Ready Player One

By: Ernest Cline

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The book behind the major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.

Now a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.

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

It's the year 2044 and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty and disease are widespread.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of 10,000 planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late 20th century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle.

Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions - and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.

If you loved Ready Player One and can't wait for more, check out Armada, Ernest Cline's latest geek masterpiece!

©2011 Ernest Cline (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, Ready Player One is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut." (Independent)

"Part intergalactic scavenger hunt, part romance, and all heart." (CNN)

"Ernest Cline’s novel deserves to be a modern classic." (SciFiNow)

Fantastic

From a view of someone with dyslexia i am so glag that book like these excist. The storie is fantastic, a tad bit heavy at times if one is not acustomed to gaming and all it's slang words and lingo, but other then that it is fantastic.

The writer has done a great job of grabbing the viewer from chapter one and dose not let go until the ending.

it has it's up and down but never to far up that the rest of the book is boring or never to far down for one to skip a chapter or two.

In tje end, a fantastic book for ANYONE interested in videogames and gaming, makes one oddly interested in the 80's, and never really manage to put it away untill one has plowed through all 42 chapters. 10/10

An instant classic

Steeped in geek nostalgia, Ready Player One feels like an homage by Cline to all of his favourite interests and hobbies.

The book is well written, excellently paced with an addictive narrative. Beyond that it is also extremely well researched, to the extent that one is left with the ineluctable impression of fanboy enthusiast as opposed to the standard of merely being well-versed. The book is both irrestible and immensely satisfying, particularly for those to whom the myriad of references are so familiar and pleasing.

Seldom does a book manage so well to capture the essence of so many contemporaneous subcultures, truly a work to be treasured.

Revenge of the Online Gaming Nerd...

If you could sum up Ready Player One in three words, what would they be?

Imaginative, engaging, fun

What did you like best about this story?

The best part about the story was its plausibility and Ernest Cline's easy style. It reminded me of Rick Riordan's easy and accessible style (refer Percy Jackson series), but this book had a sense of plausibility to it (despite the fantastic scene setting).

Which character – as performed by Wil Wheaton – was your favorite?

Obviously, Wade (the main character). Wil Wheaton's narration was first class, btw.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Nup. This was a pretty cruisy listen. A pop corn sci fi but really well written and researched.

Any additional comments?

This is a fun listen to a book which is well researched and written. The good thing was the innovative scene setting. Perhaps it could have focussed even more on the negative aspects of video gaming addicts, but that's not the purpose of this book.

A book for nerds of all types.

Going through the book as a nerd myself I recognized many of the referrence from games, comics, anime, movies and music and then there was many things I learned.

The book is well written and has a sly sense of humour what usually comes through the main character.

A very good listen!

Great story with excellent narrator

Excellent narration and great story, very entertaining and easy listening. If you love video games and their history you'll love this book.

Awesome book..

Awesome book... Nicely narrated ..... Deserves all the praise it gets... Although at the characters are black and white... No grey area in any of them.... Hard to relate or believe that....

Good story, but too much nostalgia

Love the story and the narration done by the narrator, but the plot depends too much on member berries for my liking. Overall it's a good story.

Wow never thought I would enjoy this type of book

I loved it all. Wil Wheaton is great. The story was fantastic. Maybe a little long but great

A fun exploration of a very new technology

Where does Ready Player One rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It was an easy listen and hard to put down. Some of the characters got a bit annoying and the overly energetic performance by the narrator didn't help much. But a fun ride all in all.

Great narration of a good story.

It's a good story, if a little petulant and self-indulgent. a narrator so well-suited that he's referenced in the author's universe.