Ready Player One

By Ernest Cline Suitable age: 12 and above Written by Ernest Cline, ‘Ready Player One’ takes place in a dystopian future with the virtual world Oasis being humans only source of entertainment. Following the death of Oasis’s creator, James Halliday, his will announces that the first player to find an Easter egg in his massive virtual universe by following strings of clues and keys, will inherit his wealth and control over Oasis. Wade Watts, with his avatar in the virtual world named Parzival, is a loyal disciple of Halliday. He sets out on the right path towards finding the Easter egg but, unfortunately for him, villains desperate to gain the wealth and power that Halliday once had push themselves to their limits to stop him. This book, similar to ‘Armada’ by the same author that I have reviewed previously, is peppered with 80’s-90’s pop culture. Cline adds action, thrill, and romance to greatly enhance the reading experience. On the other hand, I disliked the moment when Parzival hacks into IOI, the evil corporation with the only ambition of winning the Easter egg hunt, as it was clumsily written. The film adaptation of this book directed by Steven Spielberg which has recently been released is brilliant despite the screenplay being dissimilar to the book. It was satisfying to see the many Easter eggs (not the literal Easter egg) in the film such as the Iron Giant and the Shining. I was pleasantly surprised that Ernest Cline helped to screenplay the movie. Looks like Cline is not only a great author but also an amazing screenwriter. Both the film and the novel are outrageously brilliant, the film explains the way Parzival hacked into IOI better but the novel expresses other details more vibrantly. I cannot recommend one over the other. It was funny how I watched the film with so many Easter eggs about an Easter egg on Good Friday. LOL. Both the book and the film are truly masterpieces. You can read the book followed by the film or vice versa. In my opinion, there is no preferential order. 4.5 Elliot Stars (out of 5)