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The year is 2045 and natural resources are all but gone.
With such a bleak reality, people prefer to be in the OASIS, the ultimate VR, where you can be
and do just about anything. Not to mention the hunt for Halliday's egg, which sparks a comeback of all things 80s and 90s, and possession
of which will give the winner control of the OASIS and a whole lot of money.
I'm giving this book 4 out of 5, which might be a little bit
misleading just on the face of things, because I'm fully aware there are some
problems with it. For one thing, the writing is clunky – a poet does not lurk
in the author's heart, which is fine, but it means that Cline has something of
a limited arsenal to draw from (clumsy metaphors and similes, a lot of 'howling' in frustration and/or
rage, for example). He also gives Wade a fairly lengthy rant about religion,
which, although I tend to agree with it, added nothing to the story and likely alienated
some potential readers. The scoreboard listings are seemingly endless and tiresome.
They're easily skimmed in the print version, though, so that's more an Audible
issue. (Wil Wheaton reads the Audible version and he does a fair job with it – it's
sort of a kick, too, when he has to read his own name when he's coincidentally
mentioned in the story.) Another issue is that Wade/Parzival is a borderline
Gary Stu. FYI: Gary Stu is the male derivative of Mary Sue, which is a fan
fiction term for a character, usually representing the author, inserted into a fandom
in a work of fanfiction, who can do no wrong, everyone loves her, she is the
smartest, the best, the sweetest, she might even give her life to save the actual
fandom characters. Originally, in the 1970s I think, a character named
Mary Sue was inserted into the Star Trek universe in a fanfiction – hence the name. It's rare but
not unheard of in an original work, though it's only a minor quibble here. And
this might be something of a small spoiler, but Cline spends some time describing
Art3mis in less than glowing terms (stocky comes to mind, for one), while
having Wade fall for her – this leads to the classic Girl Gets Self-Esteem Only
After Boy's Approval of Her scenario. We get it: she's a big girl and unconventional looking, and Wade's a
hero for loving her anyway… I like to think Cline's intentions were good with
this. He and his wife are round and Hobbit-like, and I have to hope it was a
nod to her and maybe an effort to give normal to plus-size girls some love. The
attempt misses the mark, though, as it's a little tone deaf in execution, but I can give him
credit for trying.
After all of that, you might wonder why I gave it so many hearts.
The thing is – it's just plain fun. The premise, the story itself, is so much fun,
in fact, that it really does overcome the issues. There's a very good reason there
was a bidding war for the movie rights before the book was even published and
Steven Spielberg (someone also mentioned many times in the book) was eager to
make the film. The idea of the OASIS, the nostalgia factor, the quest for the
egg and the challenges presented for each step make for a great ride, and the
bad guys are bad enough that despite his Gary Stu-ness, Parzival winds up a
likable protagonist you can root for in the end.
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