIS’s founder, James Halliday. Any member of OASIS can participate, and the quest is to unlock three keys to three gates. The winner will inherit OASIS, the biggest company on the planet. The quest is steeped in gaming & pop culture trivia and the history of OASIS. Wade might be an expert with a chance of winning, but he isn’t the only one. Wade and other ‘gunters’ race against the clock to reach each gate. With an evil competitive corporation in the mix, the quest gets ugly and murderous soon, and it is anyone’s guess on who will cross the finish line.

Photo by Lucrezia Carnelos on Unsplash

Ready Player One has something for everyone. If you are a gaming nerd, you will love every callback and reference to every video game ever. For sci-fiction fans, there is enough action, puzzle-solving, detailed world-building, and futuristic tech. And for a sociologist, thought-provoking commentary on the future of tech in an inherent capitalist society, where as you guessed, it does not solve world hunger but only makes the divide deeper.

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