''Ready Player One'' is a 2011

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novel, and the

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

of American author

Ernest Cline Ernest Christy Cline (born March 29, 1972) is an American science fiction novelist, slam poet and screenwriter. He wrote the novels '' Ready Player One'', '' Armada'' and '' Ready Player Two'', and co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation ...

. The story, set in a

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

in 2045, follows protagonist Wade Watts on his search for an

Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...

in a worldwide

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

game, the discovery of which would lead him to inherit the game creator's fortune and the game itself. Cline sold the rights to publish the novel in June 2010, in a bidding war to the

Crown Publishing Group The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded int ...

(a division of

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

). The book was published on August 16, 2011. An audiobook narrated by

Wil Wheaton Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor and writer. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film ''Stand by Me (film), Stand by Me'', ...

was released the same day. In 2012, the book received an

Alex Award The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Since 2002, the Alex Awards have been administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of th ...

from the

Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...

division of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

and won the 2011

Prometheus Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the Best Novel category for the award in 1979; however, it was not award ...

. A

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

, screenwritten by Cline and

Zak Penn Zak Penn (born March 23, 1968) is an American screenwriter. Penn wrote and directed '' Incident at Loch Ness'' and '' The Grand'', wrote the script for ''The Incredible Hulk'', co-wrote the scripts for '' X2'', '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and th ...

and directed by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

, was released on March 29, 2018. A sequel novel, ''

Ready Player Two ''Ready Player Two'' is a 2020 science fiction novel by American author Ernest Cline. It is the sequel to his 2011 debut novel '' Ready Player One''. Plans for a ''Ready Player One'' sequel were first announced in 2015, though Cline did not beg ...

'', was released on November 24, 2020, to a widely negative critical reception.

Synopsis

Setting

In the 2040s, the world has been gripped by an

energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant Bottleneck (production), bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particu ...

from the depletion of

fossil fuels A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geologica ...

and the consequences of

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

, and

overpopulation Overpopulation or overabundance is a state in which the population of a species is larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale migr ...

, causing widespread social problems,

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

, and

economic stagnation Economic stagnation is a prolonged period of slow economic growth (traditionally measured in terms of the GDP growth), usually accompanied by high unemployment. Under some definitions, ''slow'' means significantly slower than potential growth as ...

. To escape the decline their world is facing, people turn to the OASIS, a virtual universe accessible by players using visors and

haptic technology Haptic technology (also kinaesthetic communication or 3D touch) is technology that can create an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. These technologies can be used to create virtual objects in a computer s ...

such as gloves. It was originally designed as an

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

(and so still contains gameplay elements like powerful, unique artifacts), but has evolved into a

virtual world A virtual world (also called a virtual space or spaces) is a Computer simulation, computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many simultaneous users who can create a personal Avatar (computing), avatar and independently explore th ...

used ubiquitously by humanity, with its currency being one of the most stable in the real world. The OASIS was created by James Donovan Halliday, founder of Gregarious Simulation Systems (formerly Gregarious Games). Due to being split into 27 different sectors, the OASIS had its own worlds and zones. When Halliday died, his will consisted of a video stating to the public that he had left an

inside the OASIS, and the first person to find it would inherit his entire fortune, ownership of his corporation, and complete control of the OASIS itself, which is worth trillions. To win the contest, a user must find three hidden keys, and use each one to unlock three hidden gates. Halliday's announcement leads to intense competition among "Gunters" (egg hunters) as well as global telecommunications conglomerate Innovative Online Industries (IOI) sponsoring a well-funded effort to find the Easter egg in order to take control of the OASIS and

monetize Monetization ( also spelled monetisation in the UK) is, broadly speaking, the process of converting something into money. The term has a broad range of uses. In banking, the term refers to the process of converting or establishing something into ...

it. However, when the novel begins, five years have passed since Halliday's death, and nobody has found any of the keys.

Plot

Eighteen-year-old Wade Watts lives with his Aunt Alice in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

in the "stacks", a poverty-stricken district constructed of trailer homes piled on top of each other. He spends his spare time as a gunter, logging on to the OASIS as an

avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

under the moniker

Parzival ''Parzival'' () is a medieval chivalric romance by the poet and knight Wolfram von Eschenbach in Middle High German. The poem, commonly dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, centers on the Arthurian hero Parzival (Percival in English) ...

