READY PLAYER ONE SCORES BIG ON FILM

Do yourself a favor. Run, do not walk, to your nearest multi-plex, plunk down the outrageous amount of money they charge you to see a movie these days, buy some popcorn and settle into your seat for the most fun you’ll have in a theater this year. Go see READY PLAYER ONE, director Stephen Spielberg’s adaptation of Ernest Cline’s SFR tribute to Everything Eighties. You’ll thank me for the recommendation.

I was over-the-moon about the 2011 book that serves as the source material for this movie. For those of you who missed it, I’ll reprint my 2013 Spacefreighters review here, only because it serves to describe the film, too:

It is that rarity among modern SF—a readable page-turner of a book, with a wonderful set of characters, a lovable geek of a hero and even a little romance. Yes, romance!  An arc (barely discernible, but there) and **spoiler alert** an HEA!

The set-up is this:  in the near future the economy is collapsing in on itself, with the predictable energy and global-warming crises reaching critical levels. Those who can (which is anyone with a nickel to spare), escape the gray drudgery of daily life by logging into the Oasis, a virtual universe which is combination Internet/entertainment center/shopping mall/travel service/role-playing enabler/alternate reality. Think Xbox on steroids, with the ability to put you anywhere or –when you want. You go to school in the Oasis (that much is free). You shop in the Oasis. You travel to see the Pyramids in the Oasis (much too dangerous and expensive to try and do that in the real world).  Want to explore space with Captain Kirk (or Banzai Buckeroo or Captain Mal Reynolds)? There’s a world for that. Want to fight orcs with Aragorn? There’s a world for that. You just slip on your visor and gloves (or your full body suit or sit in your chair, depending on what kind of gear you can afford), become your avatar,  and slip away.

Then the man who invented all this, by all accounts an antisocial geek of epic proportions, dies. In his will he states that all of his worldly goods (and control of the Oasis) will be bestowed on the person who finds an Easter egg he has hidden somewhere in the vast universe of his Oasis. The race is on, with our hero, a lowly nerd in high school at the beginning of the quest, matching wits with thousands of other experts on this man, as well as the bad guys, sent by a corporation out to gain control of the Oasis.

The fun part is that the inventor was obsessed with the 1980’s—its movies, music, TV shows, technology and, especially, videogames.  He’s filled his Oasis with sly references to all these things, and the quest for the Easter egg depends on knowledge of them.  So the author of Ready Player One can gleefully send his hero through stargates or use warp drive or have him fight robots with names true nerds would recognize (but I, regretfully, didn’t) because it’s part of the Eighties thing. One test for our hero had him reciting the entire script for MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. Hilarious!

Fortunately, of course, our hero shares his hero’s obsessions.  He can actually play those ancient videogames, even the ones we might have played on old Commodore 64 computers and the like.  For those of us who can remember what it was like to type in instructions for role-playing games (which is why I quickly bored of such games and never went back), this book is a hoot.

Of course, some things from the book had to be changed for the film. The action elements were played up, the slower character interactions played down. In the film there were only three keys to the Easter egg; in the book there were, I think, seven. But the romance survived the cut. And seeing the Oasis on the big screen was worth every penny of my entrance fee. The CGI was amazing and just as imaginative as Cline’s agile mind.

Speaking of Cline, who was a newbie author back in 2011, that nerdy fellow must be walking on air right now. To see his quirky vision of the near-future up there on the screen, directed by no less a figure than Stephen Spielberg, must be a dream come true. I’m thrilled for him, and for all of us who can enjoy his success with him.

Cheers, Donna

HUGO WINNER SHINES LIGHT ON NOW IN BEST TRADITION OF SF

From its earliest days, science fiction has served not only to light the way into the future, but to shine a light on the darkest aspects of the present. Our greatest writers have not only extrapolated from the science and technologies of their day, but also from the political and cultural structures around them. What if  becomes a question, then, not only of what if space travel becomes common, but what if humans encounter our origins in space (Arthur C. Clarke)? What if modern communication technology and/or drugs are used to further the aims of a totalitarian state (Orwell, Huxley)? What if an alien culture is made up of creatures that are male sometimes and female sometimes and of no gender most of the time (LeGuin)?

