Ready Player One

  Ready Player One is set about 30 years in the future. The world has only gotten worse from the problems we’ve seen today except for one thing: the OASIS, an immense 3-D virtual reality world created by James Halliday and his partner. OASIS has anything anyone could want, it’s the internet but it feels real. People run businesses, get married to people they never meet in real life, in-game money is a far more stable currency than any type that is government issued. Then, James Halliday dies. In his will, he reveals that his entire fortune, $240 Billion, will be given to whoever can find and solve 3 puzzles he has hidden in the vast world of OASIS. Five years later, people are still searching for the answer to the first clue to find the first puzzle. James Halliday was obsessed with the 80s (when he grew up)  so 80s culture has become hugely popular in an attempt to find all this money. The real action begins when a high school kid discovers the location of the first puzzle. . There’s murder, intrigue, feats of derring-do in the real world as well as the virtual one, romance, friendship, and games. What more could you want in a book?

  This book is action packed and terribly fun to read if you have even a little knowledge of 80s pop or geek/nerd/gaming culture. There are references to every kind of genre you could wish in this book. I’ve seen seriously mixed reviews for this book. People either love it or hate it. The only problem is the people who hate give a multitude of reasons and the people who love it just say “OMG this book was great, go read it for yourself.” I loved this book. The first time I read it, I finished it in one sitting and wanted to start over again immediately. The characters are memorable; the story is engrossing; the setting and premise are fascinating. I will admit to being a huge geek and partly obsessed with some of the same things that the creator of OASIS contest loved. Anyone who is a fan of geek/dork/nerd culture will like this book just for the references. If you want a decent adventure in a dystopian future that isn’t too distant from now, definitely pick up this book and soon. 

Strip Mauled edited by Esther Friesner

Well, it turns out I was taken out commission by my twin nemeses of Bronchitis and Bugs for the last couple of months. Now that I'm feeling better and back on my feet, it's time to review all the books I read while I was recuperating. 

Strip Mauled Edited by Esther Friesner

     This anthology is yet another in a series of pun related short stories from this author/editor. This one was great because lately most fantasy stories have been vampire or dystopian flavored. Not these. These are all concentrated on urban or suburban werewolves. I originally picked up this book because I’m a fan of the Chicks in Chainmail series from the late 90’s and early 2000’s. The stories are clever and designed to keep you reading.

     There were a few of them that were kind of not in sync with the rest, such as “That Time of the Month” about hillbilly wolves moving to the suburbs and being chased out by the main character. The main character of that one was way too focused on “removing” people that threatened her “peaceful” existence. That sentence should probably read “murdering people that might expose the fact she was a werewolf“ to be closer to the truth. The writer tended to repeat things that didn't need repeating. Calling the antagonists “stupid hicks” and “dumb hicks” every other sentence gets extremely boring after a couple of paragraphs. There were quite a few gems in this anthology though. “The Fish Story” about a reporter who fights against a kelpie with help of her friend/love interest and her cousin or “Imaginary Friend” about a cop who is a werewolf with a pixie sidekick that no one else believes exists are awesome; I could see a whole book being written about their adventures. The clever one shots about the Cub Scout pack that consisted of kid werewolves and the home owners association for supernatural creatures were great but the best story of all had to be the Teleplay written about an alternate Sesame Street. It was the only traditional werewolf attack story but it was brilliant. Everything you've ever wondered about Sesame Street was mentioned: the Bert and Ernie characters having an unconventional relationship, Big Bird hating Elmo for stealing the spotlight, Elmo being crazy and not too bright. I had little to no problem figuring out which characters were supposed to be their Sesame Street counterparts. The reactions to the werewolf attack were spot on; the attitudes towards each other were believable and hilarious. It was definitely the best story to end the book with.

    I am glad I picked up this book. It was definitely a good read and if you can find it I heartily recommend it to anyone looking for a few laughs at the end of a long day.  

If anyone has any questions, comments, or book suggestions, leave me a comment and let me know.

~Wolfe