Ready Player Two

A Novel

De: Ernest Cline

Narrado por: Wil Wheaton

Number-One New York Times Best Seller

The thrilling sequel to the beloved worldwide best seller Ready Player One, the near-future adventure that inspired the blockbuster Steven Spielberg film.

Named One of the Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post

“The game is on again. ... A great mix of exciting fantasy and threatening fact.” (The Wall Street Journal)

An unexpected quest. Two worlds at stake. Are you ready?

Days after winning OASIS founder James Halliday’s contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything.

Hidden within Halliday’s vaults, waiting for his heir to find it, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the OASIS a thousand times more wondrous - and addictive - than even Wade dreamed possible.

With it comes a new riddle, and a new quest - a last Easter egg from Halliday, hinting at a mysterious prize.

And an unexpected, impossibly powerful, and dangerous new rival awaits, one who’ll kill millions to get what he wants.

Wade’s life and the future of the OASIS are again at stake, but this time, the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance.

Lovingly nostalgic and wildly original as only Ernest Cline could conceive it, Ready Player Two takes us on another imaginative, fun, action-packed adventure through his beloved virtual universe, and jolts us thrillingly into the future once again.

©2020 Ernest Cline (P)2020 Random House Audio

Hollywood got a hold of Ernest Cline, in a BAD way

This book is just a cash grab. I actually can't hate on Ernest Cline for that since he must have been given some GOOD money to sell out this bad. Without getting too political I am just going to say that whoever was advising / helping him edit this book did not do him any favors. I wish we would have just been given Ready Player One and it would have been left at that. Such a great first novel and such a bad direction for the second.

Fantastic story - Celine does it again!

Another great adventure by Earnest Cline! Cline is becoming a master story teller of our time in this sequel to Ready Player One.

Nice to hear from you, old friend

First, hearing Will Wheaton's voice put the biggest smile on my face as soon as I heard it. It's like hearing an old friend after not hearing from them after a long time. Ready Player One is my guilty pleasure audio book go to when I'm feeling disconnected from the world these days and makes my brain happy. I've listened to it at least 20 times in the past two years. I am NOT ashamed.
Ready Player 2 starts off slow, just as the first book does. Ernest takes his time to immerse you into the mindset of Parzival and the on-goings about him and to introduce all the main players, as if one has not read or listened to the first book. Once it takes off though, I, myself am immersed into the Oasis again. Another guilty pleasure has been born.

RP1 or Bust

I had high expectations for RP2. Unfortunately, the story wasn’t nearly as gratifying as I’d hoped. It lacks the quirky, distinctive flair that made RP1 so outstanding. But, despite not having met my high expectations, RP2 is still an adequate, fun listen.
RP2’s biggest disappointment bar none is the MC’s temperamental petulance. Wade/Parzival/Z speaks, thinks, and behaves like a whiny, selfish manchild. Also, after having outsmarted the world in RP1, he somehow became incredibly unintelligent. He really is quite annoying.
Wil Wheaton and the entertaining 80’s kickbacks are the book’s only redeeming qualities — Wil’s 5-star narration is simply brilliant.
2.5-stars overall.

Considerably better than the original

some of the book is a bit of a slog but overall the story was solid. Cline did a good job addressing the heavy-handedness of the first book. B+.

An unneeded sequel

I enjoyed the first one and Wil Wheaton's performance. This one wasn't as engaging. It seemed more like a vanity project for both the author and main character. There was way too much 80s callback. I mean, I get it, you like that decade but it wasn't the greatest. Even though this one left me wanting, I'd likely get the next one, too. I'm kinda invested at this point.

Not as good as the first

With most writing, the sequel is hardly ever as good as the original. That remains true with Ready Player Two.
In the original, I found the nostalgic cliches endearing but now they’re just tired. And the plot armor in this one is ridiculous. By the end, I had given up rooting for the protagonist because there was always something predictable and obvious that would swoop in and save him just in time. And a lot of the action scenes seemed forced and not as creative or intense as the original. And please, Mr. Cline, find a synonym for “then.” I got really tired of Will Wheaton reading everything in sequence as “Then!... Then!... Then!...” It grew to be nails on a chalkboard by the end of the story.
But I really have to address the hollow attempt of redemption from Cline’s transphobic slurs in the original. It seemed as if Cline wanted to show that he was an ally of the trans community by introducing a trans character in this novel. But he didn’t even do his research to get some of the basic terminology correct. There’s no such thing as having non-binary intercourse! Non-binary is an identity, not a sexual orientation! And Jesus Christ! If you’re going to go to the pains of creating a trans character, give them more depth and a more important role. Cline only paid lip service to the trans community and it was a slap in the face.
Lastly, I have to address the impossible unfolding of events in the stated amount of time. Unless the protagonist was running all these quests on an incredible speed run—and it didn’t sound like he was—there was no way the events could unfold as he wrote them. For example, he wrote that one of his last objectives was 80 miles away and he had to travel by horseback. Oh! And the protagonist stopped to have a conversation. And they had less than an hour and a half to complete the quest. What? He traveled 80 miles in a matter of minutes? Come on! I know they were traveling on magical horses, but give me a break! Write it some more creative way so I’m not rolling my eyes while listening to it.
Overall, it was really painful to listen to and made me lose respect for Cline when I’ve really enjoyed his stories in the past. This seemed like he forced it and threw it together in just a couple weeks without planning it out and without doing some basic research because he had a contract to fulfill and a deadline to meet. I really hope he doesn’t write a Ready Player Three.

Mediocre sequel with forced storyline

This is one where the movie will be better than to the book (opposite the first book). Also if this is how he does sequels then please do not write a sequel to Armada.
I found it extremely hard to listen to and could not wait for it to end.

Weak sequel

I loved Ready Player One; great, unique story, not very predictable. This sequel was lazy, overly predictable and corny. The “quest” in this version was too easy, the story didn’t build - it just rushed to get to the anti-climactic end. Don’t bother.

Amazing Job! Awesome listen!

Ernest Clines books read like a peek into my daydreaming mind growing up in the 80’s! Amazing story!!Wil Wheaton brings the characters to life in a way that creates an amazing movie in your mind! Soooo glad that Mr. Wheaton read this sequel. His work on the other great works of Mr. Cline really make the listen enjoyable!