What The B@@K? #11 Ready Player One

Listen in as Jeff Mayhugh and I, Craig T. Stewart, discuss our thoughts on this paper 80s encyclopedia!

Synopsis:

Ready Player One, a Sci-Fi novel by Ernest Cline, is set in the year 2045. The story follows Wade Watts, aka Parzival, who lives in the “stacks” (trailer homes stacked for efficient use of space) as he searches for an easter egg in the OASIS, a popular virtual reality game available to anyone with the right gear for free. The OASIS has become an escape from the slow demise of the real world. The creator of the game, James Halliday, died, leaving an easter egg hunt to see who was worthy of inheriting control of the OASIS and his massive fortune.

Wade, like his fellow “gunters” (egg hunters), spend all their time learning about 1980s pop culture and gaming trivia and referencing what the world knows about Halliday and the clues he left to win the contest. The blend of adventure, dystopian (or perhaps utoptian?) fiction, and a coming-of-age story is packed with 80s references.

The story begins with the solving of the first riddle and discovery of the first key, kicking off Wade’s quest with his friends and other gunters, all seeking to beat the Sixers, people working for a corporation seeking control of the OASIS to “properly” monetize it, in this digital allusion to Arthurian legend of the quest for the Holy Grail.

Recurring (core) themes of the novel:

·       Nostalgia

·       The Power of Knowledge

·       Corporate Greed

·       Escapism from reality | Blurred lines of virtual and real worlds

·       Friendship, collaboration, and competition therein

List of books What the B@@K? is reading through:

1. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Bladerunner

2. Ender’s game

3. Lord of the flies

4. Metamorphosis

5. Minority report

6. Enders Shadow

7. Fahrenheit 451

8. Beyond good and evil

9. Electric dreams

10. Ready player 1

11. The Great Gatsby

12. Fear and trembling