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 ten thousand 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 twentieth 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.
This book was amazing! Not in the literary sense (it's not a literary masterpiece), but the story was just so amazing! I bought this book after have found out that it was going to become a movie (coming out this month!), but then it ended up on my shelf and I kind of forgot about it. Then, last January, my friend told me to pick it up because she loved it so much. Now, after having read it, I can't believe I waited so long before reading this!
As someone who likes to game and does it quite a lot, the idea of this online virtual reality gameworld really struck me as amazing. I can totally see myself getting obsessed with it and wanting to be online all the time. The way it was described, the endless possibilities that the OASIS has... it struck me with wonder. I wasn't alive in the '80's, the decade this story references to a lot, but I did recognize some things thanks to my dad's obsessions with Monty Python and Terry Pratchett. So I probably didn't even see all the hidden references and Easter eggs within the story, but the ones I did understand were so much fun. I mean, there was a Doctor Who reference which got me all giddy and excited!
There was also a romance in the book, which I didn't deem necessary. I understood how and why it happened (I mean, every book has romance, right?), but I think it would have been just a great without it.
This book has it all. It was very easy for me to get into this fantastic but also horrific dystopian world. The weird part is that I could see something like this happen in the future. People who live more online instead of in the real world. I think Ernest Cline really captured a future that could in some way happen, which made it even more thrilling to read.
Now, I am just really excited to see the movie! I can't wait for the OASIS to come to life!
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 ten thousand 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 twentieth 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.
This book was amazing! Not in the literary sense (it's not a literary masterpiece), but the story was just so amazing! I bought this book after have found out that it was going to become a movie (coming out this month!), but then it ended up on my shelf and I kind of forgot about it. Then, last January, my friend told me to pick it up because she loved it so much. Now, after having read it, I can't believe I waited so long before reading this!
“Being human totally sucks most of the time. Videogames are the only thing that make life bearable.”
As someone who likes to game and does it quite a lot, the idea of this online virtual reality gameworld really struck me as amazing. I can totally see myself getting obsessed with it and wanting to be online all the time. The way it was described, the endless possibilities that the OASIS has... it struck me with wonder. I wasn't alive in the '80's, the decade this story references to a lot, but I did recognize some things thanks to my dad's obsessions with Monty Python and Terry Pratchett. So I probably didn't even see all the hidden references and Easter eggs within the story, but the ones I did understand were so much fun. I mean, there was a Doctor Who reference which got me all giddy and excited!
There was also a romance in the book, which I didn't deem necessary. I understood how and why it happened (I mean, every book has romance, right?), but I think it would have been just a great without it.
“There, inside the game’s two-dimensional universe, life was simple:
It’s just you against the machine. Move with your left hand, shoot with
your right, and try to stay alive as long as possible.”
This book has it all. It was very easy for me to get into this fantastic but also horrific dystopian world. The weird part is that I could see something like this happen in the future. People who live more online instead of in the real world. I think Ernest Cline really captured a future that could in some way happen, which made it even more thrilling to read.
Now, I am just really excited to see the movie! I can't wait for the OASIS to come to life!
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