, reading James Halliday's journal ''Anorak's Almanac'', and researching details of 1980s pop culture, mainly classic video games and movies that Halliday loved. After deciphering a riddle hidden in the ''Almanac'', he realizes that the first key is located on the planet Ludus, the same virtual world as his own online high school, in a recreation of the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' module ''

Tomb of Horrors ''Tomb of Horrors'' is an adventure module written by Gary Gygax for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') role-playing game. It was originally written for and used at the 1975 Origins 1 convention. Gygax designed the adventure both to chal ...

''. In the Tomb, Parzival defeats an AI

Acererak This is a list of characters from the Greyhawk campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. A Acererak Acererak was a powerful wizard who became a lich, and later a demilich. Publication history Acererak ...

at the video game ''

Joust Jousting is a medieval and renaissance martial game or hastilude between two combatants either on horse or on foot. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The term is derived from Old French , ultim ...

,'' and is awarded the Copper Key. His avatar's name appears on a public scoreboard, making him an instant celebrity. While leaving the tomb, he meets Art3mis, a famous female gunter and blogger (and his crush), who had independently discovered the location of the key, but had not yet beaten Acererak. Parzival completes the First Gate on the planet Middletown, which is modeled after Halliday's boyhood home. He plays through the ''

Dungeons of Daggorath ''Dungeons of Daggorath'' is one of the first real-time, first-person perspective role-playing video games. It was produced by DynaMicro for the TRS-80 Color Computer in 1983. A sequel, ''Castle of Tharoggad'', was released in 1988. Gameplay ' ...

'' video game in a recreation of Halliday's parents' house and then role-plays

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. He starred in ''WarGames'' (1983) as a teen government hacker, and ''Ladyhawke (film), Ladyhawke'' (1985), a medieval fantasy alongside Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. He play ...

's character in the film ''

WarGames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American techno-thriller film directed by John Badham, written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes, and starring Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood and Ally Sheedy. Broderick plays David Lightman, a ...

''. Art3mis clears the gate shortly afterwards, as does Wade's best friend Aech. Wade's fame enables him to make a living by endorsing virtual products. It also brings him to the attention of Nolan Sorrento, head of operations at IOI. When Wade refuses to join IOI, Sorrento attempts to kill him by blowing up the trailer where Wade lives, killing his aunt and disguising the explosion as an accident. Wade, who hadn't been in his trailer at the time of the explosion, escapes and moves to

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

(hometown of both GSS and IOI), where he assumes the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Bryce Lynch and lives in an anonymous apartment designed for hardcore OASIS users. He grows increasingly close with Art3mis, but when he confesses his feelings towards her, she declares that their relationship had been a mistake and ghosts him. During this time Wade becomes much more serious about the hunt. He decides not to leave his apartment or let any light in it until he has found the egg. After five months, Art3mis finally finds the Jade Key. On the planet Archaide, Parzival stumbles across a hidden recreation of an arcade from Halliday's hometown in which he finds a

Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...

arcade machine, with the high score set to 3,333,350 (10 points under the maximum score). Unsure as to whether it is relevant to the egg hunt, he decides to play a perfect game of ''Pac-Man'' and receives a quarter that cannot leave his inventory as a prize. Aech, after finding the Jade Key, provides a hint leading him to the planet

Frobozz ''Zork'' is a text adventure game first released in 1977 by developers Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling for the PDP-10 mainframe computer. The original developers and others, as the company Infocom, expanded and s ...

where he solves a recreation of the

text adventure game Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text Command (computing), commands to control Player character, characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narrati ...

Zork ''Zork'' is a text adventure game first released in 1977 by developers Tim Anderson (programmer), Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling for the PDP-10 mainframe computer. The original developers and others, as the company ...

'' and whistles a 2600-hertz-sound through a

Cap'n Crunch Cap'n Crunch is a corn and oat breakfast cereal manufactured since 1963 by Quaker Oats Company, a subsidiary of PepsiCo since 2001. Since the original product introduction, marketed simply as ''Cap'n Crunch'', Quaker Oats has introduced numerou ...

