Ready Player One reviews

Having enjoyed all of the coin-op arcade games detailed in this book back in the day, I really enjoyed the nostalgic, and at the same time futuristic themes in this book. A nail biting and grand adventure. Looking forward to the movie!

The book is pretty blatantly pandering to the 80's teen demograpic to the point where several times in the first 100 pages the author just straight up lists aspects of 80's teen and sci-fi pop culture…

“the Willy Wonka of this story liked authors such as J.R.R Tolkien, C.S Lewis, Orson Scott Card… Etc”

…which sucks because the whole story is built on these pop culture references, as the characters are just lazy archetypes and the plot is the same tired “magical boy” formula we've seen thousands of times

Now if you want a book that just makes you reminisce about the 80's, fine this book is perfect for you, but if you are after an engaging story, read something from one of the aforementioned authors

This book goes on and on and on about 80s pop culture, to the point where it feels like it's just a collection of facts and trivia. Found myself skimming whole pages. The writing is flat, the romance is unnecessary and riddled with cliches and the only really great thing about this is the world-building (though there are so many interesting aspects of it that aren't really explored which is a bit disappointing). I regret buying this instead of just borrowing it from the library.

I suspect that people who went to school in the 80s are the key demographic for this book, as the nostalgia trip is extremely strong. Some of the references are quite obviously American but there’s enough of the shared 80s pop culture being referenced here that Kiwis of a certain age will still get it. Great story, well told, some good twists – one or two are spoiled in the movie, so definitely read the book first if you can. If you liked the movie and are considering getting the book as a result, the book will blow you away – and then make you kind of sad, because you’ll realise that the movie could have been so much better.

BRILLIANT!! ( A nerds dream )

Enchanting novel packed with immense detail and charming characters. Quite fast paced with witty dialogue – you will want to finish it within a day. Slightly cheesy but will leave you warm-hearted.

I love this book, and highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who lived in the 80's, or fans of the pop culture from the time. It's packed full of references, I love it!