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)

thank you Wil Wheaton!!!

I love the book, I love the movie, thank you for being a part of it.

Geek paradise

Took me back to my nerdy youth reliving Adventure and D&D. Thoroughly enjoyed and have recommended to my other nerdy friends!

So good

Will Wheaton was great. I loved the movie and never understood why it performed so poorly at the box office. After listening to the book, I became apparently clear why it hadn’t.
The movie deviated so far from the book to the point that it became a completely different story. Truly a shame. I couldn’t wait to get in my car every morning to listen to it. As an 80s kid, this presses all the right buttons. If you grew up in the 80s you will absolutely adore this nostalgia machine. Thumbs up. Highly recommend.

A well constructed story line.

I finished this all too quickly and wanted it to keep going. The story is compelling, the characters are well considered, and the plot moves along at a good pace.

If you watched the movie, this will be 98% different except for the names of the Characters. Don't get hung up on it and just enjoy the book.

Will Wheatons' performance isn't bad over all. His enunciation and tone is clear and well modulated, however, his character voice changes are strained, and less than desirable in some situations. It would have been better to be narrated by Wheaton, but have voice actors and actresses do the actual dialog.

Outstanding performance and book!!

I was a fan of the movie so I decided to see if the original book had the same hype. To my surprise, it surpassed the movie in every way! Wheaton delivered a stunning performance that embodied every character. He's basically a real life Parzival anyways. I have never finished a book as quickly as this one despite its length, I couldn't stop listening.

loved it

the book for obvious reasons is way better than the movie and I really enjoyed listening to it.

fantastic

really enjoyed the story narration and ending. fantastically done. would definitely recommend to friends.

the flow of the story is smooth and easy to follow. feels like I'm playing along sand trying to solve the puzzle too.

Saw the movie first

I watched the movie first but, of course, the book is better! Some things were similar but I like OGs character more in the book.

little cheesey

Was good but a bit cheesey at times. The narrator did a pretty good job though.

One of my favorites

I've read this book multiple times and when I finally decided to take the leap into audiobooks it was one of the first I bought. Wil Wheaton was the perfect choice to voice Wade (even if he does say poser weird). The pop culture references are right up this 80s baby's alley. And the geeky adventure aspect certainly tickles my fancy. Do yourself a favor and read/listen if you haven't already. (ps- Spielberg needs to apologize for the movie ha!)