Bo'Sun whistle, awarding him the Jade Key. IOI establishes a base on Frobozz to

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

Jade Keys for their company's avatars, unlocks the second Gate, and rapidly acquires the Crystal Key as well. Shoto, another high ranking gunter, tells Parzival that IOI have killed his partner Daito, passing it off as a suicide. Parzival finds the Second Gate hidden in a Voight-Kampff machine from

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

, and completes a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

of the 1987 arcade game '' Black Tiger.'' He is awarded a giant, usable

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...

as a prize and is given a clue to the Crystal Key. He acquires the Crystal Key on planet Syrinx, and after playing the "Discovery" section of the song "

2112 2112 may refer to: * AD 2112, a year in the 22nd century * 2112 BC * ''2112'' (album), an album by Rush ** "2112" (song) * ''John Byrne's 2112'', a comic book series prequel to '' Next Men'' See also * Mars 2112, a space themed restaurant in ...

", finds a hidden secondary clue regarding the conditions to unlock the final gate. As Parzival messages Art3mis, Aech, and Shoto with instructions on how to get through the Jade Gate and obtain the Crystal Key, IOI finds the Third Gate in Halliday's private stronghold, Castle Anorak on the planet Chthonia. They use a powerful artifact to create an indestructible and impenetrable force field around the gate, but as they missed the hidden clue that Wade found, cannot determine how to open the gate. Wade manipulates his assumed identity in order to be arrested and placed in

indentured servitude Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract called an " indenture", may be entered voluntarily for a prepaid lump sum, as payment for some good or s ...

in IOI's

tech support Technical support, commonly shortened as tech support, is a customer service provided to customers to resolve issues, commonly with consumer electronics. This is commonly provided via call centers, online chat and email. Many companies provide ...

department. He then uses black market passwords and security exploits to hack into IOI's

intranet An intranet is a computer network for sharing information, easier communication, collaboration tools, operational systems, and other computing services within an organization, usually to the exclusion of access by outsiders. The term is used in ...

and deploy a timed booby trap to bring down the force field. He also acquires a wealth of incriminating information: footage of Daito's murder (also discovering that IOI had tracked him down by illegally tracing his bandwidth signal), records of the attempt on his own life, as well as plans to abduct Shoto and Art3mis and force them to find the Easter egg for IOI, then kill them afterwards. After escaping the corporation, he shares this information with his friends and news outlets, and sends out a message inviting all OASIS avatars to help them storm the castle. Parzival and his friends are interrupted by Ogden "Og" Morrow (the co-creator of the OASIS), who offers them a safe haven at his home in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. Wade meets the real-life Aech and Og, but not Art3mis or Shoto, who are already hooked into Og's immersion pods. The day of the battle, Wade's booby trap successfully disables the force field, and a massive fight among avatars ensues. Parzival, Art3mis, Aech and Shoto use their mechas to fight Sorrento's ''Mechagodzilla'' Kiryu, though Parzival has to use an

Ultraman The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series '' Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fi ...

artifact (obtained in a quest with Daito and Shoto) to defeat and kill Sorrento's mecha and avatar. When it becomes clear they will lose the battle, IOI detonates a

doomsday device A doomsday device is a hypothetical construction – usually a weapon or weapons system – which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing " doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth ...

, which destroys castle Anorak and kills every avatar present in the sector. Parzival survives, discovering the quarter he first obtained in Archaide was an artifact that granted him an

extra life An extra life is a video game item that gives the player another life. Extra Life may also refer to: * Extra Life (fundraiser), a fundraising event * Extra Life (band), an experimental band from Brooklyn * '' Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter' ...

. As he enters the Third Gate, he announces that if he wins the final challenge, he will share his fortune with the three of his friends. In the final gate, he plays '' Tempest,'' role-plays King Arthur and various other characters in ''

Monty Python and the Holy Grail ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film based on the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) and ...

'', and retrieves the Easter egg in ''

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

'', the game with the first ever easter egg. His victory grants him control of the OASIS, and makes him a multi-billionaire. Sorrento and those involved are arrested for the murder of Daito and conspiring to kill Wade and the others. Back in Oregon, Wade and Art3mis, whose actual name is Samantha, meet in person and rekindle their relationship with a kiss. Wade remarks that, for the first time in as long as he can remember, he has no desire to log into the OASIS.

