I finally got around to reading it. It was mildly enjoyable in the way decent fast food can be enjoyable, but I don't understand how people can claim this immature one dimensional story and okay writing constitutes a great book.
I enjoyed it because I'm a nerd who grew up in the 80's, but it's bubblegum entertainment with the depth of puddle.
I love SF, but the lack of distinction (by both fans and critics) between entertaining stories and good literature kinda turns me off and stops me from reading more. I constantly get disappointed when some highly praised SF book turns out to be nothing more than nerd equivalent of chick-lit.
Fuck, I even love SyFy channel's B-movie crap every once in a while, but at least I don't get duped into watching it thinking it is great cinema.
I would probably have enjoyed the book more if I had more realistic expectations.
I share your sentiments, in re expectations. Agreed RPO is a beach read, nostalgic fun for this child of the 80s, vs serious literature. Harkaway OTOH is a terrific writer and thinker per se, IMHO.
It's interesting how opinions about Ready Player One can be so polarized. As someone who spent their formative years living through the 80s, this book was a non-stop cringe-fest of embarrassment for me, made even worse by Wil Wheaton's over-the-top voice acting.
While I did quite enjoy the author's vision of futuristic VR, all the 80s camp and nostalgia ruined it for me.
I wanted to like it but couldn't get past the first couple of chapters. The reason? It's just so poorly written; the author never shows when he can just tell. It reads more like a description of a novel than an actual novel.
Yeah, I've heard that audiobook was great. I had a period of lengthy commuting when I listed to a ton of audiobooks, and found that Banks' Culture novels -- narrated by Peter Kenny in paricular -- were excellent. Kenny's performances really brought the works to life. A bad narrator can kill a good audiobook, and even a terrific one can't salvage a bad read. But pair an outstanding author with first-rate narration, and it's transformative. Highly recommended! :)
