Ready Player Two: A Novel Hardcover – November 24, 2020

Maybe some other people can review Ready Player Two without mentioning Ready Player One, but I'm not one of them. So, here we go.Ready Player One knocked my socks off from the very first page. I knew it was going to be something amazing and legendary from the get-go, and I stand by that, though even the first book has its obvious downfalls and the biggest critique seems to be that it's an info-dump of 80s pop culture. But, hey. That's the time period I grew up in as well, so while the book may not have captured the imagination and heart of someone older or younger, it did for me.So I waited with baited breath for the next book by Ernest Cline. And I tried to like Armada>, I tried really hard, actually. But I didn't. So that totally upped the ante for Ready Player Two for me--and, I suspect, for many of you. I also have the somewhat limiting habit of putting myself too much in the shoes of the author, anxiously awaiting how the masses are going to like their latest book. Having never (yet) finished a story of my own with which to try the rocky seas of publication see if anybody beyond my own circle of friends will like to read it or not, I know I'm not at the exact same place a published author is when waiting for reader feedback, but I can imagine it's pretty terrifying, especially when the track record has been dubious at best. And I hate hurting anyone's feelings, which compromises how objective I can be in some of my review, I know. So yeah.What I liked about Ready Player Two:The retro video game and 80s/90s pop culture trivia was, if anything, even more interesting to me than it was in the first book, because a lot of this stuff was even more obscure (to me, anyway) and I actually learned a great deal of interesting facts that I didn't know about before. I'd often find myself pausing to google something and find out more about it, and you know what? That's pretty awesome.Cline made an effort to make his characters more diverse this time around, and while some will scoff or take issue with it, I give him points for trying. I tried not to read any articles or reviews before finishing the book, so as not to cloud my own feelings about it, but I did see the headline about the "non-binary sex" fumble. I get that, and we can all improve. But it's better to try to be inclusive, and then accept feedback, than to just not try to be inclusive at all. I loved that there was a non-binary character in this book. I hope we see more of that, going forward.The story, and the character of Wade himself, have both matured. Again--yeah, I get it--there's still tons of room for improvement. But one of the biggest wins for me was Wade's having matured when it came to sex, and sexual orientation, in general. The jokes about Art3mis potentially being a middle-aged man named Chuck, in the first book, gave Wade the vapors and sent him into a sexual identity crisis at the thought of potentially loving and/or being sexually attracted to another male. And yeah, as a teenager, sexual identity crises are not out of the ordinary. But as someone who is not heterosexual myself, it still felt like a stab, like the old "gay joke" which has long outworn its welcome. Cline, and Wade, set that right in the new book. Thanks to the technology of ONI, Wade has now had lots of experiences very diverse from his own upbringing, and yes, that includes sex too, so he's more level-headed about the whole thing, and the thought of "non-heterosexual sex" (for lack of a better term) no longer freaks him out. You know what? That's really cool. It acknowledges all of us out there who aren't heterosexual and/or cisgender, and in my mind, that is something to be celebrated.With more of a focus on the character of Kira Morrow, and the admission that she had been overlooked as one of the founders of the OASIS, some more cracks appeared in the glass ceiling. The retro gamer geek world has some pretty amazing female figures, both as creators and gamers, but they still seldom get the recognition they deserve. This felt like a nod to that.It was also fun to read. While I admit that the first few chapters did not grab me and draw me in as quickly as the first book did, by page 50 or so, I was definitely hooked, and I certainly finished this book a lot faster than any of the other books I've read recently.What I didn't like about Ready Player Two:The pacing. In Ready Player One, there were moments of intense action and pressure, and stretches of downtime (sometimes good, sometimes also tense but in a good way) as the quest for the first easter egg stalled, the way any true treasure hunt would. It was like a brand new game that nobody has ever seen before, and everything along the way had to be learned by trial and error, and luck. But this time around? It read like someone who didn't even *bother* to try to use trial and error, and instead just read the game walkthrough from start to finish. One of the characters always knew exactly what obscure and arcane thing was needed next, and it was a headlong rush to collect a bunch of crystals that felt more like speed-running a game while your friend sits on the couch next to you, reading the walkthrough and telling you what to do step by step. You still get to the same ending, yeah, but some of the fun of it has been stolen away in the process. Now yeah, in the story, the characters are under time constraints to do what they had to do. So I guess it had to go down that way. But it left me dissatisfied.Ditto for L0hengrin and her entire part to play in this. (I use the pronoun she, as it was what the character's preference was stated to be.) I was intrigued by her character, and the entire band of the L0W Five, and I wanted to know so much more! But it felt like a total cop-out, how little we really got to see about what they were off doing. I suppose that could be a gimmick and a way to eke another story out of this fictional universe, and while it's one I would read in a heartbeat, it only contributed to the abrupt pacing of this story, making me feel like I was reading a Cliff's Notes version instead of an entire, unabridged book. There was a lot to pack in, and it didn't all get packed in.Audiences have said loud and clear that they need more to a story than just an info-dump of retro trivia, so while that worked the first time around with Ready Player One, I think we all need more, this time around. And with the rushed pacing and abridged storyline, glossing over or not showing a lot of the action at all left me feeling like I'd only gotten to see 1/4 of the story.

