I’ve been away for so long! I’m so sorry, I got caught up with school, and I have GCSE’s starting this month so I’ve been extremely distracted. Anyway, I’m back and I promise to start blogging more frequently, so let’s get on with it. As you may be aware this book is currently a film in the cinema (directed by Steven Spielberg). And having seen the film and read the book, I thought it was time to do a review.
I read this book about 2 or 3 weeks ago and I loved it! It was really different to anything I had read before and I really liked the futuristic aspect of the book and how realistic the character’s situation was, as in, that could be us in 30 years. This book is about a way to escape reality through a virtual reality called the OASIS – Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation. But the Oasis isn’t just any old game, it’s an entirely new world for people to escape the awful lives they are living in. The game was created by James Halliday and his best friend Ogden Morrow with their company GSS. However, after James Halliday’s death, a competition arrises that was set up before James died. The challenge is a series of challenges, each of the three challenges produces a key, copper, jade, and crystal, once you get a key, you receive a clue as to where the gate is. Each key opens a gate where there is another challenge, if you win the challenge, you get a clue to the next key and so on. The last key, being the crystal key opens the last gate which leads you to the last challenge where the prize (easter egg) is hidden. The prize is amazing, but you’ll have to read the book to find out, or if you’re really desperate, you could google it. Anyway, the entire story revolves around a boy called Wade Watts or Parzival in the OASIS and other characters trying to win the amazing prize that is up for grabs. The book is from the point of view of Wade and the challenges he faces as a ‘gunter’ i.e. egg hunter. The book is filled with 80s references to games, movies, books, and music. But the book isn’t just about a boy trying to win a game, there are some much darker things at stake and the danger of the real world. The characters were really well detailed along with the events. This is also probably one of the funniest books I’ve read all year so if you want to read a book that will make you laugh, this is the one.
I’ll move onto characters now, my favourite characters were definitely Parzival (Wade, the main character), Art3mis, Aech, Shoto, and Daito. I also really liked James Halliday and Ogden Morrow who aren’t main characters but are a key part of the novel. I thought Aech and Parzival were hilarious and Art3mis was a strong female character, who is way cooler than anyone else. Shoto and Daito were really cool as well, and I liked how they were a duo because everyone else is either in a gunter clan or going solo.
I also loved the film, however, it was completely different to the book! it was almost like Ernest Cline had written another book with the same storyline, but, there was so much detail in the book, that I couldn’t possibly imagine how the director could possibly have fitted it all into one film. Despite my criticism, there were similarities, and it was a really good film, I was very impressed. I give the book a 10 out of 10 and recommend it to anyone! I’ve also decided that it is pointless for me to tell you which gender I think the book is most appropriate for because I think all books are for anyone, so I won’t be including it anymore. Anyway, I really loved this book and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. See you next week for another review, and make sure that you subscribe (it’s free and you only need an email address) so that you get notified whenever you post a review.
Age: 12+
Blurb: 2044. The real world is in ruins. Out of oil, the climate destroyed, famine, poverty and disease are widespread.
Like almost everyone, Wade Watts has an escape – the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like almost everyone, he’s on the hunt for the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality – control of the OASIS, courtesy of the wish of its now-dead architect, James Halliday.
For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late 20th century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle. Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions – and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly change.
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