Questions of diversity in SF and SFR plague us from a dozen different directions (and not least because we have so few authors of color). But the issues of white supremacy and racism that have boiled over into violence so recently in our current culture can be brilliantly addressed in science fiction in the work of the right author. Let me recommend that author to you: N.K. Jemisin, winner of the 2016 and 2017 Hugo Awards for Books One and Two in her Broken Earth series, The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate. The third and final book in the series, The Stone Sky, debuted in August.

Given the very open and ugly debate in the SF world just a few years ago over the supposed “dilution” of the genre’s purity by female sensibilities and diverse POVs, it’s nothing short of a miracle that Jemisin, a woman of color, won recognition for her books in this way. But, then, the books themselves are phenomenal—wildly imaginative, beautifully written, perfect examples of what character-driven SF is supposed to be. 

The world Jemisin creates is detailed, compelling and believable.  Her characters are warm, alive and unforgettable. And the issues she addresses are so subtly intertwined with each plot point, each descriptive passage and bit of dialogue, that you hardly know what’s happening until the insight hits you.

Jemisin’s characters are not simply black and white, Asian and Native American. They are people with a mix of genetic traits, some of which we readers have not seen before. Her world is one of constant danger from geological activity—earthquakes, tsunami, volcanoes, even the shifting of magnetic poles. One group of people—orogenes—can detect and, in some cases, control these events. Orogenes are feared and hated by their neighbors. Often they are killed as infants, before they can cause the events they might later learn to control with training. 

The main protagonist of the trilogy is a female origene who is known variously as Essun, Damaya and Syenite. Since it is her point of view we perceive, we feel the hatred of her family as they learn what she is, the suspicion of the neighbors she has just saved from a killing earthquake as they see her in a new and dangerous light. These passages are some of the most powerful you will ever read in describing what it is like to be “other” in a dominant culture. This is what it feels like to have people you think are your friends suddenly look at you like you are a pariah. You don’t think racism is real? Read and be educated.

Jemisin’s Stillness is not our Earth. Yet it is. The people she describes are human, at least most of them are, and they act like the humans we know. As we read further, it becomes clear that at some point in the distant past, these humans have destroyed their planet. And the planet is taking a very particular kind of revenge.

I rarely read science fiction anymore, but these books live up to all their promises. The diverse viewpoint, the high concept, the character-driven story all speak to me and lead me to recommend this series. (Note: I noticed that some reviewers classify the series as “epic fantasy,” despite the lack of any elves, swords, sorcery or the like. There is the briefest mention of “magic” as an explanation of how one form of orogeny works, but it really is more like the concept of internal energy, or “chi” in Chinese philosophy than true magic, if you ask me. Just sayin’.) I’m very much looking forward to Book 3 in the Broken Earth series, The Stone Sky.

Cheers, Donna

Ready Player One read by Wesley Crusher

Since I moved outside Seattle and have children who live half the time in the city, I do a fair amount of driving. I initially opened an Audible account because the girls got it into their heads they wanted to learn French, and it seemed a good way to pass the drive time. Now we've rearranged our schedule so they are going back and forth less, and I've been using the Audible credits to listen to books I might not otherwise have the time to read. Plus, some books are just made to be read out loud. I particularly love listening to Neil Gaiman's books, because they are read by the author and I could listen to him talk about organizing his sock drawer.

Recently I had some credits to use up and went to the Oracle (Facebook) to ask for advice. A fellow author recommended READY PLAYER ONE, in particular because it is read by Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. Wil is a funny guy, and he's played a gamer in a couple of YouTube series (my favorite being Felicia Day's THE GUILD). He is the perfect voice for the first-person perspective of a post-apocalyptic gamer geek, and there is this awesome moment when ... nope, not gonna spoil it.

