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Author Topic: You should read Ready Player One.  (Read 24343 times)

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Mikezilla

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You should read Ready Player One.
« on: September 23, 2011, 12:43:31 pm »
Thats all I have to say. It would be in your best interest to read this book, and if you dont like it after reading it, may Crom forgive your poor unfortunate soul.

Do whatever it takes to get it, but read it. Do it. Do it now.

That is all.
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2011, 01:16:10 pm »
So much peer pressure its crushing my will! I am interested and I'll have to look into this one.  :cheers:


Here is the movie book trailer for the thing. Doesn't say much about the book, but it does invoke some nostalgia.



and amazon link

http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/030788743X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316797752&sr=8-1

I figure Mike's crippled internet is keeping him from providing any links.

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2011, 01:20:59 pm »
I'd be curious to see what others think, so read it, everyone.
***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2011, 01:51:31 pm »
Read it, a couple of weeks ago...it was really great...couldn't put it down.

Should be on the "must read" list for everyone on this forum. Never played Joust until that book :)

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2011, 01:55:47 pm »
Never played Joust until that book :)

D: For shame!

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2011, 01:51:21 pm »
There are enough references in the first few pages....Monty Python, Princess Leia, The Last Starfighter just to name a few....to make this a must read for anyone who was a teen or older in the 70's and 80's. I can't put it down.
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2011, 01:55:26 pm »
Got it from the library based on this thread's recommendation. Like it so far, I am only on 4th-5th chapter.
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #7 on: September 26, 2011, 11:34:35 am »
What is Neuromancer? No google at work so dont give me any ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.  >:D

I love the Conan references.  :cheers:
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #8 on: September 26, 2011, 11:38:14 am »
What is Neuromancer? No google at work so dont give me any ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.  >:D

I love the Conan references.  :cheers:
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #9 on: September 26, 2011, 12:17:10 pm »
I've never heard of a corporation locking out GOOGLE. Facebook, YouTube, yes, but a search engine?
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #10 on: September 26, 2011, 12:20:49 pm »
Mikezilla works for Yahoo...

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #11 on: September 26, 2011, 12:25:14 pm »
Mikezilla works for Yahoo...
Thought it was Lycos?

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #12 on: September 26, 2011, 12:26:24 pm »
Mikezilla works for Yahoo...

That makes sense now, sorta. Why can't he just Yahoo! it then?
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #13 on: September 26, 2011, 01:02:50 pm »
While I can fully accept that the people of Oklahoma are stupid enough to stack up trailers in the middle of tornado alley, the author has clearly never been to Oklahoma City if he thinks land will be at such a premium that such a genius maneuver is necessary.

On behalf of anyone else that lives in Oklahoma, I take offense at that remark. Let's not pretend that there aren't twice as many uneducated rednecks in Texas.

I believe that the premise was higher density housing at low or no construction cost close to work centers since transportation was unreliable and expensive.

Regardless, for anyone who was (or is still) a geek in the 80's the story and it's main characters will strike a particularly strong cord. Probably not going to make New York Times best seller but I enjoyed the heck out of it.

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #14 on: September 26, 2011, 01:28:15 pm »
Holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- Hoopz that bing thing worked! They must have not stumbled on to it yet!  :cheers:

And to the rest of you, har har...  ;) Its weird how Im able to go to this site, but I google is blocked...  :dunno
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #15 on: September 26, 2011, 03:43:31 pm »
I was actually joking about Bing.  I guess no one pays attention to blocking the underdog.

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #16 on: September 26, 2011, 08:43:55 pm »
I was actually joking about Bing.  I guess no one pays attention to blocking the underdog.

Clever.

Hoopz -

You need to read this book.  The section I'm at just had a couple of references to Intellivision and the main character played a game of Astrosmash.

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #17 on: September 27, 2011, 08:49:13 am »

Hoopz -

You need to read this book.  The section I'm at just had a couple of references to Intellivision and the main character played a game of Astrosmash.

I grabbed it last night and am a few chapters in.  Very uplifting perspective on the future of humanity!

I did like the Billy Idol reference on page 3 though.   :applaud:

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #18 on: September 27, 2011, 09:09:19 am »
Finished it last night.

a few thoughts: (in spoiler font, so beware).

I liked it. The tone wasn't quite what I expected- I was never really afraid for the characters' well being, but when I thought about the films it referenced(Goonies, Star Wars, etc.), it made sense. Definitely a PG-13 vibe, nothing wrong with that, but the drama could have been more intense (especially in a book that references the "Wheadonverse." :)

Of course I liked all the references, particularly the arcade trivia, although it seemed a little on the nose occasionally, like with the call-out to Cory Doctorow and Wil Wheaton. At some points it seemed like it was just trying to be as geek-culture literate as possible, but of course the whole plot of the story revolved around that, so it is forgivable.

Overall, its nice to see any non-game medium reference games in an intelligent way (much like the Scott Pilgrim books/film). Well worth a read, and it reads fast.


Although it isn't as game related, if you liked this book you might also like Daemon by Daniel Suarez, it is very much in the same vein, although a bit darker.
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #19 on: September 27, 2011, 09:12:20 am »
Very uplifting perspective on the future of humanity!

