Ready Player One iPhone screenshot
The Ready Player One audiobook was released in 2011. This is the first novel from author
Ernest Cline. The book is narrated expressively by Wil Wheaton. The total listening time for the a-book is almost 16 hours. The book contains some swearing, brief sexuality, and descriptions of real and fantasy violence.
Older and younger gameplayers will enjoy listening to Ready Player One. For older players, the story delves deep into the popular culture of the 1980s, bringing back lots of memories. The references to the era's games, movies, TV shows, comics, and music are all well explained in the story. So even if you aren't familiar with them, you will still understand their significance to the mega-quest.
For younger gamers, the ultimate-generation MMO will capture their imaginations. The story gives a detailed look at what the future of online gaming has become. It combines the best of early gaming experiences with the latest technology. The MMO of this story is called the OASIS, a totally immersive virtual existence using haptics.
The story flows seamlessly back and forth, from inside the fantasy-play of the game to out in the stark real world.
Many nongamers will like it too. And the author has said Warner Bros. may be filming a movie of the book. If that's the case, one certainly wants to hear the book first before seeing the movie. If only to see how all the details of the book could be translated to the big screen.
The Storyline
The setting is the near future, about the middle of the 21st century. The world is now in decline. Many people are receiving food vouchers. Many don't have enough money. Many people are homeless. Many lucky enough to have jobs are underemployed. Many people spend most of their lives online because it's better than the real world. This is happening worldwide.
A 17-year-old Wade Watts is living with his aunt after the death of his mother. He doesn't know much about his father, but remembers fondly how his mother used a computer to babysit him while she worked. Wade has spent years online. And he spends almost all of his time now in the Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation or the OASIS.
The founder of the OASIS dies, leaving behind a massive fortune. The fortune will go to the first gameplayers who can find his Easter Egg hidden inside the OASIS. Wade and others begin what becomes a journey through the history of computer games to piece together the clues in this super-quest for the egg. These egg hunters are called gunters, and they want to discover the egg and win the fortune.
Meanwhile, the Sixers, a group of players from Innovative Online Industries (IOI), also want to grab the egg. And they can afford to spare no expense to try and thwart Wade and everyone else. And they do mean business. Wade and his online pals Aech (pronounced as the letter H), Art3mis, Shoto, and Daito must puzzle-solve, fight NPCs as well as the Sixers inside the OASIS, and outsmart IOI in the real world to stay safe, find the egg, collect the billions, and pull themselves out of poverty.
Find The Book
The a-book is available for purchase or credit on Audible and other vendors. Booksfree.com and SimplyAudioBooks.com have the a-book for rental. To find a local library for the audiobook, use the WorldCat Locator and search by your ZIP code.
The DeLorean Giveaway
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Ready Player One has a summer mega-quest going on. The winner gets a fully refurbished 1981 DeLorean automobile. The author's own Easter Egg hunt consists of three video game challenges. The challenges deploy on June 1st, July 1st, and August 1st, 2012. So you still have a chance (theoretically)!
CONTEST UPDATE:
It only took a few days! Here's the video of Ernie explaining the contest and giving away the DeLorean :)
Congrats, Winner!