Name: Ready Player Two
Series: Ready Player One #2
Author: Ernest Cline
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Format: Audiobook
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction/ Fantasy, Dystopian, Adventure
Spice Rating: None
Rating:
Synopsis: Goodreads
n unexpected quest. Two worlds at stake. Are you ready?
Days after winning Oasis founder James Halliday’s contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything.
Hidden within Halliday’s vaults, waiting for his heir to find, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the Oasis a thousand times more wondrous—and addictive—than even Wade dreamed possible.
With it comes a new riddle, and a new quest—a last Easter egg from Halliday, hinting at a mysterious prize.
And an unexpected, impossibly powerful, and dangerous new rival awaits, one who’ll kill millions to get what he wants.
Wade’s life and the future of the Oasis are again at stake, but this time the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance.
Lovingly nostalgic and wildly original as only Ernest Cline could conceive it, Ready Player Two takes us on another imaginative, fun, action-packed adventure through his beloved virtual universe, and jolts us thrillingly into the future once again.
Review:
Ready Player Two is the sequel to Ready Player One, and there is no review for the first book on this blog – however it is on goodreads! There are likely going to be spoilers for Ready Player One in this review but spoilers for Ready Player Two will be hidden as normal.
“Two-Face was right. You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
Ready Player One is one of my all time favourite books that I have ever read. The audiobook is also a comfort listen for me and I’ve used it time and time again to help break potential slumps and burn outs! No I definitely don’t understand all of the pop culture references, but it is such a fun adventure and for me, interesting story that I will defend it forever… Now, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the Oasis after Wade won the contest and defeated Sorrento, I wanted to spend more time in this world, so I was one of the people who said if Cline ever wrote a sequel I would absolutely read it!
Then he announced it… I had it preordered, it arrived, I read a handful of chapters and then either syched myself out, or life got in the way, but I never finished it. It has been years at this point and it is one of those books that I see it on my shelf and I get annoyed that I haven’t read it, but I wasn’t picking it up because I was nervous. That was until a January prompt changed it all! And I had the perfect opportunity to read this!
Ready Player Two picks up after the events of Ready Player One, with Wade discovering that there is a part two to the easter egg hunt… But instead of finding keys he’s looking for seven shards. I really liked this! I know in a way it’s just ‘more of the same’ but the vibes were excellent. There were elements of the pop culture references that I struggled with more in the second book (I’ll talk about those more in the spoiler section) but I really liked the challenges!
There are some books you go into for a fun time, and Ready Player Two was exactly that for me. Yes there are high stakes but it does also have a fun time! And I can’t fault that. If you go into this expecting something as good as RP1, I don’t think you’ll find your expectations met, but if you just go in wanting a fun time with characters we loved from RP1 then you’re going to get it!
This is a short review really, but I don’t know what to say without spoiling it, so let’s talk spoilers…
Do not click this if you haven’t read Ready Player Two, because I’m talking spoilers here!
First, let’s talk the challenges that I struggled with – Prince. I loved how excited Aech was, but I found this challenge extremely difficult to follow. I asked my partner becuase he read this when it came out if he also struggled with this challenge, because I wasn’t sure if it was because I was listening to it, but he said yes he had also struggled with it… So, do with that information what you will.
And then the final challenge that was the Lord of the Rings world challenge, I checked out a number of times because I really am not a fan of this world. But again I loved Aech and Wade’s banter, and Artemis’ / Samantha coming in with this one was excellent, and the CHALLENGE itself was great! But all of the surrounding dialogue and discussion I just kept checking out of…
So, spoilers over! I liked how this duology ended, I feel pretty content and satisfied with how it ended! Which shocks me, honestly. Even while listening to it I couldn’t understand why I was liking it. Because I’d usually have described this kind of ending as a convienent ending? But for some reason, I really liked it…
I’m glad to have finally finished this duology! Ready Player One will forever and always be one of my god tier, all time favourites, but Ready Player Two was a fun follow up and I’m glad I’ve read it!
“I was still in love with her. And I always would be. I just wanted to live long enough to correct my mistakes and redeem myself in her eyes, if I could.”
Reading With Tyler 
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