 ;D

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #20 on: September 27, 2011, 10:12:19 am »
TFF-

You basically summed up my feelings on the book as well.
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #21 on: September 27, 2011, 05:19:09 pm »
What the hell is Virtual Light and Idoru? You said yourself you enjoyed it and now youre bashing it? I dont think the references were tiresome at all, I mean, I didnt get ALL of them, but the ones I got were awesome. Now youre saying the second half of the book stunk? Youre kidding right?

By the time he had the gun thing, he was already a high level avatar so he knew how to do it since he was out kicking ass and doing quests etc. The people care BECAUSE of the money, and because everyones life sucks so bad, they only get an escape from reality by going into the OASIS. Why do you play video games? You do it to get away from the day to day crap. Immerse yourself into something that isnt real. Why do you think they dont make games about standing in line in the post office or paying bills? Cause real life sucks thats why lol. Then you die.
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #22 on: September 28, 2011, 04:00:56 pm »
You didnt answer my question about Virtual light and Idoru.

And no, Im not "differently abled" I just really enjoyed the book and I feel like youre dissecting it way to much considering what it is.
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #23 on: September 28, 2011, 06:35:28 pm »
Cmon PBJ, telling me who they are written by doenst mean anything when I dont know who the guy is. I was asking what they were about.

And its not unwillingness to research things, but Im at work, and I cant look up anything. Tell you the truth, Im surprised that I can even access this site. Like I mentioned before, even Google is blocked. I hardly think its flaunting, its embarassing really when I have to ask the most basic of questions and look like a tard. Especially when people say "google is your friend."  :lol

Well I was just a little confused about your opinion, because when people say that something stinks, they usually dont like it. No big deal man.  :cheers:
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #24 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
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #25 on: October 05, 2011, 01:19:43 pm »
Just saw this fan art on the RPO facebook group:

Not embedded due to potential SPOILER:
https://s-hphotos-sea1.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/325192_211016018965391_128044567262537_519144_1344071311_o.jpg

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #26 on: October 05, 2011, 05:10:30 pm »
I didnt think the end was that bad at all, I enjoyed it, and it came together nicely in my opinion. Cmon, what were you guys thinking this was going to be?
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #27 on: October 17, 2011, 09:14:27 am »
I just finished the book tonight and loved every bit of it.

Not sure the movie (if Warner actually do make it) can do it justice.  That said I understand Ernest Cline will be writing the screen play along with the Warner screen writers.

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #28 on: October 17, 2011, 11:27:19 am »
It just sounded too much like Caprica.

Sounds more like an outing on SyFy than a full blown movie.
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #29 on: October 17, 2011, 11:40:01 am »
Finished it last night.

a few thoughts: (in spoiler font, so beware).

I liked it. The tone wasn't quite what I expected- I was never really afraid for the characters' well being, but when I thought about the films it referenced(Goonies, Star Wars, etc.), it made sense. Definitely a PG-13 vibe, nothing wrong with that, but the drama could have been more intense (especially in a book that references the "Wheadonverse." :)

Of course I liked all the references, particularly the arcade trivia, although it seemed a little on the nose occasionally, like with the call-out to Cory Doctorow and Wil Wheaton. At some points it seemed like it was just trying to be as geek-culture literate as possible, but of course the whole plot of the story revolved around that, so it is forgivable.

Overall, its nice to see any non-game medium reference games in an intelligent way (much like the Scott Pilgrim books/film). Well worth a read, and it reads fast.


Although it isn't as game related, if you liked this book you might also like Daemon by Daniel Suarez, it is very much in the same vein, although a bit darker.

+1 for Daemon and Freedom™. I just finished them a night or two ago. Very much enjoyable.

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #30 on: October 18, 2011, 12:30:35 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.




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....

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #31 on: October 18, 2011, 03:57:05 pm »
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.
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #32 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.
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #33 on: October 19, 2011, 05:34:23 am »
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.

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.

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #34 on: October 19, 2011, 12:42:54 pm »
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

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.

Mikezilla

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #35 on: October 19, 2011, 01:23:06 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.

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.

I agree with what Cottmm said. The real world still sucks REALLY bad, and now he is immortal and all powerful in the oasis... I wouldnt give that up. But like Cot said, its build on cliches, and he found love in end so who knows. Maybe some villian will come along and hold the chick hostage and kills her unless he hits the oasis purge button. I just hope there isnt any little kids involved. Stories with kids are annoying...
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #36 on: October 19, 2011, 03:17:10 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.

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.


Yeah, that makes sense.
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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #37 on: October 20, 2011, 04:16:35 pm »
Of course I liked all the references, particularly the arcade trivia, although it seemed a little on the nose occasionally, like with the call-out to Cory Doctorow and Wil Wheaton.

The audiobook is read by Wil Wheaton.  :lol

I managed to listen to the entire thing at work.  :applaud:

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #38 on: January 24, 2013, 07:05:32 pm »
Old thread but just got a copy and cannot put my e reader down.  Even slid a copy onto my main PC so I can use it for breaks.  Great book so far.  If you like old console games, D N D, geeky movies, comic books, arcade games, virtual reality, trash 80, games on cassette tape, etc you will find it strikes a cord with its many references.   ;D
« Last Edit: January 24, 2013, 07:08:23 pm by BobA »

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Re: You should read Ready Player One.
« Reply #39 on: January 24, 2013, 08:01:00 pm »
Thanks for bumping. I missed this one back then, and am interested in reading this book!