Added to my wishlist on Amazon. Thanks for the suggestions.onlyme wrote:A couple of suggestions...
Ready Player One
Re: Ready Player One
Re: Ready Player One
I've just about made my way through the first third of the book. The style of writing doesn't really grab me at all, the cleverness of the references is inconsistent and—I feel like a true Anorak saying this—not always accurate, and there are a few major plot points that seem a little shaky to me (how could a planetful of nerds who believe that their trivia knowledge of AD&D could win them billions of dollars actually think of Tomb of Horrors as 'some obscure module'?).
But, I have to say, I'm really enjoying the book, immensely. I can't wait to read more, finish it and move on to Armada.
But, I have to say, I'm really enjoying the book, immensely. I can't wait to read more, finish it and move on to Armada.
Re: Ready Player One
Just finished the book today before work.
The Negative: I thought some of the pop culture references and explanations became tired and forced after awhile. If had a quarter for every time something in that book was 'the legendary/classic/obscure' or part of a 'Holy Trinity', I'd be at the arcade for hours. The main character Wade is also about as much of a Mary Sue as you can get, big time. I'd even call him a Mechamary Sue. By the end of the book I still didn't care much for the writing style or (especially) the dialogue, but it stopped grating on me once I realized that it was an intentional conceit. The author was trying to get the book to read like watching a scene from The Goonies or a John Hughes teen flick, with every character in the room blasting sarcastic one-liners and interjections back at each other.
The Positive: The premise is great. It gives this impression of the future where the extreme logical conclusion of our social media age is pretty bleak but also oddly comforting. At the end of the world even the homeless and the starving have wifi and a VR life. As humanity slides toward its own destruction, society at large responds by withdrawing into nostalgia, treating entertainment as religious gospel, hanging out in chat rooms and arguing pedantically over the finer points of politics and social privilege. Seeing the characters talk about, obsess over and even jump inside of Adventure, Tomb of Horrors, Zork, TRS-80s, Japanese Spiderman and all the rest was really cool, and scratched my inner geek itch to no end.
The Verdict: I never really got invested with any of the characters or how the plot developed, and I didn't caring for the writing style, but I had an absolute blast reading the book and couldn't put it down. I guess that says a lot. Highly recommended for anyone who likes adventure stories, science fiction, anime, videogames and/or suffers from 80s nostalgia.
The Negative: I thought some of the pop culture references and explanations became tired and forced after awhile. If had a quarter for every time something in that book was 'the legendary/classic/obscure' or part of a 'Holy Trinity', I'd be at the arcade for hours. The main character Wade is also about as much of a Mary Sue as you can get, big time. I'd even call him a Mechamary Sue. By the end of the book I still didn't care much for the writing style or (especially) the dialogue, but it stopped grating on me once I realized that it was an intentional conceit. The author was trying to get the book to read like watching a scene from The Goonies or a John Hughes teen flick, with every character in the room blasting sarcastic one-liners and interjections back at each other.
The Positive: The premise is great. It gives this impression of the future where the extreme logical conclusion of our social media age is pretty bleak but also oddly comforting. At the end of the world even the homeless and the starving have wifi and a VR life. As humanity slides toward its own destruction, society at large responds by withdrawing into nostalgia, treating entertainment as religious gospel, hanging out in chat rooms and arguing pedantically over the finer points of politics and social privilege. Seeing the characters talk about, obsess over and even jump inside of Adventure, Tomb of Horrors, Zork, TRS-80s, Japanese Spiderman and all the rest was really cool, and scratched my inner geek itch to no end.
The Verdict: I never really got invested with any of the characters or how the plot developed, and I didn't caring for the writing style, but I had an absolute blast reading the book and couldn't put it down. I guess that says a lot. Highly recommended for anyone who likes adventure stories, science fiction, anime, videogames and/or suffers from 80s nostalgia.
Last edited by Starbeard on Thu Jun 29, 2017 12:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Ready Player One
I'm enjoying this thread.
I can't recommend Cormac McCarthy's The Road enough. Especially if you're a dad.
I can't recommend Cormac McCarthy's The Road enough. Especially if you're a dad.
Re: Ready Player One
I, too, enjoy this thread, but I'd have to disagree with your recommendation, Inferno.Inferno wrote:I'm enjoying this thread.
I can't recommend Cormac McCarthy's The Road enough. Especially if you're a dad.
I really enjoyed that book. A lot.
But ever since I've become a dad, I have a very hard time reading books like that. Or books where children are killed or movies of the same.
I have some deep-seated mental issues with death, though. The thought of leaving my young child to struggle in a world like that without me being there is just... a terrible thought.
But I do love the book from a literary sense.
That's an interesting review of Ready Player One, Starbeard. Yes, I totally understood the dialog at some level being reminiscent of John Hughs dialog, so maybe that is why it never bothered me. I wonder if you also have to be of the perfect age to most fully accept this book for what it is. I was born in 1973. I feel like he wrote the book FOR ME. Or TO ME, even.
Dragon foot. Bamboo pole. Little mouse. Tiny boy.