Characters

* Parzival: The

viewpoint character Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

, an orphan living with his Aunt Alice in the "stacks", a poverty-stricken area in

Oklahoma City, OK Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, its population ranks 20th among United States cities ...

ever since his father was shot during a looting and his mother Loretta who worked at OASIS died of a drug addiction. Wade names his OASIS character Parzival after the Arthurian knight involved in the quest for the holy grail. Wade's character was based on a mix of Cline as well as his geek friends. His avatar form resembles

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

from ''

Devil May Cry is a science fantasy action-adventure game franchise created by Hideki Kamiya. It is primarily developed and published by Capcom. The series centers on the demon hunter Dante (Devil May Cry), Dante and his efforts to thwart various demon invas ...

'' and sports a ''

ThunderCats ''ThunderCats'' is a media franchise, featuring a fictional group of cat-like humanoid aliens. The characters were created by Tobin Wolf and featured in an animated television series named ''ThunderCats'', running from 1985 to 1989, whic ...

'' belt buckle. * a.k.a. Anorak the All Knowing: The creator of OASIS. His avatar's name is based on a British slang term for an obsessive geek. His character was initially inspired by

Willy Wonka Willy Wonka is a fictional character appearing in British author Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' and its 1972 sequel '' Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator''. He is the eccentric founder and proprieto ...

who Cline described as a "rich eccentric holding a fantastic contest". Cline used the personalities of

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

and

Richard Garriott Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born 4 July 1961) is a British-born American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Garriott, who is the son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, was originally a game designer ...

, and placed Halliday's birth year around the same as his own so that his pop culture interests would coincide with Cline's "and the other middle-aged uber-geeks I know". His avatar of Anorak the All Knowing resembles a tall wizard in black robes. * (pronounced like the

letter H H, or h, is the eighth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, including the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''aitch'' (pronounced , plural ''aitches'') ...

) a.k.a. Helen Harris: Wade's best friend, fellow gunter, and rival in the quest to find the egg. Although Aech's avatar is an athletic white heterosexual male, Aech's real world form is a heavyset African-American

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

named Helen Harris, who grew up in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and is about the same age as Wade. Aech is based partly on Cline's friend

Harry Knowles Harry Jay Knowles (born December 11, 1971) is an American former film critic and writer known for his website ''Ain't It Cool News'' (AICN). Knowles was a member of the Austin Film Critics Association until he was removed in September 2017 "b ...

as well as himself and other geeks, both men and women. * a.k.a. Art3mis: A famous female gunter and blogger. She chose her avatar's name from the Greek goddess of the hunt. Like other characters, Cline based Art3mis on himself and other geeks, both men, and women. Her avatar is a stocky female with short hair that was described to being raven-colored and at the length of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

. * a.k.a. The Great and Powerful Og: Co-creator of the OASIS and best friend of James Halliday. His appearance and personality are described in the book as being "a cross between

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

and

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

". Og's character and relationship with Halliday were inspired by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, with Morrow being more like Jobs as a "charismatic tech leader", while his avatar's name is inspired by

the Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

. * : One of the two Japanese gunters who rise to the top of the scoreboard early on in the hunt, working in a team with his "brother" Shoto. He took his avatar's name from the name of the long sword in a daisho set, which is a

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

on its own. They are both based on ''

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, such as anime, manga, video games, computers or other highly enthusiastic hobbies. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. ...

'': Japanese geeks who enjoy movies and

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

, as well as ''

hikikomori ''Hikikomori'' (, "pulling inward, being confined") are reclusive adolescents or adults who withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement. The term refers to both the sociological phenomenon in gener ...

'': people who live as recluses inside their family's homes, referred to in the book as "the Missing Millions". Daito's real name is revealed to be Toshiro Yoshiaki after he is killed by IOI. * : The second and younger of the two Japanese gunters working as a team in their quest for the egg. He took his avatar's name from the name of the shorter sword of a daisho set, which is a

wakizashi The is one of the traditionally made Japanese swords ('' nihontō'') worn by the samurai in feudal Japan. Its name refers to the practice of wearing it inserted through one's ''obi'' or sash at one's side, whereas the larger '' tachi'' sword wa ...

on its own. Shoto's real name is Akihide Karatsu. * a.k.a. IOI-655321: The head of operations at Innovative Online Industries (IOI), the multinational corporation that serves as an Internet service provider for most of the world. Cline said that he named Sorrento after

Nolan Bushnell Nolan Kay Bushnell (born February 5, 1943) is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He established Atari, Inc. and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre chain. He has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame and the Consu ...

