The 1980’s – a time of change.
Big hair. Shopping malls. Keyboard-driven pop music. Video game arcades. Atari. Commodore. Tandy.
Imagine if the Internet was founded by one single programmer, and that programmer was wildly obsessed with the 80’s. Can you picture that?
I just finished reading Ernest “Ernie” Cline’s debut novel, “Ready Player One.” (It is brilliant, but more on that in a moment.) The story takes place in a future where Earth is absolutely wrecked, the natural resources are depleted, the economy is in decades of recession, and mankind is basically just waiting to flat line. Instead of wallowing in misery, most of the remaining humans take refuge in the ultimate online alternate reality, a program called the OASIS. This online world was programmed by James Halliday, a recluse who hasn’t been in front of a camera in almost ten years. Halliday makes his long-awaited appearance in a way that changes everything.
Halliday announces via video that he is dead. He has no heirs, no family and only one friend, his longtime partner, Ogden Morrow. He leaves his extensive collection of old school arcade games to Morrow. He then reveals a contest that takes place inside the OASIS. The winner gets his hundreds of billions of dollars, and a chance for a new life.
“Ready Player One” (let’s call it RP1 to save space) is incredibly detailed; taking on every aspect of the late 20th century from pop culture to computing. Cline sets up a layered story, with a protagonist (Parzival) readers will love from page one. He works amazing details into the ruined future Earth. The platform of the OASIS allows him to bend reality and scenarios any way he chooses, and he masterfully creates enemies and challenges. Those of us who were geeks in the 80’s will be laughing out loud at several of the tests and scenes in the story.
The characters in RP1 are as complex as the worlds they inhabit. The hero is an awkward, clumsy, sometimes paranoid nerd. His interactions and responses with his fellow OASIS-roaming avatars come from a shy kid with limited social skills. The supporting cast have wit, charm, competition, and enough witty dialogue to keep even the serious scenes moving along quickly.
Reading RP1 often made me laugh out loud. Between the movie references, the technology, and the gaming, I felt like this book was written specifically for me. Like the “Art of Video Games” exhibit at the Smithsonian American History Museum (Read about that HERE), RP1 took me back to my childhood. This story surrounded me with the memories of my own young geekdom, and instantly rockets to my all-time favorites list.
-nK
PS: I listened to the 80’s channel on SiriusXM while reading part of this book, and now have a strong desire to re-watch a number of my fav films from that decade of decadence. I’m betting you will, too.