Re: Ready Player One
Dang, I had you pegged for older. (by only a few years, though )Alethan wrote: I was born in 1973.
Dandelion - female half-orc beautyqueen in training (The Lone City in the Wildlands) OSRIC
Halfpint - female halfling badgirl wannabe (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL
Mark'd - charismatic human fighter (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL
Halfpint - female halfling badgirl wannabe (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL
Mark'd - charismatic human fighter (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL
Re: Ready Player One
Looks like we agree on the book, and its effect on the reader. I guess the difference is I'm a masochist.Alethan wrote:I, too, enjoy this thread, but I'd have to disagree with your recommendation, Inferno.Inferno wrote:I'm enjoying this thread.
I can't recommend Cormac McCarthy's The Road enough. Especially if you're a dad.
I really enjoyed that book. A lot.
But ever since I've become a dad, I have a very hard time reading books like that. Or books where children are killed or movies of the same.
I have some deep-seated mental issues with death, though. The thought of leaving my young child to struggle in a world like that without me being there is just... a terrible thought.
But I do love the book from a literary sense.
That book really kicked my ass. In a good way. I still think about it.
Spoilers:
Re: Ready Player One
Agreed. I still think about it as well. Any time I go to the grocery store and get a cart with a jacked up wheel, for example... Or any time I see a vendor at work filling up the soda machine. Or when I'm thinking about just how long it would take me to hike/walk/bike from my house to my brother's house (our designated point of gathering should something big/bad ever happen). With a child tagging along.Inferno wrote: Looks like we agree on the book, and its effect on the reader. I guess the difference is I'm a masochist.
That book really kicked my ass. In a good way. I still think about it.
Spoilers:
Dragon foot. Bamboo pole. Little mouse. Tiny boy.
Re: Ready Player One
I see what you're saying. That said, while I was actually reading the book, I didn't take issue with the references, and actually found myself looking forward to the next one.Starbeard wrote:The Negative: I thought some of the pop culture references and explanations became tired and forced after awhile. If had a quarter for every time something in that book was 'the legendary/classic/obscure' or part of a 'Holy Trinity', I'd be at the arcade for hours. The main character Wade is also about as much of a Mary Sue as you can get, big time. I'd even call him a Mechamary Sue. By the end of the book I still didn't care much for the writing style or (especially) the dialogue, but it stopped grating on me once I realized that it was an intentional conceit. The author was trying to get the book to read like watching a scene from The Goonies or a John Hughes teen flick, with every character in the room blasting sarcastic one-liners and interjections back at each other.
For someone that does not read regularly, and needed a book that was fun and engaging in order for me to keep up with it, this one fit the bill.
Sadly, I have too much going on right now and haven't been able to pick up another book to start, but every so often I'll open one of the many D&D PDFs I've purchased, but haven't read, and I'll start one of them. I haven't gone back to any (yet), but I'll chalk that us as being more a lack of opportunity than a lack of interest.
I've also made sure to add the other book recommendations to a wish list and will hopefully check them out in the future when I am ready to pick up another actual novel and not RPG sourcebook.
Re: Ready Player One
I hear you. I was born early in 1984, but into a large extended family where all of my older siblings and cousins were definitely 80s kids and teens, so my cultural frame of reference was, and still is, firmly fixed in the 80s instead of the 90s. Games wise, I grew up on Intellivision, Atari, Infocom text adventures, Apple IIs, TI computers, wireframe RPGs, black & white TV sets and board games with hexes on them, because that's all the stuff my family already had. While reading the book I found myself wondering what the story would be like for my generation, and I didn't find the thought interesting at all. I just wasn't current or present during that decade, so I really have no nostalgia for those times, except maybe for discovering the world wibe web for the first time.Alethan wrote:That's an interesting review of Ready Player One, Starbeard. Yes, I totally understood the dialog at some level being reminiscent of John Hughs dialog, so maybe that is why it never bothered me. I wonder if you also have to be of the perfect age to most fully accept this book for what it is. I was born in 1973. I feel like he wrote the book FOR ME. Or TO ME, even.
But movie wise I was definitely of the next generation, and it shows. I was of the age to grow up with Ewok movies, Neverending Story, the live action Masters of the Universe, which I loved. Captain EO was absolutely my idol. I didn't really get to see too many 80s teen or grownup movies until I was a teen myself in the 90s. By then I was making up for lost time, watching everything I missed for being too young and gobbling it up like Wade in the book, but even I had to admit that the zeitgeist and cultural resonance of the Breakfast Club had come and gone. And now that you mention it, it was almost always the teen movie bits in the book that didn't click with me as much as the rest of it.
It didn't really matter while reading it though; over the years I've come to realize that I'm actually just a picky reader when it comes to writing style, and I consider it a marker of my own growth now that I can still fully enjoy a book even if it doesn't read at all the way I would've liked it to read.
- Scott308
- Guy Who Gamed With The Famous People
- Posts: 7122
- Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 3:13 am
- Location: Oregon, WI
Re: Ready Player One
Just picked this up at the library and will start reading it at work on Monday.
