A Better Book Than Ready Player One
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Whether you liked Ready Player One, didn't like it, or (like me) wanted to return it to the fiery chasm from whence it came, I suggest you level up with a far superior book, A Hundred Thousand Worlds by Bob Proehl.
No offence to anyone who liked Ready Player One. Kind of.
Don't cancel me! We're all having fun here LOL
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This is probably a sign I don't like truly great FICTION books (to be honest), because I've listened to Ready Player One probably 11 times in full. I loved it to the depth of my being.
You're not alone on that. I hated the book "Snow Crash" which a lot of people loved, but I really enjoyed RPO even though there are obviously a lot of people who hate it. I like the 80's references. That's sort of what the book is *about* in a way, so in a way it's strange to hate the book because of that.
I love ready player one and in NO way felt disrespected by this video. I was just looking for other books in a similar vain. Thank you for the recommendation, I just picked up a hundred thousand worlds on audible. Can't wait to start it!
Just finished a hundred thousand worlds and it is a much better written book but it's a lot less interesting story
@@GSR2step thx for the info
@@GSR2step Ready Player One really drew me in and kept me entertained the whole read. Were as A Hundred Thousand Worlds kept losing me. It was slow in parts and I would keep losing interest.
ready player one is the only book that i've willingly finished and enjoyed (also the only book i read in the last 8 years)
edit: 5 likes (awesome) & I'm listening to the audiobook :)
Same
Same
I've been trying to pinpoint what it is that I really liked about RPO and I think I figured it out. It's not al the 80s references, it's not the VR setting, it's the treasure hunt/puzzle-solving/mystery aspect. That's what I like about Harry Potter too. Yes all that other stuff is there and I do enjoy it too, but it's trying to figure out what needs to be done next, before the characters do, that I really like. Can you recommend something else like that? I'd love a new puzzle to solve.
Did you find anything to satisfy this itch?
I DNFd it. I had heard so much hype that I just couldn't see it when I was reading it. Glad to hear I'm not alone!
We are officially book soulmates LOL
I LOVED that book!!! I want to read your alternative though ;)
I hope I didn’t offend! Almost everyone loved that book. I’m definitely in the minority. But I hope you like A Hundred Thousand Worlds. Pretty confident you would 😁
@@RickMacDonnell No, I appreciate views that are different than mine. I also read it before my book tastes changed (I'll do a video on that at some point) so I could re-read it now and not like it as much, but... I still think I would like it :)
More power to you 😊
I hated RPO too. I have a different kind of recommendation if you're interested. It's Daemon by Daniel Suarez, it feels like a Fight Club version of RPO even though it came out a year before RPO. Instead of being a wish fulfillment fantasy it's a terrifying horror techno thriller about real life becoming like a video game. It's not perfect, some part are very dark for no reason other than to be edgy, but i still highly recommend it. There's a character just like Wade from RPO but he's the villain.
I loved the book RPO. The hunt, the nerdy knowledge, and the life of a poor 18 year old dyde.
I dont know why RPO gets so much hate (other than the "gamer gate" stuff, that is a criticism that has nothing to do with the book itself).
I could have lived without the long list of things, and so many of the references were shallow (remember this, remember that) rather than actually understanding the material.
But the core concept of a utopia inside a dystopia is amazing (and something not really captured in the film).
I think the hate comes from the book celebrating a toxic gatekeeping of what is or isn't good pop-culture. One of its core themes is that you have to like the same things as Wade/Halliday/Cline to be rewarded or respected in this universe (and you can tell that's the author's outlook because these ideas are repeatedly reinforced but never challenged). Funnily enough, RPO itself is a really badly written book.
I guess a book doesn't deserve hate purely on account of being badly written. But this book represents and promotes a culture where everything is divided into 'good' and 'bad' nerd stuff with heavily gendered biases. Anime good, Spaceships and superheroes good, rock music good, vampire romance bad, new cartoons bad, Nany Drew bad etc. Pre-gamergate these biases were largely unchallenged, but now it's got people talking.
