Ready Player One

Ready Player One

Cover to the first printing
Author Ernest Cline
Country United States
Language English
Genre Science fiction and dystopian
Publisher Random House
Publication date
 August 16, 2011
Media type Print (Hardcover)
Pages 374
ISBN 978-0307887436
Website www.readyplayerone.com

Ready Player One is a 2011 science fiction and dystopian novel by Ernest Cline. In 2012, the book received an Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association division of the American Library Association[1] and won the 2012 Prometheus Award.[2]

Cline sold the novel in June 2010, in a bidding war to the Crown Publishing Group (a division of Random House).[3] The book was published on August 16, 2011.[4] The audiobook is narrated by Wil Wheaton, who also happens to cameo in the story as the Vice-President of the OASIS.[5]

A film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg is slated to begin production in spring 2016.


Background

The OASIS is a virtual universe, containing thousands of worlds. It functions both as an MMORPG and as a virtual society, with OASIS currency being the most stable currency in the world. Upon his death, the creator of the OASIS launched a contest to look for a hidden Easter Egg within the OASIS. This was his legacy, and per his will the winner would receive his vast, real-life fortune and control over the OASIS. In essence, this would make the winner into one of the most powerful people in the world.

Those who are "egg hunters" begin to be called "gunters". The contest goes for many years with no one having any success at even completing the first stage in the contest. Public interest wanes and all but the most dedicated abandon the hunt until Wade Watts (who seems the least likely of candidates) completes the first step. Shortly thereafter, he is soon followed in his success by fellow gunter, Art3mis. This brings the Egg Hunt back into the spotlight and kicks the competition into high gear again. Wade competes both against his peers, friends, and the evil Innovative Online Industries (IOI).

Plot summary

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenager Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

Synopsis

The OASIS is a virtual universe, containing thousands of worlds. It functions both as an MMORPG and as a virtual society, with OASIS currency being the most stable currency in the world. Upon his death, the creator of the OASIS launched a contest to look for a hidden Easter Egg within the OASIS. This was his legacy, and per his will the winner would receive his vast, real-life fortune and control over the OASIS. In essence, this would make the winner into one of the most powerful people in the world.

Those who are "egg hunters" begin to be called "gunters". The contest goes for many years with no one having any success at even completing the first stage in the contest. Public interest wanes and all but the most dedicated abandon the hunt until Wade Watts (who seems the least likely of candidates) completes the first step. Shortly thereafter, he is soon followed in his success by fellow gunter, Art3mis. This brings the Egg Hunt back into the spotlight and kicks the competition into high gear again. Wade competes both against his peers, friends, and the evil Innovative Online Industries (IOI).

Characters

Reception

Ready Player One was a New York Times bestseller and the paperback is in its 17th printing. It was praised by such publications as Entertainment Weekly, The Boston Globe, The A.V. Club, CNN.com, io9, and Boing Boing, to name a few. USA Today wrote that the novel "undoubtedly qualifies Cline as the hottest geek on the planet right now."[8] NPR 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 [that] makes it almost impossible to stop turning the pages."[9] On the other hand, The New York Times said "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.[10]

The book has been translated into at least 20 languages, including Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Latvian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, and Turkish.

Easter egg hunt

Ten months after the first edition 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 DeLorean.[11] The game Ultimate Collector: Garage Sale by Austin-based developer Portalarium was featured in one part of the contest.[12] 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 Joust. He was awarded the DeLorean on the TV show X-Play.[13]

Film adaptation

The film rights were purchased by Warner Bros. the same day Cline finalized his publishing deal with Random House, one year prior to the novel's publication. Dan Farah brought the project into the studio and is producing with Donald De Line. Cline adapted his own novel into a screenplay.[14] Over the years, Eric Eason and Zak Penn assisted Cline with rewrites.[15]

Steven Spielberg signed on to direct in March 2015.[16] 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.[17] On February 9, 2016, the release date was pushed back to March 30, 2018, to avoid competition with Star Wars: Episode VIII.[18] The movie will begin production in the spring of 2016 and will be filmed in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

