SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Finished reading it already?

What did you think?

Good times and funfun?

So bad it needs a bugfix and a patch to make it playable readable?

Meh?

Finished it today, actually. It's a pretty steady read, good with pull through.

I thought it was a fun romp through the 80s and 70s. I didn't think it was written well, though. There were elements of story telling that I didn't think were met. For example, there are signs of dystopia and a collapse of civilization. Wade hints at this all through the start of the novel, and then we see bits and pieces of this throughout the novel, but we don't see how that happened. We see a kid who has lived in abject poverty in the corner of a laundry room of a trailer.. and suddenly he's in an apartment of his own buying thousands of dollars worth of things?

There's a lot of things explained after the fact, too, like when he got himself indentured. We read about how these guys are busting down Wade's doors, and how he's arrested by "corporate police", and then carted off.

Only after he's in, there's all these deus ex machina statements that pop up:

* Oh, I had bought the passwords
* Oh, I had put my own card in debt
* Oh, I automatically scheduled a payment to put myself out of debt
* Oh, once I got out, I had ordered a new computer unit to be shipped to a mailbox, even though I never ever left my house or mentioned any other communication

When he's in indentured servitude, he hacks a computer.. and later in the pivotal battle scene, we find out about all the things he did in the past.

* OH, when I was in IOI Indentured , I set this up
* I also set that up.

Foreshadowing. We needed more foreshadowing.

But then again, it seems like this kid watched around fifteen straight months of movies and TV shows, and read nearly 10,000 works of literature, over the period of 4 years before the story starts.

And he can play a perfect game of pacman.

Now, all that aside, I had fun reading this. I really did. I just don't know if I really find the writing solid. The main character didn't have any visible flaws that cost him.

I agree with most of Jarrod's points. I'm thinking Ready Player One is much like Jurassic Park -- upon initial viewing/reading, you're going, "This is really cool, but that doesn't make much sen-- ooh! Action scene!"

Once you walk away, you're left going, "Hey, a lot of this is just ridiculous with too much coincidence." I also didn't buy into the world Cline created. I had to think of it as an alternate reality from ours.

All that said, I don't hate the book. I enjoyed it for what it was, the literary equivalent of a Wham song.

wake me up, before you go-go...

Jarrod wrote: "Finished it today, actually. It's a pretty steady read, good with pull through.

I thought it was a fun romp through the 80s and 70s. I didn't think it was written well, though. There were elem..."

I agree with a lot of your points. I think we're going to see a sequel that deals more with the dystopia aspects.

They alluded to too many plotlines and didn't deal with them again for there not to be a followup. Saying things like ""[OASIS] had become a self-imposed prison for humanity," he wrote. "A pleasant place for the world to hide from its problems while human civilization slowly collapses, primarily due to neglect"" and then having Anorak show him the Big Red Button that can turn the whole thing off seemed like too much of a coincidence.

I was annoyed with the indentured section as well. I don't think there was anyway to know he got the IOI codes before he says it. Even knowing it was coming when I listened to the audiobook there were no clues beforehand.

I hope that's the case that these plots get expanded upon. I fear, though, that what we saw was a book trimmed down to fit YA standards that had those things present.

Yeah, my sense was that you read this for the 80s geekout. That was a few months ago though so ... if the insanity that is December allows me to, I'll re-read it to see what I think after that.

I loved Ready Player One. I remember all of his expenses being explained by him doing advertisements, corporate sponsors, etc. since he became so famous. I don't mind that everything wasn't explained. I don't think more explanation was needed for the story, but I do think it would be cool to explore in a prequel or sequel.

I loved Ready Player One. The nostalgia is what I enjoyed the most having been born in the 70's and growing up in the 80's. Even though the story was a little flawed I still enjoyed it.

I had fun with it, even with the number of handy coincidences (particularly how he happened to be friends with such useful people) who coincidentally were around his own age.

Main problems with it:

- The whole world apparently lives in OASIS, but it certainly is a US-centric whole world.

- The voice was rather inconsistent in jumping between old and young.

- There's no sign that there's been any new creative endeavours since the 90s. Yeah, the book is all about nostalgia, but it feels like except for OASIS the world has frozen in time.

- It bugged me that the list of authors/film-makers specifically recommended were all male.

Andrea wrote: "I had fun with it, even with the number of handy coincidences (particularly how he happened to be friends with such useful people) who coincidentally were around his own age.

Main problems with ..."