, founder of the video game company

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...

and said "Not that I think Nolan is a bad guy or anything. It's meant as a subtle tribute!" * : The aunt of Wade who takes care of him when his parents have died. She has dated different abusive boyfriends and had a poor relationship with Wade. Alice was later killed when IOI bombed her trailer. * : An ex-con who is Alice's latest boyfriend. He often mistreats Wade. Rick was later killed when IOI bombed Alice's trailer. * a.k.a. Todd13: A classmate of Wade's on the OASIS planet Ludus. * : A World History teacher on the OASIS planet Ludus. * : A Latin teacher on the OASIS planet Ludus. * : An older lady who is kind to Wade Watts in the stacks.

Reception

Contemporary

''Ready Player One'' was a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' bestseller. According to

Book Marks ''Literary Hub'' or ''LitHub'' is a daily literary website that was launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and '' Electric Literatur ...

, the book received "rave" reviews based on ten critic reviews with seven being "rave" and one being "positive" and two being "mixed". In

Bookmarks A bookmark is used to keep one's place in a printed work. It can also refer to: * Bookmark (digital), a pointer in a web browser and other software * ''Bookmarks'' (album), 2013 album by Five for Fighting * ''Bookmarks'' (magazine), an American ...

' November/December 2011 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a four out of five star rating based on critic reviews with the critical summary saying, "Most readers will find Cline's debut novel an inventive, adrenaline-filled, and fully accessible piece of literature". Among those praising the book were ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'', ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'',

CNN.com Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable new ...

io9 ''io9'' is a sub-blog of the technology blog ''Gizmodo'' that focuses on science fiction and fantasy pop culture, with former focuses on science, technology and futurism. It was created as a standalone blog in 2008 by editor Annalee Newitz under ...

, and ''

Boing Boing ''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twice wo ...

''. ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' wrote that the novel "undoubtedly qualifies Cline as the hottest geek on the planet right now."

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

said that the book was "ridiculously fun and large-hearted". Cline "takes a far-out premise and engages the reader instantly" with a "deeply felt narrative

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

makes it almost impossible to stop turning the pages."

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that "The book gets off to a witty start" but noted that it lacks at least one dimension, stating that gaming had overwhelmed everything else about this book. Rebecca Serle of ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' described the book as "the grown-up's ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

''" and that it "has it all – nostalgia, trivia, adventure, romance, heart and, dare I say it, some very fascinating social commentary." The book has been translated into over 20 languages.

Retrospective

Discussion on the book was renewed in the months leading up to the release of Steven Spielberg's film adaptation. In contrast to the book's contemporary reviews, which were generally positive, these were substantially more negative and triggered a social media backlash towards the book and the then-upcoming film adaptation. Upon the release of the film's trailer in July 2017 various passages from the book quickly became viral on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and other social media platforms, mocking Cline's writing style and the book's extensive use of 80s pop culture references. Nick Shager, writing for ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'' shortly before the release of the film adaptation, offered a scathing review that criticized the book's narrative style by stating "It's... a terribly written piece of

adolescent Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated w ...

fantasy that, at heart, exemplifies everything wrong and repellent about modern

nerd culture A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted, or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly t ...

" and challenged its coming-of-age premise by calling it "a stunted-adolescent story". Regarding the abundance of pop culture references, Shager called the book "an unbearable celebration of nostalgic juvenilia". He summarized his argument against the book by stating "It's a lionization of immature things (and immaturity) as an end to itself, rather than as the building blocks of more mature – and worthwhile – creations". Shager also lamented the book's "Peter Pan-ish infatuation with childishness, which comes coated in a stench of stale Doritos, Jolt Cola and lowbrow smugness". Shortly after the book was published, Gamergate (harassment campaign), Gamergate became a focal point in the culture wars during the 2010s. This led some critics to re-examine ''Ready Player One'' and accuse it as pandering towards more toxic elements of online gamer culture. Constance Grady of ''Vox Media, Vox'' wrote that "for readers in Cline's target demographic in 2011, [the book] felt empowering. For readers who weren't, it felt like a harmless piece of affirmation meant for someone else. Everyone deserves a silly escapist fantasy, right? [...] But in this world [...] only things that affect straight white dudes really matter". Writer Chris Isaac of ''Tor.com, Tor'' disagreed with these criticisms, stating that the backlash towards the book was an overcorrection in response to backlashes against similar books aimed at an audience of young women, such as Stephenie Meyer's ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'' series. He notes a then-recent video essay from young adult author Lindsay Ellis, previously dismissive of Meyer's writings, that defended the writing of the ''Twilight'' books while singling out ''Ready Player One'' for its writing. Isaac writes "I don't think the lesson from ''Twilight'' should be that ''Ready Player One'' needs to be blasted in the same fashion, but rather that you can acknowledge the flaws of something without joining a hate mob or attacking anyone else for enjoying it. By the end of ''Twilight'' shelf life, people talking about how much they disliked the series had become far more tiresome than those who enjoyed it."