Sure the premise sounds good but there has to be a story in there. Everything that should mean something in that book is shallow.
@@rmcbean5699
Really good scifi (star trek, outer limits, etc) uses its stories to discuss social issues that we would otherwise be unwilling to discuss.
RPO has that. We've got allusions to net neutrality, discussion of race and gender. The idea of "passing" for white. We've got warnings of the environmental impact of consumerism, we've got political apathy, and discussions of our failing education system.
But the central theme is a fire brand atheist looking for meaning that he would otherwise find in religion. Parzavelle and the church for the holy grail.
There's a lot of really deep stuff going on in there, again most of this is cut from the movie.
@@17R3W
Yeah, cause we haven't heard "RACISM IS BAD" "HOMOPHOBIA IS BAD" "SEXISM IS BAD" and "POLLUTION IS BAD" a trillion other times from a trillion other sources, right? If that is going to be your message in a story, just stop. We've heard it too many times that it just comes off as pandering. Plus, a story about a boy playing a video game doesn't seem like the vest way to do it anyways. With a setting like that, you're just attracting an audience who didn't come to get preached at, just came for a nice video game story. Aka people like me.
On top of all of that, the "ahhh, rememeber how GREAT the 80's were?" plastered in every single corner tied in with the message comes off a bit obtuse when racism and homophobia was rampant in that decade
Sounds intriguing! One of my favourite books of all time is Watchmen and that certainly doesn't let "mainstream" comics off easy in the way it deconstructs them. I'd be interested to see how Proehl balances a celebration and critique of comic book subcultures at the same time. will have to look out for this!
He balances it so well. Clearly reveres the stuff, but is self aware enough to see the problems. He handles it extremely well. I think you’ll like it!
Haven’t read Ready Played One but I like the idea of offering a better option if you negatively review a book
I think it's something we could all get better at doing :) Turns a negative into a positive, which (I think) is better.
When I started RPO I was really excited because I thought the concept was cool, and the 15 y/o MMO-playing anime-watching nerd in me was screaming for a story just like this.
I loved what I thought was detailed world building, with the PvP zones and whatnot. I thought the egg hunt was a clever way to deliver nostalgia to readers in a book set in the future. I also thought the story had some promising aspects with the dystopian set-up. That feeling lasted me some 3 chapters and made me ignore some truly horrible writing . Then I got to this part:
Wade: "You're evil you know that?"
Art3mis: "Chaotic neutral, sugar."
and what was the odd cringe being delivered in small doses turned into unadulterated shame at reading such garbage as a fully grown adult. Whatever this was, it was not a good book.
I gave it a few more chapters regardless, and gave up after some borderline unreadable chapters in between where he spends at least ten pages describing how cool his IRL and in-game set up were.
This is one of about 200 cringe-worthy moments in that book LOL
@@RickMacDonnell I get that but then also think about the characters you're reading about. They are complete shut-in recluses that live their entire lives online. They have basically no contact with people in the real world, with all their social interactions being online and from the movies and TV shows they watch. For me this made sense when there was insanely cringey dialogue because that's exactly how these people would communicate with each other.
Don't read books, just become the characters in the books you want to read.
Never heard of A Hundred Thousand Worlds, but will give it a go. However from my understanding of it, and in comparison to Ready Player One, they are two totally different journeys. I am a huge fan of VR. I started with Google Cardboard, then Samsung Gear VR, followed by the Oculus Rift, which then got retired for my Oculus Quest which allows me to use my gaming PC and SteamVR library via Virtual Desktop, my 5ghz Wifi router, and the Virtual Desktop Sideloaded extension. I regularly read up on new tech, with major interests in Neural Nets, Soft Robotics, Electroactive Polymers, Virtual Reality, and just about anything else around the subject of the Technological Singularity... With all that being said, the appeal of Ready Player One, despite all the fandom nerdlove stuff, is the world it explains. I would say crafts, but I think the VR world Kline puts forth is one we are going to see, as it is inevitable. Nerds/Geeks/Dorks/etc are the builders in this technological age. We are already seeing the Oasis in very early form with VRChat. To me, the story was the bonus part. The imagining of possibilities, showing what near future tech can/will bring... It fed me. That was the biggest draw to RP1 for me. How can A Hundred Thousand Worlds entice me?
