If 2020 wasn’t already bad enough, the highly anticipated sequel to Ready Player One turns out to be a dud…
Ready Player Two is the sequel to Ready Player One. It essentially picks up where the first ends but quickly skips forward through a handful of years via a summary of events from its main character, Wade Watts. Wade, who was lovable, charming, and funny in RPO, is now famous worldwide and rich beyond belief in RPT. Unfortunately, this has changed him for the worse as he is now rude, whiney, and insufferable. As one would expect, he is joined by the usual gang from RPO.
RPT lacks all of the magic of RPO. It had countless directions it could have taken but instead chose another ‘Easter Egg’ hunt with a mysterious prize with the OASIS again at risk. Cline attempts to make the stakes higher in RPT by including a threat to the entire real-world population but it falls flat since the reader never feels like the gang is in any real danger. What follows is a weak plot, repetitive chapters that find the gang doing the same thing – battling baddies and finding the reward – but only on a different planet each time, incoherent 80’s references that add nothing of value to the narrative, and a boatload of virtue signaling that no-one asked for. If you are looking for a fun and action-packed adventure, you won’t find it here.
I’m fully aware if you loved Ready Player One as much as I did, nothing you see here will stop you from reading it; however, be warned you run the risk of it tainting your love and nostalgia of the first. Even Wil Wheaton, who is usually a fantastic narrator, was mediocre this time around. Ready Player Two is unfortunately a hard pass.
- Author: Ernest Cline
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Series: Ready Player One, Book 2
- Length: 13h 46m
- Publisher: Random House Audio
Ready Player Two
