Book written by Ernest Cline, published 2011.
The year 2044 doesn’t have a lot going for it. Earth has been poisoned by the energy crisis, and difficult times have made people desperate and prickly. The only relief from reality is the OASIS, an online, virtual world programmed to be utterly immersive to the senses and addictive to the soul. It’s the perfect escape from the mundane, depressing, and harsh truths of the real world. It’s a place where you could literally be anyone. And now, the fate of the OASIS itself is up for grabs. The creator, James Halliday, is leaving his fortune and complete control of the OASIS to whoever can complete his intricate quest. People all over the world are now logged in and scouring the OASIS for the smallest clues, and none more eagerly than Wade Watts. Wade Watts doesn’t have a lot going for him either—no family, friends, or ambition outside of the OASIS. That mega-prize could turn his whole life around, but only if he manages to get to it first. The race is on.
This is one of those instances where I saw the movie before I read the book, so my opinion of the story was a bit tainted going in. So here it is: There are things about the book and the movie respectively that I liked more than the other, but overall, I’d have to say that I had a better experience with the book. That’s mainly because I think a novel was a better medium for the story. I found it far more relatable when I read about Wade being plugged into the OASIS for hours on end, then looked up at the clock and realized that I myself hadn’t moved from my chair all day because I was reading. The movie didn’t have quite the same immersive quality to it.
In terms of what I didn’t like as much about the book, there was a lot of exposition at the beginning, and it was challenging to get into at first. The world-building is set in an imaginative interpretation of the distant future, but the plot heavily relies on a decade that I don’t have a lot of experience with. So there are two eras of time to familiarize the reader with and a lot of prevalent information to explain. While I understood everything I was presented with, the story didn’t move very fast at the beginning (something I admire more about my experience with the film adaptation).
I’m glad I read the book instead of just sticking with the movie. I found it to be more unique, clever, and knowledgeable than the movie, and I happily recommend it to any reader that enjoys science fiction, video games, riddles, and/or the ‘80s.
This book contains lots of language, some sexual innuendo, and violence including murder.
If you’re a gunter and know where to find Halliday’s Easter Egg, proceed to the following discussion of Ready Player One. (Spoiler warning: If you’ve only seen the movie, the Egg isn’t where you think it is, so proceed with caution!)
"That's when I realized, as terrifying and painful as reality can be, it's also the only place where you can find true happiness. Because reality is real."
I was surprised that all of the puzzles and riddles for the keys and gates were different from the movie. It was like reading about a completely different hunt. After going over the puzzles in the book and the movie, I will say that I like the book’s puzzles better. I think they seemed more challenging and obscure. I knew next to nothing about the pop culture references that inspired them. The film stuck to icons and material that’s still fairly relevant and popular in today’s society, so in that regard, I thought the movie’s puzzles were more exciting.
However, I think the original puzzles paid a better tribute to the time period, and it might have been cooler if the movie had followed the book and introduced a new generation to some of those lost treasures. I can honestly say I would have preferred watching Wade play Joust against the Acererak than race backward on a hidden track.
As an aspiring writer and an avid reader, I will say I’m not sure the book did as much for character development as the movie did. Wade is completely driven by two obsessions: the hunt for the Egg, and Art3mis. Both are equal driving forces in his journey to the end of the story, but I’m not sure either one really helped Wade grow as a person. Sure, he learned that reality could be just as good if not better as life within the OASIS, but that was after he won billions of dollars and met the girl of his dreams in person. It's a triumphant ending to be sure, but I appreciated the little extra that the film did. In the novel, the hunt for the Egg is basically just a treasure hunt, celebrating Halliday’s favorite films and video games, but the film presented it as more of a journey of self-discovery. Both ended with the idea that reality is what’s real and it’s important we all live in it, but the film reinforced this idea by building it into the Egg puzzles themselves. The film’s puzzles put more of Halliday’s journey into them and helped Wade and the others witness how Halliday struggled to connect in reality and, as a result, missed out on some opportunities that had the potential to make his life better. By the end of the movie, it was clear that Wade and Art3mis had learned the lesson Halliday wanted the winner of his quest to learn because they chose to close the OASIS twice a week and give everyone else the opportunity to learn it too. As it was in the novel, that idea wasn’t imprinted as strongly, and Wade’s character read a little too static for me.
Also, I was devastated that Daito actually died in the book. Daisho were my two favorite characters in the movie, so the fact that one of them actually died was totally heartbreaking. Just saying.
The level of technology in the book surprised me as well. Not just the VR stuff, but the fact that Wade has a shower that would scrub him down for him? That was pretty wild. Little stuff like that made the story feel a bit like Back to the Future II—imaginative and out there but in a fun way, not a “that’s awfully convenient” way. 2044 is only twenty-two years away. How much of this technology do you guys think we’ll actually have by then?
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