Ready Player One is my favorite book. Hahah So funny how we all have our own unique experiences. Looking forward to checking out the recommendation.
I want to like RP1 but it just feels like a 80s culture encyclopedia Ernest just shat out..thx for the recommendation btw
EXACTLY
@@peanutpablo9596 EVERY 5 SECS THERES A REFERENCE...Then he explains y he likes that refence
@@aaronsmith6416 I mean that's kinda the whole point of the book though. The creator of the Egg Hunt was obsessed with the 80s and wanted everyone else to be obsessed with it too. Kinda the entire book is about 80s references lol
I'll probably read this book now that I know about it, but I am reading RPO right now and am enjoying it. I saw the movie last year and really liked that too. Just looking for a little lighthearted, easy reading entertainment before going to bed. I don't expect RPO or this book change my life, just take my mind off everyday problems for awhile.
IronheadOfScroteus Hundred Thousand Worlds will definitely do that, too! It’s delightful. I hope you enjoy it 😊 Thanks for watching!
@@RickMacDonnell I'll be ordering it soon. One book series I read in the same vein, containing a world obsessed with VR, was "Otherland" , by Tad Williams. It was a long slog through the five big books, but I found it worth the read. I wouldn't recommend it though except to the most dedicated readers.
Where is the vr Metaverse? This book is nothing like ready player one?
Just went on audible and bought it on your recommendation
I own and love the Ready Player One book and have read it many times. I also love everything by J.R.R. Tolkien and Douglas Adams, for example.
I wonder if you understand that RPO is a story "written by Wade Watts", the youngster?
I loved Ready Player one Armada was great too, now as for Ready Player 2... it started strong but overall was not great.
"I didn’t like Star Wars, so go watch this NASA documentary instead."
I'm sorry, but that's what this video sounded like. I think you really misunderstood exactly why people like RPO. It's not my favorite book by any stretch of the imagination, and I agree that the MC is a cringy self-insert, but the VR concept is what we like and enjoy about it.
For anyone else stumbling across this comment, if you like Ready Player One but want an actual better story, please check out the LitRPG genre. Start with Dungeon Crawler Carl, and then check out some of the other big titles from there. There's a LitRPG subreddit full of people ready to help you with their recommendations.
Ngl I enjoyed it because I mostly just used audible I loves it
To be fair, Ready Player One was Ernest Cline's first published work. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, but I hope that any new books from him will be better.
Rp1 is good, Armada is an unreadable regurgitation of the Last Starfighter
I started reading ready player one in both English and in my native language (which is German) and I personally loved reading the German version but hated the English one to the point where i never finished it
I don't really understand why but although it's still the same book and plot it doesn't feel like one to me
Also what really confused me is that the German version has 200 pages more
I love RPO but I don't disagree with any of your points.
Lolol I feel embarrassed and sad now
LOL
mad cause its my favourite book
I definitely like your idea of steering readers to a better option if you don't like a book. As a librarian my go to phrase is always, "This book is great for someone else!" And then I explain why some other reader might like this book.
Also, I liked Ready Player One, haha, but won't be cancelling you.
Thank you for your generosity 😄
Since its release I have read RP1 four times and listened to the audiobook twice. You need to relax. Is it well written? No. Is it an easy entertaining read? Absolutely.
Having said that, I was not able to finish anything else Ernest Cline has written lol
I love this idea of redirecting toward people toward something better when you give a bad review. I'm going to make an effort to do that in the future when I can.
