(Dear Mods: Â I tried to do a search to make sure there wasn't a similar/same thread already in existence and didn't find one, but if I happened to miss it, feel free to merge this into it!)
I love to read (and write) so I'm always going through books on a regular basis. Â I take recommendations from friends sometimes, but it really depends on what they have to say about the book(s) that determines whether or not I'll pick it up.
This morning, I finished reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline at the recommendation of a friend from my D&D Adventurers League table. Â I finished it in about two days of extremely light reading (FFXIV first, man!) and came to the following conclusions:
The Good: Â It was mildly entertaining and nostalgic, enough that I was enjoying it enough to finish the entire novel without skipping parts. Â The puzzles were interesting and reminiscent of many old games I played when I was younger.
The Bad: Â The plot is water-thin and predictable from start to finish. Â Don't go into this expecting any kind of deep plot. Â I'm more inclined to think this is a Young Adult book more than it is adult fiction. Â There's no real critical thinking and the characters all seem pretty one-dimensional.
The Ugly: Â Oh my gawd, so many negative gamer tropes, like we're all isolated, anti-social fatties that lock ourselves away in games because we can't handle Real Life. Â Ugh. Â And so many "tokens"; Token Asian, Token Gamer Girl, Token Gay Person, Token Black Person... I would've liked to have seen a little more diversity in the characters, but c'est la vie. Â It's not my book.
I found very little to connect to or like about the characters because they all seemed to have various negative connotations about them that made them distinctly unlikable to me as both an online and tabletop gamer.
Conclusion: Â Would I recommend it to a friend to read? Â Sure, it makes a diverting read for a car trip or a rainy afternoon. Â I'd just add the caveats above. Â This isn't a Great Classic by any means. Â You won't get much invested in the story beyond the nostalgic value of the 80's -- if you were an 80's kid. Â XD
I love to read (and write) so I'm always going through books on a regular basis. Â I take recommendations from friends sometimes, but it really depends on what they have to say about the book(s) that determines whether or not I'll pick it up.
This morning, I finished reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline at the recommendation of a friend from my D&D Adventurers League table. Â I finished it in about two days of extremely light reading (FFXIV first, man!) and came to the following conclusions:
The Good: Â It was mildly entertaining and nostalgic, enough that I was enjoying it enough to finish the entire novel without skipping parts. Â The puzzles were interesting and reminiscent of many old games I played when I was younger.
The Bad: Â The plot is water-thin and predictable from start to finish. Â Don't go into this expecting any kind of deep plot. Â I'm more inclined to think this is a Young Adult book more than it is adult fiction. Â There's no real critical thinking and the characters all seem pretty one-dimensional.
The Ugly: Â Oh my gawd, so many negative gamer tropes, like we're all isolated, anti-social fatties that lock ourselves away in games because we can't handle Real Life. Â Ugh. Â And so many "tokens"; Token Asian, Token Gamer Girl, Token Gay Person, Token Black Person... I would've liked to have seen a little more diversity in the characters, but c'est la vie. Â It's not my book.
I found very little to connect to or like about the characters because they all seemed to have various negative connotations about them that made them distinctly unlikable to me as both an online and tabletop gamer.
Conclusion: Â Would I recommend it to a friend to read? Â Sure, it makes a diverting read for a car trip or a rainy afternoon. Â I'd just add the caveats above. Â This isn't a Great Classic by any means. Â You won't get much invested in the story beyond the nostalgic value of the 80's -- if you were an 80's kid. Â XD
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