At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming
debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera
set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese
robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.
debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera
set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese
robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.
It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.
Like
most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending
his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that
lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play
and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.
most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending
his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that
lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play
and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.
And like most
of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate
lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For
somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James
Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive
fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.
of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate
lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For
somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James
Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive
fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.
For
years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing
only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that
of the late twentieth century.
years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing
only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that
of the late twentieth century.
And for years, millions have found in
this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive
study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as
comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing
Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his
OASIS rig.
this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive
study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as
comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing
Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his
OASIS rig.
And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.
Suddenly
the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the
hunt—among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very
real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to
survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so,
he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and
face up to life—and love—in the real world he’s always been so desperate
to escape.
the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the
hunt—among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very
real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to
survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so,
he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and
face up to life—and love—in the real world he’s always been so desperate
to escape.
Il libro, ambientato in un futuro indefinito, narra la storia di Wade,
vintage-nerd che deve salvare OASIS, l’universo virtuale che abita con
migliaia di altri “rifugiati” e dove si fa ciò (innamorarsi, fare
amicizia e tutte queste cose belle e normali) che è ormai impossibile
fare nel “mondo là fuori”. Il classico intreccio dell’eroe verso la
salvezza non può non passare attraverso le immancabili prove, che però
nel romanzo di Cline sono rappresentate da una sorta di memorabilia
degli anni ’80: la partita perfetta di Pac Man, penetrare nella Tyrrel
Corporation di Blade Runner, guerre con enormi robot à la Gundam, e così
via.
vintage-nerd che deve salvare OASIS, l’universo virtuale che abita con
migliaia di altri “rifugiati” e dove si fa ciò (innamorarsi, fare
amicizia e tutte queste cose belle e normali) che è ormai impossibile
fare nel “mondo là fuori”. Il classico intreccio dell’eroe verso la
salvezza non può non passare attraverso le immancabili prove, che però
nel romanzo di Cline sono rappresentate da una sorta di memorabilia
degli anni ’80: la partita perfetta di Pac Man, penetrare nella Tyrrel
Corporation di Blade Runner, guerre con enormi robot à la Gundam, e così
via.
La “retromania”
già descritta da Simon Reynolds prende una direzione inaspettata in un
libro che celebra la cultura pop di quel decennio che sembra così
difficile da dimenticare.
già descritta da Simon Reynolds prende una direzione inaspettata in un
libro che celebra la cultura pop di quel decennio che sembra così
difficile da dimenticare.