Podcast

Michael J. Nelson's and Conor Lastowka's book review podcast series ''372 Pages We'll Never Get Back'' was named after the number of pages that comprise the book's paperback edition. The book was the inaugural subject of the podcast, which is devoted to reviewing literature the hosts consider to be of dubious quality. They criticized the book's "defective" worldbuilding, referred to its pop culture references as being repetitive and excessive in place of descriptive writing, and described the plot as weak.

Continuation

Short story

''Lacero'', a fan-fiction short story by Andy Weir, was published online in 2014, and later included in the 2016 limited edition of ''Ready Player One'' published by Subterranean Press. It functions as a precursor to the main novel, and is considered canonical to the ''Ready Player One'' fictional universe.

Sequel novel

As early as 2015, Cline had been reported to be working on a sequel to ''Ready Player One'' from screenwriter Zak Penn. Cline confirmed the sequel was in progress by December 2017, and would have a different story-line involving all of the characters, while still exploring pop culture references like the first book. Penguin House released the sequel, ''

'' on November 24, 2020. The plot follows Wade as he embarks on a new quest after discovering a new technology developed by Halliday. Between the weeks of November 29 and December 20 of 2020, it was number one on Amazon's fiction chart.

In other media

Easter egg hunt promotion

Ten months after the first edition's release, Cline revealed on his blog that ''Ready Player One'' itself contained an elaborately hidden Easter egg. This clue would form the first part of a series of staged video gaming tests, similar to the plot of the novel. Cline also revealed that the competition's grand prize would be a DMC DeLorean, DeLorean. The Easter egg was a URL hidden in the book for anoraksalmanac.com. This was the first stage of the contest where the 2011 Atari 2600 game ''The Stacks'' by developers Mike Mika & Kevin Wilson was featured. The game ''Ultimate Collector: Garage Sale'' by Austin-based developer Portalarium was featured in the second stage of the contest. The final stage of the contest was announced on August 1, 2012, and was to set a world record on one of several classic arcade or Atari 2600 games. This was completed on August 9, 2012, by Craig Queen, who set a new world record in ''

''. He was awarded the DeLorean on the TV series ''X-Play''.

Film adaptation

The film rights were purchased by Warner Bros. on the same day Cline finalized his publishing deal with

, one year prior to the novel's publication. Dan Farah brought the project into the studio and produced it with Donald De Line. Cline adapted his novel into a screenplay. Over the years, Eric Eason and

assisted Cline with rewrites.

signed on to direct in March 2015. Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger of Amblin Partners also joined Deline and Farah as producers. Warner Bros. initially announced a release date of December 15, 2017. On February 9, 2016, the release date was pushed back to March 30, 2018, to avoid competition with ''Star Wars: The Last Jedi''. The movie began production in the spring of 2016 and was filmed in both the United States and the United Kingdom. On June 9, 2016, ''Variety'' stated that Spielberg's regular collaborator John Williams was planning on composing the film's score. However, scheduling conflicts with another Spielberg film, ''The Post (film), The Post'', led to Spielberg signing Alan Silvestri for the score. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, T. J. Miller, Simon Pegg, and Mark Rylance with Philip Zao, Win Morisaki, and Hannah John-Kamen in supporting roles. It premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2018, and was theatrically released by Warner Bros. in the United States on March 29, 2018. It received generally positive reviews from critics who praised its visuals and brisk pacing, the performances of Sheridan and Rylance, and noted it as an improvement on the book. The film nonetheless received criticism for its lack of character development and its "achingly regressive" view of Popular culture, pop culture fans.

Notes

* The terms "Ch." and "p." are shortened forms for chapter and page, and refer to chapters and pages in the ''Ready Player One'' novel in its first American edition.

References

External links

* *
Excerpts
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