Ready Player Two - Ernest Cline

I read Ernest Cline's debut novel, Ready Player One, back in 2011. The sequel is finally here - Ready Player Two. My thoughts can be found after the description of the title from Random House Audio:

"Days after winning OASIS founder James Halliday’s contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything. Hidden within Halliday’s vaults, 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’ll 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."

My Thoughts:

I loved the first book and was quite happy to see there was at last a follow up to the adventures of the High Five. Ready Player Two again has Wade and his friends on one more epic quest - one to save millions of lives from - of course - a nefarious entity. Good vs. Evil. David vs. Goliath. Cline has the reader/listener firmly on the side of the underdogs. Can they reprise their first victory?

The Player books draw heavily on '80's references - Pac Man, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, song lyrics, film scenes and a whole lot more - as these are the clues used to solve the puzzle. Now I absolutely 'got' almost every reference and could picture the film scenes easily. Younger listeners may not relate to some of the references. Or they may now be chasing down some classic films and tunes!

I liked Wade as a lead in the first book and he still appealed to me in this second book. Cline gives him some weaknesses and some life lessons in this book that make him human and give him a personality instead of just a game player.

That being said, Ready Player Two is all about the game, the clues, the chase and the run up to a final showdown. The book is action, action and more action!

I listened to this book and the reader was Wil Wheaton, a favourite of mine and the perfect choice for a narrator. He did the first book as well and the continuity was much appreciated. He has the most expressive voice! His tone suits Wade, is believable and totally suited the mental image I had conjured up for this character. (He did well with the other players as well.) He brings the book to life with staccato sentences, inflection that matches what's going on, (a nicely sardonic tone at times) and emotion that suits the plot.  He's easy to understand and enunciates well. Hear for yourself - here's an audio excerpt of Ready Player Two.

I wonder if there will be a movie made of this book as well? And if there might be a Ready Player Three in the future?

The Museum of Broken Relationships - Review AND Giveaway

If you're a fan of books like PostSecret and Humans of New York, The Museum of Broken Relationships" Modern Love in 203 Everyday Objects is a book you're going to want to pick up. And I have a copy to giveaway, courtesy of Grand Central Publishing!

Olinka Vistica and Drazen Grubisic were a couple for four years. When their relationship ended, they came up with a novel idea - a place to store all the painful triggers of past loves, creating a vault for both their tangible and intangible heritage. We named this repository The Museum of Broken Relationships.

The collection tours, but there are two permanent museums - on in Zagreb, Croatia and one in Los Angeles, California. And now there's a book!

I found the concept fascinating. We all have mementos - things we keep that remind us of a love or a loss. Things that may bring comfort - or sadness. There is a time to let those heartbreaking items go - both physically and emotionally.


Those are the items housed in the museums - ranging from small toys, stuffed animals, wedding dresses, shoes, rings, letters and more. I think the belly button lint was the most unusual, but there were more unexpected items. Each item appears in a full colour photograph. Accompanying each item is the story behind it - and why it has finally been let go. The dates of the beginning and the end are also noted. A relationship gone sour is the most prevalent, but death is also behind some of the stories.

What is the appeal of this you ask? We all have a little streak of voyeur in us - glimpsing a peek into some else's heartache or heartbreak. And it's impossible not to keep turning pages. And at the end, I thought about one or two things I could send in.......

If you'd like to read The Museum of Broken Relationships, I have a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader. Open to US and Canada, no PO boxes please. Ends December 2/17.

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Giveaway - Robot Universe - Ana Matronic

Good morning pop culture and sci-fi fans! I've got a great giveaway for you today - Robot Universe: Legendary Automatons and Androids from the Ancient World to the Distant Future by Ana Matronic.

This book releases Nov. 10/15 and I have a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader!

From Sterling Publishing:

"Explore the Robot Universe, and discover the hundred most epic androids and automatons from myth, through popular culture, to modern-day machines. Robot aficionado Ana Matronic—vocalist with world-famous band Scissor Sisters—explores their creation, design, purpose, and how they have comforted, fascinated, or terrified us across the ages and galaxies, profiling key sidekicks, servants, saviors, murder machines, cyborgs, and others in every genre. In-depth features cover special focus topics, such as robots in art and fashion, video games and comics, and music.

This richly illustrated collection deftly shows how we have defined and redefined robots, why they capture our imagination, and why they’re here to stay, ending with a look at real-life robots from early prototypes to what lies in our robotic future."

"Ana Matronic is a musician, performer, radio presenter, DJ, and visual artist best known as the female lead of the internationally acclaimed band Scissor Sisters. A lifetime of loving robots inspired her stage name as well as the bionic circuitry tattoo on her right arm. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, Seth Kirby, and her cat, Izzy."

If this is a book you'd like to own, enter for a chance to win a hardcover copy using the Rafflecopter form below. Open to US and Canada, no PO boxes please. Ends Nov 7/15.

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Lost Encyclopedia - Paul Terry and Tara Bennett

Okay - I fully admit it - I am a die hard Lost fan. But, I never watched it on television. (Lots of channel switching, avoiding articles and covering my eyes and ears...) Instead, I always asked for the latest season on DVD for Christmas.  And Christmas 2010 brought the final chapter to this intricate addictive show. 

But - I will be starting from the beginning again - yes one of the few shows I will re watch. And accompanying me this time will be the Lost Encyclopedia.

It's the ultimate reference for fans - a 400 page coffee table book filled with over 1500 glossy colour photos and very, very detailed information...

Each and every character that appeared, however briefly, is profiled - including all the passengers on the original flight. Some of them, I didn't even realized appeared on all seasons, such as Cindy the flight attendant. Of course, the main characters are covered in great detail, their connections on and off island and just about anything connected to their story. So many connections that I had forgotten or overlooked on my first watch.

It's not just the people covered either. Each of the Dharma stations is profiled as well as the other settings such as the camps. As someone who works in a library, I was always fascinated by what Sawyer was reading (I think my favourite was Are You There God, It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume) and the book references. All covered, as is the music, the Dharma Initiative food brand, the animals, the nicknames Sawyer used for everyone, the meaning of the hieroglyphics at the temples and of course those famous numbers. (Can you list them?) And soooo much more! Lot of obscure minutia to be found - the ingredients for those Apollo candy bars include yak butter and mouse toes.

Quoting the executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse:

"What you saw on television, the show itself, was the ten percent of the iceberg above the water. But the majority of our time in the writer's room was spent constructing the part below it. The details. The timelines. The intricate backstories of the passengers of Oceanic 815, not to mention the people who inhabited the island long before them. Then we put them altogether and let what happened, happen.

Now that the show is over, there has been great curiosity in our process...a desire to see those details in 'offical' form....And so now you hold the first and only official LOST ENCYCLOPEDIA."

See for yourself - get a peek inside the Lost Encyclopedia.

Definitely the definitive guide to own for fans of Lost. And now if you'll excuse me, Season 1, Disc 1 is waiting.....