It's an odd thing that the first-ever book review for this blog happens a little over a year into posting. The reason it's odd is because books are a big part of my life.
I knew after reading the first few pages of Ernest Cline's "Ready Player One" that it would be a fitting first review. Not only is the first-person narrative in this futuristic novel compelling, the story centers around a treasure trove of 1980s pop culture -- crafted with a fanboy's love and affection.
"Ready Player One" tells the tale of Wade Watts, a teenager in the year 2044 who lives in the Oklahoma City "stacks" (mobile homes and RVs piled high on stilts -- to save on ground space). Wade's mother died from a drug overdose, and he resides with his aunt and her boyfriend.
Wade doesn't spend much time with his aunt, nor does he spend much time in the real world. Neither does the rest of society.
As is the case with a number of futuristic dystopian societies in fiction, the planet has basically gone to hell in a handbasket. Earth has been suffering from an energy crisis (the "Global Energy Crisis"), climate change, and a long-standing recession.
Much of the world spends its time "living" in a multi-player computer game called OASIS (Ontologically Athropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation). The digital world was created by a software developer named James Halliday, owner of Gregarious Simulation Systems. The immersive enviroment is used by people on a daily basis via OASIS consoles, visors, suits, and gloves.
OASIS isn't just a digital world, it is a full-blown virtual universe.
Wade uses his school-issued console, visor, and gloves to participate in the OASIS world via an avatar he has created. He accesses the OASIS in his "hideout" -- an old van in the stacks where he can play in peace. He also attends an OASIS Public School.
We find out early on in the novel that James Halliday has died. The reclusive creator left a short video message for the world to see. The film -- dubbed "Anorak's Invitation" -- is filled with obscure information from 1980s pop culuture. (Anorak is the name of Halliday's OASIS avatar).
Viewers learn that Halliday's entire estate (valued at $240 billion) -- along with a controlling share of his company -- is being put in escrow until the conditions of his will are met.
He has hidden an "Easter egg" somewhere in the OASIS environment ("three keys open three secret gates"), and the individual who finds the hidden egg will inherit Halliday's fortune and control of OASIS.
Wade is obsessed with the hunt. He nitpicks all the minute details in Anorak's Almanac -- Halliday's personal journal filled with biographical information, random thoughts, and 1980s references.
As a result, our protagonist binge-watches TV shows like Family Ties, memorizes movies like WarGames, plays classic Atari games like "Adventure," listens to bands like Rush, and uses popular ad slogans like "time to make the doughnuts" (from the famous Dunkin Donuts ad campaign).
Wade and his fellow "gunters" (a fusion of "egg hunters") spend copious amounts of time obsessing over the Easter egg hunt, and have message boards and digital resources dedicated to the topic. His best friend is an avatar named Aech, a fellow gunter in the virtual world.
Wade keeps a detailed "grail diary" (a reference to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) to store notes on everything he learns in his quest.
Many want to win the fortune. Others merely want to stop the "Sixers" -- the gunter nickname for the employees of Innovative Online Industries (IOI) who are hunting for the Easter egg (they have an established Oology Division dedicated to that purpose).
IOI is a communications conglomerate that is the globe's largest ISP. They are in the business of "monetizing" the OASIS enviroment (a world that Halliday intended to be open for all), by selling access, goods, and advertising to users. They are the over-reaching corporation in this dystopian world (and the description of the IOI headquarters feels like something out of George Lucas's film THX 1138).
The head of operations at Innovative Online Industries is Nolan Sorrento (who serves as the main antagonist in the story).
Using his avatar (named Parzival), Wade soon finds the first key in the challenge.
Wade seeks Aech's wisdom along the way, and also bonds with fellow gunters Art3mis (a female avatar who is an OASIS crush for Wade) and two Japanese players named Daito and Shoto.
