Ready Player One

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Alethan
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Ready Player One

#1 Post by Alethan »

Assuming most of you are into reading, and most of you read some form of Science Fiction/Fantasy genre, you should seriously consider checking out the following book:

Ready Player One
by Ernest Cline

Great book set in the future (2044) with a ton of 80's references, like music and movies and quoting John Hughes movie lines, but also a lot of gaming (D&D, early game consoles, arcade games, video games, etc.) stuff. Great section in it about the Tomb of Horrors, even.

My wife, who is not at all into gaming (D&D or otherwise) loved the book so much she bought it. That says A LOT about the book, because she's a huge book snob and she used to work in a library, so she's almost always happy to check books out and not purchase them. Any time my wife buys a book, I sit up and pay attention to it.

Anyway... I love it. It covers some of my most favourite things (D&D, old games from the 80's, incessantly quoting movie lines). Highly recommended. If you don't buy books, then use your local library. If you buy books, I don't think this one would disappoint you.

Cheers,

Al
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Re: Ready Player One

#2 Post by saalaria »

Interesting - I for one will definitely take a look at this one....thanks Al!

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Re: Ready Player One

#3 Post by Zhym »

I read that one a few months ago. It's definitely a fun read—but it does contain spoilers for anyone in my Tomb of Horrors games. So beware of that.


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Re: Ready Player One

#5 Post by greyarea »

Great book. Recommended indeed!

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Re: Ready Player One

#6 Post by dmw71 »

Zhym wrote:I read that one a few months ago. It's definitely a fun read—but it does contain spoilers for anyone in my Tomb of Horrors games. So beware of that.
I bought the Kindle version of the book on December 16, 2013, and finally got around to starting it about a week ago... and just finished it this afternoon. Agreed on it being a good book. (Now I'm excited about the movie.)

As someone who's never played or read 'Tomb of Horrors', there were definitely some spoilers... and I found myself skimming parts in that section (not that I'll probably ever play it), but that was a pretty cool idea.
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Re: Ready Player One

#7 Post by Alethan »

dmw71 wrote:
Zhym wrote:I read that one a few months ago. It's definitely a fun read—but it does contain spoilers for anyone in my Tomb of Horrors games. So beware of that.
I bought the Kindle version of the book on December 16, 2013, and finally got around to starting it about a week ago... and just finished it this afternoon. Agreed on it being a good book. (Now I'm excited about the movie.)

As someone who's never played or read 'Tomb of Horrors', there were definitely some spoilers... and I found myself skimming parts in that section (not that I'll probably ever play it), but that was a pretty cool idea.
I've never actually defeated the module, but I'm pretty sure you don't really have to play Joust in the TOH, for the record...
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Re: Ready Player One

#8 Post by Zhym »

Gygax was a visionary!

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Re: Ready Player One

#9 Post by dmw71 »

Alethan wrote:I've never actually defeated the module, but I'm pretty sure you don't really have to play Joust in the TOH, for the record...
Lol :lol:
Zhym wrote:Gygax was a visionary!
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Re: Ready Player One

#10 Post by Starbeard »

I've got this book and his second book, Armada, on my shelf waiting to be read. I've been excited to get to them, but I've already got too much on my reading list. I think now that the movie's coming out I'll just have to rearrange my list and bump those to the top.

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Re: Ready Player One

#11 Post by dmw71 »

I'm not a reader (but I'm working on that), but this one held my interest. When I do read, I do so at a painfully slow rate, and I still managed to get through it in about a week because it was an easy and engaging story.
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Re: Ready Player One

#12 Post by Alethan »

dmw71 wrote:... it was an easy and engaging story.
Truth.
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Re: Ready Player One

#13 Post by Starbeard »

dmw71 wrote:I'm not a reader (but I'm working on that), but this one held my interest. When I do read, I do so at a painfully slow rate, and I still managed to get through it in about a week because it was an easy and engaging story.
I'm the same way, and I'm trying my best to work on it. My wife burns through books like paper. It takes her about 3-4 days to read a Discworld book just as her bedtime reading, and she just went through Shogun in about 15 during her downtime at work. In contrast, I can read only as quickly as the narrator in my head speaks, and I usually have to read a paragraph a couple of times before my brain can stay focused long enough to take in the whole thing without wandering off.

As a kid I had big self-confidence issues with reading, even though I loved books. Everyone thought I was a voracious reader, but actually I was too embarrassed to admit that all of the books on my shelf never got read because I felt the task of actually finishing them was too daunting. I'm doing my best making up for it now though.

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Re: Ready Player One

#14 Post by Alethan »

If they're good, I burn through books like paper. If it seems like I'm sloughing through it after the first chapter because I can't get past the writing style, I will close it and not give it a second thought.
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Re: Ready Player One

#15 Post by onlyme »

I need to read this one. I have heard good things. I, too, feel I am a slow reader. although with audiobooks, I can set it to 2x speed and fly through them :)

My mom goes through 100-200+ books a year. We used to laugh at how many she would carry for a week away before the kindle. She even reads 3-4 at a time. Maybe one during morning, one in afternoon, one at bed, etc) That is her one hobby now that she is retired.
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Re: Ready Player One

#16 Post by dmw71 »

onlyme wrote:My mom goes through 100-200+ books a year.
Wow. For most of my adult life, I'd be lucky if I read a single book in a year. After formally deciding to start reading a couple months ago, I've managed to read three (well, two, plus the 1e PHB (which, aside from all the spells, was read cover-to-cover).

I'm debating what to read next, but I do want to keep going since I feel like I'm getting into a bit of a routine.
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Re: Ready Player One

#17 Post by onlyme »

I probably went a few years before starting to read again. School made it seem like a chore. Now it is for fun.

What genre do you like the best?
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Re: Ready Player One

#18 Post by dmw71 »

onlyme wrote:What genre do you like the best?
Best? Probably fantasy.

But the collection of books I own is very varied, with subjects including: biographies, business, fantasy fiction, history, screenwriting, technology, etc....
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Re: Ready Player One

#19 Post by onlyme »

It's funny, but I have never cared for fantasy... Maybe if there were good mystery/thrillers using it has a backdrop. I did enjoy the Game of Thrones, which was more political than fantasy.
A couple of suggestions:

Since you are from Chicago, Devil in the White City. The murder sections were fascinating. The Fair sections were ok.
Unbroken. Perhaps the most amazing biography I have ever read.
Pillars of the Earth. Large book but made the 1100s feel like yesterday. Intertwined story lines and the settings feel like a typical D&D setting, minus the magic and monsters.
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Re: Ready Player One

#20 Post by Alethan »

onlyme wrote: Pillars of the Earth. Large book but made the 1100s feel like yesterday. Intertwined story lines and the settings feel like a typical D&D setting, minus the magic and monsters.
Oi, no magic?? What's the point then???
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