Did we ever learn Diato and Shoto's age? I pictured them in their late 20s or early 30s because they talked about Hikikomori.

What female authors/filmmakers do you think should have been mentioned? Ursula K. Le Guin was the first one that came to my mind.

Female authors/film-makers are going to very much be a matter of taste and what one considers important in science fiction. Le Guin is certainly a fallback. I'd probably recommend Norton.

I figured Diato and Shoto were in their 20s. I don't know if I'd drop them in the category of 'friends' though.

I just looked over my status updates from when I was reading this book, and around page 129 there's a comment about how Art3mis possibly saved the book for me.

"I think Art3mis may have saved this book for me, even if she is a clear (semi-)expy of Jordan from Real Genius. (I was thinking that even before the in-book lampshading, heh, and was amused to be right.) I was teetering on the edge of disgust/concern that this might be one of the things that doesn't acknowledge that, yeah, women can create cool things too."

And incidentally, Real Genius was directed by a woman, Martha Coolidge. Hence the comment about how Art3mis saved the book for me — not just by existing but by what she was a homage to.

Very tangentially, apparently there is a remake of Real Genius in the works. My instant reaction was "oh no" but I have to admit, if it was done well it could be all right. But what are the odds of that?

I just finished reading. In about 6-7 hours. Oh god does my brain feel overwhelmed right now.

Anyway, feel free to read my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I'll take a look at the comments in this thread later. I'm interested to see what you all thought! But I really need to do some actual studying now xD

Snail in Danger (Sid) wrote: "Very tangentially, apparently there is a remake of Real Genius in the works. My instant reaction was "oh no" but I have to admit, if it was done well it could be all right. But what are the odds of that?"

Real Genius has a few small issues, but there's no way to capture that particular lightning in a bottle a second time.

It's unfortunate that there are so few female directors and science fiction writers. In the 80s it was a "new boys club" with all the Spielberg and Lucas clones and proteges running around. Pretty much the only big-time female directors in the 80s were Penny Marshal, Amy Heckerling and Nora Ephron, and I don't imagine a geek like Halliday paying attention to their films.

Just finished this (while drinking a delicious latte at a lovely cafe near my house). I was a little hesitant going into it, because though I've read tons of glowing reviews from GR friends, I'm not exactly the target audience - born in '88, so I don't have as much of the nostalgia factor going, and not a gamer at all. I actually really enjoyed it though. It definitely has flaws - there were tons of undisguised infodumps and the weird retconning Jarrod mentioned in post 2. There was also some predictable stuff - I guessed that Aech was really a girl as soon as he said "I don't look like my avatar"... but I actually really appreciated that twist.

It was definitely an addictive read though, I read the whole thing within 24 hours. It was a fun ride.

I'm glad ya liked it :)

I enjoyed it, but I also can't really disagree with any of the issues mentioned up-thread - especially the lack of foreshadowing. Though, to Cline's credit, he did foreshadow the ending (with the quarter in Wade's inventory). I liked the ending a lot.

I'm a retired gamer, so I wondered how my reaction compared to someone who has never played a MMORG. Because I have to say, gamers like the Sixers are out there, and they do ruin it for everyone else -- kill-stealing, camping, farming bastages that they are.

I thought it was totally fun. I was born in 1970, so I really identified with a lot of the references and laughed a lot. But it is the kind of thing that becomes less and less deep the more I think about it. For one thing, it's a bit weird that it's clearly aimed at the age 30 and over readers but has such a decidedly YA tone. Having youthful protagonists doesn't necessarily mean having such undeveloped emotional stories. And in general, there is just a lack of development of a lot of what could have been great plot lines. There is a lot of meat there that he could have done more with if that was either how he'd chosen to go or if he'd been able to go that way, no way to know if it was a deliberate choice or if he wasn't developed enough as an author yet to expand upon those aspects of the story. As people above mentioned, the dystopian world was underdeveloped, just used as another set for the adventure plot really. I thought the romance was weak and predictable too (although Art3mis is adorable). But it was cool! And clever. Overall, it was really an exciting teenage fantasy adventure that happened to be set in the future. And it was really fun, a roller coaster of a ride. And fun has value too.

Sometimes you don't want a steak, you just want a popcorny snack ;)

Right! But this was more like one of those Ben & Jerry's ice creams with 6 different flavors all mixed up inside. There's a bit of protein and calcium to go with the sugar and fat and candy pieces and ribbons of chocolate and pretzels and whatnot. And it's hard to resist eating the whole pint in one sitting because it's so much fun while you're eating it.