I gave "Ready Player One" 5-Star's for Ernest Clive's first book to bring virtual reality alive in the OASIS of his creation.  He wrote a sequel.  As with Andy Weir's sequel to "The Martian", an absolute must read follow-on after such an incredible first book.  Unlike  Weirs' second effort, "Artemis", which was a complete literary train wreck, Clive wrote a strong sequel called, "Ready Player Two" that is every bit as good as his first effort.  In fairness to Weir "The Martian" is one of my all time favorite books.  But to avoid being a troll, Weir and Clive communicate, or at least Clive gave Weir a nice mention in the credits.  The difference is that Clive doesn't deviate from what he is good at doing...which is bringing video games to life on a written page.  Since "Ready Player One" was published, the movie was also produced.  As spectacular as the movie showed on the silver screen, there is still no screen as spectacular as what can be knit together in the human mind...great writers know this and Clive can still bring it.  This is highly suggestive that  may be a great writer.  Although I will go to the movie for this sequel when it is produced,  given Clive's writing, the book will still be better. Interestingly Clive also gives Spielberg acknowledgement for help advice in the credits suggesting, perhaps, that "Ready Player Two", the movie, will not be far behind. And they obviously don't have to screw with the name...But now, on to the review, which I will not pack with spoilers. Let's just say, "Ready Player Two" is another epic quest across the OASIS delving far deeper into Shermer Illinois than one should go...even if you are a John Hughes fan.  Far deeper into Prince's "The Afterworld'', even if you are a rabid Prince Fan, and so much deeper into Middle Earth, that even if you are not already in love with Tolkien, you might be forced to start reading that Parthenon of fantasy from the very beginning.  I suspect most of Clive's topics will enjoy a resurgence of interest. Did Prince, for instance, really become a Jehovah's Witness?  Damn, I missed that on the news...  I've already checked the reference...it definitely seems true. Sorry to you Prince fans if I'm behind the times.  Which means, Clive, generally speaking, must be staying on the factual side of his cultural references. I'll probably fact check a few more, simply because fact checking is in vogue these days here in early January, 2021.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not trolling Clive at all for his deep references to pop culture.  Every single fan of the 80's will love this book as much as the first one.  What a trip down memory lane.  And, even if you are not a fan of the multitude of references, beyond there being something for everyone, even the best fans can't possibly get every reference.  My daughter, who is worried about reading either of these great books, since 80's culture does not belong to her, shouldn't be.  The book is still extremely enjoyable even if you don't get the reference...Clive's style is such that you know it's a reference.  And maybe, you will go watch a John Hughes movie, you happened to have missed.  Look, I'm just saying that you can't go wrong with Molly Ringwald...no matter what...but I did not know that John Hughes actually played Brian's (Anthony Michael Hall's) dad in the Breakfast Club.  Yes I fact checked it. Yes it's true. So, perhaps, as a gamer, you grow tired of just another quest.  Just another search, and collection of gems, or keys, or stones, or in this case, shards.  Yes, collect the seven shards of the siren's soul and win a prize.  Seems old hat.  And certainly, without the cultural references, it might be.  However, that's not only what Clive does.  He mixes it deeply with his first.  In fact, it might be worth going back to reread the first, in advance. He also, beyond gaming, he began exploring, for the first time, the true futuristic realm of true artificial intelligence.  He even mentions the Singularity.  Now, let's not get carried away.  Clive is not the software engineer that  Weir was back when he worked for a living.  He is also, not the science fiction writer and advanced thinker, that is Philip K. Dick or Neal Stephenson or even Ted Chiang.  But he begins to address some of the same advanced subjects that humanity must face, should one happen to believe, AI could become self-aware.  Since I personally don't believe in that fiction, I am happy if he stays in his gamer, and pop cultural lane. And for the most part, he does. While bringing those subject's up...he doesn't really try to treat them with a deep philosophy.  That's probably a good thing.  He knows his blind spots unlike at least one of the aforementioned authors (AW).He also cleverly avoids the deep technological understanding that would necessitate both the operation and the security of the massive server complexes necessary to create the OASIS.  He sticks to his craft.  He tells a story.  This fundamentally is why I believe Clive's work is so good.   Also, despite criticisms registered in these reviews, he deserves some defense.  He mentions destroying the planet from environmental catastrophe based on the endless consumption of resources.  So too, did he, in "Ready Player One".  If you didn't like that in RP1 you shouldn't have read RP2. That is no surprise from a book about science fiction particularly when the plotline demands that everyone plug into the OASIS to escape reality.  Second, he mentions, the gender fluid nature of computer generated Avatars inside the OASIS.  This is a perfectly natural outcome of dealing with computer generated artificial life forms.  You can also be a dragon, a wolf, or even a lamp...but he doesn't really mention those potentials.  Also, despite the criticism, he doesn't beat the reader up about it.  It's slightly more than a casual mention that will certainly have occurred to anyone with a brain who has ever logged into an online game and been asked to select an avatar.I rarely give 5-Stars to books, as in my mind a 5-Star book is a must read and an immediate classic.  RP1 is such a book.  RP2 is just as good so I'm in a quandary.  We must not forget that RP1 came first and thus I think you get Clive's craft by simply reading it.  Thus RP2 isn't necessary reading if you've read the first.  So I'll give RP2 a rating of 4.75 stars overall...which will look like a full 5 stars...but in reality, it's slightly less...  So don't forget about RP1, and don't walk on by RP2...  If you are a fan, read them both...

