Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline set to release this Fall.
- Thread starter CB2001
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Gimpdiggity
Master Member
Finished it tonight.
Enjoyed it quite a bit, with one small exception...
Other than that, I really liked it.
Enjoyed it quite a bit, with one small exception...
I could have used a slightly condensed version of the Prince portion of the story. Forty pages of that seemed a bit much. For me, it was the only part of the book that really dragged on, and I found myself several times looking ahead and saying “How many more pages of this are there?”
Other than that, I really liked it.
CB2001
Master Member
New update: I have no idea what the hell is going on with Amazon, but I just received my copy of the book today, though the ETA was still lists as December 9th. Not completely complaining, as I just started reading it. Glad I don't need to change anything from my RP1 fan fic Live To Tell.
I have to ask, is the title a reference to the Madonna song from the Sean Penn/Christopher Walken film 'At Close Range'?
That's one of my favorites.
CB2001
Master Member
Yes, it is. I originally was going with another song's title as I originally started, but changed it due to the fact it felt too "actiony" for a story that was meant to be a bit of a character piece (though it does feature the big fight from the first book as a part of the story). The original title was going to be One of The Living.
If you're interested in reading it, you can check it out here: Live To Tell - A Ready Player One Fan Fiction Story Chapter 1: Live To Tell, a ready player one fanfic | FanFiction
Just remember, the story is meant to be a character piece that follows a user who was on the ground for the Battle of The Third Gate (starting from the moment he got word and proceeded to try to get to Chthonia). I've had nine reviews, one of them negative, but the rest being positive (with one saying it a great story to read after reading the first novel). I may go back in soon to adjust one thing (the number of days the lead mentions how long it took to restore the accounts and a grammar issue at a couple of spots I noticed). The second chapter is a "writer's commentary" chapter detailing the development, and thought process and pointing out some of the references straight up (and includes a summary for a followup I had considered, but then didn't to pursue because the story was either to close to the book or too close to the film adaptation, which had been posted long before the summary of the second book was revealed. And after reading the second book, I'm glad I didn't pursue it because there were some similar plot details brought up). But, after reading the second book, I did have another followup idea for my fan fic but I doubt I'll go with it either. If you end up giving up on it due to how long winded it is, I'll understand.
But, onto my brief non-spoiler review of RP2: it was a good followup. I was hoping for something as good as Empire Strikes Back quality type improvement, but it feels more like Return of the Jedi progression if that makes any sense. I've been told that doing a second reading makes it better, but I'm trying to decide if I want to or not.
signeddiamond
Well-Known Member
I really hate to say it but this book was awful. I was looking forward to it and thoroughly enjoyed the first book. While it had some real problems it was a fun read that did reward people invested in pop culture. For the last few months it has been sitting as a preorder in my cart...
Spoilers (And maybe a bit of a rant) ahead...
My main problem with the first book was the lack of setup and payoff when it came to Wade solving the puzzles. Most of the time he would encounter something completely random and it would cut to an internal monologue "This would have been a huge problem but luckily I spent the over 400 hours studying this particular kind of challenge so really its not much of a problem at all."
Well there went the tension. RP2 falls into similar problems but also seems to do everything possible to make its protagonist unlikeable. When Wade was awkward, clingy, immature, and selfish in the first book it worked because he had no power. As the book continued he gained notoriety and wealth and needed to carry more responsibility resulting in a sacrifice of his freedom for the chance to save the Oasis.
RP2 takes Wade right back. He now has a position that essentially makes him the most influential person on the planet but uses that power to creep on people, get petty vengeance, and push everybody away. I would like to say this is just a short failure as he adjusts to his position but this is his state for years and lasts through a third of the book. I'm sitting there wondering just what he could possibly do to redeem himself to Samantha especially since for years he has generally just been picking petty arguments and dismissing her views.
