Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

 I'm always a bit suspicious of any book that becomes a phenomenon, even if the phenomenon is limited to a certain group of readers. In the case of Ready Player One, that group tended to be anyone with an interest in video games and fond memories of growing up in the 80's. Before I got around to reading it, I had the book recommended to me by at least a dozen people, which set off alarms in my naturally contrarian brain. I don't think I've ever been the type of nerd that hates things just because they are popular (at least I haven't been that guy in a long time), but what appeals to a large number of people often doesn't appeal to me. My fear before starting Ready Player One was that all those “cool” 80's references I was hearing about would be too ham-fisted and googly-eyed to compel me to care. I wasn't too far into the book before I realized that those fears were unfounded. The basic conceits of the plot allowed any reference to be assimilated into the text in a way that was purposely showy. So, yes, the movie and video game (and television and toy) references are a bit obvious and on the nose, but it works as a function of the world Cline has created. More importantly, Ready Player One is a wonderful homage to 1^st generation cyberpunk, and I had forgotten how much the tropes and conventions of that sub-genre appealed to me. The nostalgia I had built up for the early works of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Greg Bear and the rest of those in mirrored shades was much more powerful than my nostalgia for classic video games.

In the world of Ready Player One, society has nearly collapsed. The air is poisonous, the streets are dangerous, and cities are so overcrowded people have taken to living in trailers stacked one on top of another to dizzying heights. The danger and clutter of the real world have driven nearly everyone on to OASIS, a massively multi-player “game” where nearly any imaginable setting can be found. Users jack into this virtual world wearing eyewear and haptic clothing which enables them to touch and experience the virtual world in a way that evokes reality. The world of OASIS is so addictive, so inviting, that people basically spend every free moment online. Their online selves have become more important to them than their flesh-and-blood selves. As the book begins, the creator of OASIS, James Halliday (think a little bit of Bill Gates mixed with a little bit of Gary Gygax), has died and left behind a video detailing a contest, the winner of which will get his enormous fortune.

Ready Player One's protagonist, Parzival, is a “gunter,” the term eventually assigned to the players searching the virtual world for the ultimate video game Easter egg. Gunters spend their time immersed in 80's lore because that is where they feel they will find the answer to Halliday's riddles. As we are witness to the conversations between Parzival and his loosely connected crew (it is important to the the novel's basic set up that they are not a team, at least early on) we are inundated with references to things nerdy kids who grew up in the 80's would recognize. Really, there is nothing obscure in the references as far as I was concerned. The only place that I didn't immediately have nearly perfect knowledge of references was the Japanese television shows and toys, and, even there, most of the basic references were familiar. Still, it was fun to think back on those things that gave me a lot of joy during my childhood. Even better, when one of the works does become integral to solving Halliday's puzzles, Cline does a great job getting right to the essence of the objects appeal.

As science-fiction, Ready Player One is equally nostalgic. Cyberpunk has kind of faded from mainstream SF, but I can't help but notice that its themes and motifs are becoming more and more prophetic as we move through the 21^st Century. It could be ripe for a comeback, and Ready Player One does its basic themes well enough to be on the vanguard of that movement. I know that when I finished the book, I immediately hit the Web and found a couple of bloggers to recommend recent cyberpunkish books for me to move on to. There is just something that appeals to me in the basic concept of an OASIS or a matrix (Gibson's, not Keanu's) or a Metaverse. I love the contrast of status and the concept of “self” between the meat person and the virtual person, and Ready Player One really does some fun things with it as Parzival and his fellow gunters become famous in the real world for the actions of their avatars.

Maybe Ready Player One isn't great literature. It is really the nerd version of a beach read, but it is a really enjoyable beach read that I can recommend to any science-fiction fan with even a hint of 80's nostalgia in his or her heart.

Review--A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

A Dance with Dragons

George R.R. Martin

Bantam, 2011

(For those that haven’t read the book, an attempt has been made to make this review as spoiler-free as possible.  Still, read at your own risk).

Where Have all the Heroes Gone?

