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)

What an adventure

An amazing adventure. keeps you on you're toes and all the nostalgia takes you on a ride to the past.

Best damn book I’ve read in some time

I don’t know why I waited so long to listen to this story. It’s oh so good! There are so many relatable references in this story for an 80’s child, it’s mind boggling. My wife, who almost never listens to any of my audible books feel instantly in love with this while I had it playing on a car ride. Now I only hope the movie did the book justice.

Great book

I didn't want the story to end, narration was great I highly recommend this book for all gamers out there.

must read!

much better than the movie
Will does a great job narrating this book, the performance is great.

An amazing adventure

I completely loved this story and Wil Wheaton was the perfect person for the story. I felt so immersed in the telling that it was as if Wil Wheaton was sitting next to me just chatting away. This is an audible book I will revisit.

Hopefully 'Ready Player 2' is in progress

What made the experience of listening to Ready Player One the most enjoyable?

I'm fairly picky about sci-fi books but this one was different, grabbed my attention early on and kept the pace to the end. The cultural references were well integrated and interesting. Indeed the whole premise worked well and it wasn't too hard to imagine a world where 'virtual' is carried to extremes. Considering this has a lot of video game and '80s references it was remarkably well executed, as that could have been a mess and instead the pace was great and the music and other period references were nostalgic and wonderful. One of the best books I have listened to in the past few years, and well worth the credit.

loved the book when I read it myself and great now

I read this myself and enjoyed it. I saw the new movie was coming out so I wanted to get the chance to re read it but had no time. will Wheaton did an excellent job I enjoyed his narration very much.

So much fun!

It took me awhile before I fought this would be a good book and man I can't believe how fun, hilarious, and engrossing this novel was. Give it a try and you'll be hooked in 15 minutes.

Great Narrator!

Absolutely love Will Wheaton's narration of this story! I found myself relating to Wade through his OASIS avatar as I do with my online gaming addiction now. The more knowledge and experience you gain on someone else the more of an advantage you can have in the long term. This also draws you deeper into the experience and you begin to forget about your surroundings outside the game. This problem can be extenuated by adding more senses into the emersion... AKA the haptics and the quality audio with noise cancellation. We are getting close to this level of emersion and that excited and scares me at the same time. Suggesting to others as I write this review!

Mind grabbing entertainment

Greatest book I have heard in awhile. While being born in the 80s this book gives you a flash back futuristic environmental image I. Your mind