Ready Player One

By: Ernest Cline

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Now a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.

“Enchanting . . . Willy Wonka meets The Matrix.”—USA Today • “As one adventure leads expertly to the next, time simply evaporates.”—Entertainment Weekly

A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?

In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the OASIS, a vast virtual world where most of humanity spends their days.

When the eccentric creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. Whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune—and control of the OASIS itself.

Then Wade cracks the first clue. Suddenly he’s beset by rivals who’ll kill to take this prize. The race is on—and the only way to survive is to win.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Entertainment Weekly • San Francisco Chronicle • Village Voice • Chicago Sun-Times • iO9 • The AV Club

“Delightful . . . the grown-up’s Harry Potter.”—HuffPost

“An addictive read . . . part intergalactic scavenger hunt, part romance, and all heart.”—CNN

“A most excellent ride . . . Cline stuffs his novel with a cornucopia of pop culture, as if to wink to the reader.”—Boston Globe

“Ridiculously fun and large-hearted . . . Cline is that rare writer who can translate his own dorky enthusiasms into prose that’s both hilarious and compassionate.”—NPR

“[A] fantastic page-turner . . . starts out like a simple bit of fun and winds up feeling like a rich and plausible picture of future friendships in a world not too distant from our own.”—iO9

©2011 Ernest Cline (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

2017, Laura Hillenbrand Outstanding Literary Award, Winner

“The science-fiction writer John Scalzi has aptly referred to Ready Player One as a ‘nerdgasm’ [and] there can be no better one-word description of this ardent fantasy artifact about fantasy culture. . . . But Mr. Cline is able to incorporate his favorite toys and games into a perfectly accessible narrative.” (Janet Maslin, The New York Times)

“This non-gamer loved every page of Ready Player One.” (Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series)

Nothing Like The Movie!

This is one of the few books where I watched the movie before reading (listening) to the book. This is nothing like the movie! I see now, that they took many liberties with the movie. Most of the events were altered in some way or changed completely! And even the tone of the storyline has a different feel. I usually know going into a book after seeing the movie first that some things might be changed, but this one actually surprised me with how different it is. So if you're going into it thinking it'll be similar, be prepared.

There are many 80's pop culture and old school video game references, so anyone growing up in the 70's and 80's should get a kick at the throwbacks. Wil Wheaton does a decent enough job portraying the characters, though at times misses a couple moments of Japanese accents. All in all, it was worth a listen to if you're into the concept of the storyline. But I think the next time I find myself looking for a refresh on this story, I'll probably just watch the movie again.

Favorite Book

Fantastic book and perfect narrator; I will be listening to this book again soon and likely buy a physical copy to read as well.

Fantastic book

I absolutely love this book and have read it multiple times. I also love Wil Wheaton's narration. I recommend this book.

So much detail

It was not only a wonderful book, but had so much detail about video games and 80s culture. I loved listening to the audiobook as the narrator was wonderful. Definitely worth a credit, even if you’ve seen the movie, because the two are quite different. I can’t wait for the release of the next book.

Very fun story, book and movie

it blows me away that they took the time to create an alternate sorry for the movie version.

wow....

this book painted a world beautifully. will Wheaton emulated the characters flawlessly. I'm very picky with audio books. I've listened to this one 3 times

Such a great story

This book is such a great story I was just amazed about all the characters in details the book and I kind of wish that the movie was kind of more like the book

awesome awesome awesome

suprisingly loved it. not normally the type of book I would listen to but got it on a whim and was hooked from the start.

great story, mediocre voice

people often compare books to the movie and vice-versa, this is one of the most extreme cases I can remember in quite some time for the movie just completely went in a different direction

that is to say, I watch the movie first, and that only compelled me to want to read the book, and I'm very glad that I did, because as much as I enjoyed the movie, I enjoyed the book that much more, and it actually changed my mind a little bit on how they did the movie.... no Justice at all.

Wil Wheaton did not do a terrible job of reading, but it was very monotone, and his many voices, when they're having chatlog sessions etc, becomes dry and repetitive.

that still was not enough to detract from my enjoyment of the story itself, highly recommend ... maybe they can get somebody else to do the voice-over next time.

Fun and entertaining!

Great story and amazing narration by Will Wheaton!
story keeps you engaged the whole time, although the teenage romance gets a little corny but even with that that story stands on it's own.