Preview
  • Ready Player One

  • By: Ernest Cline
  • Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
  • Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (259,574 ratings)

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Ready Player One

By: Ernest Cline
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
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Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Now a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.

“Enchanting . . . Willy Wonka meets The Matrix.”—USA Today • “As one adventure leads expertly to the next, time simply evaporates.”—Entertainment Weekly

A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?

In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the OASIS, a vast virtual world where most of humanity spends their days.

When the eccentric creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. Whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune—and control of the OASIS itself.

Then Wade cracks the first clue. Suddenly he’s beset by rivals who’ll kill to take this prize. The race is on—and the only way to survive is to win.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Entertainment Weekly San Francisco Chronicle Village Voice Chicago Sun-Times iO9 The AV Club

“Delightful . . . the grown-up’s Harry Potter.”HuffPost

“An addictive read . . . part intergalactic scavenger hunt, part romance, and all heart.”—CNN

“A most excellent ride . . . Cline stuffs his novel with a cornucopia of pop culture, as if to wink to the reader.”Boston Globe

“Ridiculously fun and large-hearted . . . Cline is that rare writer who can translate his own dorky enthusiasms into prose that’s both hilarious and compassionate.”—NPR

“[A] fantastic page-turner . . . starts out like a simple bit of fun and winds up feeling like a rich and plausible picture of future friendships in a world not too distant from our own.”iO9

©2011 Ernest Cline (P)2011 Random House Audio

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Critic reviews

2017, Laura Hillenbrand Outstanding Literary Award, Winner

“The science-fiction writer John Scalzi has aptly referred to Ready Player One as a ‘nerdgasm’ [and] there can be no better one-word description of this ardent fantasy artifact about fantasy culture. . . . But Mr. Cline is able to incorporate his favorite toys and games into a perfectly accessible narrative.” (Janet Maslin, The New York Times)

“This non-gamer loved every page of Ready Player One.” (Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series)

Featured Article: The Best Celebrity Narrated Audiobooks


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What listeners say about Ready Player One

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    213,998
  • 4 Stars
    34,825
  • 3 Stars
    7,218
  • 2 Stars
    1,985
  • 1 Stars
    1,548
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    202,110
  • 4 Stars
    29,322
  • 3 Stars
    6,432
  • 2 Stars
    1,382
  • 1 Stars
    951
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    193,499
  • 4 Stars
    33,812
  • 3 Stars
    8,298
  • 2 Stars
    2,351
  • 1 Stars
    1,751

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome. Exciting.

RP1 was exciting with lots of twists and turns. Love the theme. Love science fiction!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

good fun. better than the movie.

from beginning to end I had a blast with this story. a very fun story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Will Wheaton was the perfect choice.

Ready Player One managed to become tied with A Clockwork Orange as my all time favorite audio book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it

100x better than the movie. Every decision the characters made actually had consequences and seemed actually important/made sense.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great science fiction

I usually prefer hard science fiction so had avoided ready player one because I thought it was just “pop” science fiction. I did not care for the movie, so that didn’t help either. However, the book is truly phenomenal, particularly for someone who grew up in the 80s like me. I was hooked after a few minutes, and it never lets up.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved the book. Loved the narrator.

Ready Player One was an awesome trip down nastalgia lane combined with one hell of an adventure in the futuristic dream world of every gaming nerd around. Recommend for anyone that has a love for gaming and everything nerdy since the 80's.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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very interesting

Not my particular genre, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it! Will Wheaton is a great narrator

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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one of the good ones

couldn't put It down. going to recommend to everyone I know. hope there's more to come in the future.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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love this book

the book and movie are so very different it's like a two-for-one one. I've listened to this at least four times

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Aside from the performance

The story was great very well-thought-out and immersive however the performance was seriously lacking I've listened to dozens of audiobooks and part of the Illusion in magic is in that each character is given their own voice sadly wil Wheaton's performance was non immersive with a few minor exceptions each character had the same voice tone and pitch. Once you get through the book it's clear why you chose him but in my opinion, it was the wrong choice. however the book was great and I find myself both yearning for the Oasis and such a virtual and amazing escape from reality and simultaneously stricken with fear at the thought of what the consequence to our world and technological advances would be, if everybody's mind was enveloped in a world that did not exist.

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