Ready Player Two - Ernest Cline - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Ernest Cline

SERIES: Ready Player One, #2

GENRE: Science Fiction, LitRPG

PUBLICATION DATE: November 24, 2020.

RATING: 3.75 stars.

I've been ready for Ready Player Two ever since I completed the first book. After a long wait, the day has finally arrived!

Wade Watts, the winner of the Three Keys challenge, has been the top honcho of OASIS for three years now, along with the rest of his 'High Five' teammates. Things are not quite the same among them, but all it takes is the rise of a new, omnipotent, omniscient enemy to bring them all back together into 'gunter' mode yet again. The story is mostly grim and bleak as Cline seeks to warn against the dangers of AI.

Ready Player One had already impressed me with Ernest Cline's creativity and knowledge and this book further seals the deal. Gosh! He is a geek to the core! And I mean that as a huge compliment. What a unique way of incorporating pop culture into books! It's like a nerd-fest all through.

Just as in the first book, there is a quest in this edition, and a seven level one at that! Each quest is unique and written in a way that all the key players get to show off their strengths. So you get to see all old favourites such as Art3mis, Aech, Shoto, Og as well a few new, really interesting characters. I also loved seeing more of Kira in this book; she was one enticing character whom Ready Player One didn't explore to the hilt. At the same time, one beloved character from the first book goes rogue in this one. Boy, that was a disappointment! 😕

But...

The first 20% of the book is mostly an update of the characters' lives after the events of the first book and tons of new trivia, with only a few additions to the plot. The story takes off only after that, and it is quite mind-blowing! So you really need to have patience at the start. It is not an instant entertainer as the first book was.

Right since the first chapter, the pop culture references begin. You barely have time to warm up to the story when you begin scrambling for...no, not the dictionary, for Google! There's such a lot of 80s and 90s trivia that you feel like you'll miss out on some important element of the narrative. Unlike the first book, this one overdoes the pop culture trivia in many chapters. It seems like whatever Ernest Cline found out about an 80s/90s game or icon during his R&D, he included in the story. So there are many paragraphs that go on and on without taking the story ahead in any way. After a point, I stopped googling the references and skimmed over the redundant factoids. It didn't impair my understanding of the story in any way. Yup, no Golmaal reference this time, sorry. 😁😁😁

The story will remind you a bit of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Can't reveal more as I hate giving out spoilers, but you'll know it when you read it. Whether that's good or bad depends on you. 🤐

Did I enjoy reading Ready Player Two? Heck, yeah!!!

Did I enjoy it as much as Ready Player One? A resounding NO!

Recommended only if you have read and enjoyed the first book.

⚔️🧙‍♂️