“These three words were always the last thing an OASIS user saw before leaving the real world and entering the virtual one: READY PLAYER ONE”

Ready Player One has become my favorite book that I read this year, well actually right now, I would say it is my favorite book overall! I ate this book for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I could not get enough of the story. It was so much fun and perfect for the uber nerd I am! The best surprise was that the audiobook was read by Wil Wheaton! The actual Wil Wheaton folks! I almost peed my pants when I heard his voice! The audiobook was 15 hours, 43 minutes long.

Likes:

This book is a pop culture phenomenon. It listed so many of my favorites and cult classics. I started to write down a few as I listened, but there were a million more. Tons of 80s movies, TV shows and music, including some of my favorites like War Games, Real Genius, Weird Science and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Plus huge gaming influenced like Pacman, Atari, World of Warcraft and Everquest. Total nerddom with Dungeons and Dragons and Lord of the Rings! So many amazing movie quotes and references! I just could not get enough, I was in love with this book!

I am a huge fan of dystopian literature and I didn’t realize that this book fit that category when I picked it up. I was so excited that it combined so many of my favorite things into one book. The world-building both in the real world and in the Oasis was so brilliant. I really want to meet Earnest Cline in real life!

The Oasis was so fantastic. I could visualize exactly what it would be like to be in the Oasis. I loved the amazing worlds and quests that Cline put into the story. I occasionally play World Of Warcraft and love questing. I have always thought it would be so cool to make a World of Warcraft Adventure Park, where you could really be in the world. With the virtual reality created in the Oasis, it would be exactly like that.

The characters were so awesome. I loved Wade, he reminded me so much of some of my husband’s big gamer friends. He was funny, witty and super smart. I loved home much effort he put into the Easter Egg hunt. On top of really loving Wade, I could not get enough of the other top 5 Gunters – Aech, Art3mis, Daito and Shoto. They were all so well-developed and had great back stories! There was so much packed into this story that I was never bored!

The villain (or should I say villains) Nick Sorrento and the other Sixers were awful, you really hated them. I could not wait for Wade to get back at them for their awfulness!

James Halliday, the game maker, was such an amazing man. I really enjoyed how his life story wove through the whole book. He really evolved all the way to the final page.

This book is action, adventure and a little romance. SO awesome. Please drop everything and read it NOW!

Gripes:

I didn’t want the story to end! I want more, NOW!

Favorite Quotes:

“Some time later, she leaned over and kissed me. It felt just like all those songs and poems had promised it would. It felt wonderful. Like being struck by lightning.”

"Dude, you have balls of solid adamantium," Aech said. "Respect."

Side Note:

They are currently working on making this one into a movie. It is going to be a serious endeavor to get this one into a movie, but I highly expect that it is going to be amazing!

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A Flurry of Ponderings