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  • Ready Player One

  • By: Ernest Cline
  • Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
  • Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (7,643 ratings)

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Ready Player One cover art

Ready Player One

By: Ernest Cline
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
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Editorial reviews

Earth’s future is bleak in the gripping sci-fi fantasy audiobook Ready Player One, written by the brilliant Ernest Cline and narrated by American actor Wil Wheaton. Set in the near future, most of the human race have locked themselves into a virtual reality to escape the planet that the past generations had destroyed. Within this virtual existence lies the answer to infinite riches and Wade Watts spends every second on the treasure hunt. It is a frenzied race with countless players, all infected with desperation. The danger is intense and will affect them all. 

Publisher's Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The book behind the major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.

Now a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.

A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?

It's the year 2044 and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty and disease are widespread. 

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of 10,000 planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation. 

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late 20th century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle.

Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions - and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.

If you loved Ready Player One and can't wait for more, check out Armada, Ernest Cline's latest geek masterpiece!

©2011 Ernest Cline (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"Wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, Ready Player One is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut." (Independent)

"Part intergalactic scavenger hunt, part romance, and all heart." (CNN

"Ernest Cline’s novel deserves to be a modern classic." (SciFiNow)

What listeners say about Ready Player One

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Reindeer Flotilla Setec Astronomy

Firstly, I would like to say Will Wheaton did an amazing job at narrating, he kept my attention throughout the duration of the book. You could tell he enjoyed reading Ready Player One (Especially when he was referenced in the book).

Ernest Cline seems to have a way of painting a picture in the reader/listeners mind, without lingering on the story for to long. The story was intriguing, sometimes predictable... But I didn't mind, as it had a lot of interesting references, and the predictability was still entertaining.

I would happily recommend this book.

IOI-655321

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19 people found this helpful

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Barely engaging

Will wheaton did a fine job but unfortunately he couldn't make the story better than the trite garbage it is. With a main character that is too smart and barely suffering from any actual consequences, a story that is for the most part predictable and insufferable as it proceeds to reference the 80s as much as possible. I really tried to like this book, especially as some light hearted listening but it crossed the line one too many times with its lifeless characters and deus ex machina aplenty.

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15 people found this helpful

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Simply Brilliant.

Love, love, loved this. I think it's one of my top 5 audio books. Amazing.

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story is silly and not believable at times

the main character is very annoying and it seem silly that he knows every reference to every pop culture topic. will wheaton is a great narrator it is an alright listen overall.

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Enjoyable fan-service romp. Wil Wheaton great.

Yes it unashamedly riffs off blatant and continual nostalgia but it was just a really fun romp.
Wil's narration was great and good to hear female characters not getting the wussy, inspipid, breathy read most make narrators give them.
I got most of the references, but not all, and I'm not sure you'd get as much out of this story if you aren't somewhat familiar with the 80's or old-school videogames, but I found it utterly ridiculous fun and didnt want it to end.

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Not my cup of tea

This book is well written and easy to follow (even for a computer game dumbo), it is very descriptive and explained well, I just found it boring and hard going. Again, just not for me.

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10 people found this helpful

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A book that can't be put down

Be prepared to put aside important things as Ready Player One takes over your time.

With a plot as sound as the content, this is one book that engages you from start to finish. Relatable to anyone from a teenager to a 40 year old, there are references that both ends of the spectrum will find appealing and will justify the investment in time spent enjoying game/movie/comic culture over your life.

Really a great read and I highly recommend it.

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Waste of my time.

This was recommended to me on reddit, turns out to be glorified teenage fanfiction.

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7 people found this helpful

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So good!

I was hooked from the first line and it held my attention till the very end. Loved the 80’s nostalgia and gaming references. The movie was different enough to book that you could experience them separately without the details being repeated. My 11 yr old was also hooked (there were one or two slightly inappropriate references for his age but 13 and up would probably be fine). Highly recommended!

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Beware

For 80's geeks only, anyone else will feel compelled to sympathise with the Evil Corporation villians.

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