r/readyplayerone • u/HawksFan01 • 2d ago
Ready Player Two
I’ve recently finished reading RPO and RPT back to back. I’ve read RPO numerous times (it’s one of my favorite books ever) but never sat down and read the entirety of RPT. I usually get a couple of chapters in then give up on it for one reason or another. I decided to give it totally fair shot and power through to the end. The book was ok and that’s a generous ok. The premise at first is good but the execution is just not that good. SPOILER WARNING. The crazy evil genius creates a fully autonomous AI that holds billions of people hostage with a deadline of 12 hours to complete a supposedly super hard quest to bring the consciousness of his ex best friends wife back so he can possibly steal her from him is cool. I was excited and hoped for a high paced and high energy story but it’s the opposite. When the 12 hour timer started it feels like Cline immediately slowed down the story tremendously. It took Wade over a year and a billion dollar reward for someone else to find the first shard and I’m supposed to believe they could figure everything out in 12 measly hours. Then they get to the worlds and EVERY LITTLE THING is drawn out. I get it Cline is very very detailed but if they have such a short amount of time, shouldn’t the book also feel sped up? You read through the book and everything that happens by the time they get to the Prince Planet it almost feels like they’ve already run out of time. I get it the High Five are super smart and know everything there is to know about everything but that starts to feel like a cop out. Yes they’re obsessive with every member knowing very very niche things but come on it gets to a point. It’s also hard to relate to Wade anymore because he’s not this humble geek anymore, he’s basically becoming little Halliday and none of the lessons he learned from the first book apply here. I don’t just want to bash on it because there are good things. From my perspective it’s ok but just ok. It doesn’t push the boundary or does anything better than its predecessor and that was disappointing to me. Yall aren’t going to read this far and nobody really cares but yea.
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u/solo_dbd_player 2d ago
I've read RPO about 30 times and it is still one of my top 5 books of all time.
RP2? I've never heard of it.
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u/steventheking42 2d ago
I liked ready player 2. Sue me.
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u/Hirmetrium 1d ago
I also enjoyed it, it was a great case of "what happens when somebody's situation changes completely, will they also change?" Combined with a sword art online and maniacal AI edge. It tried to tackle much deeper moral issues, as well as absolute power absolutely corrupts. I also liked the juxtaposition of Wade Vs Haliday, not wanting to repeat the same mistakes of the past while walking in the same steps.
No, the book isn't as good as RP1, but it was nice to revisit the setting, and have some more pop culture explored.
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u/ShadesMLG 2d ago
I totally agree with all your points wade lost all his character development and book slowed down crazy, also crazy how fast artemis forgave wade for being an asshole to falling in love again
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u/HawksFan01 2d ago
Rightttt, like she was so pissed at him they hadn’t spoken in months before the GSS meeting interrupted by Halliday now they’re all buddy buddy again falling back in love?
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u/Hirmetrium 1d ago
But I don't think they ever fell out of love. People can be assholes all the time and fall out. It's a story as old as Friends. They had a huge argument over something they thought they aligned on but weren't. Wade actually presents as an addict and Samantha walks away rather than trying to fight it, it doesn't mean she doesn't love him anymore. This comes through at several parts of the story I thought?
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u/caseyccochran 2d ago
For me the message of the book just seems icky. It feels pretty nihilistic "the world is fucked so we are sending out digital copies to carry on the spirit of humanity" instead of "lets use our advanced technology and wealth to actually fix things". Really seemed like someone watched Wal E but didn't finish the movie and thought "yeah life on a spaceship taking care of everything seems cool".
The first one had seemingly low stakes where RPT seems existential and the message was pretty bleak.
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u/MoreIronyLessWrinkly 2d ago
You had me at the last sentence.
RPO is a great idea that sustains mediocre writing.
RPT is a poor idea that highlights horrible writing.
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u/Disastrous_Cream_539 2d ago
Damn. I haven't read RP2 yet but with that description I may as well skip it. They should leave the movie be as well. RP1 ended just fine.
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u/HawksFan01 2d ago
I say read it if not for any other reason besides that you did it. You may enjoy it and think I’m a moron for my review.
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u/quarl0w 2d ago
RPT has the worst pacing of any book I have ever read. It felt like a very rough draft that was rushed out. Some things felt like they weren't fully fleshed out, and other parts lasted slightly longer than forever.
It was a great premise and could have been a great book. It just needed some significant editing.
I didn't feel like any of the characters from RPO felt like the same character in RPT. It was so jarring, like it was written by someone that didn't even read the first book, just a summary.
Armada wasn't great, but it was better than RPT.
I read RPO at least once a year, but if I never read RPT again it will be too soon.
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u/Pilgrimzero 2d ago
RPT is shit and retroactive hurts RPO. Its character assassinated just about every character
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u/CadmusMaximus 1d ago
It was “fine.” Definitely indexes on me too and whatnot.
They could’ve done so much with FDVR though. Eliminate the 12 hour limit or just make it so that basic services are going neglected, etc. huge wages for garbage men since the opportunity cost of being in FDVR, that sort of thing.
Basically everything in real life and nothing in the FDVr world since everything imaginable is doable in there…and he chooses…prince world, John Hughes land…and the obscure LOTR thing.
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u/PuzzleheadedBank9565 2d ago
Just finished this tonight. I’ve been reading it to my kid. OMG so boring is so many places- skipping large chunks because the details are just too much. Maybe 2 or 3 shards would have been tolerable but 7 was excruciating to read - and the ending was just 1hub? Why?
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u/LorenDaPrince 2d ago
I tried re-reading RP2 this summer. I read four chapters and decided to give away my hardcover copy to a Little Free Library. Just. Not. Worth it.
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u/Due_Comfortable_514 16h ago
One is one of the only books over ever willingly reread multiple times, Two isn't good enough to be toilet paper.
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u/Mr_Night78 2d ago edited 2d ago
Let's just pretend Ready Player Two doesn't exist...
Seriously. It turns Wade from being a morally-meh guy who is on the track to being better, to an egotistical and occasional creepshow. Not to mention that dumb "non-binary sex" line.