I've been feeling more of the same, Cathy. I really enjoyed it, but the more I read of others responses and evaluations and think a bit more I realize that logically and intellectually there is no way that this was a good story. It was lacking so much.

And yet the atmosphere was so well built up that I rated it five stars. Huh. I guess that says something about how great of a book it was as well!

Don't get me wrong :) I don't look for stories to be all serious all the time and make me think 100%. Though, the stories I read that challenge me and my opinions and positions in this world DO stick with me and tend to rate higher for me...

BUT, that doesn't mean that fun stories have no place. Fun stories DO have a place, and this one did :D

Cathy wrote: "Right! But this was more like one of those Ben & Jerry's ice creams with 6 different flavors all mixed up inside. There's a bit of protein and calcium to go with the sugar and fat and candy pieces ..."

This is an amazing analogy.

Amazing.

And hunger inducing.

damnit.

I'm not done, yet, and I'm not reading the whole thread... but I just wanted to say that I'm glad things have finally picked up since Art3mis got the second key. For awhile there the book was kind of wandering aimlessly and, imo, boringly... but, thankfully, things have started getting mildly interesting.

I finished this the other day, so I finally read this thread. Definitely agree with all the points up thread - all of Jarodd's and this one "There's no sign that there's been any new creative endeavours since the 90s. Yeah, the book is all about nostalgia, but it feels like except for OASIS the world has frozen in time." - though I agree the ending was foreshadowed with the quarter, and even though I was a bit annoyed with the "I'm not going to tell you things until they're relevant to make me seem cool", I definitely knew that he planned to get arrested and figured he had a way out at the start of that whole section.

All-in-all, I was a lot less impressed with the book than many others. While most people seemed to see all these points and still rate it highly anyway because of the action and excitement, I was sort of underwhelmed by that, too. I even started skimming during the last section, including the fight with Sorrento, 'cause the outcome just seemed so obvious. It's a pretty straight adventure story - and while there's nothing necessarily wrong with that, the only spin to it was the nostalgia, which did little for me. The plot, the characters, and the world were all kind of thinly drawn, and I was pretty meh about the whole thing in the end.

Sorry, Ala.

Nothing to be sorry for.

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± wrote: "While most people seemed to see all these points and still rate it highly anyway because of the action and excitement, I was sort of underwhelmed by that, too. I even started skimming during the last section, including the fight with Sorrento, 'cause the outcome just seemed so obvious. It's a pretty straight adventure story"

I agree it was a simple mindless fun book. The ending was obvious from the first chapter since Wade flat out says something along the lines of "This is the story about how I found the easter egg".

There wasn't much chance for Sorento or any of the Sixors.

I guess I would have to say that the lack of foreshadowing and such didn't bother me - it was a fun story to read. What it really made me think of was the very first Star Wars movie, when it first came out. We were happy to cheer for the good guys and boo the bad guys and just have fun with it. And yes, I realize that the reference probably indicates that I'm a little older than the likely target demographic for the book - I was in my 20's when we first got a video game - a Fairchild game system, no less!

Sometimes it's nice to leave moral ambiguity and deep thinking behind, and just have fun.

I had a ColecoVision back in the early 80's. There was no love for ColecoVision in this book! I did play Zaxxon though.

Is there going to be a movie made from this book? Ernest Cline mentions something about that in the end notes.

Ala you had an epiphany choosing this book!!
So here's my review: This was a really fascinating book. During the first few chapters it had A LOT OF information about the 80's culture, which seemed surplus at times, but if you are really into this decade, you're getting used to it and come to like it too. After chapter fifteen, the plot thickens, interest skyrockets and from there on it is fun, fun, fun!!

This is sort of how I pictured Wade's trailer park home:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/architec...

Nice pic, Bonnie!

I did too, only a lot filthier!

ColecoVision!! I loved ours.

I'm one of the people who totally enjoyed this read. I barely paused to think about the obvious foreshadowing or the world Wade lived in, I was completely taken in by the nostalgia and adventure. I kept talking up RPO while reading that my husband has decided to read it and he hasn't picked up a book ~5 years.
It will be really interesting to see how the book is interpreted for the movie, if there is one.

I was addicted to B.C. on the Coleco.

