Ready Player One
#readyplayerone so, you should know something. i’m a huge nerd. no really. i may sing and act and dance and love to shop and wear high heels and lots of makeup….but rewind 10-15 years….and you’ll see a shy tomboy in a basketball tee-shirt and baggy shorts reading science fiction & fantasy, biking to the nearest garage sale where there was rumored a Game Genie for $10 (with which, then, was promptly used to defeat Bubble Bobble), jamming to the Schoolhouse Rock Rocks! album (Better Than Ezra sings Conjunction Junction? Mr. Morton is RAPPED? yesssss), having dance recitals to a Muppet Show album (RECORD album, mind you), and other such awesomeness.
this, of course, has translated into adulthood. i still read sci-fi and fantasy. asimov, card, brooks, l’engle, adams, sagan….i love all a’ y’all. (card, keep ‘em comin!) my favorite movie (other than The Newsies, as well we all know) is Contact. i’m still obsessed with the Muppets. (HURRY NEW MOVIE! AND HEEEY GREEN ALBUM! OK GO SINGS THE MUPPET SHOW THEME?! WEEZER SINGS RAINBOW CONNECTION?! THE FRAY SINGS MAHNA MAHNA!?!?!?!?! YESSSS!) i love Darkwing Duck. i want to marry Sam Gamgee and i’m extremely jealous of Rose Cotton. i love anything Mario Bros (“swing your arms from side to side! c’mon it’s time to go - do the Mario!”) The Next Generation is near and dear to my heart. at one point in my life i could name all of the original 151 Pokemon. anything that has ANYTHING to do with time travel, space-time distortions, or wormholes makes my heart flutter. i read metaphysics for kicks & giggles.
NERD NERD NERD i tell ya.
soooo there’s this book….and it’s simply tailor-made for nerds comme moi.
it’s called Ready Player One and it actually has it’s own trailer. what? yes.
this book is no great literary accomplishment. it’s no groundbreaking science fiction and has no intensely intricate plot. i’m saying it ain’t no Isaac Asimov. (nor does it claim to be.) BUT…it’s a HELL of a lot of fun. i haven’t been able to stop reading it since i downloaded it to my ipad (which, by the way, is a pretty badass way of reading this particular novel. i feel all futuristic and keeeeewwwwl.)
as many novels, it’s based in a fictional future where the earth has pretty much gone to shittake. humans are dirt poor and find respite logging into the free “internet” or “OASIS” which allows them to live completely separate identities in a entire virtual reality world. kinda like the matrix, except you can logout whenever you like. MORE like the world in which Pixel comes from in the Diadem series. (i at least know that ONE of you possible readers out there will know this obscurity. yeah, told you i’m a nerd.) anyway, the creator of the OASIS, Halliday, has passed away and is leaving his fortune to one worthy individual who must pass through as series of tests/games. these tests are designed like a scavenger hunt, and are based on Halliday’s obsession with 80s culture. video games. movies. comics. song lyrics. television shows. books. EVERYTHING THAT MY NERDY HEART LOVES AND ADORES. (FACT: Halliday gave his pet fish the same name i game my ipad.)
this book….is OVERFLOWING with nerdy references. i’ll admit, i don’t get them all. but when i do, ESPECIALLY if it’s the key to passing a certain test, i’m like….a lottery winner. there’s A LOT of yelling. it’s a good thing i’ve been reading this with no one else around - or else they’d hear my insane shouting, laughing, groaning, and squealing at all the completely nerdtastic gems on every page.
look, i’m even BLOGGING about it, and i haven’t even FINISHED it!
i’ve never had so much fun reading before in my life!! it’s almost exhausting!!!
anyway. what i’m basically saying is….i recommend this book. it’s fun. it’s written in a completely casual and engaging voice. (beyond casual….slangy, really.) (slangy?) it’s funny, it’s suspenseful, and it’s JUST. PLAIN. FUN. a sort of Tron meets Willie Wonka meets Nick Arcade sort of thing. i mean, just watch the trailer. TELL ME this video doesn’t get you a little excited!
NERDS UNITE!!!
P.S. having limited internet access at the moment….i know nothing about the author other than what’s written in the “About the Author” at the end of the book. it simply states “Ernest Cline lives in Austin, Texas, where he devotes a large portion of his time to geeking out. This is his first novel.” i will find out more, but i write this post with no further knowledge. i imagine him to be someone in his late 20s or early 30s. it’s his first novel? i hearby proclaim him epically cool, and i would very much like to be his BFF. ernest, you rock. the end.
