Ready Player Two — Ernest Cline
Paperback | Ballantine Books | November 9, 2021
The Gist
Nerds need to take on a corrupted AI file and save the world.
Read if you like
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Books that wrestle with the consequences of living on a digital plane and disconnecting from reality
Verdict: BORROW IT
Ready Player Two follows Wade Watts and the High Five on another quest to find the Seven Shards of the Siren’s Soul and this time the fate of the world, not just the OASIS, hangs in the balance. Just like in Ready Player One Ernest Cline sends readers on a nerd-filled adventure that takes a serious look at our society’s addiction to social media and other digital escapes. Cline is clearly sending a warning about the consequences of being connected in a digital landscape and disconnected in reality. As much as Cline loves video games, movies, and the fantastic, his message is clear: Don’t give up on the world. But while it was good to head back to the OASIS once again, the plot felt forced and rushed. Cline roughly spends the first 50 pages blowing the High Five apart after bringing them all together at the end of Ready Player One. Additionally, the quest to find seven shards in the span of a matter of hours feels unrealistic and in some way unearned—especially coming off of the first novel where it took the High Five years to solve the three riddles and find the keys in Haliday’s original contest. Rather than look at it as a sequel that builds off Ready Player One, it will be easier for fans of the original to view Ready Player Two as its own standalone thing.
