Wednesday, March 3, 2021

A Review – Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

 Ready Player Two
by Ernest Cline

A Review

SIDE NOTE! First off, I would like to apologise if there are formatting issues with this post, you don't know how long it took me to make everything stay in the same font, at the same size, in the middle of the screen... and the title, don't get me started on how long it took to get the title in the right format. Once again, apologies, but I spent too long making this to not post it. (Yes, I even copied it into a new post, it messed it up even more). Side note over, now onto the actual post (which I wrote earlier).

I've realised I like starting my posts with the word 'so', so I'm going to try and stop doing that.

There are things I'm meant to be doing right now, other than writing this, but I figured, hey! Who cares!

First I'll introduce the book, because, once again, I can't be bothered to explain it myself. Also, if you haven't already (if so, why?) go and read my other post first, where I review Ready Player One. You'll get a sense of what the story's actually about. If you've already read that post – thank you!

Here's the book:


AN UNEXPECTED QUEST. TWO WORLDS AT STAKE. ARE YOU READY?

Days after winning OASIS founder James Halliday's contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything.

Hidden within Halliday's vaults, waiting for his heir to find it, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the OASIS a thousand times more wondrous - and addictive - than even Wade dreamed possible.

And an unexpected, impossibly powerful, and dangerous new rival awaits, one who'll kill millions to get what he wants.

Wade's life and the future of the OASIS are again at stake, but this time the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance. 

Lovingly nostalgic and wildly original as only Ernest Cline could conceive it, Ready Player Two takes us on another imaginative, fun, action-packed adventure through his beloved virtual universe, and jolts us thrillingly into the future once again.

With it comes a new riddle, and a new quest: a last Easter egg from Halliday, hinting at a mysterious prize.

Amazon UK • Amazon US


There we go! Now, onto my review.

So, (I've got to stop starting sentences with that word) if you've read my other post, you'll know that my brother gave me Ready Player One for Christmas. He also gave me this one. I must admit, I much prefer paperbacks to hardbacks and the paperback version of this book isn't out for another couple of months. So I have the hardback, not that I'm complaining.

If I thought the adventure was over in the last book, I was wrong. Not only is there another quest, there is also a battle against time, millions of lives at stake, and only Wade and his friends know about it.

Being a newly-appointed billionaire doesn't make Wade as happy as it might seem. He is miserable – Samantha won't talk to him and it seems like his friends would rather spend their time without him. When they do hang out with him, it seems like they are doing so just to make him feel better, not like they actually want to be there.

The new technology, the ONI (OASIS Neural Interface) is either a blessing or a curse. It connects to ones brain, letting them visit the OASIS as if they are actually there. They can walk around, taste, smell, touch – all as if they are actually there. However, it's pulling more and more people into the OASIS, away from the real world, and with more and more people living false lives in a virtual world, Samantha's quest to try and help solve the world's problems are not going well.

And, of course, there is the whole deal with the fact that if you stay connected to the ONI for too long, you'll suffer irreparable brain damage and, more than likely, die.

And the fact that the worst has come to life, as is always destined with advanced technology – it has become sentient and is plotting world domination (albeit it domination of a virtual world).

The whole quest is mapped out incredibly, how Ernest Cline managed this is incomprehensible. You won't understand what I mean unless you read the book, so go and read it and then come back and agree with me.

I am not an '80s buff by a long shot, but I greatly enjoy '80s music and movies. Since the creator of the OASIS was also such, there is a lot of '80s culture dotted around and it was a joy to read. The way Shermer is written excited me and if I ventured into the OASIS, I feel like I would spend a lot of time there. Also, Samantha and I would be wonderful friends (I've decided).

I read a large majority of this book in the bath – it was a single event, not multiple baths. I would say I simply couldn't put it down, but since I was in a bath, that is true on more than one level. Definitely, definitely, get a copy of this book and read it! Read book 1 first though, or you might not understand all that is happening enough to fully immerse yourself into the story.

And end review.


If you've read this book, I hope you agree with me. If you don't, either tell me why peacefully and we can debate, or just don't tell me. I don't want to argue, you'll only lose.

If you haven't read it – why? I've told you at least twice already to go and do so. Hurry up!

That's it then.

Bye!


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