I’ve recently finished “Ready Player One”, since a great friend of mine told me that I should read it... and she was very right about that (she knows me pretty well). I've always found it interesting, how futuristic US always seems to be a barren wasteland. The book does a great job of bringing back the 1980's, and transporting the reader into a imaginary place though ... called the OASIS. It also does a great job of having a group of friends, become very close and very trusting of each other, without ever meeting each other. That means that a guy who's really a girl or someone self conscience about their image, can be accepted for who they are ... which is a grand concept in the world we're currently living in.
Now, I've always been a movie before book type of person. I enjoy each genre for what they are, but seeing the movie allows me to read the book and have some context for where the author wants me to go. This also allows me to not get sucked into the "book had this, or that, but the movie didn't" type of thought. I've had this book for awhile now, but the trailers of the upcoming movie really got me interested in reading it... also they gave me some context. I'm not really going to get much into the book, read it if you'd like. There are some Ready Player One spoilers, in the remainder of this post, so you've been warned.
With the movie coming out soon, I’m going to drop some thoughts on where Ready Player Two could be going, since Ernest Cline has already confirmed this is going to happen, and why wouldn't it. The hype train is rolling on in full effect right now.
The last time we see Sorrento, he's being hauled away, accused of murder. This is where the genius of how this book was closed out, allows for so many holes that a second book could be made. Sorrento isn't even mad that he's being accused of murder, or that any of this is happening... he just smiles. It's almost like this is all part of his plan in the first place. I have a feeling, during Parzival's rise to fame, his sponsorships, and his breaking into IOI ... there's a signed document that gives Sorrento full control of the OASIS, if Parzival found the Easter Egg. This is where Ready Player Two takes a turn for the worst. Sorrento, now in control, places his plan in motion, and people are starting to get charged a monthly fee in order to use the OASIS. Basically, everything that allowed the OASIS to be the escape, for some many people, has now become one more thing that people can no longer afford. The OASIS quickly becomes a barren wasteland, where only the rich can still be a part of it. Throughout the number of chapters, while the OASIS is starting to crumble under the greed of Sorrento, the real world is becoming more and more hostile. Without the sanctuary that so many people use to escape their lives, go to school, or even make money through business ... the world is starting to break into the "haves" versus the "have nots". Now, I have no idea where Parzival is, throughout this entire process, but I'm assuming that even Sorrento knows that he can't kill off Parzival. Sorrento got out of murder charges once, but won't be so lucky a second time. Maybe everyone starts to turn on Parzival, since he's the one you ultimately gave Sorrento control of the OASIS. Maybe even to the point where Aech, Art3mis, and Shoto turn on Parzival, and he's back to being a loner... without a dream in his heart, without a love of his own
Sorrento and IOI, goes directly to Castle Anorak, and tries to take over everything in the OASIS. Sorrento gets extremely mad though, when nobody is able to enter Halladay's office, since it was hardcoded that Parzival is the only avatar that can get there. IOI probably tries for years, to get into Halladay's office, and during this whole time ... Sorrento is getting more and more angry that he's not able to take full control, as more and more people are logging out of the OASIS and not paying for anything. The entire OASIS is starting to crumble beneath Sorrento's reign.
The OASIS has hit a tipping point, and Parzival finds a way to get back in touch with Aech, Art3mis, and Shoto. Aech probably never really left, as I feel like she completely trusts Parzival (the only thing that might throw a wrench is this, is if Ernest Cline decides to keep the "girl breaking up friends" theme rolling and Art3mis actually gets in the middle of Aech and Parzival). This is the moment where Parzival starts to tells his friends, and people that he trusts, that he's the only one that can get into Halladay's office, as that was part of time that nobody else could see. Parzival comes up with a plan, to get himself back into Halladay's office, so they can take control of the OASIS. The plan involves getting everyone to log in again. This is no easy feat however, as everyone is starting to let the OASIS fall to the wayside. But, like that last time the OASIS was going to be taken away from the people, everyone joins together to fight against Sorrento and IOI.
At this point, everyone is fighting for one purpose ... to take down Sorrento. In order to coordinate this whole attack, the group is probably back at Og's Mansion together. There's a massive fight, on all sides of the ledger ... everyone fighting against the massive forces of the IOI Corporation. Through using new artifacts, that Parzival didn't even know were in his arsenal, Parzival is able to fight his way into Halladay's office. Once in the office, Parzival takes some time to think through his decision, however ultimately decides that pressing the "Big Red Button" is the way to go. As Sorrento realizes that everything he's worked for, is slipping from his grasp, he gets very desperate. Ultimately, some past decisions come back to fall on Sorrento, and without something like "control of the OASIS", he's no longer able to get past them. Samantha and Wade get back to being in love, and everyone lives happily ever after.
With all that being said, who knows where Ernest Cline will go with 'Ready Player Two' ... I don't know how a third book comes out of this, but I've been wrong in the past and I'll be wrong again in the future. I think it'll be fun to see where this is all going though. I'm looking forward to going and seeing the movie, once it's out.
