March 19, 2021
By Camille Echols
Staff Writer
OASIS is a virtual reality, simulated videogame paradise that creates an escape for those living terrible lives in this futuristic world. In a world where oppression is a result of corporate power, this is one of the ways people can escape.
“Ready Player Two” is a sci-fi thriller novel and a sequel to “Ready Player One.” The author, Ernest Cline, released the first book in 2011 and released the sequel in November 2020.
The novel could be viewed as somewhat of a warning to society; if people continue to immerse themselves so deeply into technology and develop more reliance on it, it will begin to control their everyday lives. It will begin to disconnect people from the world around them and limit things like genuine human interaction and feelings of empathy toward others.
The main character of this novel is Wade Watts. In “Ready Player One,” he ended up being the winner of the grand prize for finding James Halliday’s Easter egg in OASIS. In this book, he becomes addicted to a new technology called the Oasis Neutral Interface (ONI) that makes the user able to feel all five senses in virtual reality.
He ends up getting addicted to this technology and starts to isolate himself and loses touch with the people closest to him, including his girlfriend. This reflects how truly controlling technology can be and how desperate people are for an escape from the real world.
This book raises many new ideas about technology. It shows what may happen to people if virtual reality becomes widespread. This is what life would be like if people continue consuming so much media every day. The reliance on technology is harmful, and that reliance will only grow stronger with time.
While “Ready Player One” was all around a very well-received book that blew up in the media, especially after the movie came out, “Ready Player Two” has received mixed reviews. Many fans of the first novel were quite disappointed with the sequel, saying it “didn’t expand in exciting ways” and was almost too similar to the first book. However, many enjoyed the novel, so it just depends on personal preference.
This book raises many new ideas about technology. It shows what may happen to people if virtual reality becomes widespread.
The book takes a very safe route with its storyline. It sticks to essentially the same idea as the first book did, with the Easter egg hunt and a prize for the winner. Many readers found this to be disappointing since it offered nothing new. It felt lazy to some, especially since they had to wait about half a decade to read it.
However, there are some pros to be found in this book as well. Arc’s character throughout the story shows the effects of self-isolation and how it can cause relationships between people to be ruined even if the isolation was accidental.
While this book was not very strong plotwise, Arc helps a lot to make up for what was lacking in the plot. The writing was also strong with its unique description and dialogue that differs from that of other writers.
Even though this book is not as good as people hoped for it to be, it still gives the reader a different outlook on life and technology. This book is good for anyone who enjoys science fiction or for anyone who enjoyed the first book. The reader needs to recognize that the world they live in today can turn into the world seen in this book and that it is important not to spend all of their time on social media and video games for this exact reason.
The thing that keeps technology from fully taking over us is the need for human contact and connection with friends and family. When one begins to isolate themself and focuses solely on social media, they will lose sight of this need and the world will turn into the one featured in this novel, which is why it’s important for one to always value one’s friends and family more than technology.
