Ready Player One

Title: Ready Player One
Author: Ernest Cline
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 372
Rating: 4.5 Stars
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Living in the brutal world of 2044, Wade isn’t exactly content with his life. His parents dead, he lives with his indifferent aunt in the stacks, and his only escape is the OASIS. Wade isn’t the only one who loses himself in the Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation, which is essentially a simulation where the world works, attends school, shops, communicates, and lives. With greenhouse gases suffocating the atmosphere, pollution destroying food supplies, and litter spilling over the brims of landfills, most people prefer to enter the made up world created by multi-billionaire James Halliday and act like the world isn’t bursting at the seams. So, the economy in such disarray that people care more about the OASIS currency than the actual world’s money, James Halliday has succeeded in ensnaring the human race.  Wade had been convinced he’d be living with his aunt in a trailer park all his life, until one day, while he was watching TV, breaking news interrupted his show, announcing the death of the idolized James Halliday. But the breaking news wasn’t the death, it was the inheritance, and the fact that Halliday hadn’t left his billions of dollars to a single soul. Instead, he created a contest. James Halliday hid an easter egg deep within the depths of the OASIS, and the first person to find it would be granted his entire fortune. Five years later, Wade is still searching for this egg, and he isn’t any closer to finding it than anybody else.

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Whoops- long synopsis. Sorry! Anyway, this book is pretty darn powerful. It is a futuristic novel, and it definitely makes you think about where we're heading. The environment is completely destroyed; the supply of oil has dwindled down to a minimum, and the economy is so unbalanced that the credits used in the OASIS have more importance than actual money. Before I continue telling you how messed up the world is, let's just breeze through the OASIS.

The OASIS stands for the Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation. It's a mouthful, I know, but it essentially a simulator that allows you to immerse yourself in a virtual world where your senses still function. And the OASIS is where the world spends literally every last drop of its freetime. On the train going to work? Log on to the OASIS. Sitting down to eat at a restaurant? To the OASIS. Running early? Quickly jump on to the OASIS. Most students attend school on the OASIS, and many people work from home via the OASIS. I'm sure you can see some up sides to this- but the world has actually chosen to ignore all their problems by immersing themselves in a virtual world. They are choosing to ignore reality.

Ok but where does James Halliday fall into all of this? He's simply the creator of the OASIS. Yes, it is by his hands this monster was created. I'm sure you can guess how much money he's attained through this, as well. To put it simply, he's a multibillionaire. And then one day, James Halliday died. Oddly enough, he didn't leave his fortune to anyone. Not a single soul. Instead he launched a wild hunt for the egg that represented his billions of money, as well as control of the OASIS itself. So our main character, Wade, has dedicated his life to becoming a gunter. (A.K.A a person who hunts for the egg.)

But what did I think of this masterpiece of a novel? It was brilliant! I loved it! It really, truly touches on some important topics. And does show you how people are starting to think- how we're often turning to a world trapped in a device rather than the real one we have. How ignoring our problems never actually makes them go away- it just makes them less of a bothersome.

But not only are the deeper subjects beautifully incorporated- it was a good story! I was drawn in from the start, and after that I was never bored. There were so many unexpected twists and turns. It was just such a captivating, powerful story.

So really, if you haven't already read Ready Player One, add it to the TBR pile. Because you won't be disappointed.