Ernest Cline's Ready Player One is an innovative and intellectual young adult novel published in 2011. This science fiction story chronicles the quest of an ordinary teenager named Wade Watts relies on a highly advanced virtual world, the OASIS, to live much of his life: attending school, hanging out with friends, and having fun, all through a digital avatar. OASIS was originally designed as a cutting-edge freeware MMORPG for the whole world to enjoy and explore. This quickly expanded to include business, employment, government, and more, until virtually every person on the planet had their own avatar. This utopian escape is ideal for the apocalyptic state of Earth in 2044, where poverty and destruction shroud the planet in a tragic layer of despair. For Wade, who grew up in this reality as a poor orphan, this is a double-edged sword with +5 damage because he can't afford to do anything in the OASIS. Instead, he dedicates his entire adolescence to learning everything there is to know about the culture of the '80s. This obsession developed because of The Hunt: a labyrinthine mission organized by the game's creator, James Halliday, who left his billion-dollar legacy to the only player who can open all three gates. Halliday, also known as Anorak, was a reclusive genius with a broad knowledge of nerdy topics ranging from classic video games and bad movies to fantasy literature and board games. Five years after Anorak's death, Wade unexpectedly uses his peculiar knowledge to find the first key and consequently reignite the hunt. After a stressful and crazy race against a powerful company called IOI, Wade and his friends reach the third gate and finally complete the puzzle. The novel ends with a couple of open conditions and a tone of optimism for the future of the Earth, the real one. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay I honestly have to say that this is one of the funniest books I have ever read. I finished it in less than 24 hours and absorbed every well-written word. This story immediately caught my attention when it first mentioned the movie Airplane. My dark appreciation for old nerdy things was never really relevant or useful until reading this book. I found myself really excited as the puzzles started to unfold. And when Wade noticed the location of the first key and started making his way through a dungeon, I literally screamed at Matt how amazing the book was. Most of my early days in high school were spent in my friend's dining room playing Dungeons & Dragons for hours at a time, so the theme of a mystery quest was exactly what I remembered from our old campaigns. Reading the pages inspired me to look up things I wasn't familiar with so I could immerse myself more in the story. I rewatched WarGames so I could relive the adventure that came to mind during Wade's encounter with the first gate. I picked up Rush's 2112 album and listened to the sci-fi tunes while Wade discovered the crystal key. One of my favorite references throughout the book was Monty Python's Holy Grail Flicksync, which left me speechless. Not to mention, the entire narrative of this story is very similar to my favorite anime, Sword Art Online. The writing style was perfect for this novel. I imagine it was quite difficult to describe a video game interface and simulation controls just towords, but Cline did a great job describing the OASIS. Even someone who doesn't play video games would be able to understand this system, and for me it was perfectly detailed. Each situation and setting was illustrated with great care and refrained from becoming too wordy or technical. With this diction, you could imagine a pile of demolished stacks as easily as you could imagine a grand mansion based on the Lord of the Rings. What I appreciated most about this story and its talented author were the absurdly imaginative situations in which Wade became involved. Play Joust with an undead king in a dungeon. Then it turns around and plays a 3D version of an old text adventure. And the giant robot battle at the end was just the icing on the cake. I really have to pay my respects to Ernest Cline, with the references and the continuity of the story, you can tell he put a lot of research and work into it. Every piece of information had some kind of relevance. There were events that seemed unimportant at first and ended up coming back later to change the direction of the plot (Pac-man's extra quarter life)! I thought overall the story was surprisingly complete, despite the cliffhangers we're left with; wondering if Wade will ever shut down the OASIS, if he will regenerate all the avatars, and what he will end up spending his fortune on. Cline incorporated these possibilities throughout the narrative, allowing his characters to discuss their situation instead of just walking through it. Different perspectives are expressed through the different roles in the story, such as a hopeful teenager, a lonely mastermind, or a selfish tyrant. These people came across as thorough and realistic, and it was easy to find someone to connect with. I've always rooted for Wade, even though he got really frustrating halfway through the book. I wanted him to win so badly and his imperfections irritated me at first, but eventually I accepted that he was just a normal guy doing the best he could. As I read Ready Player One, I kept wishing I had actually grown up in the '80s. I kept thinking about my stepfather, who is very stupid and loves watching old Star Trek movies. What I found a little confusing was the fact that this novel seems to be written for people older than me who would recognize all the nostalgic content. Despite this, the prose can be quite juvenile and aimed at young adults like me. This led me to make the connection between Cline and Halliday, because they both seem to want everyone to love the same things they do. So I don't think I would recommend it to my stepfather, even though I know he would like the references, I think he's too mature for that. So it seems like Cline wrote it specifically for all the weirdos my age in love with an era we can only relive through movies, video games, books, and other classic entertainment outlets. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay It's easy to see why this book was assigned to our class. Many times I made associations with Black Mirror, especially in case I lost touch with reality. Everyone in this world considers the OASIS to be their entire life, especially Wade. He struggles with the truth of this facade during his six months of isolation at home. Even Halliday, who has spent every moment of her life online, eventually realizes that the real world offers a real existence and that people have neglected to care about it. As we have already discussed in class, our current society is on its way to a reality very similar to the one we see in,, 10(2), 16-27.