After what had become for A Song of Ice and Fire fans a seemingly interminable delay, George R.R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons was finally released on July 12, five years and eight months after the release of the previous book in the series, A Feast for Crows.  In that nearly six-year absence, the series took on fans like a submarine made out of wiffle balls takes on water.

Click to read more ...

Dragonriders to ... well, May Soar to the Big Screen!

You know how you have that favorite book that you just want to see on the big screen?  Well, I've been lucky I must admit.  I didn't think I'd see Lord of the Rings on the big screen, but I did.  I didn't think I'd ever see John Carter swashbuckling across Barsoom in the theater, but I'm gonna.  Now, finally, another of my top fav fives of all time is on the verge of making it: The Dragonriders of Pern!  I know, I know . . . there had been rumors and false beginnings for years - and that failed tv outing.  But this looks mighty promising.  Read about it here. 

Now, if they'd only hurry up with Elric . . .

Past Midnight

Okay, that took a little longer than expected, but I started reading Thoreau's Walden also.  (I'm bad for reading two or three books at the same time.  Sometimes four or five.  My record, which included an audio book, was seven.)   I was going between chapters for a bit, but finally just sat down today to finish Midnight.

How sould I put this?  Um . . . Wow, comes to mind.  When last we parted, I told you about the hook with Nathan Brazil.  Anyway, this grand construct of the Well World, in fact, becomes just an ordinary setting (well, as ordinary as an artificially created world can be).  All the mysteries around Brazil are slowly revealed in the grand quest to make it to the legendary Well of Souls.  Everything that I hypothezied about the character wasn't just wrong - it wasn't even close.  He truly must be one of the most unique and remarkable characters ever created.  I cannot believe I waited so long to read this book.

Speaking of which, Midnight at the Well of Souls is the first of a series, but it can be read as a stand alone novel.  I don't know if Chalker wrote this book then the others to hook into the enthusiasm of his readers or if there was a grand plan from the beginning.  Whatever it may be, this is one of the great books that has a definite beginning, middle, and end, that isn't afraid to explore incredible ideas.  I highly recommend it.  Highly.  And while I desperately want to dive into the second book, I do not feel cheated or compelled to read it the way a lot of authors today get their readers to do by having cruel and obvious cliffhangers.  I can now finish my other reading, while merely looking forward to seeing how, and if, Chalker was able to top himself.

Unfortunately, I think this book is out of print.  I know Baen picked it up a few years ago.  But as I said before, the do have the ebook available, and you don't have to buy the whole series.  Hold a sec . . . yep, I was right.  You can get Midnight for $4.00.  It is a very worthy investment. 

Here's the link to save you some typing:  Midnight at the Well of Souls.

Enjoy!

My First Visit to the Well World

About twenty-five years ago or so, a friend suggested I read Jack Chalker's Midnight at the Well of Souls.  I was on a strick diet of sword and sorcery at the time - Howard, Leiber, Moorcock, and the like - so, sadly I never got around to it.  I believe I even bought a copy at the time.  Anyway, I was browsing the ebooks over at Baen.com, and lo and behold, what do I find?  The complete Well World saga.  I bought every book and have started reading the first.

All I can say is that I could kick myself for waiting so long.  Well, I guess I should qualify that I'm only approximately 50% through the first book (Midnight), but I can tell I'm going to be reading the rest.  I like Chalker's style a lot.  I find it easy to read, even when he's talking about ancient super-computers.  Initially, I thought it was going to be a lot like Niven's Ringworld in that the setting is the prime attraction.  Now, let me say I love Ringworld, and it remains one of my favorite science fiction novels.  But sometimes it seems that the characters are there primarily to explore the setting.  I don't have a problem with those types of books at all as long as the setting continues to fascinate.  The first half of Midnight did that for me, but it was at that halfway point that Chalker hooked me for the rest of the ride. 

The main character, Nathan Brazil, was interesting enough up to the mid point.  There were some hints that he was definitely different from everybody around him, but now, it's like - BAM! - he's different from anybody in the entire galaxy.   I hated setting the book down this morning to go to work.  Don't want to give any spoilers - but what a hook!