Oh dear.I loved Ready Player One, it had well constructed and coherent (mostly 80s) cultural references, likeable characters and a well thought out plot.This has random 90s films and 00s tv shows shoved in like he is trying to show how nerdy and geeky he is. Most of them have zero relation to what he is actually talking about. The sole good bit is the John Hughes bit really. Although i also think he has missed the "Duckie is actually gay but its the 80s" lesson.None of the characters is likeable anymore..in fact they are all horrible 2 dimensional charicatures of those from the first book for much of it. Only really in the middle do we see flashes of their earlier selves. And its a mess..not just the writing but the printing, my copy has pages with no border, left centred, right centred, weird font size changes..Im very very dissapointed. His three books so far have gone Brilliant, Ok (Armada) and pretty much trash..

Nowhere near as good as Ready Player One. That was a fun idea, with a fair amount of 80’s nostalgia references thrown in for the sake of advancing the plot - an Easter egg based on the designers favourite things!Here we have essentially the first book, but way too much pop culture wankery; it suffers from the same issue that Armada did - every character is the author. Or, who the author wants to be.This is a hot mess of hi-fiving, fist-bumping, random dancing, character-pointing (I lost track of how many times a character is described as pointing/levelling a finger), and masses upon masses of excess pop culture references, not for the sake of furthering the plot, but for the author to show off with his “omg incredible encyclopaedic knowledge of pop culture”.Lazily written cash grab, could have happily ended on the first book without this ego stroking steaming dump of a novel.

Pre ordered and was really expecting a high quality hardcover print to my surprise got a defective print where parts of the book were not aligned correctly with the rest of the book - SHAME AMAZON FOR SENDING OUT DEFECTS. Returning it immediately in the hopes that not all books have the same quality issue.

This is what happens when there's too much of a good thing. The explorations and expansions of pop culture feels old and honestly- like someone hammering out 300 pages of a book + possible movie deal to make the big bucks.Best way to describe it- like a school essay where the first little bit was fine, then a long winded free association blah blah blah in the middle (honestly skimmed most of it- there were a couple of quests which were mildly interesting) with a conclusion that seemed to be introduced entirely out of thin air with no relation to the introduction whatsoever. As another reviewer mentioned, all main (ie original) characters are one dimensional, dull and forgettable. New characters were interesting and enticing even with their lack of screen time. I for one would have been far happier with a collection of shorts featuring the low 5.A tenner is like a large glass of not-house-wine in a London Pub so basically imagine how conned and disappointed you feel when that glass is barely drinkable and you've pretty much read this book!

Contains spoilers:Like the first book, the book is alright but not a masterpiece.The storyline itself was decent but I didn't like how Halliday suddenly became this creepy villain.He was never a creep, just a genius geek that was in love with his best friend's wife.Would have been better if Anorak actually killed people rather than him just going only joking.A darker ending would have been better.The 80s references continue to be a big focus of the book but a lot felt forced and put in pretty much to show the writer is an 80s dude, but it didn't add to the story.What I really didn't like was how Ernest tried to shove his 'wokeness' down our throats. That wasn't there in the first book but now suddenly he's all woke and has to tell everyone how woke he is. Pull the other one mate, it clearly reads like someone desperate to get the community on their side. We're not falling for that one.You really want the community on your side? Just write a character like normal and don't make a big deal about gender/sex/identity etc.Overall I'd say this book is the same calibre as the first one, if not a tiny bit better. Surprsingly better than I expected, considering I didn't think sequel was gonna work as the first book pretty much wraps up everything.Not sure there's much legs for ready player three... Guess we'll see.