Echodelta
Member
I just finished reading this book & wondering if anyone has read it. Ready Player One has a certain appeal to gamers & geeks.
Here's my synopsis:
The year is 2044 and the world is in ruins due to the usual: wars, famine, energy crisis, etc. Yes another post-apocalyptic novel. Due to the real world being so bad, people escape to the virtual world. In the MMORPG, OASIS, you can be anyone you want to be in the form & appearance of your avatar. The quests are endless, simulations of movies & video games are featured within it. Yes simulations within a simulation. OASIS was created by James Halliday. Not only was he the creator of OASIS, he was also obsessed with the pop culture of the 70s and especially the 80s. When venturing out into OASIS, you could see this in various designs within the game itself with references to movies, music, pen & paper RPG’s & the early video games. There is also homage to Japanese anime as some of my childhood favorites were used in the story. When James Halliday died, he left an Easter Egg in the form of a riddle searching for keys within OASIS. The first player to find the Easter Egg would win Halliday’s entire fortune. Players who searched for the Easter Egg became known as “gunters.” Ready Player One is about Wade Watts, aka “Parzival” an 18-year old gunter who found the first key after 5 years of searching.
After I got into the book, I couldn’t put it down. Being a teen in the 80s I was able to identify with nearly every reference to the pop culture of the decade as well as the 70s references. Plus I actually learned background information about the games and their creators from the story. Ernest Cline has a good message which can appeal to every type of gamer, casual or hardcore.
From a Christian perspective, here are some of my issues with the story. I am providing them upfront so CGA members can decide for themselves whether to read it or not. The narrator denounced God & "organized religion" at the beginning of the story. Taking God's name in vain is mentioned a couple times. There's minor swearing. Later on you find out that one of the characters (not the main) is homosexual. The author did not force or make a great emphasis on these.
Here's the official book trailer.
Here's my synopsis:
The year is 2044 and the world is in ruins due to the usual: wars, famine, energy crisis, etc. Yes another post-apocalyptic novel. Due to the real world being so bad, people escape to the virtual world. In the MMORPG, OASIS, you can be anyone you want to be in the form & appearance of your avatar. The quests are endless, simulations of movies & video games are featured within it. Yes simulations within a simulation. OASIS was created by James Halliday. Not only was he the creator of OASIS, he was also obsessed with the pop culture of the 70s and especially the 80s. When venturing out into OASIS, you could see this in various designs within the game itself with references to movies, music, pen & paper RPG’s & the early video games. There is also homage to Japanese anime as some of my childhood favorites were used in the story. When James Halliday died, he left an Easter Egg in the form of a riddle searching for keys within OASIS. The first player to find the Easter Egg would win Halliday’s entire fortune. Players who searched for the Easter Egg became known as “gunters.” Ready Player One is about Wade Watts, aka “Parzival” an 18-year old gunter who found the first key after 5 years of searching.
After I got into the book, I couldn’t put it down. Being a teen in the 80s I was able to identify with nearly every reference to the pop culture of the decade as well as the 70s references. Plus I actually learned background information about the games and their creators from the story. Ernest Cline has a good message which can appeal to every type of gamer, casual or hardcore.
From a Christian perspective, here are some of my issues with the story. I am providing them upfront so CGA members can decide for themselves whether to read it or not. The narrator denounced God & "organized religion" at the beginning of the story. Taking God's name in vain is mentioned a couple times. There's minor swearing. Later on you find out that one of the characters (not the main) is homosexual. The author did not force or make a great emphasis on these.
Here's the official book trailer.