Turns out as soon as things go south she instantly becomes sympathetic to him. Really he does not need to do anything and she is gung ho to comfort and help him. The challenges are much like the original except now 90% of the book is describing things you should already be somewhat aware of. When a decent chunk of the book is explaining how one town can be all the towns form John Hughes movies and describing the minutia of the music that plays and the way the school is arranged and how one Molly Ringwald wont interact with another because they are blah blah blah blah. Along with this I found the same problem with the first book. Samantha is a John Hughes expert. Is this ever setup as a thing? Nope she just has all the answers and its not a problem. The Prince task is the same. Aech knows everything there is to possibly know about Prince. Tension gone but there is still a thick stack of pages dedicated you describing a battle between 7 Princes where its challenging to keep track of who is where and doing what.
The final conflict pulls a completely out of left field brand new item into the mix that Wade secretly had the programmers make for him so he could get all his power back. Again no setup for such a huge payoff. Nothing clever.
It just keeps going on and on like this. In the end Wade appears to have gotten everything he wanted while not really needing to pay a toll for it. Even the world at large has no real idea what he and his company almost caused and what the headsets are actually doing to their users.
I really wanted to like it. I thought the new element of complete immersion and its effects on humanity was a great start to something compelling but I was bored and tired of the formula by the halfway point and only barely dragged my way to the end. Others will talk about how gender identity ruined the book or how Woke culture influenced this or that but honestly the book isn't important enough to even be a talking point in such discussions. I dislike it because it is poorly written. Despite being 80% a lengthy description of better crafted media it fails to lift up its own 20% with compelling characters and story.
The film adaptation will likely be the rare case of being superior to the book.
Signeddiamond
Spoilers (And maybe a bit of a rant) ahead...
My main problem with the first book was the lack of setup and payoff when it came to Wade solving the puzzles. Most of the time he would encounter something completely random and it would cut to an internal monologue "This would have been a huge problem but luckily I spent the over 400 hours studying this particular kind of challenge so really its not much of a problem at all."
Well there went the tension. RP2 falls into similar problems but also seems to do everything possible to make its protagonist unlikeable. When Wade was awkward, clingy, immature, and selfish in the first book it worked because he had no power. As the book continued he gained notoriety and wealth and needed to carry more responsibility resulting in a sacrifice of his freedom for the chance to save the Oasis.
RP2 takes Wade right back. He now has a position that essentially makes him the most influential person on the planet but uses that power to creep on people, get petty vengeance, and push everybody away. I would like to say this is just a short failure as he adjusts to his position but this is his state for years and lasts through a third of the book. I'm sitting there wondering just what he could possibly do to redeem himself to Samantha especially since for years he has generally just been picking petty arguments and dismissing her views.
Turns out as soon as things go south she instantly becomes sympathetic to him. Really he does not need to do anything and she is gung ho to comfort and help him. The challenges are much like the original except now 90% of the book is describing things you should already be somewhat aware of. When a decent chunk of the book is explaining how one town can be all the towns form John Hughes movies and describing the minutia of the music that plays and the way the school is arranged and how one Molly Ringwald wont interact with another because they are blah blah blah blah. Along with this I found the same problem with the first book. Samantha is a John Hughes expert. Is this ever setup as a thing? Nope she just has all the answers and its not a problem. The Prince task is the same. Aech knows everything there is to possibly know about Prince. Tension gone but there is still a thick stack of pages dedicated you describing a battle between 7 Princes where its challenging to keep track of who is where and doing what.
The final conflict pulls a completely out of left field brand new item into the mix that Wade secretly had the programmers make for him so he could get all his power back. Again no setup for such a huge payoff. Nothing clever.
It just keeps going on and on like this. In the end Wade appears to have gotten everything he wanted while not really needing to pay a toll for it. Even the world at large has no real idea what he and his company almost caused and what the headsets are actually doing to their users.
I really wanted to like it. I thought the new element of complete immersion and its effects on humanity was a great start to something compelling but I was bored and tired of the formula by the halfway point and only barely dragged my way to the end. Others will talk about how gender identity ruined the book or how Woke culture influenced this or that but honestly the book isn't important enough to even be a talking point in such discussions. I dislike it because it is poorly written. Despite being 80% a lengthy description of better crafted media it fails to lift up its own 20% with compelling characters and story.
The film adaptation will likely be the rare case of being superior to the book.
Signeddiamond
