Ready player two A novel

Ernest Cline

Book - 2020

Days after winning control of OASIS, the immersive virtual reality environment in which most of humanity chooses to live, Wade Watts discovers a world-changing technological advancement and draws the attention of a merciless new rival --

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SCIENCE FICTION/Cline Ernest
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1st Floor SCIENCE FICTION/Cline Ernest Due Apr 14, 2024
1st Floor SCIENCE FICTION/Cline Ernest Due Apr 12, 2024
1st Floor SCIENCE FICTION/Cline Ernest Due Apr 10, 2024
Subjects
Genres
Adventure fiction
Science fiction
Fantasy fiction
Novels
Published
New York : Ballantine Books [2020]
Language
English
Main Author
Ernest Cline (author)
Edition
First edition
Item Description
Sequel to: Ready player one.
Physical Description
370 pages ; 25 cm
ISBN
9781524761332
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

The planet remains a dismal place, but for most of humanity, the computer-generated world of OASIS offers a refuge from reality's harshness. Having won Halliday's Easter Egg hunt at the end of Ready Player One (2011), Wade Watts has everything he ever wanted: fame, fortune, and friends. A few days later, an avatar of his idol James Halliday appears, giving Wade a powerful new device, one that can change the world for good--or make things even worse. Wade "only" has to decide if humanity is ready for the new technology. He chooses to release it, and shortly afterwards a mysterious new riddle is announced, one that only Halliday's heir can solve. As in the previous book, there are plenty of 1980s pop culture references including a hilarious visit to the films of John Hughes and a mad race through a world devoted to Prince. Cline's fans will enjoy revisiting old friends and meeting new ones as they go on a whirlwind trip through a fantastic new virtual quest to save the world.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

This second installment picks up shortly after the events of Ready Player One and quickly fast-forwards. Wade Watts and the surviving members of the High Five are now in charge of running the OASIS, an online simulation that also helps run the world. Not long after winning James Halliday's original contest, Wade stumbles upon another Easter egg hidden within Halliday's vaults. Inside the egg is a new technology that allows users to experience the OASIS in an incredibly immersive, and addictive, way. It also triggers a fresh quest. A powerful new nemesis appears, forcing Wade, Samantha, Aech, and Shoto to come together to find the rest of the quest items in a life-or-death race against the clock. Many readers will enjoy Cline's trademark deep dives into pop culture references from the 1980s, though some may not connect with readers unfamiliar with the source material. Wil Wheaton, who narrated Ready Player One, once again brings something special to the story through his enthusiastic reading, giving parts that may drag on the page a bit more life and excitement. VERDICT The story will make much more sense, and be far more enjoyable, to listeners already familiar with Ready Player One (either the book or the movie) and those who have general knowledge about movies, music, and games from the 80s. The audiobook version is definitely worth the time investment due to Wheaton's expert narration.--Courtney Pentland, Omaha, NE

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Cutscene After I won Halliday's contest, I remained offline for nine straight days--­a new personal record. When I finally logged back in to my OASIS account, I was sitting in my new corner office on the top floor of the GSS skyscraper in downtown Columbus, Ohio, preparing to start my gig as one of the company's new owners. The other three were still scattered across the globe: Shoto had flown back home to Japan to take over operations at GSS's Hokkaido division. Aech was enjoying an extended vacation in Senegal, a country she'd dreamed of visiting her whole life, because her ancestors had come from there. And Samantha had flown back to Vancouver to pack up her belongings and say goodbye to her grandmother, Evelyn. She wasn't due to arrive here in Columbus for another four days, which seemed like an eternity. I needed to distract myself until our reunion, so I decided to log back in to the OASIS and try out a few more of the superuser abilities my avatar now possessed. I climbed into my brand-­new top-­of-­the-­line OASIS immersion rig, a Habashaw OIR-­9400, then put on my visor and haptic gloves and initiated the login sequence. My avatar reappeared where I'd last logged out, on the planet Chthonia, standing outside the gates of Castle Anorak. As I'd anticipated, there were thousands of other avatars already gathered there, all waiting patiently for me to make an appearance. According to the newsfeed headlines, some of them had been camped out there all week--­ever since I'd resurrected them in the aftermath of our epic battle against the Sixers. In my first official act as one of GSS's new owners, just a few hours after the fight ended, I'd authorized our admins to restore all the items, credits, and power levels those heroic users had lost, along with their avatars. I thought it was the least we could do to repay them for their help, and Samantha, Aech, and Shoto had agreed. It was the first decision we'd voted on as the company's new co-­owners. As soon as the avatars in my vicinity spotted me, they began to run in my direction, closing in on me from all sides at once. To avoid getting mobbed, I teleported inside the castle, into Anorak's study--­a room in the highest tower that I alone could enter, thanks to the Robes of Anorak I now wore. The obsidian-­black garment endowed my avatar with the godlike powers Halliday's own avatar had once possessed. I glanced around the cluttered study. Here, just over a week ago, Anorak had declared me the winner of Halliday's contest and changed my life forever. My eyes fell upon the painting of a black dragon that hung on the wall. Beneath it stood an ornate crystal pedestal with a jewel-­encrusted chalice resting on top of it. And cradled within the chalice was the object I'd spent so many years searching for: Halliday's silver Easter egg. I walked over to admire it, and that was when I noticed something strange--­an inscription on the egg's otherwise pristine surface. One that definitely hadn't been there when I'd last seen it, nine days earlier. No other avatars could enter this room. No one could've tampered with the egg. So there was only one way that inscription could've gotten there. Halliday himself must have programmed it to appear on the egg's surface. It could have appeared right after Anorak gave me his robes, and I'd just been too distracted to notice. I bent down to read the inscription: GSS--­13th Floor--­Vault #42-­8675309. Excerpted from Ready Player Two: A Novel by Ernest Cline All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.