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| You should read Ready Player One. |
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| CCM:
--- Quote from: pinballjim on September 27, 2011, 04:41:02 pm ---Yeah, thinking of this book as a kid's movie does indeed explain some of the pacing. Anyway, a few thoughts Entire characters and plotlines are ripped off entirely from William Gibson books, and I've only read a couple of those. It seems to "borrow" quite heavily from Virtual Light and Idoru. The constant cultural references got tiresome. There were entire paragraphs that were like star-wars-john-hughes-zaxxon-anime! I thought the whole part where he put himself into debt and went into their prison and then hacked their systems was completely ridiculous. This is a kid that sits around in a trailer playing a video game where all he does is go to school and pet pretty ponies in the enchanted forest. Now he's a gun slinger that knows how to hack corporate security systems and break out of prisons? I loved the stuff about "he knows how to handle a pistol because he had held countless ones in the video game." WHEN? In the virtual classrooms?? The entire second half of the book stunk. The whole thing revolves around control of a video game and the book never makes a compelling argument as to why anyone would care except for the money. --- End quote --- Wasn't it months or even a year or more from the time he cleared the first gate to when he put himself in IOI servitude? He started making tons of money after the first gate, so from that time on, he pretty much could go anywhere and buy anything in the Oasis. And he stopped going to school after the first gate.... |
| yotsuya:
We're talking about the book, one nit-pick I had was that I would have liked to see the narrator not be so 'perfect at things'. I liked the fact that a team was brought together at the end, but I would have liked to have seen him 'win' by getting help from someone else using their skillset. No one is THAT perfect. |
| Well Fed Games:
One of my thoughts about the end... SERIOUS spoiler... I don't feel like much was sacrificed for his victory, either... once the "end all Oasis" button was introduced, I was sure he was going to have to push it, and sacrifice this virtual world that he grew up in, loved, and just became king of, possibly to save his newfound friends. I don't know if the author is expecting to write a sequel, but for some reason that button going unpushed bugs me. Still, don't get me wrong, worth reading. |
| newmanfamilyvlogs:
--- Quote from: thefearsomefearful on October 18, 2011, 04:23:54 pm ---One of my thoughts about the end... SERIOUS spoiler... I don't feel like much was sacrificed for his victory, either... once the "end all Oasis" button was introduced, I was sure he was going to have to push it, and sacrifice this virtual world that he grew up in, loved, and just became king of, possibly to save his newfound friends. I don't know if the author is expecting to write a sequel, but for some reason that button going unpushed bugs me. Still, don't get me wrong, worth reading. --- End quote --- To me it felt more like something that would have to be defended against in a future novel-- eventually someone would find a way to get to it. Of course there is the cliche "love changes everything" trope (and we all have to admit this a book built in cliche) that might come into play, but I can't see him having that substantial a change of heart given that essentially nothing good has ever come from his real-world experiences. |
| wp34:
--- Quote from: ark_ader on October 02, 2011, 09:15:25 am ---I finished it last night. First part is very promising. Middle bit was acceptable. End stunk. Very poor. You could tell that the author was getting tired of the venture, and decided to rush it through. I kept thinking it was a Slippery Jim diGriz/Matrix/Lawnmower Man type of book with 80's Nostalgia thrown into the mix. Lucky I didn't pay $20 for the hard cover. ;D --- End quote --- I agree that it didn't end as well as it started but I still liked it. The author had a much better concept than he has writing talent. But that isn't all that uncommon. The 80's references (while tired at times) were just too specific for me not to like the book. At one point I was coincidentally listening to Rush when they were referenced. Atari Adventure was my first favorite game. War Games is the movie that made me want to be a programmer. Etc... It did read like a Stainless Steel Rat book but without the comedy. Nice reference. |
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