So let me start by saying Donna reviewed this book back in 2013. I read her review again before posting this one to ensure there wasn't too much overlap. If you are interested in seeing the movie (scheduled for release next spring) AND you're one of those people like me who prefers to read the book BEFORE watching the movie, now you have your deadline.

This review is high-level and only contains minor spoilers. It's adapted from my Goodreads review specifically for Spacefreighters.

READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline, read by Wil Wheaton
Genre: Young-adult sci-fi with romantic elements

I didn't have high expectations for this book. I'm a middle-aged woman, and READY PLAYER ONE ("RPO" henceforth) is about a teenage gamer essentially living inside a virtual world anchored in a post-apocalyptic society. I have played both arcade and computer-based games, but not in decades. I did not expect that I'd relate. But as Donna notes in her review, this novel is RIDDLED with references to 80s culture, and I was a teenager in the 80s. Music, TV shows, movies, commercials, even specific computer models I owned in early adulthood. What a genius decision by the author, amirite? You get the young adult audience, because that's the age of the protagonists, plus all the Gen Xers and some Baby Boomers too. And I had further reason to identify with the protagonist: he lives in a trailer park in Oklahoma City, where I was born and raised. (I never lived in a trailer park, but I knew people who did. Plus they were on the news every time there was a tornado.)

From the original book cover art. It's gorgeous,
though based on Cline's description
the trailer stacks were much closer together. 

RPO is sci-fi at its best. There's an underdog hero and an evil corporate villain, and they fight their battles with super cool tech, in both the real and virtual worlds. The post-apocalyptic world Cline paints is very believable, as you can see the seeds of his calamities already germinating in today's society. For example, Cline depicts government so ineffective and in bed with corporations as to be useless in its original role of serving the interests of the populace, and corporations that have been given broad powers over the lives of private citizens.

Believe it or not this young-adult-centered geekfest even includes a sweet love story. It doesn't take up a lot of screen time, but it's critical to the plot and the ending wouldn't be nearly as satisfying without it. Can you really fall in love with a person you've never actually met? You be the judge. And as for the ladies, they DO represent in this story. Frankly when I started this book, I figured I'd have to just be okay with it being about a bunch of dudes in their basements. Granted, a lot of the 80s reference ARE very male-oriented. The only female rock musician I remember being referenced (Pat Benatar) was mentioned in conjunction with Artemis, the protagonist's crush. But whatever.

Admittedly it took me a while to get into this story. As stated above, I have little in common with the protagonist (Wade) beyond our knowledge of 80s culture, and besides that there is a fair amount of setup and backstory to get through. Wade also has a tendency to use cliché phrases (ie, "armed to the teeth"), which as an editor and fellow author pulled me out of the story at times. But once the story clicked for me, I was swept away. (Hubs started listening to it with me about halfway through, on one of our drives to town, and after a bunch of initial protesting, he was asking to listen to it at home EVERY DAY until we finished it.) There's so much attention to detail in the world building, it feels like you're inside the game. In fact at times the detail can be a little tedious, but it fits the story, as these details MATTER to Wade.

Now I'll tell you what I liked best about this story, besides the amusement-park-ride quality of the plot. As Wade goes about his quest for the ultimate high-stakes Easter egg, which has been hidden inside the virtual world (the Oasis) by its now-deceased creator, you find yourself rooting and cheering at every turn. He's just a kid vying for a prize along with thousands of other "gunters," but it's fun to watch his obsessiveness and attention to detail begin to pay off. The REAL payoff, however, comes as Wade begins to evolve as a person, developing relationships that bring out his more noble qualities—empathy, loyalty, openness to emotional vulnerability. Qualities that, fairly or not, we don't often associate with gamer personalities. Wade learns to use his powers for the greater good, and that's a quality with timeless, universal appeal.