Peggy wrote: "I'm a retired gamer, so I wondered how my reaction compared to someone who has never played a MMORG. Because I have to say, gamers like the Sixers are out there, and they do ruin it for everyone else -- kill-stealing, camping, farming bastages that they are. "

Amen, Sister. I'm semi-retired (maybe coming out of retirement briefly during the holidays).

Bonnie wrote: "This is sort of how I pictured Wade's trailer park home:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/architec..."

That's more like a Frank Lloyd Wright Trailer Stack.

This was a fun book to read. I tried not to think too much about the characters' motivations and details about the real worls because that would make the story fall apart for me. So, staying shallow with it I definitely had a good time reading. The idea of "living" inside video game land is cool, though totally unrealistic.

A movie made from this would be fun to watch.

Enjoyed this one a lot. It was fun, fast paced with a satisfying ending. Occasionally my wife well read a sci-fi book with me and this one she did. She really got into it, even though she has never been a gamer?

1st read 8/12/11 Loved this book, it didn't hurt that everything the author wrote about are also things that I love. Wargames is my favorite movie and I was happy to see it have such an important role in the story.

Ok this was my second reading and I still love it, I know that it's a wish fulfillment fantasy, but after just reading the first 6 Elric novels I needed a dose of lighthearted adventure. While I'm a little older then intended audience, I had a blast in the 80's, first video-game system, first computer, first love, so nostalgia was certainly working in the authors favor. But for a first novel Cline did a remarkable job. An underdog hero with a cool friend and love interest and an evil corporation as the villain and all that eighty's trivia

I thought this book was a ton of fun. The video game environment was really intriguing and made the story rather compelling. The fact that the book is jacked in to some of my favorite pop culture memories is gravy that has me telling all my friends to read it. (The TRS-80 Coco was my first computer, and i hang out with too many people who did not go through the frustration of a tape deck drive)

For me to be "ok" with romantic interest is a tough bar in a book. Normally that is an instant turnoff for me, but I think it's done really well here, and the characters manage to keep their eyes on what's important.

I agree with many of the comments above. Did the book lack depth in character development, plot, and world building? Yes. Did I care, not a bit!

I took it for what it was, a fun and geeky story. For me, the entertainment factor out-weighed the flaws.

The nostalgia factor was so mich fun! I was a Zork and Pacman buff so i loved those parts. I was annoyed about the indentured with no explanation part but only mildly.
I really had it inmy head that H and Artemis were gonna hook up for some reason...

Loved this one too. Author totally nailed the feeling of beating the game.

I finished the audio-book version yesterday and have to agree this was pretty darned fun, a trip back in time for me, and also I imagine for many, if not most, of us.

Probably the finest moment of nostalgia was Hallaway's penultimate part of the third gate, re-enacting Monty Python's Holy Grail. Classic!

Now I want to play Tetris! Oh, computer games...really can impact reading time....

Looks like Spielberg is on board to direct RPO. Woop! Woop!

Valerie wrote: "Looks like Spielberg is on board to direct RPO. Woop! Woop!"

Do you think it will be as much fun to see it as to read it? So much was nostalgia from doing these things ourselves.

I have notes but my Kindle is charging. The whole book was so much fun.

Favorite references:

Heathers - I watched this an absolutely incredible amount of times in high school.

The Greatest American Hero - I had completely forgotten about this show!

Qbert - they actually mentioned one of my favorite Atari games that never gets mentioned anywhere else.

Setec Astronomy - an anagram of Too Many Secrets, it's from the 1992 film Sneakers. Which I've seen many many times. It has a fantastic cast and it manages to be both geeky and funny, all while telling a solid story. Super cool.

Firefly - OMG, the Firefly universe in the OASIS!!! I am SO there!

I also liked the way that he likened descending the stacks from his trailer to Donkey Kong. I thought this book was an absolute blast. There were a lot of things I didn't get, I was born in '77 so I think I was old enough, I just tend to accept things as they are and not remember them later. But even when it was something that I couldn't remember, it still managed to be nostalgic in how things were described.

I liked the way that at the end of the quest the corporate jerks couldn't make it work because they couldn't really work together. It took a group of friends to make that happen. Sometimes I got a little mixed up on when they were in the OASIS and when they weren't. The OASIS was actually so realistic in everything that was happening that I would get confused. Plus, the way they would react to things inside the OASIS made it seem like it was as serious as real-world situations. For example, when Shoto's avatar was killed when he was going after the Godzilla robot, I was initially thinking that he had died just like his "brother". In the real world. And then he shows up again and I'm like "Wha...?".

This was a good find and I'm really glad I read it.