Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

SYNOPSIS

Days after winning OASIS founder James Halliday's contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything.

Hidden within Halliday's vaults, waiting for his heir to find it, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the OASIS a thousand times more wondrous - and addictive - than even Wade dreamed possible.

With it comes a new riddle, and a new quest: a last Easter egg from Halliday, hinting at a mysterious prize. And an unexpected, impossibly powerful, and dangerous new rival awaits, one who'll kill millions to get what he wants.

Wade's life and the future of the OASIS are again at stake, but this time the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance.

REVIEW

The last time that I read Ready Player One was about two years ago and I was completely taken by this world that seemed so probable but futuristic. It was simply a joy to get to know the characters and how they used this amazing world at their fingertips. Now, with the sequel finally in readers hands, we all expected the same kind of excitement that we all experienced in the pages of the first book. But it was very clear from the first chapters of RP2 that what we knew was going to be turned upside down and inside out. This is something new and there is a different message to tell.

We journey to the events after Halliday's competition and how this has changed the High Five and what they did with their newfound wealth. It comes apparent how this has changed their outlook of how they see the world, some for the better and some for the worst.

It is only then when they discover something innovative and new that it sets off a quest in the OASIS that could change the world forever.

I didn't hate this book. Some of the chapters were quite longwinded, but I think it is a book that rewards you in the end. I actually quite liked the ending. I thought it was quite different and reminiscent of previous sci-fi books that I have read in the past. In some ways, it is a love letter to how sci-fi has changed pop culture.

Some of the characters in the previous book that wasn't there as much also got to shine. For instance, Og was a great example of how important he is and the important role he had to play. I think that he might be my favourite since reading this book.

Even though there are quite a few reviews that have put this book down, I don't think that it should stop you from reading it. It's not the same as the previous book but I don't think that it should be. There are some interesting parts of this book that I prefer to RP1. Overall, even though it is not perfect, this book does have some great passages that need to be read.

RATING: ***1/2 (THREE AND A HALF STARS)

BUY LINKS

Amazon: Ready Player Two: The highly anticipated sequel to READY PLAYER ONE: Amazon.co.uk: Cline, Ernest: 9781780897431: Books

Waterstones: Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline | Waterstones

Bookshop.org: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/3917/9781780897431

Disclosure: If you buy books linked to this site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.

Thoughts of a Bookworm #5: Goodreads Choice Award is Fake

Hello! So, I know that it has been some time since I was last writing to you all. But I saw an email the other day and it really got me that I couldn’t not share my thoughts on it. As we all know it’s that time of year again. The fairy lights are beginning to twinkle, the days and nights are getting darker and colder and we are all starting to look ahead to the next year. But what comes before next year? Well, the Goodreads Book Choice Awards of course. One of the biggest events in a bookworm’s calendar. But personally, I think the whole thing is an insult to the whole book community. Obviously, when I was younger I didn’t think any different to most bookworms. However, I have come to realise that it isn’t necessarily what is the best book of the year but rather a popularity contest. More so now than ever with the insurgence of ‘BookTok’. Honestly, I don’t think we will ever get a book worthy of the title ever again. It has become a pure vanity project. Take me back to the T...

Thoughts of a Bookworm #6: Booktok is killing literature

Booktok. One of the most exciting community spaces for a reader in the past five years. A place where there is a big online community giving insight into old and new releases. Reviewers who are receptive to their audience and you don't have to be 'somebody'. This is no branded bookclub. It is a place for all people with different tastes come together to share what they truly love. Books. I have to be honest, I have also been a fly on the wall. Using their recommendations many a time for myself or as research to help someone else in their favourite genre. It can be a great tool. But there are times where I have thought that I was giving into the book version of 'fast fashion'. But what do I mean by 'fast fashion' exactly? Well, have you been watching recently? Especially in the romantasy space where plots have been subverted to a simple trope. One huge example that I tend to see is 'how much spice is there?' I get it. You want certain things to make...

A Wedding in the Country by Katie Fforde

SYNOPSIS Lizzie has just arrived in London, determined to make the best of her new life. Her mother may be keen that she should have a nice wedding in the country to a Suitable Man chosen by her. And Lizzie may be going to cookery school to help her become a Good Wife. But she definitely wants to have some fun first. It is 1963 and London is beginning to swing as Lizzie cuts her hair, buys a new dress with a fashionably short hemline, and moves in with two of her best friends, one of whom lives in a grand but rundown house in Belgravia which has plenty of room for a lodger. Soon Lizzie's life is so exciting that she has forgotten all about her mother's marriage plans for her. All she can think about is that the young man she is falling in love with appears to be engaged to someone else...