What ensues is a multi-player hunt (sometimes deadly) utilizing pop culture references that will cause "Children of the 80s" to geek out. The future of the OASIS software is at stake -- will it remain an open environment for users, or will IOI and Nolan Sorrento seize control?
For the rest of the novel "it's on like 'Red Dawn.'"
I was born the same year as the author of "Ready Player One," so these references really resonated with me.
As a kid in the 1980s, I lived for Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Big Trouble in Little China, Tron, and other 1980s sci-fi/fantasy properties. I also sunk way too many quarters into Galaga machines during that era (my favorite video game to this day).
Readers are treated to mentions of John Hughes teenage angst dramas. Iconic characters like "Max Headroom" and "Johnny Five" (from the movie Short Circuit) make appearances.
There are OASIS planets with names like Benatar (after the singer Pat Benatar) and Falco (like the Austrian rapper who brought us the song "Rock Me Amadeus").
Various computer and gaming systems of the era are referenced -- like the Atari 2600, Apple IIe, TRS 80, and Commodore 64.
I was hooked early on in "Ready Player One" when I read Wade Watts's login phrase to get into OASIS:
You have been recruited by Star League to defend the Frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada
That is a line from the cheesy sci-fi flick "The Last Starfighter," a movie my mom took me to see at the Millard 4 in the summer of 1984.
The cool thing about Cline's novel is that the 1980s factoids aren't merely "tacked on" for the sake of nostalgia. Rather, those retro nuggets are integral plot points used in solving Halliday's challenge.
Cline also avoids making this a "cliche" 1980s homage. He doesn't just reference those 80s properties which are still popular today (or those that have become popular in intervening years).
For example, he mentions TV shows like "Riptide," "Whiz Kids," and "Square Pegs" -- which are TV shows very much off the beaten path.
Another strength of the Cline's narrative is that he avoids too much heavy-handed commentary on the social ills of his futuristic society. Sure, those points come out in dribs-and-drabs as the story unfolds, but Cline keeps the focus primarily on the hunt, and on the 1980s culture employed.
"Ready Player One" had a way of transporting me back to my youth -- in a manner I haven't experienced with other novels. By employing so many nostalgic '80s references, Cline was able to stir up an interesting cocktail of emotions in this reader -- feelings that generated an emotional undercurrent that isn't often found in this territory.
Not only that, the story is structured in such a way that younger readers (who weren't alive during the decade) will want to seek out that era's films, shows, songs, and games to experience them for themselves.
Next March, "Ready Player One" hits the big screen in a new movie directed by Steven Spielberg.
A first-look teaser for the Warner Bros. production hit San Diego Comic-Con this summer. The trailer features an orchestration of the score from the 1971 movie "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" and the song "Tom Sawyer" by Rush.
There's no doubt that the movie will be different than Cline's novel. However, fans of the book should be heartened by the fact that Cline helped write the screenplay. Fans should also be pleased that the architect of so many enduring '80s cinematic tomes (that Cline loves) is at the helm.
I'm looking forward to seeing how they adapt the novel, and which 1980s references make it into the feature film.
My niece Emily first recommended "Ready Player One" to me several months ago. I'm glad I finally took the time to read it. She and her sisters have recommended a number of books I've absolutely loved the past few years.
Also...
I've seen Ernest Cline over the years in various documentaries focusing on 1980s pop culture (if you haven't seen the docs "Atari: Game Over" or "Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made," they are both on Netflix as of this writing).
He also wrote the movie "Fanboys" with Adam F. Goldberg (who is responsible for the wonderful ABC TV series set in the 1980s called "The Goldbergs").
I picked up "Fanboys" on DVD several years ago from the sale bin at Walmart. While that comedy (about a group of friends who want to take their dying compatriot to Skywalker Ranch so he can see "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace") wasn't perfect, it definitely stuck with me.
I could keep rambling on, but I won't.
I'm getting ready to order Cline's second novel "Armada," and will try to have a review for you soon!
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