Book Review: Ready Player One by Earnest Cline (#NaBloPoMo)

Internet search for pictures suggest that this might be on the road to becoming a movie. I wish I had already written about the rage that happens in my brain when books I like become movies so that I could just link to that here... but I have yet to do so... but trust and believe I will shave my left labia before I watch another movie based on a book that I liked. Too much? I'm fricking serious. But, getting to the getting on.

This pic is amazing. I found it via general search. Let me know if you know who I should credit. #TeamAech

If you were a full on computer/ gamer geek in the 80's you will like this book. If you were a little bit of a nerd in the 80's and geek out over tech now, you will like this book. If you think that nerds or geeks are ridiculous and should grow up and get real jobs, this is probably not the book for you.

Ready Player One, basically, is about a reclusive man on the Autism Spectrum who is OBSESSED with 80's pop culture and creates a video game and becomes rich. Then Sheldon (that's not really his name) creates a simulated world that allows people to work, live, and connect in a virtual world (the O.A.S.I.S) all the time. Then the man dies. He hides virtual prizes ("Easter Eggs" for you egg-heads) in the virtual world and promises in his will that whoever finds the Egg gets his fortune and control of the OASIS. This takes years and hell breaks lose when the contest begins in earnest. 

Now, geeks everywhere can relate to the fantasy that they can create and live exclusively in a world of their creation, with an avatar of themselves that conforms to their desire. You can mute bullies, hide your screen name, and jump virtual worlds. The social commentary bit, of course, is that the real world is going to hell in a hand basket and no one really cares because they've got the fake world to escape into. There's also a brief reflection on how we choose what our "Face" is based on how people will treat us based on appearances. There was no time to follow this thread further, but it was a nice touch. 

Our main dude, obviously, faces some obstacles, overcomes most of them, and learns a lesson. There's one female that the MC knows (who knows about anyone else, since avatars hide your real self) and since she's a gamer and hardcore Egg hunter, they are all about each other. But what about when they meet in person, blah blah blah. 

The book is well written and held my attention. Full disclosure, I was a gamer/ geek's girlfriend, not a hard core gamer myself. So I "got" some of the references and followed along with no problem. But like I said, if you didn't live at all in the life, you might feel a little above it all. This was a solid 4 stars. 

Selling point: Will Wheaton narrates the audiobook. Yesh. Mr. Wheaton is, in my opinion, our nerd leader.