Sometimes this summer I will most likely be participating in another 24 hour game of Dungeons & Dragons as part of Extra Life. This organization uses gaming to help raise money to donate to children's hospitals. I'm raising money for Marshfield Children's Hospital in Marshfield, WI, and all money I raise will go to that hospital. All donations are tax-deductible. Please take a moment to check out my donation page below. Thank you.
https://www.extra-life.org/participant/Scott Peterson
https://www.extra-life.org/participant/Scott Peterson
Re: Ready Player One
I'm on a roll. I've just started Armada to read during the slow spots at work. Already it has one of the best opening lines I've read in years. It rings with a generation-defining resonance:
'I was staring out the classroom window and daydreaming of adventure when I spotted the flying saucer.'
'I was staring out the classroom window and daydreaming of adventure when I spotted the flying saucer.'
Re: Ready Player One
Ok... shit. Looks like I'm gonna have to check it out now.Starbeard wrote:I'm on a roll. I've just started Armada to read during the slow spots at work. Already it has one of the best opening lines I've read in years. It rings with a generation-defining resonance:
'I was staring out the classroom window and daydreaming of adventure when I spotted the flying saucer.'
Yay library cards!!!
Dragon foot. Bamboo pole. Little mouse. Tiny boy.
Re: Ready Player One
Alright! Audio book is available! Now I can listen to it while doing some woodworking projects during my extended weekend!Alethan wrote:Ok... shit. Looks like I'm gonna have to check it out now.Starbeard wrote:I'm on a roll. I've just started Armada to read during the slow spots at work. Already it has one of the best opening lines I've read in years. It rings with a generation-defining resonance:
'I was staring out the classroom window and daydreaming of adventure when I spotted the flying saucer.'
Yay library cards!!!
Dragon foot. Bamboo pole. Little mouse. Tiny boy.
Re: Ready Player One
Oh, shit! Read by Wil Wheaton!!!!!Alethan wrote: Alright! Audio book is available! Now I can listen to it while doing some woodworking projects during my extended weekend!
Dragon foot. Bamboo pole. Little mouse. Tiny boy.
Re: Ready Player One
Nice! How is he as a narrator?Alethan wrote:Oh, shit! Read by Wil Wheaton!!!!!
Re: Ready Player One
Not bad, really! It certainly doesn't ruin the book. I've had a few books I can't listen to because of the narrator.dmw71 wrote:Nice! How is he as a narrator?Alethan wrote:Oh, shit! Read by Wil Wheaton!!!!!
Sometimes I wish an author would stick with the same narrator through all of his books. Bernard Cornwell has several different people doing narration for his warlord series. I really liked the first guy and wish he would have been kept for the series.
Dragon foot. Bamboo pole. Little mouse. Tiny boy.
Re: Ready Player One
Alethan wrote: Sometimes I wish an author would stick with the same narrator through all of his books. Bernard Cornwell has several different people doing narration for his warlord series. I really liked the first guy and wish he would have been kept for the series.
Totally agree. I guess like a movie, once I connect the voice and the character, I want it to stay consistent. I dont pay attention to the peoples' names, but I do get thrown off when the same voice is doing two random novels.
Dandelion - female half-orc beautyqueen in training (The Lone City in the Wildlands) OSRIC
Halfpint - female halfling badgirl wannabe (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL
Mark'd - charismatic human fighter (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL
Halfpint - female halfling badgirl wannabe (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL
Mark'd - charismatic human fighter (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL
- hedgeknight
- Rider of Rohan
- Posts: 8272
- Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 11:03 am
- Location: NC
Re: Ready Player One
The Road messed me up and then I watched the movie and was a blubbering mess for several hours. At the time, my son was about 9 or 10 > same age as the boy in the book/movie. I can't imagine leaving him all alone in ANY world. He is 16 now, and he is still the love of my life.Inferno wrote:I'm enjoying this thread.
I can't recommend Cormac McCarthy's The Road enough. Especially if you're a dad.
Great book, though, I'll never read it again...or watch the movie.
Winter is coming...
Re: Ready Player One
I've never watched the movie for that very reason, Hedge. Glad it's not just me.hedgeknight wrote:The Road messed me up and then I watched the movie and was a blubbering mess for several hours. At the time, my son was about 9 or 10 > same age as the boy in the book/movie. I can't imagine leaving him all alone in ANY world. He is 16 now, and he is still the love of my life.Inferno wrote:I'm enjoying this thread.
I can't recommend Cormac McCarthy's The Road enough. Especially if you're a dad.
Great book, though, I'll never read it again...or watch the movie.
So the only drawback to listening to the book read by Wil Wheaton is that the Protagonist looks like Wesley Crusher in my head. :-\ At this point, I don't think it can be fixed.Alethan wrote:Oh, shit! Read by Wil Wheaton!!!!!Alethan wrote: Alright! Audio book is available! Now I can listen to it while doing some woodworking projects during my extended weekend!
Dragon foot. Bamboo pole. Little mouse. Tiny boy.