"Ready Player One"

Ready Player One: A Novel (Ernest Cline)

Ready Player One is the worst kind of frustrating: A great first third that turns into a disaster. The book is about a reclusive billionaire who dies and wills that his heir will be the person who finds an easter egg hidden in the virtual reality that he's invented. The first third of the book is our hero, a poor kid with a dream of finding the easter egg, putting some clues together and getting started on his quest.
And it's good! At times the novel does threaten to become "Hey, Remember the 80's? The Book", but this first third is thrilling, and I was really rooting for our hero. So what happens? Well, all the chaercters in the book are one-dimensional, and this isn't much of a problem when it's our hero against the simulation. But when the author writes the dread sentence "I realized I was in love with Art3mis", well, that's where the book goes in the toilet, and while it does eventually recover somewhat, it never becomes as good as the first third. Honestly, I don't know that finishing the other 2/3rds is worth it to find out what happens, but I was interested enough to do so. The momentum from the premise and the first third was enough to drive me through the slog that is our hero, having made it in the virtual world, pining for his girlfriend. Sometimes less is more, and without the romantic subplot, I might have been able to recommend this as a classic. As it is, take my recommendation with a large grain of salt.

Grade:
First Third: A
Middle Third: D
Final Third: C
Overall: C+