Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline
(Format used for this book: Print–hardback)
I am not a huge diehard sci-fi fan…
I would call myself more of a selective lukewarm type.
Some sci-fi I really enjoy and have SO much fun indulging in—like Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy and Star Wars.
Some sci-fi I could absolutely live my life COMPLETELY without—like Alien and Star Trek.
And then we have some sci-fi I’m just kinda middle of the road about. I could take it or leave it depending on the day—like Tron and THIS book.
I read “Ready Player One” a couple years ago and really surprised myself at how much I liked it.
I don’t know why I continue to be surprised when I really really like something in the sci-fi genre…. I mean, I have enjoyed PLENTY things in this lane over my adult years …. but I guess part of it is because I was a kid, I HAAATTED anything related to sci-fi AT ALL (probably because both my parents enjoyed it immensely) that my grown up self keeps forgetting that my tastes have COMPLETELY changed as I age. Every time I like something sci fi, it’s like a little voice inside goes “See Adult Version Dani? You really DO like this now!! Remember? You are not Little Dani anymore!” 😂
So anyways, when I read “Ready Player One” I loved it….mostly because it had SO MUCH 1980’s pop culture nostalgia in the pages.
(The movie based on the book though was NOT as enjoyable…Steven Spielberg changed WAY too much and it was just NOT the same. The theory “The book is always better than the movie” COMPLETELY rang true for that one, yall.)
I couldn’t wait to read this much anticipated sequel….the reviews of it were stellar…but it didn’t really live up to the hype for me.
This is *definitely* not a stand alone novel…you FOR SURE need to read “Ready Player One” before you jump into this one or you won’t have an effing CLUE what is happening. (I think if you watched the movie and didn’t read the book, you MAY be okay….but you still should read the book anyways because like I said above it is WAY better)
Here is the official summary:
“AN UNEXPECTED QUEST. TWO WORLDS AT STAKE. ARE YOU READY?
Days after winning OASIS founder James Halliday’s contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything.
Hidden within Halliday’s vaults, waiting for his heir to find, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the OASIS a thousand times more wondrous—and addictive—than even Wade dreamed possible.
With it comes a new riddle, and a new quest—a last Easter egg from Halliday, hinting at a mysterious prize.
And an unexpected, impossibly powerful, and dangerous new rival awaits, one who’ll kill millions to get what he wants.
Wade’s life and the future of the OASIS are again at stake, but this time the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance.
Lovingly nostalgic and wildly original as only Ernest Cline could conceive it, Ready Player Two takes us on another imaginative, fun, action-packed adventure through his beloved virtual universe, and jolts us thrillingly into the future once again.”
The first 1/3 of this book I was just NOT feeling it.
The last novel I read and reviewed I said I wasn’t into the first part of that book because it didn’t give enough of a “recap” of the preceding novel.
This one did the opposite.
The story recap of what happened in the first book as well as filling in what all the characters have been up to since they won the contest was VERY slow and kinda boring to read about.
There were lots of insignificant details about all the ridiculous “rich people” things Wade was doing with his money and how his behavior had been negatively affected by his new life circumstance. It wasn’t super surprising either…kinda par for the course for new young tech giant billionaire.
I also felt that the writing in the beginning wasn’t that fantastic either…. The author seemed a bit lacking in the basic fictional narrative voice and too focused on getting the sci-fi voice right. Actually, that vibe kinda played out the entire book for me…this wasn’t something I remember struggling with in the first book.
I am happy to say there is just as much fun 80’s nostalgia in this book as there was the first go round, ESPECIALLY video game related! I could relate to SO many of the references mentioned (pop songs, TV shows, toys, etc) on a personal level…but I have to admit that MOST of the video game related things I only recognized because my husband is a BIG TIME classic video game collector. My Nintendo knowledge from my own experience is limited to like Mario Bros and Tetris but seeing him collect things over the years and seeing him play them broadened my knowledge base a bit….but some of the gamer references were lost on me COMPLETELY because that is just not the world my brain lives in, yall 🤣
If you were a big gamer at any time in the 80’s you will be all OVER THIS BOOK. I think if you ‘re a big gamer of ANY kind really you will also be all over this book for the same reason I think you’d love “Ready Player One”….isn’t every gamers dream to visit their favorite games in REAL LIFE? To ACTUALLY fight the bosses with their own hands or wield magical powers out of their endless inventory? To be able to fly thru the air on a REAL DRAGON?
Once the characters quests all really get going in this book (which I won’t say too much about because it would take away the excitement), the action finally roped me in.
AND…my most FAVORITE nostalgic part was when part of one of their quests took the characters to a planet that is a replica of Shermer, Illinois. Almost all of John Hughes movies were set in this fictional town…and every John Hughes movie created provide the setting for this plant and all his movie characters are this planet’s inhabitants. I’m talking characters played by Juliette Lewis, Molly Ringwald, Robert Downey Jr….all in one place!
YALLLLLLL….all of my old fave movies of the 80s were from John Hughes. I knew every single character they encountered and every single reference to dialogue or plot or soundtrack they mentioned. It was a great fun walk down memory lane.
Here is the thing though:
All the John Hughes movies that I loved the most back in the day I can barely stand to watch anymore. Because OMG I have realized they are FILLED with SUPER PROBLEMATIC SHIT! Rape culture, misogyny, racial stereotypes, objectifying women’s bodies, homophobia….dang the list goes on and on. There actually is a little dialogue about this very thing during this particular quest in the book too, which I am glad the author pointed out at least briefly.
The Prince planet quest was a lot of fun to read about too…although some of it I didn’t get as I am not a HUGE Prince fan. But I loved that they included all the different “eras” of him…I felt it honored his memory and amazing artistry quite well.
The one planet quest that got completely lost on me was when the characters had to complete one on the Lord Of The Rings Planet. I never really got super into that series…I admittedly have never even read one of the books…but I *have* seen most of the movies. And they just weren’t really FOR me. (I know…you’d think I would be all over that shit like white on rice but nope…just wasn’t for me in the SLIGHTEST, yall.) So, I had NO idea WTF was going on and who was what in that chapter 🤣 BUT if you ARE a big fan of LOTR, you will be giddy with geek fandom joy when that chapter hits towards the end of the book.
The ending of the book….super weird, kinda unexpected and TOTALLY PERFECT to round out a sci-fi novel.
And also just reinforced exactly why I am NOT a video game/virtual reality type of person! You’ll have read it to see what I’m talking about 🙂
My final opinion of this book is kinda liked it, kinda didn’t.
I am glad I read it to see what happened next to the OASIS and Wade and his crew.
While I don’t think the author’s writing technique is all that stellar, he SO SO SO creative…the expanse of his imagination is SUPER impressive. I will also say he knows his material and his audience WELL so this book is a great one for true sci-fi peeps and people who grew up in the 80s!
If you’re a sort kinda sci-fi lover like me, then it’s a toss up whether you’ll be down with this read or not. I say give it a shot if you had fun with “Ready Player One”!