Welcome to Quill Quotes Book Club’s final discussion of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline! We hope you enjoyed the read. Note, this discussion covers the full book and will contain spoilers, so if you haven’t finished reading yet you may want to go back to the first discussion.
Kevin’s Thoughts
I didn’t find the second half quite as amazing as the first, possibly because the movie seemed to follow it a bit closer, but I’m still rating Ready Player One 5 stars! A lot of the puzzles were different in the movie but I remembered the extra life once he played Pac-Man and knew infiltrating IOI would come into play somehow. The foreshadowing of the Cataclysm item and Adventure Easter egg were also easier to put together based on the movie. Part of me wishes I could go back and read this before seeing the movie, but I’m also kind of glad I waited until now to read it since the sequel, Ready Player Two, was just released. For me, the ending left a few too many questions to be satisfying as a standalone book so I’m glad the sequel is available for me to read soon. Maybe it was always intended to be a series, but on its own, the ending might have dropped my rating to 4 stars.
As a standalone book, I’d want at least one more chapter to answer whether Wade and Samantha return to the OASIS as Parzival and Art3mis or prefer to stay in the real world. Of course, it seems like the real world needs a lot of work to be bearable but with all the money and power they just won hopefully they can do a lot towards fixing it. With that in mind, do you think Wade should shut down the OASIS as Halliday seems to suggest? I can certainly see the author’s point that the virtual world / technology may have led to the decline in the real world; but I also really liked a lot of the concepts up to the end where the virtual world leveled the playing field for a lot of people and allowed business to be conducted more easily all around the world. Especially in the context of the current pandemic, the technology to be able to virtually go to work/school would be pretty life-changing.
Favorite Quote
“Parzival: This is the OASIS. We exist as nothing but raw personality in here.”
– Ernest Cline, Ready Player One
“Art3mis: I beg to differ. Everything about our online personas is filtered through our avatars, which allows us to control how we look and sound to others. The OASIS lets you be whoever you want to be. That’s why everyone is addicted to it.”
Brooke’s Thoughts
I did really enjoy this book but not quite as much as Kevin. I think if I had lived through the ’80s or was a bigger fan of video games I would have enjoyed it even more. There were A LOT of references I didn’t get and made it hard for me to envision. I did really like the concept of the OASIS and I thought Cline did a great job of showing what our future could look like if the world keeps heading down the path we are on. Overall, I gave this book 4 stars.
Favorite Quote
“I was not playing a simulation within a simulation. A game within a game.”
– Ernest Cline, Ready Player One
Vote
Sorry, this vote is now closed. The average rating was 4.25/5 stars!
Ready Player One Final Discussion Prompts/Questions
Feel free to comment whatever thoughts and questions you have! But if you aren’t sure where to start, consider some of the prompts/questions below:
- How did you feel about Parzival and Art3mis’s online romance? From Kevin’s favorite quote, do you tend to agree more with Parzival or Art3mis about people’s online personalities?
- Do you think Wade was brave/smart or foolish/lucky to infiltrate IOI without any backup?
- Did you like the ending? Are you planning to read Ready Player Two or satisfied with the first book?
- Were you surprised by the extra life and way the contest ended or had you predicted it? Bonus points if you haven’t seen the movie!
- What do you think Parzival, Art3mis, and the other gunters will do now that the contest is over? Aech and Shoto seemed quick to log back in but do you think they’ll enjoy it without the contest providing a goal or prefer to return to the real world?
- Should Wade shut down the OASIS?
- Share a favorite quote!
Commenting
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I read Ready Player One 3-4 years ago and remember enjoying it. I would give it 4 stars.
I actually didn’t enjoy the “romance” (a bit too clichéd for my taste) and also thought the extra life thing was like a planned deus ex machina, which I did not find compelling either. I also found the writing style to be uninteresting, mainly due to the conversational style.
However, I thought the larger concepts and themes of the book were really good, especially since we seem to be rapidly approaching that future and some people already live most of their lives online (see hikikomori in Japan for example). So I really enjoyed the exploration of that topic.
I also enjoy dystopian futures and the author did a great job illustrating that landscape and the effects. I would have actually enjoyed more detail there, for example, why the stacks?
All in all it was a very entertaining read. I did watch the movie but found the book to be better, but I have a pretty strong bias in that direction in general!
I enjoyed the romance as a nice addition to the main action/adventure storyline that wasn’t too over the top. Even though I saw it coming thanks to the movie, I also thought the extra life was needed since the Sixers never would have let anyone else win without it. Even with the extra life, it was a race to the finish!
The concept of living entirely online is definitely intriguing and with social media continuing to grow could soon be a reality. I do agree it would have been cool to get more details on how/why their real world deteriorated so much and what role the OASIS played in it. Material resources must have been pretty scarce to use the trailers/cars they came in to create the stacks rather than having apartments built. The need to be close to the city didn’t really make sense to me though since everyone’s online and Wade’s bus trip to Columbus showed a lot of empty space in between cities. Seems like the metropolises could just spread out into that space rather than needing to go up with the stacks?
I usually like the books better than movies too and definitely agree in this case, although the movie is still entertaining!
My favorite quote was “You know you’ve totally screwed up your life when your whole world turns to shit and the only person you have to talk to is your system agent software.”
I liked this quote because Halliday even tells Wade at the end to get out in the real world don’t end up alone like him.
I liked Parzival and Art3mis romance I was rooting for them to get together even though I remembered a little from movie. When he meet Aech in real life that part came back to me from movie. I believe they couldn’t hide their whole personality from their avatars some of it will always come through.
Parzival was foolish and brave to win the game I don’t think he had much choice in doing what he did the Sixers would have won if he didn’t take a risk.
I knew the coin had some importance but I couldn’t remember what power it had.
I am curiuos what happens next. I don’t think he should shut it down because it is an escape for many people. Hopefully they will try to help the real world devlope so not so much poverty.
That was a pretty funny quote but also a sad point where the competition had alienated all his friends. Luckily, they were able to work things out and come together by the end!
He had to take the risk against the Sixers for any chance to win but I feel like he should have involved his friends or something to not just go it alone. It very easily could have turned out much differently if he wasn’t able to escape or the passwords he’d purchased didn’t work.
Yea, I’m excited to read Ready Player Two and see what he does. I agree it shouldn’t be shut down but something probably needs to change to get some more involvement in the real world to fix things there. Assuming he doesn’t shut it down, do you think Wade will create a similar competition to pass on control at the end of his life?
I found that quote funny too!
I think I would get so obsessed with the OASIS that I might have a hard time distinguishing which is reality and which isn’t, especially if you spend the majority of your time online. Reminds me of Inception which is why I like that “game within a game” quote so much.
Surprisingly, I remember very little about the movie. I remembered there was something wrong with Art3mis’s face but I thought it was a burn scar.
I agree, unless your an amazing actor, which most of us aren’t, some of your personality will always come through the avatar. Even if you’re putting on a character that’s still probably how you want to be on some level.
I think Parizval should have done what he did but at least let someone know what he was doing in case it went terribly wrong.
I am also curious where the next book goes. I’m not really sure who it’s going to follow. I hope they use the money together for good and help the planet. I think it would be interesting if Wade makes another test/game as Halliday did for when he dies.