Clemmie Judges

READY PLAYER ONE

BOOK INFO

Title: Ready Player One

Author: Ernest Cline

Pages: 374

Publication date: August 16th 2011

Description: In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. 

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

WORLDBUILDING

This is, by far, the best aspect of the book. Everything about the world is so detailed, so intricate, that it never really feels much like fantasy or sci-fi, half of the time. This is especially hard to do because Mr Cline has to tackle 2 worlds; the OASIS and the real world. He does it both spectacularly, but the former especially, since the OASIS itself is comprised of an infinite amount of worlds.

It's like a world within a world, and each of them is so unique and awesome and—wow. Just... wow. 

The process of logging into the OASIS itself can sometimes take about half a page. From the things that'll help heighten the OASIS experience, to the different sorts of people who play the OASIS. Little details like this makes a whole lot of difference.

And the logic behind everything! Like, wow! The way it operates makes so much sense, I can actually see our future turning out somewhat like this. Even with all the magic and fantasy stuff, this feels like a real world. Crazy, right? That's how good it is.

My first complaint is that we don't get to see enough of the worlds. I want to see all the innovative worlds, whether it's pirate-themed or cyborg-themed or both! There's so much to explore. 

Another complaint is that the book doesn't explore the topic of "real world v.s. online world" as deeply as I thought it would. Yeah, sure, it's in the book, but it feels a bit shoehorned in, somehow.

See, the OASIS is described as this awesome place where you get to be anyone you want and do anything you want—sort of like the internet. And the real world is, like our real world, dying. Obviously, everyone comes to the OASIS because it's like heaven. And I get that. And I get the message too; we have to fix the real world, and all that junk.

We just don't get to see much of the real world. Most of the conflict resides in the online world. So, why should we care the real world? The real world feels less real than the OASIS itself. 

Like I said, though, the worldbuilding is still great. I just wished the world itself could've been explored deeper, is all.

Rating: 9/10

DESCRIPTIONS

This is the one thing I don't enjoy the book. Stephen King once said that if he wanted to read so much details, he would've brought an instruction manual instead. Sometimes, this book feels like a huge instruction manual.

This book falls under the victim of the "tell, don't show" phenomena, where, you guessed it, the book tells rather than shows. 

I feel a bit conflicted writing this, because the descriptions do relate to the worldbuilding aspect of the story. Thing is, they're two different things. Worldbuilding falls into the "story" aspect, whilst descriptions fall into the "writing" aspect.