Ernest Cline: Ready Player Two (2020, Century Books, Lincoln)
English language
Published Nov. 27, 2020 by Century Books, Lincoln.
An unexpected quest. Two worlds at stake. Are you ready?
Days after Oasis founder James Halliday's contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything. Hidden within Halliday's vault, waiting for his heir to find, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the Oasis a thousand times more wondrous, and addictive, than even Wade dreamed possible. With it comes a new riddle and a new quest. A last Easter egg from Halliday, hinting at a mysterious prize. And an unexpected, impossibly powerful, and dangerous new rival awaits, one who will kill millions to get what he wants. Wade's life and the future of the Oasis are again at stake, but this time the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance.
Content warning â˘ď¸ Spoiler ahead!
In summary: Sword Art Online plot plus San Jupinero
Ach ja, Fortsetzungen... Nach dem ich vom ersten Teil so begeistert war, da waren meine Erwartungen erwartungsgemäà recht hoch und wurden leider enttäuscht.
Der Autor hat sich ja bemĂźht, aber die Stimmung vom ersten Teil kam hier nicht mehr rĂźber. Die Story ist zwar eine konsequente FortfĂźhrung, aber doch sehr durchschnittlich. Es war alles irgendwie vorhersehbar und die Rätsel auch eher mäĂig. Dazu hielt man sich viel zu sehr auf gewissen Planeten und mit gewissen KĂźnstlern auf, mit denen ich so gar nichts positives verbinde, so dass bei mir der Funke einfach ausblieb. 3 virtuelle Sterne sind bei mir da noch drin, aber wenn ich gewisse Längen des Romans Revue passieren lasse, dann sind es wohl eher ziemlich blasse.
So gut der erste Teil war so schlecht ist der zweite. Spannung fehlt, viel Blabla und die Handlung ist naja. Man hätte mehr aus der Grundidee des Buches machen kÜnnen. Es wirkt sehr erzwungen.
I have lots of thoughts on this book, some good and some not so good. Overall, I think I can't recommend it generally, and most folks who loved the first one will be okay with this but disappointed.
While both the Player One and Player Two are entrenched in 80s and 90s pop culture, this one is also steeped in tropes, most notably relationship and villain tropes. And, it mirrors the first novel in structure. Outside of different historic culture references, there is nearly nothing new here.
I enjoyed parts of the new quest, but I'm really stuck on the things I didn't like at all: I hated the concept of the bad guy, I don't like what Cline did with Wade and Samantha, and finally, I can't stand that the way those changes to that relationship are essentially ignored once the new crisis hits.
While I like Prince's music, âŚ
I have lots of thoughts on this book, some good and some not so good. Overall, I think I can't recommend it generally, and most folks who loved the first one will be okay with this but disappointed.
While both the Player One and Player Two are entrenched in 80s and 90s pop culture, this one is also steeped in tropes, most notably relationship and villain tropes. And, it mirrors the first novel in structure. Outside of different historic culture references, there is nearly nothing new here.
I enjoyed parts of the new quest, but I'm really stuck on the things I didn't like at all: I hated the concept of the bad guy, I don't like what Cline did with Wade and Samantha, and finally, I can't stand that the way those changes to that relationship are essentially ignored once the new crisis hits.
While I like Prince's music, I'm not a fanboy, so nearly all of the references in that section of the book went over my head completely. On top of that I expected this whole section to be a red herring, but fortunately it wasn't. That said, by avoiding the red herring, Cline has left a reference in this part of the story hanging.
It's hard to tell that I didn't hate this book. I gave it three stars because it has an incredible amount of potential, mostly missed potential. I can imagine stories stemming from this novel, and I'm happy with this.
Just like the first one, I quite enjoyed it until the final couple of pages...
I find it hard to believe that over 8 years have flown since I picked up and devoured ready Player One. I loved it, and although the movie was different, I enjoyed that for what it was too. I have reread One at least once a year since and was truly excited for the release of book two.
I finished Two and, although not as thrilled with it as I would have liked, I think that would have been hard to match. As a sequel, it moves the story on in a very clever way (the ending in particular was great). I did feel that the 12 hour timespan throughout the booksâ main action was a little too artificial and everything bot a bit squished, and of course itâs hard to reinvigorate a topic youâve trod heavily over in a first story. And Prince, yech.
On the plus side our âŚ
I find it hard to believe that over 8 years have flown since I picked up and devoured ready Player One. I loved it, and although the movie was different, I enjoyed that for what it was too. I have reread One at least once a year since and was truly excited for the release of book two.
I finished Two and, although not as thrilled with it as I would have liked, I think that would have been hard to match. As a sequel, it moves the story on in a very clever way (the ending in particular was great). I did feel that the 12 hour timespan throughout the booksâ main action was a little too artificial and everything bot a bit squished, and of course itâs hard to reinvigorate a topic youâve trod heavily over in a first story. And Prince, yech.
On the plus side our hero grew believably and had a lot to deal with, âall sunshine and rainbowsâ seemed to be the order of play at the end of One and itâs ⌠reassuring, I suppose, to note that wasnât exactly the case. The tech progression was great, the sheer variety of problems facing Humanity was quite over-the-top and dramatic, and old enemies were a little hard to swallow. By and large though, Iâm glad I picked up the sequel.
I donât know what Two will do to my enjoyment of rereading One Iâve just done so ready for this book so I guess Iâll find out next year.
