Scan barcode
A review by geekwayne
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
4.0
Let me temper my review by stating that I am a fan of much of the 80's geek culture. If you are not, then this book is probably not for you. I revelled in all the references. I wondered what would show up next. I loved that part of the book.
Less exciting was the storyline involving a bleak future and the plight of our hero. Our protagonist always seemed to have the solutions necessary, or be one step ahead of the bad guys, and that got a bit tiresome. Enough to taint my review down a star (possibly a second star if I really think about it). The dystopian future has been done much, much better in The Hunger Games, The Ask & The Answer and Blood Red Road. Here it falls a bit flat.
I think the book is aimed at a YA audience, but I'm not sure how enamored that audience would be with all the swooning nostalgia of an era that was long past when they were born. Possibly this book would work with footnotes, annotations, an appendix, or links to wikipedia articles. I'm pretty certain the movies and especially video games of the era wouldn't stand up to the scrutiny of audiences that wouldn't tolerate the blocky game pixels or non-cgi movie effects.
Nonetheless, a fun, light read packed with fun references, that is hampered a bit by some flat characterization.
Less exciting was the storyline involving a bleak future and the plight of our hero. Our protagonist always seemed to have the solutions necessary, or be one step ahead of the bad guys, and that got a bit tiresome. Enough to taint my review down a star (possibly a second star if I really think about it). The dystopian future has been done much, much better in The Hunger Games, The Ask & The Answer and Blood Red Road. Here it falls a bit flat.
I think the book is aimed at a YA audience, but I'm not sure how enamored that audience would be with all the swooning nostalgia of an era that was long past when they were born. Possibly this book would work with footnotes, annotations, an appendix, or links to wikipedia articles. I'm pretty certain the movies and especially video games of the era wouldn't stand up to the scrutiny of audiences that wouldn't tolerate the blocky game pixels or non-cgi movie effects.
Nonetheless, a fun, light read packed with fun references, that is hampered a bit by some flat characterization.