Ready Player One (Cline) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
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 - New York Times


A most excellent ride.... [T]he conceit is a smart one, and we happily root for [the heroes] on their quest....[F]ully satisfying.
Boston Globe


Gorgeously geeky, superbly entertaining, this really is a spectacularly successful debut.
Daily Mail (UK)


Enchanting.... Willy Wonka meets the Matrix. This novel undoubtedly qualifies Cline as the hottest geek on the planet right now. [But] you don't have to be a geek to get it.
USA Today


A fun, funny and fabulously entertaining first novel.... This novel's large dose of 1980s trivia is a delight...[but] even readers who need Google to identify Commodore 64 or Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde, will enjoy this memorabilian feast.
Cleveland Plain Dealer


Incredibly entertaining.... Drawing on everything from Back to the Future to Roald Dahl to Neal Stephenson's groundbreaking "Snow Crash," Cline has made Ready Player One a geek fantasia, '80s culture memoir and commentary on the future of online behavior all at once.
Austin American-Statesman


Triggers memories and emotions embedded in the psyche of a generation.... [Cline crafts] a fresh and imaginative world from our old toy box, and finds significance in there among the collectibles.
Entertainment Weekly

 
Ridiculously fun and large-hearted, and you don't have to remember the Reagan administration to love it.... [Cline] takes a far-out premise and engages the reader instantly.... You'll wish you could make it go on and on.
NPR.org


The grown-up's Harry Potter.... [T]he mystery and fantasy in this novel weaves itself in the most delightful way, and the details that make up Mr. Cline's world are simply astounding. Ready Player One has it all.
Huffington Post


A treasure for anyone already nostalgic for the late 20th century.... But it’s also a great read for anyone who likes a good book.
Wired.com


[An] adrenaline shot of uncut geekdom, a quest through a virtual world.... In a bleak but easily imagined 2044, Wade Watts...lives primarily online, alongside billions of others, via a massive online game, OASIS....The science fiction, video game, technology, and geeky musical references pile up quickly, sometimes a bit much so, but sweet, self-deprecating Wade, whose universe is an odd mix of the real past and the virtual present, is the perfect lovable/unlikely hero
Publishers Weekly


[A] geeky kid named Wade Watts...gets caught up in a worldwide virtual utopia called Oasis. There he finds himself on a virtual treasure hunt for a very real treasure. Described by Firstshowing.net as a blend of Avatar, The Matrix, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, this book promises to be really, really big. Get it, probably in multiples.
Library Journal


(Starred review.) An exuberantly realized, exciting, and sweet-natured cyber-quest. Cline’s imaginative and rollicking coming-of-age geek saga has a smash-hit vibe.
Booklist


The real world, in 2045, is the usual dystopian horror story. So who can blame Wade, our narrator, if he spends most of his time in a virtual world? The 18-year-old, orphaned at 11, has no friends in his vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City, while the OASIS has captivating bells and whistles, and it's free. Its creator, the legendary billionaire James Halliday, left a curious will. He had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate.....[C]lever but not exciting. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate "epic throwdown" fail to stir the blood.
Kirkus Reviews