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A review by libellum_aphrodite
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
3.0
A spot-on review of [b:Crux|17162149|Crux (Nexus, #2)|Ramez Naam|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1372046050s/17162149.jpg|21757503] used the fantastic term "plot artist" for authors who aren't particularly brilliant with the words, but are pretty damn good at weaving a yarn.
Cline fits perfectly into this category, with his treasure hunt through 80s pop culture. It was super fun working through the clues, but even so, I felt the story was a bit lazy at times [beware spoilers going forward].
* IOI is over-the-top to the point of absurdity, yet still somehow flat, evil, so much so that they are not a satisfying villain.
* Couldn't come up with anything better for the third gate challenge other than the same thing as the first two, but, get this!, combined? :/
* The mystery Ms. Pac Man quarter should have been an actual part of the quest, rather than an extra life. Perhaps an unstated requirement to activate the egg, for example, would have been more interesting to me than an extra life that protected Wade from random gunter-generated entropy.
* The in-person culmination of Wade's romance with Art3mis was cliche and ridiculous. Despite her incessant insistence that she looks different than her avatar, the difference was hardly shocking.
* Aech being a black woman in real life was much more interesting and a way better commentary on how we judge based on appearance. I liked that sentiment, but Cline laid it on so thick that it went from nice to hackneyed in the blink of an eye.
Besides the plot artistry issue, Cline was very inclined to tell rather than show. For example, at the end of the egg hunt, Halliday tells Wade that he regrets not spending more time with people in the real world. A deadpan statement via posthumous avatar is not nearly as compelling as seeing regret spill through emotions and actions.
Cline fits perfectly into this category, with his treasure hunt through 80s pop culture. It was super fun working through the clues, but even so, I felt the story was a bit lazy at times [beware spoilers going forward].
* IOI is over-the-top to the point of absurdity, yet still somehow flat, evil, so much so that they are not a satisfying villain.
* Couldn't come up with anything better for the third gate challenge other than the same thing as the first two, but, get this!, combined? :/
* The mystery Ms. Pac Man quarter should have been an actual part of the quest, rather than an extra life. Perhaps an unstated requirement to activate the egg, for example, would have been more interesting to me than an extra life that protected Wade from random gunter-generated entropy.
* The in-person culmination of Wade's romance with Art3mis was cliche and ridiculous. Despite her incessant insistence that she looks different than her avatar, the difference was hardly shocking.
* Aech being a black woman in real life was much more interesting and a way better commentary on how we judge based on appearance. I liked that sentiment, but Cline laid it on so thick that it went from nice to hackneyed in the blink of an eye.
Besides the plot artistry issue, Cline was very inclined to tell rather than show. For example, at the end of the egg hunt, Halliday tells Wade that he regrets not spending more time with people in the real world. A deadpan statement via posthumous avatar is not nearly as compelling as seeing regret spill through emotions and actions.