In a Distant Future, Far Away

Ryan Politis

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

The world is ending due to climate change and everyone is plugged into virtual reality headsets. This future sucks.  The novel follows Wade Watts, a senior in high school, who lives in a stack of RV’s.  The OASIS is a virtual reality headset that most of the US wears to escape reality.  The Creator of the OASIS, James Halliday, has recently died.  He left behind billions of dollars and a game inside the OASIS riddled with clues to find it.  Wade is one of those people looking for Halliday’s Easter egg.  Halliday left riddles and references from old games and tabletop role-playing games.  The search is on and Wade has to find the egg or die trying.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is a great book.  It is filled with countless references to old games and tabletops.  The book references Galaga, Wargames, Dungeons and Dragons, and Joust.  The references are important to the book. I really like how the references are incorporated into the book.  A part of a riddle might include references to a game or a tabletop and Wade might have to complete that game to proceed to the next clue.  The only part I didn’t like so far is when Wade and a friend roasted another person.  The actions of Wade, his friend, and the crowd do not reflect how people react normally react. When Wade insults the person everyone claps. It's unnatural and it doesn't reflect how people react to people insulting each other. There are some funny moments in the book.  When Wade was dancing with someone he described himself as “Plastic Man, if he were tripping out of his mind on LSD”.  That line had me dying.  I’d rate this book a 4.5/5.  I’d recommend this book to anyone that enjoys science fiction, video games, and tabletop role-playing games.