I think it's something we could all be better at doing :)
I don't know..
I got through reading RPO..and I fell back to my youth ..the character Wade watts ...hmmm I was trying to place him ...oh yes..Henry Fleming from Stephen Cranes book " The Red Badge of courage."...all boys have that idea .. that champions carry on through a climatic battle to win the battle within ones self ...and brings its audience to partner in his quest..I have not read
A book for sometime but enjoyed the story by Ernest Cline...I will pick up Rob Proehl book soon..thank you.
Just read "Ready Player Two". My review = steady major poo. Unlike Rick here, I loved "Ready Player One". Two was a huge disappointment with so many of the references forcefully inserted. Too bad. I had hope for Cline's development and growth as a writer.
I wonder what you'd think of RPO if you read it again, now. Just as a curiosity. Is the writing that much worse in Two, or have your expectations changed?
I love your Goodreads review of RP1 and I agree with it 100%.
When I read 'Still Life' by Louise Penny, it was because I love Canadian writers more than any others, and I was after a cosy mystery. But oh dear, it was all cardboard, the writing, the characters, and her metaphors made me want to smack the book against my face and then find a hole to lie in for a week. My review basically said the book was like the title, still life. If I was to take your idea, I'd recommend people read Tana French instead. I'm not sure my nerdometer needle is high enough to read either, in regards to all the references about the sub cultures within. I never read comics, never been to any conventions. Played computer games here and there, but not much, etc.
Book 1 is awesome and I've listened to the audiobook maybe three times already. I really like will Wheaton's narration.
Book 2 sucked.
I love ready player one, everyone has their own opinions so I will most likely give this new book a try, thank you 🙏🏻 you
I felt like that when I read Jane Austen.
so its a story about reviewers. just talking about stuffs.
We get it, you hate Ready Player One... You're entitled to your own opinions. Just because you hate it so much, doesn't mean the rest of the world does.
I really liked that book but that's my opinion. I can see how people don't like it.
Is the book you're promoting a LitRPG?
It doesn't sound like it. Other than ready player One have you ever read any other LitRPGs that you actually liked? Maybe it's a genre that you have the problem with.
Unfortunately your promotion of this other non-litRPG book is not selling me. Although if you do have a litTPG that you enjoyed I'd be interested in hearing what it is.
It’s possible I don’t like LitRPGs. Can’t think of another I’ve read. Big RPG game fan, though. 🤷🏻♂️
@@RickMacDonnell if I may promote one myself please look for Eden's Gate by Edward Brody. There are many more but this is one of thoroughly enjoyed.
@@DigitalPlacebo I appreciate the recommendation! Looks like a hit, Goodreads-wise
@@RickMacDonnell if you get a chance to read it and end up reviewing it please let me know I'll be very interested in hearing your thoughts.
I enjoyed the book but at times Parzval seemed a bit insufferable at times; whiny, hypocritical, preachy… kind of a loser.
Your alternative to ready player one is about a kid on a road trip with his mom? Yeah okay bud.
It’s one of the most boring book ever. RP1 was fantastic. A hundred thousand worlds was stupid.
HAHA. Ouch. I'll have to check out this book. But have you ever watched the movie 'Fanboys'? lol
Is that the one where they’re trying to sneak an early screener of Phantom Menace?
@@RickMacDonnell Yes. The screenplay was written by Ernest Cline!! MUAHAHAHAH
I love that book!!!
Sorry but A hundred thousand worlds was a complete mess. RP1 is a hundred thousand times better. There was zero plot. I admit I’m waiting for the sequel cause there was no story in book one. RP2 was way better too.
Tribute to the algorithm, this was a great recommendation.
Oh, I'm glad! Thanks for watching, and for reading.
You tried mate, try to get noticed in another industry. After Dick, Gibson or Stephenson there is very little to tell but if I really have to, Player One is the best modern prodrome to Baudrillard's much more useful Simulacres et Simulation.