Ready Player One

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Of the many major and minor references to 1980s pop culture, which do you find most entertaining, clever, or funny? Which references do you find the most and the least narratively successful?

2. Wade as Parzival eventually develops an alliance with other Gunters: Art3mis, Aech, Daito, and Shoto. Which one of these characters do you relate to most, and why?

3. What was your emotional reaction to the dystopian world outside the OASIS? Why do you think people want to escape it? Do you see any similarities to our world today?

4. Wade and his allies visit many places in the OASIS. Which place would you most want to visit, and why?

5. The OASIS is created as a “utopian” escape from the dystopian world of reality. In what ways is OASIS “utopian” or not? Consider political, economic, educational, cultural, and environmental factors.

6. What do you think are the pros and cons of the idea of escapism? What are the many reasons one might want to escape from their real life? What is gained and lost by living one’s life in an escapist fantasy?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. This novel considers the ethical questions associated with the use of virtual reality and artificial intelligence via its depiction of the OASIS. How does the novel use the OASIS to warn readers about the dangers of these technologies? What are the ethics of having fully customizable “avatars” where people can build what they consider an “ideal” human form?

2. Consider this novel’s representation of major economic systems, particularly capitalism and socialism, both within and without the OASIS. How does the novel represent and critique these economic systems? How does its exploration of these economic systems affect the novel’s plot, main themes, and character arcs? Can you think of any real-world corporations that are similar to IOI?

3. Through the character of Aech, this novel explores elements of sexism, racism, and anti-gay bias. These intersectional concerns often conflict with the novel’s two main topics: 1980s nostalgia and video game culture. Both the politics and media of the 1980s were characterized by a rise in anti-gay and anti-Black bias. Similarly, a portion of mainstream video game culture is defined by its misogynist, anti-gay, and racist perspectives, embodied in real-world harassment campaigns like “GamerGate” in 2014. How does the novel navigate these issues? Do you think the character Wade deals with the reveal about Aech’s identity and the issues she faces responsibly?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Discuss the theme of nostalgia in the novel. What is compelling about nostalgia, and what is potentially dangerous about it? How are both of these aspects communicated by the events of the novel?

2. How does this novel adapt the popular narrative monomyth known as “the hero’s journey” for the internet age?

3. One of the central motifs in the novel is the “easter egg,” which is an undocumented element (a reference, message, image etc.) included in a video game as a joke for players “in the know.” What easter eggs (literal and figurative) can you find throughout the novel, and what is their purpose?

4. This novel’s reliance on 1980s pop culture is due to the fact that James Halliday, one of the creators of the OASIS, built this nostalgia into his near-future immersive, haptic virtual reality. How would the novel change if it was suffused with pop culture from a different era?

5. How do events both inside and outside the OASIS contribute to Wade’s character development in different yet complementary ways?

6. How does this novel explore marginalized identities in the video game space, particularly gender and queerness, through the characters of Art3mis and Aech? How do Wade’s views of these two people both accord with stereotypical depictions of women and queer people in video game spaces, and deviate from them?