On September 1, 2015, TheWrap reported that Olivia Cooke, Elle Fanning and Lola Kirke were on the shortlist for the role of Art3mis, along with two unnamed actresses, and Justin Kroll tweeted that Nick Robinson was an early favorite of Spielberg for Parzival.[19][20] On September 11, 2015, it was reported that Cooke was cast as the film's female lead as Samantha.[21] On January 6, 2016, The Hollwood Reporter reported that Ben Mendelsohn was in talks to play Nolan Sorrento.[22] In early 2016, the movie launched a worldwide casting call for the roles of Wade Watts, Daito, and Shoto in the project.[23] On February 24, 2016, Deadline reported that Tye Sheridan was cast as Wade in the film.[24] On March 17, 2016, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Simon Pegg was in negotiations for the role of OASIS co-creator Ogden Morrow, better known by his OASIS avatar: the Great and Powerful Og.[25] April 13, 2016, Variety reported that Mark Rylance has joined the cast as OASIS creator James Donovon Halliday.[26]

Additional editions

A fan-fiction story written by Andy Weir, "Lacero," was published in the 2016 edition of Ready Player One, making it canonical to the book's fictional universe. Dealing with the back story of Nolan Sorrento, "Lacero" functions as a prequel to the main novel.[NB 1][27]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Galactanet - The Creative Writings of Andy Weir, "Lucero" (short story fanfic)

References

  1. ↑ "YALSA's Alex Awards". American Library Association. 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  2. ↑ Libertarian Futurist Society. "PROMETHEUS AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED". Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  3. ↑ Archived November 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Ready Player One by Ernest Cline". Random House Publishers. 2011. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  5. ↑ McWeeny, Drew. "Review: 'Ready Player One' is the geek book event of the year: Ernie Cline's first novel offers nostalgia, the future, and a gamer's dream," HitFix (Aug 16, 2011).
  6. ↑ "How Lord British Inspired Anorak | Ernie's Blog". Ernestcline.com. 2011-10-19. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  7. ↑ Sims, Tony (June 22, 2011). "A Few Minutes With Fanboys Writer Ernest Cline on Ready Player One". Wired.
  8. ↑ "Most Popular E-mail Newsletter". USA Today. August 19, 2011.
  9. ↑ Schaub, Michael (2011-08-22). "'Player One': A Winning, Geeked-Out Page-Turner". NPR. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  10. ↑ Maslin, Janet (August 14, 2011). "‘Ready Player One' by Ernest Cline – Review". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ "Three Hidden Keys Open Three Secret Gates | Ernie's Blog". Ernestcline.com. 2012-06-05. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  12. ↑ "Contest Winners Level Up In The Ready Player One Easter Egg Hunt". Giant Freakin Robot.
  13. ↑ "Ready Player —One Author Ernest Cline Gives Away a DeLorean on X-Play". g4tv.com. 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  14. ↑ Fleming, Michael (June 18, 2010). "Warner Bros and De Line Pictures Win Book Auction For 'Ready Player One'". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  15. ↑ Sneider, Jeff (January 13, 2010). "Eason to rewrite ‘Player’ script". Variety. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  16. ↑ Busch, Anita (March 25, 2015). "Steven Spielberg To Direct Sci-Fi Cult Favorite ‘Ready Player One'; Back At Warner Bros". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  17. ↑ Zumberge, Marianne. "Steven Spielberg’s ‘Ready Player One’ Slated for 2017 Release".
  18. ↑ Lang, Brent (February 9, 2016). "Steven Spielberg’s ‘Ready Player One’ Pushed Back to Avoid ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’". Variety. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  19. ↑ Sneider, Jeff (September 1, 2015). "Steven Spielberg’s ‘Ready Player One’ Shortlist Includes Elle Fanning, Olivia Cooke, Lola Kirke (Exclusive)". The Wrap.
  20. ↑
  21. ↑ Kroll, Justin (September 11, 2015). "Steven Spielberg Casts Olivia Cooke as Female Lead in ‘Ready Player One’". Variety. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  22. ↑ Kit, Borys (January 6, 2016). "Ben Mendelsohn Eyed for Villain Role in Steven Spielberg's 'Ready Player One' (Exclusive)".
  23. ↑ "Online Auditions for Lead Roles in Steven Spielberg Movie "Ready Player One"". auditionsfree.com. January 19, 2016.
  24. ↑ Fleming, Jr, Mike (February 24, 2016). "Steven Spielberg Taps Tye Sheridan For Lead In ‘Ready Player One’ Based On Ernest Cline Novel". Deadline.
  25. ↑ Kit, Borys (March 17, 2016). "Simon Pegg in Talks to Join Steven Spielberg's 'Ready Player One' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  26. ↑ http://variety.com/2016/film/news/steven-spielberg-ready-player-one-mark-rylance-1201752474/
  27. ↑ Brock Wilbur (28 March 2016). "How 'The Martian' Impacted the 'Ready Player One' Movie". INverse.

External links

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